A couple of years ago I spent the money to create a "Private" Forum here on ECCIE called TRYST for the purpose of promoting different events.
Unlike other Private areas that exist on ECCIE that no one is allowed to discuss, TRYST was private only in the sense that you had to ask to be a member. Only 2 people were ever declined and only 2 members were ever removed and it was around 1000 members when closing.
At the time there was a rather active group of people that were doing what they could to make sure all announcements of any gatherings of members was quickly locked and shut down. I felt a Forum with the expressed purpose of fostering and promoting those types of events for all that were interested would foster more of them.
Austin was a very social community a few years ago.
In addition to the Socials that CK ran and the Gentleman's Club Luncheons I ran we had other members putting together a variety of events. There were Poker Parties, Happy Hours, Pool Nights and Karaoke get together's
Organizers of different events have moved on in their lives and lost interest in doing them. New ones have not materialized.
So those that used TRYST for announcing and organizing get togethers shrank.
Over time though, as ECCIE has grown, the number of dissenters that actively sought to interfere with events has continued to grow as well.
This has caused many that seek to come together and socialize to do so much more privately. I'll attend a dinner next week with 6 to 8 couple for example that is not announced anywhere.
In the fall of 2013 with no Short Term Availability Thread in Austin and a STAFF that was adamantly against one because of the headaches in enforcing rules set in place I offered to allow one to be created in the TRYST area.
The opinion of the Owners and Admins of the Board at that time was that ladies HAVE a forum to advertise in. Two actually with the weekend ad forum. They were not AGAINST allowing local MODs to create a Forum for the purpose of announcing holes in schedules that needed to be filled. They were not wanting any of the headaches themselves.
A Short Term Availability thread had been tried twice in Austin in previous years and became a huge headache for local MODs to manage as MOST ladies seemed to not be willing to play by the rules and the complaints from other ladies created huge amounts of work for the staff.
It simply did not work here and was done away with.
Why does it work in other areas like San Antonio? Quite simply because you have a MOD more inclined to kiss a ladies ass there and rules they have in place are seldom enforced. So it was proven that if you don't enforce rules it can work.
In a private forum. The rules are made by the owner of the forum. The idea was that if people couldn't follow rules they would simply get kicked out or see their ads edited to be useless. Heavy handed but effective. Not something that works on the general board because you can't really have many rules in a public area that exclude members rights under the guidelines.
The Short Term Availability Thread was established with a light set of rules in place and has been there for over a year. As much fuss as was raised by a few, it never got a lot of use but those that used it, did so frequently so it must have been working for them
After it was shut down last night I've heard from several. Including a member I had not realized was still active on the board for a couple of years.
For those of you that frequented TRYST and made use of the STA thread you will need to find what you want somewhere else. I can say after watching it that those that use it tend to ignore even the simplest of rules. So I understand where prior resistance came from towards giving it another chance.
In regards to the other purpose, the Luncheons and parties.... They still happen.... Obviously not as frequently or with as much fanfare....
ECCIE is changing as it grows...... Community, or lack there of, also changes with growth.....
Thanks to all that participated. A very grateful Thank-you to VictoriaLyn and the Admins that helped with all the membership permissions over the timeframe it existed.