Petition to save ExoMagic.

[Eoin Lavery]

On the 6th December 2008, Lyle Borders posted a petition to save ExoMagic. It was said to be dying, with a lack of users. Now the same thing has happened again, with only one difference. There is a lot LESS users than before.

We all have seen it in different ways. The members who are here over a year see that over the summer, it seems to have died. Newer users (-6 months registered) see that it seems to have little members to begin with. As itype this there are 3,348 registered members and about 8-15 on PER DAY. That's around 0.2% to 0.45% of the users on each day. That is a statistic, a statistic which shows how things aren't slowing down, things are dying.

So after a quick chat to Sam and Alex, i decided this petition should be created.
Sign this if you want to see ExoMagic thrive and become a bigger better community, sign to tell people you are a magician and that you want to help this community grow, sign to show you are still active here on ExoMagic and read new posts. Sign to say YOU are proud to be part of ExoMagic.

Post daily about what interesting things you do each day. Tell us about what tricks you have recently bought. Review them once you have played with them. The ExoMagic deck is still in development, share your ideas about what they should be like. Post trick ideas in the lab, or videos of your tricks, teach other people your tricks. After all ExoMagic's motto is: Learn, Teach, Evolve. So learn tricks here, teach us what you know and help ExoMagic evolve.

Signed,


Eoin Lavery (Hexcruncher)
17th December 2010.

[j2820030]

still alive,i guess most of the member here just want the tutorial or DVD,i mean who doesnt?

[haroldross]

Just checking in.

Been very busy with shows.

I'm working on a few rope tricks at the moment. I have a pet rope that I'm training to do tricks like sit up, beg, play dead, stay, etc. So far the rope is easy to train that most dogs and children. I just know Jay Leno has to be looking for this kind of talent.

[Misjief]

E!

Sorry but I have to tell you I don't think more users is going to help... if they are not active and don't participate in the process. A million lurkers is worth less then ONE active character! In the marketing world you don't look for new clients nearly as much as you 'groom' the ones you have. You want new blood to expand but that assumes you have "something" to expand upon. At this point you are losing vital assets. I hate to tell you this... But things are changing in my life and soon will not allow for this level of activity for me here at Exo. (Good thing or bad?? I dunno! LOL)

Harold and I had the one post on the bizness card tossed out deck that we brainstormed ideas on left and right and asked for suggestions. As it was we came up with a lot of stuff but that was just the two of us - One more would have added a lot to the synergy. AS usual I burned Harold out with my enthusiasm! I am a puppy looking for a bone to gnaw on and he is a big dog with some serious hunting to do! I would have quit if it wasn't for Harold because the return on my investment on most posts was zilch.

For me my philosophy has been if you really want to learn something, pretend you already know it and then teach it as best you can. Teaching something will stretch you like nothing else will. Putting your thoughts in order so that you can concisely relay them to another is the best exercise to build up the mental muscles. The magi's motto has always been, Practice, practice & practice some more. I think that should be amended to ... Practice, practice and then preach. That got drilled into me in the dojo where I learned karate for physical therapy for my legs. Most people showed up because they had nothing better to do. I was required to be there and I had a mission to do if I wanted off the crutches. It was just an attitude but it makes all the difference. Often times I couldn't do a technique - but there was few I couldn't teach. My Sensi would put a lot of time in with the newbies and as they matured he draw back and then ask them to teach. They were paying him to learn (not teach), dang it! Most would balk, thinking they were being asked to do his job and felt that there was NOTHING in it for them. Most of them quit, and as such they never finished their training (even if they walked out with a black belt around their waist). You have to complete the cycle and teach to really get anywhere because that allows you to get multiple insights through your students eyes that you'd miss otherwise. Looking back on it, I guess I was fortunate that my crutches were physical and I knew I had them. Many of the others didn't have that 'luxury' and as such are still using them.

Point blank, that is what I think of dvd's and tutorials. As babies we need to be spoon feed but in order to grow we have to feed ourselves. Maybe even learn to cook and feed others. That is what I did that with Karate, NLP and Hypnosis. Now, I am involving myself in that same process with magic. At this point I don't even get feedback, here, which is frustrating. I might as well interact with a wall... As it is more lively.

