::EDIT:: I've had a few people ask me for a bit clarification. Getting to the point isn't my strongest suit
I feel as if the artisan section is a patch job and as an artisan (don't know if I want to even use that term now) I have to choose to post in Geekhack Projects or the Geekhack Marketplace or both. To post in Projects and Marketplace would be spamming, but that's the only way to really get proper exposure. Whatever is happening now isn't making things better it's just making it different. The below is a lengthy way to try and explain a Custom Summary and system of child forums to promote a single location for hackers to show off their projects/organize artisan sales/contests/promotions.
::EDIT::
Hello folks! Binge with another meaningful post
* Binge pats self on back.
Patting aside I would like to talk with everyone about an issue which concerns our community, evolution of our community, and the importance of evolving due to our growth. I'll start out by briefly defining what -I- believe are the definitions of these three points.
1) Geekhack.org has become an established and recognized internet community. We've heard from MKAWA plenty of times and seen it throughout the years that this is a developed community of enthusiasts and that brings me to...
2) Evolving Geekhack.org. The process by which the community gives back to itself and survives is by changing to better suit the lurker, member, and nutball alike. Recently I feel as if evolution is forced because...
3) We are growing! The growth may plateau a bit but truthfully we've had more meets between last year and now than I believe have ever happened in previous years combined. We have more projects, more successful group buys, more in depth discussion, and more importantly more exposure to vendors and artisans.
How is Binge affected? Well as an artisan I feel as if exposure is part of the game, and I think everyone deserves to be exposed for hacking stuff up and making it appealing to the community. Geekhack has had a place for vendors and now a place for artisans has popped up with a great intent, but I feel as if the message is even less clear than it was before.
I had to make an effort to secure a topic in Making Stuff Together which showed what it is that I do, and instructed others about how they could get started. Others have to go through similar steps, but now there is a break in logic. We are making things, but that is not to be put in "Making Stuff Together". I am forced to choose between two spots to "hang out" in the forums.
How are other members affected? Maybe you are an artisan as well, or you may want to see what community members and artisans are doing. Either way this changes the way you look for user generated content on the forums.
I suggest that a subforum hub is created that features a "Custom Summary" page. The custom summary page will be composed of ONE of the most recent posts from all "child forums" in order of newest to oldest. These sub/child forums would be things like... Bro Bots or Killed By Kaps, and even what is now "making stuff together".
This would keep the landing page for projects/vendor news separated from other discussion, and it would show that some artisan/vendor child forums are just as content rich as an established sub like "making stuff together" while bringing active contributors into the summary to attract attention to the child forums.
There are problems with this design, but that is why I'm bringing the idea to the surface... My reasoning is that the number of artisans/vendors/creators are the community, the need for showing everyone's most recent works is increasingly important, and I feel a fair and organized way of displaying people's wares/projects is important to the concerns listed above.
Thanks for your time and as always sorry about my formatting.