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judih
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Re: Feedback

Post by judih » April 12th, 2014, 12:03 am

appreciate you taking the time to comment and offer suggestions.
good ideas

There was a wonderful Studio 8 Radio show (a few shows there were)
and plans for galleries and lots of yummy items

This marvelous place is a delicious hang-out for many of us, and although the shiny extras are less advertised, we know that Doreen is a shiny extra, herself.

Perhaps we'll walk towards the shine

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 12th, 2014, 12:55 am

It's an old site, launched in 2004, correct. Lots of us are older people in our 50s or 60s, though there are some younger people here. Many of us met at an even older site which was a spontaneous, terrific site, which turned into a blog which is no longer very interactive at all because all the posts are reviewed and approved before posting.

All that said, if you smell arthritis, guess what? I got it. I'm tired. My back hurts. My head hurts. I rarely write any more. I DO paint, but rarely post my paintings here any more. The only thing I do here is zap bots and welcome newcomers.

Thanks for the new energy. Perhaps the site is dead or dying. I don't know. I don't spend enough time here to know. But it has been a dynamic, creative, wonderfully engaging community in the past and it CAN be again. Some people here might think it still is. I don't know.

I was the founder of the site with my former partner, Lightning Rod, who passed away last year from cancer. We did an online radio show called Radio8. I bought a domain name for it but haven't used the domain name because I need tech help to develop the site.

We also used to have live stage shows with stand-up comedy, spoken word poetry, dance, live music, and original skits. It was loads of fun. We called it Cabaradio and we performed it 3... no, I think 4... times in Washington, DC and also at the Arlington Virginia INdependent TV station.

The website community was the impetus for both the live projects as well as the recordings for the online radio show.

I don't know what to do about the site. I don't have the time or the energy to reply to people's work and keep it alive.

So.... I figure... here it is. I pay for the hosting. I have a tech person who helps when needed (and we need to upgrade the software) AND... it's up to YOU and all the others who post here to do with this site whatever you want to do with it.

I set it up. Is it dead? Then raise it from the dead. Is it dying? Then give it artificial respiration.

How do you do these things? Post links to it. Invite your friends. RESPOND TO THE POSTS OF OTHERS. Make it a COMMUNITY like it used to be and it CAN be again.

I'm not responsible for doing that. The community of people need to make it a community and give it life and that means to get active and bring in new voices of friends who are artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, etc.

It's YOUR site, not mine. I just founded it. That's all. And by YOURS, I mean ALL OF YOU. It's up to YOU what you do with it.

Thanks for your input. I'm going to sleep. I'm tired and my back hurts (no, not arthritis but a car accident 4 months ago... still not healed).

Have you explored the site and all the sub-forums? Have you seen and read in the Artlogs? Have you discovered the artwork in the galleries section?

If you like the set-up, then send your friends over and wake it up if it's asleep.

As for me, I'll be asleep in a half an hour, I hope. I have dreams to dream and wake up to make true.

All the best to you, Mr. or Ms. Withheld Name, whoever you are. Thank you for caring. It takes a lot to care.

How did you find us, by the way?

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 12th, 2014, 12:59 am

Here's a link to our radio show, RADIO8

http://studioeight.tv/radio8/radio8.html

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 12th, 2014, 1:00 am

Here's a link to an ad for one of our live stage shows, Cabaradio

http://studioeight.tv/events/cabaradiofringe2006.html

Here's a link to one of the posters for one of the Cabaradio shows

http://studioeight.tv/events/cabaradio_ ... oster2.jpg

Here's a link to another poster from that same show

http://studioeight.tv/events/cabaradio_ ... oster1.jpg

I don't know what else to do. I worked hard for 10 years. Now I'm going to dream some more dreams and if you'd like to help work on developing other ideas, please feel free to post them but AGAIN... it's up to YOU what happens to this site. YOU meaning ALL THE MEMBERS.

If you don't invite your friends, what am I supposed to do? Advertise? Google ads? I can't afford it. I'm broke.

:D

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 12th, 2014, 1:09 am

PS... this site has more SOUL and TRUE ARTISTS than most any site I've ever visited in my entire online life which started in 1998 and you're talking a LOT of sites I've been involved with helping to administrate, moderate, or participate in, or all of the above.

Therefore, I'm happy with what is created here. Now, it's up to YOU ALL. Not me.

I'm trying to navigate my so-called "real" life. I have things to do, jobs to accomplish, people to meet, paintings to paint, workouts at the gym to work on, and performances to plan and participate in.

I've said enough. YOUR TURN. Make the site whatever you want. I give it to YOU and to ALL OF YOU. If you don't reply to the posts of others and create a community atmosphere and give of yourself to INVITE PEOPLE here, then it will remain as it is... If you want it to GROW and get BIGGER and have more activity, then you have to take some responsibility and I mean ALL OF YOU. If you don't invite people and encourage the people who are here, the site will surely die eventually. YOUR TURN. Go for it!

