Cleveland rendezvous, possible beer

Congratulations to Ion Beza, who recently became the first Masters Swimmer to officially pass the century mark (that’s 100) in posts to the USMS discussion forum!!! Thanks for keeping it interesting!

Emmett - If we counted Ion’s posting on the old and new Forum combined, then we would be celebrating him hitting the millennium mark, instead of just the century.

First, I for one think that Ion's numerous postings--and the unbelievably large number of replies his threads engender--speak to his ability to tap the pulse of us masters swimmers and come up with topics of interest and volatility. If masters swimming ever gets big enough to have its own talk radio show, I nominate Ion as the host. Second, and getting back to the Cleveland Beer Fest Rendezvous idea (with a little swimming on the side), how about this modest proposal: We get together for a Posters Pitcher on Saturday night (since the Rock n Roll thing is on Friday)? I also agree with the possibility of getting a Posters Table or two at the Rock n Roll thing, though I will have about 6 teammates with me, and I suspect some of the other posters will have some teammates as well. Maybe...I was just about to say something a bit on the sexist side, but caught myself in time, thankgod. Anyhow, of those planning to go to Cleveland and interested in Laura Kessler's beer emporium suggestion, how about a Saturday night beerfest? Maybe we can even get some barbequed lampreys or other similar Cleveland delicacy to help wash down the beer with?

Of course, for that century mark to be accurate, one would have to go back and total the posts from the old forum. But then, counting only the posts in this new forum levels the playing field so that Ion is competing only with those who started posting at the same time he did.... :)

The question really is - If Ion tried really hard and made even more posts per week, would the speed of posts decrease? (relative to those who started posting when he did, of course) Ion: I am taking your advice working on upping my average # of posts to 'normal' as you can see. My challenge is that I started posting late in life.

Not sure if this was covered already, but has anyone considered that there may be a correlation between posting frequency and the efficiency of the discussion forum? Clearly, at times, the higher frequncy of posts in the old forum had a negative impact.

In the old forum I was still using my name, so I wasn't hiding from the merits of my claims and from being kept track of. In threads I was participating in, there was a lot of heckling by people who remained 'Anonymous', and whose claims were unverifiable. 'Anonymous' individuals in the old forum, did post, including in threads I wasn't participating in, in unaccounted numbers of posts. As for allegedly posting the most so far in the new forum, people still can have now multiple aliases here, thus multiple accounts of posts. In many of my posts, I discuss something debatable and introduce swimming statistics and opinions from other sources that are not so much present in this forum. Reading my posts and participating in debates with me, are of course voluntary.

for those who have not been paying close attention and may think Ion is being paranoid, he is referring at least to me. I have three aliases at the moment: this one, another based on my home computer, and another that I use for humor/parody (and is a remnant of a controversial thread from the old forum - It was the best of threads, and the worst of threads.) None is secret, and I would be surprised if anyone is not aware that I am the author of all of them. The ease of creation of alternate aliases in the old forum added humor and perspective to the postings which is not present in this more cumbersome format. And no, I do not agree that the fewer number of postings is all of a good thing. Yes, things are more civil, but that does not seem that high a priority, to me. This is a pretty civil group, anyway; have a look at the flames in rec.sport.swimming ! But I must say, Ian's (Ian with an a) post made me laugh!

Jim, Just putting my oar in: I'd prefer a Thur or Fri get together. I have no events Sat, and my wife has arranged to visit some relatives she has in the area. I'm assuming Sun is out because many folks will be sprinting to the airport as soon as their last event is over. (I also have 2 of my 3 individual events that day.) The R&RHoF Social Event is not a conflict for me because with our whole clan here, including several children, and $30/person, I can't see going to that one. (Also, my father the classical music buff has colorfully expressed his disinterest in visiting the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.) However, I am sure it will be an impressive event, and I am all for accomodating those who are attending. Let me know what you decide, and I will work with that. See you there. Matt

Originally posted by Ian Smith ... Ion: ... My challenge is that I started posting late in life. Ian, one of my present challenges is that I started English late in life, behind three other languages, two of them that today I still master better than English. However I enjoy immersing myself into discussions of a hobby I believe in as long as they are not vulgar, and for other people concerned about the quality versus the quantity of these discussions, I remind them of the 'ignore' feature in the forum, and that reading and participating is their choice.