Board Organization

coldlife

Chime in with your thoughts on how, or if, this board should have some sort of organization. 

Most boards do, and some are stricter than others. 

Thread creation? Product spotlights? Check-ins by due date week or day of the week due or everyone all together? 

coldlife

I tend to be a little more loosey goosey when it comes to board organization, and I don't think there needs to be detailed rules. My opinion is start whatever thread you want as long as it's relevant to at least a significant minority of the board and open for discussion and questions for all (i.e., it's not just you asking for a response to your individual question) and as long as you're not duplicating another thread.

blackgirlmagic

Unless the group has other thoughts, I'm not a fan of the by week of the month check-in's that the other BMB's have done. I believe in my previous bmb we just had a weekly check-in where everyone could participate. 

scgirl6113

I’m with @coldlife. I think the rules can get a bit much. I’m all for keeping it pretty loose just like you said!

@blackgirlmagic that sounds good to me! 

duck_duck_goose

Personally I like a little bit of structure. I like the idea of weekly symptom threads, and I really like what the other BMBs are doing about the bleeding support. But I am cool with general weekly check ins. Overall, I don’t really care, I guess. I cool with it either way.  

blackgirlmagic

@duck_duck_goose I agree that I do like a little bit of structure. I like the hdbd, ultra sound thread, possible symptoms thread, appointment threads, and all of the specific general threads. I also think there should not be one offs because someone wants to be a special snowflake either. I was just voicing something that I don’t like the other bmbs are doing. If very little people are in one group week, then it’s almost like you are not speaking with anyone in that specific thread. Compared to if we all participate in the same weekly thread then we all get to interact with everyone, get to know each other better, and no one is left out. But that’s just my perspective. 

tyrion_

I’d like to strike a happy medium. I would love a go-wit-the-flow feel but I’ve been around TB long enough to know that the strict rules came about because wild randoms would pop in and demand everyone answer them in their post vs getting to know the community. 

I like the designated daily/monthly check-ins but I would also like to be looser on starting threads. I think if it starts to get too cluttered with one offs we can all always come together and reassess how we’d like things to improved. 

Anyway, I’m happy to be here no matter what the board looks like. I’ll formally intro soon, I’m just paranoid AF. 

duck_duck_goose

@blackgirlmagic I agree. I think we are saying the same thing but approaching it differently. I don’t have an opinion on week by week check ins vs everyone checking in. Either works for for me. All I know for sure is it would be great to avoid the one offs flooding the board. 

feelingjovani

I’m somewhere in the middle. I like some structured threads but don’t love the strict rules of some of the boards so I’d be happy without those. But honestly I’m not picky on organization!

roo_baby

I don't like when people get mean or rude about newbies breaking the rules, but I do think there needs to be  some structure.

The threads I enjoy the most are: daily randoms, HDBD (though I won't participate until we go private), UO, FFFC, Stupid Questions, consolidated threads on advice (e.g. favorite maternity clothes, baby name ideas) and anything seasonal (e.g. Mother's Day).

I suggest we kindly shut down any random AWs, but for active members the occasional justified AW is fine.

I'm good with full month check-ins instead of weekly. 

jkbrownstein

I think structures can also arise naturally as we see needed. When we see a lot of the same comments, it can get a dedicated thread. We can also make a thread for random comments so we don't get bombarded with too many threads. 

starlight8323

I love the idea of one weekly check-in, where everyone can participate and talk to each other! How about Saturdays, when most people have time? 

But I still like having some specific threads, like @roo_baby said, where we can find everyone’s ultrasound pics, or everyone’s thoughts on different car seats, instead of having to search through the whole board.

feelingjovani

@roo_baby I’m totally with you...I hate when people get mean about starting random threads. I know some people need to be told but they might not know so doing it gently seems better. 

blackgirlmagic

Should we have a general appointment thread for the entire pregnancy and have it pinned at the top or a monthly appointment thread?

scgirl6113

@blackgirlmagic I vote monthly 

sarabeth5678

Hi Everyone! I don't know about you, but I'm here to commiserate over (and celebrate) symptoms! I'm going to create a thread for that. Let me know if that's cool. 

wednesdaygirl1019

I like the idea of a monthly appointment thread.

gomillis

I’ve seen PGAL check ins on other boards, which seem like a great source of support for those of us who have experienced losses. I can create a thread for that if that’s cool with everyone. 

tyrion_

@gomillis I would love a PGAL check-in. 

tyrion_

Which posts do we want stickied? Intro and ultrasound for now? 

starlight8323

@tyrion_ Yes, I think so! The rest will be outdated every week or month! 