Oh, and yeah, I forgot to mention, I had my son develop an interactive social network site which was custom designed for Studio8, the forums being only part of it. We got through the testing phase and then, unfortunately, the project was abandoned and never launched. It was a GREAT site where we could us tags and connect to other artists but since it was custom designed and since he was unable to provide support after a launch, we never launched it. He had to go to work to develop sites for paying customers. I couldn't pay him but a little at a time and it wasn't enough to live on and he doesn't have the time to support his custom-developed software..... so... too bad but that social networking type software he developed got abandoned and we never launched it. Frankly, I'm glad, because I'd rather not live on the net any more... but if you want something like that, go ahead and talk about it. We still have all the files. Do you write code? Can you support coding that someone else wrote?

Thank you again. Have a good night!

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 12th, 2014, 1:25 am

Oh... sorry... before I go... I agree that cloud funding sites could be a good way to develop projects. Perhaps you'd like to help start a Kickstarter program to develop the domain name Radio8.org which I own. I need software. I need a way for artists to upload their mp3s. I need tech help. I need an mp3 player installed. I need advertising. I need a way to make the site work so that it's not all coming out of my pocket and I'm not the only one working on it. That WON'T work.

Similarly, I'd LOVE to resurrect the LIVE Cabaradio show but where do you live? I live in the suburbs of Washington DC, in Virginia. To revive that show, it would take people IN PERSON to make it work, people who have backgrounds in live performances, theater, and music. Kickstarter could help with that, too, however, the members here live all over the country and all over the world, so getting them together is not an easy job. For several Cabaradio shows, I actually housed the entire cast in my little tiny suburban house. We bumped into each other in the bathroom and tripped over people who were sleeping on the floor. It was terrific fun, loads of work, and a great experience, but I had a partner then and I don't now and I don't feel really comfortable putting up and feeding an entire cast for shows and artists who, for the most part, can't afford to rent their own hotel rooms. But we could volley the ball around about how a kickstarter program could actually revive the show. Unfortunately, I'm no longer gainfully employed, though, so I cannot afford to fly in the musicians..... Hahah! ;)

I'm done. You must have hit a nerve. It's a good nerve, don't worry about that. Now, where is that bottle of advil? I need to sleep. Sweeeeet dreams! Dream about whatever you'd like to see happen on this site and then share your dreams and we can dream together. Goodnight again.

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 12th, 2014, 8:45 am

The "uniting the arts" idea was mine. My former partner originally just wanted to create a writing site. I expanded on that idea because I wanted to see artists of all genres posting. He liked that bc he was a musician and songwriter. We developed the live stage show together and hosted it as partners. Great memories! I enlisted his help for the very first Radio8 show but we couldn't come to agreements about various issues (we had been split up for over a year) and he resigned as program director. I continued the shows as program director but eventually ran out of time and energy because the way I was I was doing it was so manual, it wasn't feasible to continue. It took me many hours to produce one show. For a new Radio8 at a new domain name, I envision a much more automated approach. To describe how I put the show together manually would just be a waste of typing.

I will direct our tech guy, James, aka "neologistic" to this thread. He is dear friend and so smart about how to make various possibilities work, plus he's a man of many ideas. I'm sure he'd enjoy talking to you.

I will have to see if the custom-developed software for the CMS (content management system) and social networking portion of the site is still up somewhere to be viewed. For a time, my son had it on one of his hosting accounts so he could work on it. We also had a testing URL for it but it's been a long time. I'm not sure what language/code he used to develop it. I will have to ask him.

Thanks for the enthusiasm and for caring! It's a breath of fresh air!

Several times, I got a bit fed up by my having so few people who wanted to help. Don't get me wrong, all the devoted members of this site are truly that... devoted... they love posting here! AND, I have received several generous donations through the years to help keep the site up and running, donations which I dearly appreciated especially after losing my full-time job and suffering some health issues myself which minimized my freelance work and therefore my ability to pay for the hosting.

Judih has always been a great help with everything from zapping bots (which we need to get a new admission gate up to keep out) plus setting up and announcing and participating in our Word Jams (they're all archived on here) which are spontaneous writing events. She's a dear and helps a lot.

I'm just saying there have been several times when I was fed up with the site because it didn't seem to be going anywhere and it was taking a lot of my time and energy and I offered in public, right here, to actually GIVE it away! Hah! Surprisingly, nobody wanted to take me up on my offer. I truly was surprised. I guess they didn't want to pay for the hosting or the headache of being an admin or who knows what else? It takes time and energy and that's a good thing because yes, this is my baby, and it's been a labor of love. However, at a few points, I was ready to give it up and it could have easily joined the graveyard of abandoned sites since nobody wanted to take it over as a gift.

