Too many "groups" too soon?

[Earl Weldon]

Hi Marilyn and everyone else ... I was just on the site for a bit, poking around, and was just wondering ... could there be too many groups for such a relatively small population that our total group has? Eight of the twelve groups only have one or two people in them.

I'd actually like to see and hear what transpires in the chatter in each of these little worlds, since they really ALL relate to advertising, but I have to wonder if I'll be able to take the time on any regular basis to check out 12 different groups. (It's just a thought ... open to comments. What do others think?)

[Marilyn Moran]

Earl,
I could always consolidate groups. I wanted to create enough groups where people of varying (specific) interests would feel welcome to start discussion, but I guess that backfired on me. I'm more than willing to scale back if you think it's hindering more than helping encourage interaction. I'd like to hear others thoughts as well.

In other news, I just haven't found the time to promote the group any further or encourage more interaction here. There seems to be at least one new sign-up a week - which is fine with me. People are finding it as a result of links elsewhere or Google searches it seems. I'm not going to be obsessive about the growth and "noise" - but I DO want to plan more meetings that even a small group would be willing to come out to.

Perhaps another happy hour or something will fit the bill in early November?

[Earl Weldon]

Well, I'm not sure I'd say it "backfired." It was only my impression that people may not realistically be checking all those discussion threads, but maybe they don't NEED to. Maybe most are happy just to check one or two. I'd wait and see if others respond. (HINT: Hey, other people, ... please send in your thoughts!) I think you're doing fine for the early stages if the group is getting a new member each week! That's great! ... and that rate WILL increase as more people get in and if each of us shares it with some friends/colleagues. It becomes "viral," which is something we'd all like, and could benefit from!

Maybe we should make a little campaign ... we could easily DOUBLE or TRIPLE the number of members in very little time if each of us pushed it a bit ... shared it to 2 or 3 new people each. ... maybe a November membership drive? See how many we could get by Thanksgiving, for example, and call it, "The Creative Stuffing Drive. - - Stuff 'em in before you stuff yourself!"
I'm being silly here, but you get the idea.