Forum Anniversary

[Reverie]

When and if you have a forum that has been opened for a certain amount of time, do you host a celebration of any kind on your forum? What kind of things do you do/have? Is it just a typical day for your forum members? What are some ideas of what to do on a forum anniversary? How frequent would you celebrate? (Every 6 months, every year...etc)

 

[John]

I think a yearly contest should always happen, especially after 5+ years. Keeping a forum running longer than a year is a substantial achievement.

 

[Reverie]

It for sure is a rarity to see forums get to 5 years! I also think these celebrations are a good refresh in a way for a community!

 

[ClicketyKat]

The Christian Forum I run is going on 8 years in June and we have no plans except to have a thread to say Happy Anniversary. We used to do things in the past and members just weren't interested because they are there to talk about theology and have fellowship and really aren't interested in contests.

 

[Cory]

I think I had one forum anniversary after the nearly 5 years we've been open. I think our 5th anniversary is upcoming this June 4th. If I remember correctly, I don't remember there being much participation in the events that were held. Unless you think of niche-specific contests or events you can hold for a board like mine (resource board) then you may have some success. Of course, the type of prizes matters to members as well. I may have an anniversary celebration this year for being open for half a decade, but I'm usually pretty clueless about what type of events or contests we can display to attract members back to the community to celebrate.

 

[ladyquack]

My site turns 20 this year and each year we have a month-long celebration with writing prompts, games, trivia, graphic contests, and various topics to reminisce about the olden days.

 

[Cedric]

My site turns 20 this year and each year we have a month-long celebration with writing prompts, games, trivia, graphic contests, and various topics to reminisce about the olden days.

20 years is truly an amazing achievement. I bet you could write a book with history. And having plenty ups and downs. What's the most notable change over that course of years you reckon ?

 

[ladyquack]

20 years is truly an amazing achievement. I bet you could write a book with history. And having plenty ups and downs. What's the most notable change over that course of years you reckon ?

I've only been running the site for about 10-ish years of that 20, but adminned for a good bit of my time there. But still there's definitely been a lot of interesting things that've happened. The most notable changes have been the overall personality of the site. Most of us have been on the site since 2006-2007 when we were teenagers/young adults and we've all mellowed out a lot. We don't have the drama we used to have nor the need to push ourselves to even be there if we couldn't. We're very much "come and go as you please" now. Those are the main changes, I think.

 

[Cedric]

I've only been running the site for about 10-ish years of that 20, but adminned for a good bit of my time there. But still there's definitely been a long of interesting things that've happened. The most notable changes have been the overall personality of the site. Most of us have been on the site since 2006-2007 when we were teenagers/young adults and we've all mellowed out a lot. We don't have the drama we used to have nor the need to push ourselves to even be there if we couldn't. We're very much "come and go as you please" now. Those are the main changes, I think.

It's funny how a community adapts to other needs throughout the time it runs. It's always changing, depending on your audience. That what makes it so interesting too.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I usually will just celebrate by making an announcement. I think I will do something different when my current community hits our 1 year milestone. I want to try and have a giveaway of some sort, maybe a donation of $15 or a steam game of the user's choice?

 

[Shortie]

I always like to celebrate a yearly anniversary when it comes to my forum as I feel doing it say every month would be a little too overkill.

Having a yearly celebration with a contest that is different from other contests that you do on the forum throughout the year works well. Maybe add some graphics like balloons or birthday banners to celebrate as well.