Why a new forum?

General
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I set this new discussion forum up for a few reasons:

  • I’ve learned a lot from The Crispin Colloquy threads, but found it frustrating that so many old discussions were archived. I applied for and eventually got an account there, but the forum still seems pretty dead. The old software is really clunky to use.

  • I’ve also learned quite a bit from Reddit, including the /r/cordwaining subreddit. However, it’s tough for many to share pictures there, and there aren’t many ways to work together with other users on long-running lists and other reference pages. The Reddit wiki system is very limited. As a long-time redditor, I’m also a bit concerned about where the company is going with data licensing and moderation controls.

  • I’ve also benefited from the #cordwaining channel of the Stitchdown.com Premium Discord server, but regretted that so much was private, unable to be found by others on the Web. The stream-of-collective-consciousness style of chat also makes it difficult to search for and find old nuggets of information.

  • Instagram is great for sharing progress videos and glamour shots more or less without commentary, but it’s hard to go back and forth and really have discussions in comments. It’s nice to be able to do video there, too, but it’s worse than YouTube in many ways: no ability to seek, no slow motion option, no subtitles, no ability to link to specific time offsets, overdone and irrelevant background music.

  • Frankly, the best advice and encouragement I’ve got so far have been in person and via e-mail. Many of those private e-mail threads could very well have been public discussions, creating chances for others to weigh in and to benefit. I’m sure a number of folks took time to answer again beginner questions from me which they’d already read and answered many times before, for others.

  • I’ve been having fun publishing some of notes online, and realized a lot more people might enjoying doing that than just me.

  • I’ve built websites since I was a kid and worked for several years with the company behind Discourse, the forum software running this site. It was cheap and easy for me to set up a new forum.

X24 Leathers intro
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One more point that I forgot to mention, and a somewhat touchy one:

I gather that the late, great DW Frommer II and others of The Honorable Cordwainers Company got some pretty stern advice about not promoting or even really talking about business on The Crispin Colloquy, in order to keep their exemption from tax as a charity. At least judging by the forum posts still available online, that advice seems to have been followed very strictly, to the point it often stopped many good conversations from happening.

I’m a lawyer, and I’ve advised many tax-exempt charities on the rules for those organizations under US law. I strongly doubt that level of self-censorship was required. But that difference of legal interpretation can be totally irrelevant here, on this forum, which I pay after-tax dollars out of pocket to host.

It might become relevant again if this forum ends up transferred to a non-profit organization. I’d be more than open to talking about that! But even were that to happen, I’d want to make clear to all involved that while naked advertising and obnoxious self-promotion aren’t terribly good for a share-and-learn kind of forum, mentioning and even recommending private businesses—be they suppliers, distributors, consultants, teachers, makers, or whoever—is a big, important part of making shoes and learning to get shoes made. That can absolutely happen here, and I’ll be glad to see it.