Don’t worry about the “December Appointments” thread being lost. My appt is this coming Wednesday, and I will grab it and bump it up, if someone else hasn’t already. Soon after that, others will start having their appts, and it will stay towards the top! 🙂

tyrion_

**TW**** spotting/bleeding 

I went ahead and started the spotting/bleeding support thread. While it can be a totally normal symptom I thought it best to keep it separate. Many to the other boards do and while I hope and pray no one needs it, sadly it’s a reality for many. HOpe it’s not an issue. If it is I can always turn it into something else. 

roo_baby

Thoughts on how/when/where we want to talk symptoms? I know it’s part of weekly check in and there is a separate symptoms thread and some people have been discussing in randoms. I know we all enjoy complaining about symptoms, but it can be a little much if it’s everywhere. 

newfloridamom2017

I agree with @roo_baby regarding people being mean to newbies or those that make mistakes like introducing themselves on a new post. I understand the need for structure but it’s not supportive or welcoming when people are so rigid with the rules.

I was on a The Bump board before and people were so strict and snarky about the rules, by the 6th month only 10 people were posting regularly. 

Also if we want people to introduce themselves before posting maybe a sticky that says that should be added. 

wildrainbow

So, I wanted to add that we may need a High Risk thread later. I know my pregnancy is high risk and it's always easier to have others to commiserate and put their fears in a safe space that may be triggering to others. Does that make sense?

scgirl6113

@wildrainbow I agree! I am high risk also and would love a thread to talk with and encourage other high risk mamas 

ziggymama06

I agree that some organization is necessary... and of course with not being mean to newbies.  But with too many one-off threads things get super cluttered and makes it harder to interact with one another.

I'm curious about the product spotlights... is there an order we are doing or just post one when one of us is looking for some info?  I'd like to know if there are any books, resources, apps that ppl are using or have used in the past... this is my first time and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed... also if any partners have read anything useful? What do you girls think?

tyrion_

If anyone is curious as to why things have gotten so tight in one offs, venture off into one of the old BMBs. 

Holy crap! It was the Wild West. I was just trying to find my symptoms from 2015 and it was so cluttered, it was insanity locating anything. Even the search function was useless because there were individual symptoms threads and intros. It was madness. 

Anyway. That was a stressful 20 mins 😂

riatortillaxo

My other BMB group did a monthly ask a STM thread. I found that so helpful since I was a FTM at that point. 

ziggymama06

@riatortillaxo As a FTM, I love it!    

wildrainbow

My other BMB also did an Ask Questions thread. Basically where FTM could ask any question about the topic of the thread for STM+ moms to answer. I.E. Ask about Labor, etc. This way it kind of kept all the questions in one place for reference, etc. 

gladmamma

@wildrainbow i think that's a great idea!

wife-and-mommy

Can we do some GTKY posts? Or flame free Friday confessions? Something to get some non-pregnancy related discussions to grow as a group? 

wildrainbow

@wife-and-mommy Yes! My other bmb did GTKY Tuesdays. They were a lot of fun, and it was a great way to get board wide participation.

roo_baby

@wife-and-mommy yes to both! Feel free to start them. Tomorrow is Friday after all ☺️

tyrion_

***putting on my flame resistant suit*** 

I am not loving the big catch-all Check in. It’s overwhelming and I’m not connecting with anyone in there because there’s so much to respond to. I feel like I post and ghost because when I return it’s a lot. 

Am I alone with this? I thought I’d like it more but I don’t.  

starlight8323

@tyrion_ No flames from me, girl! But I do like the all-inclusive check ins. 🙂 I know it means more people to get to know, but we’ve only just started, so no one expects you to remember them yet. 

I prefer to remain one group, otherwise I think some may feel alienated from the other smaller groups. Also, many will drop off throughout the nine months, and then it could feel lonely within some of the smaller groups who only have a few people left.

ziggymama06

@wife-and-mommy Yes, totally.  I was thinking that too with a craft, baking, cooking thread?  Something to get us learning a bit more about each other aside pregnancy.

@tyrion_ I'm feeling similarly.  While I hear what @starlight_7 is saying that ppl will drop eventually... but the one large check-in is making connecting rather difficult.  I'm not sure how else we should do the check-ins though?  Ideas?

fitandnerdy

What about doing the by-week check ins until farther along and when the groups get too small, join them up? Or split the month in half and try to leave it alone the whole way through? 

[Deleted User]

What about keeping the big weekly checkin, but then have a monthly chatter thread by week due?  So if you just skim through the check-in and see something more relevant to spark conversation amongst your fellow weekers, bring the chatter over there.  So mostly anyone can get a pulse on things in the checkin, but if that's mostly chatter free, it might also make it feel less overwhelming.

I realize it might be tricky to figure out which members go in which chatter thread, but we could include it in a line of the check-in as well.  Break it down like this maybe?
<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/qe/y2banqklfuma.jpg" alt="">

[Deleted User]

I hope it's cool I threw those up there, just to give it a trial and see how it goes?

I can come back later to work on updating the weekly lists, and then at least we will have that info going forward.  I agree it's overwhelming seeing everyone all together, but the smaller groups will hopefully be more manageable, so we still have big check-in, randoms, symptoms, gtkys etc, but then a smaller room as well by weeks, just like pgal has a thread, or if IF wanted a thread etc.