We have an Admin Forum which you can't see where we've discussed some of your ideas (for instance adding mods or installing software so users can create galleries of their own artwork and an embedded video player... to name two). Time went on and our ideas didn't get initiated. What can I say? People are busy.

At any rate, as I said, I'll direct "neologistic" (James, our tech guru) to this thread because he's been very enthusiastic about new development ideas for the site during the past few years. And I'm sure he'd like to continue this conversation with you.

I'll also contact my son to check on the status, location of the files, and language of the CMS social networking portion of the site and see what he says.

Thanks again for your enthusiasm and for caring! I love it when people care!

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 12th, 2014, 8:57 am

PS .. I'm sorry to hear you found out your longtime friend had died. Yes, continue keeping him alive in your heart and thoughts! That's what heaven and immortality is.... when friends care enough to continue keeping friends alive in heart and thought.

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 12th, 2014, 2:57 pm

I contacted James and he said he was very busy right now, so I don't know whether we'll be able to upgrade the software any time soon or work on the feature upgrades we've been discussing. He's a talented guy who's going to school at the same time as handling multiple other projects. Maybe he'll pipe in here on this thread. We'll see. But if he doesn't, that's OK, too. We miss him around here but we truly VERY much appreciate all his help throughout the past few years!

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Atehequa
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Re: Feedback

Post by Atehequa » April 15th, 2014, 5:08 am

Not dying, but not big either. Like a small wildflower, one of the most beautiful in the patch. I dig it over here more than some of the other poetry forums that are fraught with overly self absorbed, seemingly know it all kids.

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Doreen Peri
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Re: Feedback

Post by Doreen Peri » April 15th, 2014, 9:57 am

Atehequa wrote:Not dying, but not big either. Like a small wildflower, one of the most beautiful in the patch. I dig it over here more than some of the other poetry forums that are fraught with overly self absorbed, seemingly know it all kids.
Thank you. Yeah, I do too. I've been to sites like that. I don't like that. At all!

I've been thinking about it and all of our ideas for expansion (except perhaps installing a photo gallery Mod) are things we didn't do because we decided they weren't worth doing. We don't want a mega-huge site with too many bells and whistles. Nor do we want so much traffic, we'd have to be moderating flame wars and know-it-alls who insult people.

I don't have time for the radio show right now, though maybe one day. If I ever have the time, I will probably need a staff to help me and really there's already Soundcloud and Reverbation and sites like that so why bother with it?

We like it here, as is. :)

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Lostwire
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Re: Feedback

Post by Lostwire » April 15th, 2014, 10:48 am

I love it here. We've been through so much. Changes? Why? I'm in it "as is." :D
Jam on me!!!

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Atehequa
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Re: Feedback

Post by Atehequa » April 15th, 2014, 7:09 pm

Doreen Peri wrote:
Thank you. Yeah, I do too. I've been to sites like that. I don't like that. At all!

I've been thinking about it and all of our ideas for expansion (except perhaps installing a photo gallery Mod) are things we didn't do because we decided they weren't worth doing. We don't want a mega-huge site with too many bells and whistles. Nor do we want so much traffic, we'd have to be moderating flame wars and know-it-alls who insult people.

I don't have time for the radio show right now, though maybe one day. If I ever have the time, I will probably need a staff to help me and really there's already Soundcloud and Reverbation and sites like that so why bother with it?

We like it here, as is. :)
You're welcome.

Good to be here when I can. Frankly speaking, there has to be something good about a place where I haven't managed to get myself banned from within four months of registering. Words when read are sometimes like music which soothes the savage heart. Not at all weirdo-cult-like or similar to a internet forum version of Joey Stalin's Soviet Union.

Overly prudish censors, unquestionable Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles like administrators, religious, corporate and political barkers or parrots, boiler room government goons, snake oil salespeople and perhaps even Bronies? They all seem detrimental to an individual's sense of free expression as far as the arts are concerned. Fuck em.

Again thank you for recommending and welcoming me to this site a few years ago.






Bells and whistles? Try working in a mental hospital for over 20 years.

Steve Plonk
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Re: Feedback

Post by Steve Plonk » April 22nd, 2014, 12:47 pm

Doreen, I, too, really appreciate Studio Eight Forums & the staff who keeps it running. :D

I am pleased that we don't have "bells & whistles" & hoops to jump through here. 8)

Like, Lost Wire, AKA Wireman, I also love it here. I've been on this site for nearly
five years now, as of December this year's end.

The staff here has created a benevolent, coffeehouse living room atmosphere here.
This place is the closest to an "open mic" that the internet currently has. :D

I hope to keep my cards & letters coming into the future here. :idea:

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