A Question and Invitation for New Members

[Balder]

In the past two to three weeks, 20 new members have joined the forum, but so far most of you have not posted anything.  This is actually a frequent, long-term issue here, and I'm having a hard time understanding it:  we admit many new members, and are currently maxed out at 150, but the majority never post at all.  I wonder what the reason for that is, and would like to hear if there is anything in particular that causes people to hold back (other than something like lack of time).  If I can do anything, or change anything, to make people feel more welcome here, please let me know.

In any event, with this thread, I would like to invite new members to join or begin a conversation.  If you would like, please use this thread to introduce yourself to the forum -- to let us know what brought you here, what your interest(s) in these themes are, etc. 

Several of us long-term members have a few long-running discussions and inquiries in progress, and I'm sure we'll continue to pursue them in the fairly concentrated way we do here, but I'd also love to hear from new voices and to invite your participation in the ongoing experiment that is IPS.

[kelamuni]

Want some "fresh" posts here, Balder. hee hee.... I'm baaaaaaaack.

[Balder]

Oh, there goes the neighborhood!

(Welcome back, k)

[Balder]

Thanks for your feedback, David.  Can you say more specifically what bothers you about the layout / functionality of Ning?  I do have some reformatting options available to me.  We could also move the forum (we've moved before), but there is the issue of importing past discussions to a new forum or suffering the loss of a lot of content...

Best wishes,

Bruce

[Edward theurj Berge]

I think Ning has served us quite well and has been sufficiently functional for discussion purposes. At this point I'd strongly prefer to stay put due to the huge effort required to relocate the voluminous content here. If it was as easy as a one-command import of the entire forum (like Blogspot) I wouldn't be as adamant, but I don't think that sort of easy import/export is possible?

[Balder]

Yes, I think moving would be a chore at this point, too.  However, I'd be willing to do some design changes (where possible) to this forum, if those changes would create a more user-friendly environment for people. 

I am, as I have been for awhile, at a decision point for the forum:  We are at the current forum limit of 150 members, and I keep getting new membership requests, so I have to delete old, long-inactive members to admit new members.  If the new members were actually posting once they joined, I could envision paying the extra money to upgrade the site to allow for more people and more facilities here.  But as it is, most people who join then remain silent.  In that circumstance, I don't think the extra expense is really worth it.  And so, for now, we will make do as we are (except for some possible layout changes I can make).

[Joseph Camosy]

Bruce,

The forum is great except for one minor nit.  After a discussion rolls off the "Latest Activity" list, I have to go searching for it by clicking on the "Forum" link on the homepage.  But then I'm confronted with a whole list of  "Categories" which don't help (categories seem to overlap), and so I usually end up exploring two or three of them before finding the discussion I was looking for.

BTW, looking at Ning.com, it looks like it is now only a paid service.  It says that the free forums were phased out in 2010.  Was this site grandfathered in somehow?

Joe

[Edward theurj Berge]

Joseph,

Two things. You can expand the latest activity list by pressing the 'more' button. There is also a good search function at the top right of the forum that works well with key search words and combinations. I have no trouble finding not only threads but very specific posts when I'm cross-linking between posts and threads.

Actually a third thing. On your member home page is a list of your recent posts that can direct you right back to a particular discussion. You can also track someone else's discussions that way.

[Balder]

Thanks for your feedback, Joe; and thanks, theurj, for the tips on tracking discussions.  I was going to make those suggestions as well. 

Is the search function currently working for you all?  It stopped working for me a week or two ago and I have put in a ticket with Ning management about that.

[Edward theurj Berge]

I just used the search function to make a few links and it was fine.

[shaman sun]

Hi everyone!

I signed up here, long ago, but after ITC2013 I developed a renewed interest in all things "integral theory" - and with that gusto (as well as searching for alternatives to FB), here I am again. 

At any rate, I'll try to contribute when I can. 

I come to integral theory from predominantly an "esoteric" background; experientially, and in terms of scholarship. Imaginal philosophy very passionately interests me, a la Henry Corbin and depth psychology (Hillman, Jung, etc). I have a newfound interest in postmodern philosophy, especially Deleuze's work, and am situated more within the writings of Teilhard de Chardin and Jean Gebser, both of whom I found through Wilber. 

Happy to bring to the conversations whatever I can. :-)

[Balder]

Welcome back!  This is mostly an Integral-plus website, meaning the focus is not exclusively on Wilberian Integral, although Wilber's work was (and remains) one of the central or guiding inspirations of the forum.  I mention this just to say your esoteric and imaginal influences (a la Gebser, Jung, etc) will be welcome contributions.  As you know, right now some of the energy here is focused on the "ITC Paper Review" we've just started, and you're welcome to contribute to any of those discussions, but other threads are also still active.  I recommend browsing some of the different boards and threads to get a sense for the kinds of discussions we've been having and either contributing to an existing conversation or starting one of your own, however you are moved.

[shaman sun]

Thanks! Good to know that this space is Integral-Plus. A load off my integral-speak shoulders (I'm still a bit rusty and catching up on the latest publications... not to mention everyone's ITC papers). :-D

Balder said:

Welcome back!  This is mostly an Integral-plus website, meaning the focus is not exclusively on Wilberian Integral, although Wilber's work was (and remains) one of the central or guiding inspirations of the forum.  I mention this just to say your esoteric and imaginal influences (a la Gebser, Jung, etc) will be welcome contributions.  As you know, right now some of the energy here is focused on the "ITC Paper Review" we've just started, and you're welcome to contribute to any of those discussions, but other threads are also still active.  I recommend browsing some of the different boards and threads to get a sense for the kinds of discussions we've been having and either contributing to an existing conversation or starting one of your own, however you are moved.