Marc said "If the Cove forums have helped you, please take a minute and click "Post Reply" and tell me how."
Let me count the ways... Well, let's just say "lots of ways".
My first post was a question. I thought I knew the right answer, but I had no one readily available to bounce the question off of. Finding the Cove gave me that opportunity in spades! In one post I could "bounce" my question off of hundreds of brilliant quality pros of differing experience, perspectives, and philosophies. I never see any question posted here that doesn't get some kind of answer or response. I am positive any Q question I have in the future will get a satisfactory answer here. And it is free, so no wrangling with management over 'cost/benefit analysis' for purchasing a subscription to something. What more could one ask for? That, as someone else said, is one VERY powerful tool for the old toolbox.
It is a confidence builder to see that your thoughts on something are shared by others, or, if they are differing, that you can learn the error of your ways or at least look at a different perspective and realize there are several "right" ways to skin the proverbial cat. Remember back when you were doing algebra homework and you solved a problem but you had to wait until the next class period to see if you had the right answer? If you found you had the right answer, it was a confidence booster right off; if you had the wrong answer you at least got to see how to do it the correct way, so it was a win either way.
Sometimes I don't even realize how much I don't know. I've long felt that in a strange kinda way, the more you learn the dumber you feel you are as you realize more and more how much you don't know. Issues are brought up here that I never thought to ask. The Cove is quite thought provoking.
There is also a sense of accomplishment that comes with helping others with a problem. As a bonus, answering others' questions forces you to stay sharp, do a little research, and go into issues you otherwise might have forgotten about. The Cove helps keep me from getting too rusty.
Finally, I feel I have made a few "friends" here. While we may have never shared a
beer together in person, there are folks here whom I would be happy to imbide with.
I hope the Cove lives on for many, many years. Its existence makes us better as individuals, and it makes the Q profession and business in general better. No one will ever be able to accurately quantify the total benefit of the Cove, but I'll bet it is MUCH greater than almost anyone here would ever guess.
As far as ideas... It's tough to improve from here, but here are a few ideas since you sked:
The search engine that drives the "view posts since your last visit" search etc. sometimes seems to get fooled and will list posts as being new even though they were posted days ago. Don't know if this is fixable or not.
Since unemployment seems to be a problem these days, perhaps a forum thread specifically aimed at helping folks without Q jobs get Q jobs would be helpful. Advice. "Classified" resume postings maybe? Would it get too unmanageable? I don't know -- just an idea tossed out for consideration.
Thanks for the Cove, Marc.