Long and short of it is this. Are you an active participant or a spectator? Because if everyone lines up on the sidelines to watch ... there is NOTHING to see. Hell, most people don't even cheer at this point. You don't even know they are out there, somewhere. Even a small "thanks" goes along ways. Maybe when and if Exo is gone people will be more respectful and appreciative. I have no idea to the time and resources Alex has put into this, nor what he gets out of it but I am sure it is a considerable investment and the payoff at best can't be much. Same goes for Harold and the Mods. For their sake I have hung around but it is getting rather old to be perfectly honest. Its time for things to change OR Time will decide Exo's fate - and time tends to makes poor decisions.

I hate the tone of this. But what the hell. If I pissed you off, Great as I finally got a response! Lets be honest and DECIDE to quit* if that is what we really want (based on results) rather then simply fade away.

(* I can send a email with 10 peoples names I KNOW are out there on it!!)

-misj-

PS- At this point over 50 people have read this and 3 beyond the Eoin have left a response. The overall Apathy is contagious! Run for your life! LOL

[Eoin Lavery]

Misjief.

Wait E? haven't got called that before!

Anyway, what this is supposed to do is to allow those users who are still active to say they are still active and still want to be part of ExoMagic. Getting new users won't help straight away, but an increase of traffic over time will build up the amountof activity here. What this is intended to do is to let us know you are still here or like you say a spectator, a magician or a spectator would be rather appropriate i guess.

I quickly counted how many staff members there are, i see 6. Out of those six mainly me, Sam and Alex are the only REAL active ones. Brandon came on at one stage last month and said why he was off, busy in the real world. Nothing has been heard from Jacob though.

Misjief, i have to agree with you on the fact that it is beginning to get a bit boring around here, but i am dedicated to things like this and i will fight to keep it alive until it is no longer possible, because that is my attitude. I feel if something is worth doing, its worth doing well, that includes helping this place out.

Alex has done a lot of work to the forum, it has been running from 2007 and with the hosting costs alone, it can get quite expensive. Let's not forget that the store has a (Insert over exaggerated swear word here) load of items in stock, which must cost a fortune. I have seen on tinychat Alex getting a delivery and a (Again, insert over exaggerated swear word here) of boxes of cards like when the Smoke & Mirrors V4 arrived. The amount of time and effort put into making, developing and maintaining ExoMagic must be overwhelming.
EXOMAGIC.COM Appraisal | URLAppraisal.net
That link has information on the value and traffic levels of ExoMagic. However i highly doubt the monetary value given on this site because i checked with my own website which is still in development and told me it was worth over $15,000
As you may see on the graph the highest amount of users over the last year was in February 2010 with a peak of 2,620 users. Noticeably it decreased until September2010 where it peaked at 2,576 users and then the lowest recorded in October 2010 with 52 users. It was created 28th August 2007.
As you can see it is worth a lot, but 52 users in October is just a sign of how bad things are.
How much is exomagic.com worth? exomagic.com is worth 3,284.
this seems to have a more reasonable monetary estimate.

I will leave you all with a quote from Stuart Wilde:
"In a time of crisis we all have the potential to morph up to a new level and do things we never thought possible."

Good Night

[Alex Hess]

Hey guys,

I know things are tough around here. School's been piling up and a whole of has been thrown at me in life. I've been maintaining the background of ExoMagic for a while. But been lacking in participating actively in conversation, but I read everything. It's been really hard for me to focus on magic till things clear up.

The store (for the time being) is down until I can allocate the time and money to continue running it. Once the holidays are over things will pick up.

I'm not going no where, you guys are family. fam for life...
I'll always continue to pay for the server bills, out of my pocket, because it's important to keep everything up.

[Misjief]

Eoin-

Sorry I am dyslexic and three vowels in a row really messes with me, LOL! I rather shorten it then spell it wrong. Forgive me?

***

As I said I love this place and think Exo has huge potential.... BUT it has to be a group effort. 3 to 6 percent of the members can't very well carry the load on their own. The less people interact, NOW, the less they will interact LATER because as the activity dries up there is less & less interest.

When I first started I wanted to hurry up and learn so that I could contribute to all the chatter going on around here. Now, our visible membership is getting so small that we can't even have a good flame war! I'd end up insulting myself and airing all my dirty laundry! (although who'd read it? Hmmm?)

Anyways I wasn't really trying to be a Dink, although I probably succeeded at it. I am just frustrated and disappointed.

