I have a couple alt-nics that I use. I used to do all of the news posts but I decided that we needed a real news guy so "TheNewsGuy" was born. I even gave him his own forum. He reports industry news and always adds a bit of commentary (opinion) that I wouldn't normally get away with.

I don't try to mislead anyone with these nics, I just use them to add a bit of flavor and variation to the boards. I think it can be a great idea. I have to agree that a couple phantom users in a chit-chat forum can be a great idea too. sometimes all it takes is a small amount of activity to get the others rolling. Don't be afraid to post information even if your last post hasn't been replied to. carry on like everyones watching and have a good time while you're doing it.

Hey thanks TheX: TheNewsGuy, DryNews is a super good idea .. I'll try it! Thanks .. who ever you are

X is one of our newest moderators and a 3-time winner of our member spotlight, with 3 different designs He's pretty good at the community thing too

hmm...

.::cracking knuckles::.

design wise, i think you're fine. sure, you could alter the colors or graphics a little here and there, but thats not overly necessary.

what you really want (or what it sounds like you really want) is some ongoing conversation -- some web traffic!

and, here y'go:

start up a discussion about the worst mess anyone has had -- and the reasons there WAS a mess.

the one driving (and constant) factor of people searching out your site is that there's a whole buncha dirty carpet in their place -- so, have them share why!

what mom wouldnt wanna share the horror story of having to clean up all her kids magic marker from the family room floor? or the kids who trashed the house while the parents were away and needed to tidy things up before the vacation ended? or the dad who thought he could handle dinner on his own -- before spilling the spaghetti sauce everywhere...

if there's one thing that makes a tight community, its horror 'gab' stories like this. (think about all the moms talking about this on their outings, anyway).

they're fun to share AND read ... and they're limitless! especially to people searching out your message boards.

taking it a step further, you can have the contest voted upon by the other members for the best or funiest monthly (yearly?) story.

so, there y'go

drkknght: Thanks for the comments / suggestions! They're great - I will start moving in this direction.

bumping for the newbies