-misj-

[Eoin Lavery]

Misjief,

No need for apologies, lol it's just if people see me they are usually shouting O! because it's the first syllable in my name.
************************************************** *********
I know how you feel Misjief, deterioration is what is happening, but as Alex has said, often people have a load thrown in their lives, like when i was away for ages in summer, a week long camp in July/August another towards the end of August and then the day after that my parents thought it was a good idea to put me in a car, drive me to the airport and take me to London for a few days. Even on the plane they wouldn't tell me where i was going.
However after all that i came back and realised what had happened, so i joined the staff to help do my part because i saw a LOT of spam on the board, and there still is (you know this because you left a lovely comment about a spammer Alex cleaned up,LOL)

[Misjief]

Again- That is kind of BS.

I realize that I don't have a life at the moment and that others do. LOL. I get that. What I don't get is how hard is it to drop a small comment here and there... A simple click on the thanks button. Anything just to leave a trace of evidence you were here, WHEN you were here last be it a day,week or every 6 months. We could be talking about Bigfoot and the Yeti for all intents and purposes because most of the members here are "imaginary" in that they don't exist beyond the click of a silly counter.

I think Alex made them up. That seems more logical to me!

-misj-

[Eoin Lavery]

That last sentence sounds more BS to me.

Originally Posted by Misjief

Now, our visible membership is getting so small that we can't even have a good flame war!

I think we're getting there...

To be honest it isn't that hard, but there is not as much things people want to comment on or thank people for. Good advice or useful posts get thanked or interest, posts like "Hey can anyone give me the tutorial to X" is not respectable, and if nothing is posted nothing can be thanked.

[Misjief]

Eoin-

I think you are missing the point... Things didn't dry up overnight it was a steady but slow progression down the drain - the fix will likely be the same syrupy slow and sticky process.

Yes. I agree the "How do I do this trick?" typically typed in short hand gibberish because the person asking can't be bothered to actually take the time to think and frame the question in a intelligent (and polite) manner is tiresome. I think we should create a razzberry button just for that purpose.

I am no mind reader... I don't know what people actually want to read. (Probably something about Card flourishes or tricks!) AND if you actually ask them you get zilch response. (Try it!) So where does that leave us?

Say someone creates the end all be all tutorial for cards. People quietly read it and move on, so it might as well be a on a website somewhere. So we are STILL back to square one. No. You have to build a community where people check in because it is a social thing they enjoy doing and participate in even if it is to say "that blows!".

Just my 2 cents!

-misj-

BTW- The Alex made them up thing was a joke, although the thought of Big Foot, a Yeti, and a unicorn hiding in the closet and fighting over the keyboard with the ExoTroll cracked me up!

[Liderc]

Indeed.. The Activity Has Died Down... all the post are "News Post" which are fine.. but don't create a "Discussion"

you almost don't see a point in taking time to create a "Topic" where either no one or one or two people reply.. and yet someone needs to keep it going... i'll give it more effort

[Misjief]

Liderc-

I have two responses to that. The polite one is "join the crowd" and to say nothing. The other one is the "rude reality". If you go back through time and look at when someone took the effort to make a teaching tutorial post and see the little if any feedback they got then the problem becomes clear. For example Lyle made a neat SERIES of posts on PK effects with vids and everything. Maybe Five people said thanks and he got a grand total of FIVE responses for all four vids, FOUR of those responses were me! Sam, Will Draven, Austin, and numerous other talented folks have posted things and got the same welcoming bucket of cold water dumped on them. That said WHY would anyone invest their time here? The return on their investment is negligible. The AMAZING thing to me is that it took so long to come apart as they kept coming back! Punish anyone enough and they are going to resent it and stop making the effort. That is where we are today.

Chances are if you are reading this and responding then I am preaching to the choir. I don't know what the actual numbers are but less then 10% of the members contribute... And by contribute I mean do anything! How hard is it to say thanks (hit button) to the author of an article you just read?

(Again - over a 100 people read this, yet it has garnered 11 responses! Which would be 10% till you think about it and find most of which is Eoin and I bouncing replies back and forth. That is pitiful!)

Nothing against you Lideric (In fact Kudos for responding and working to make a difference!) - but to point out the problem as "There is nothing to respond to" is utter rubbish. The overall resulting response was and is the same (unappreciative and disrespectful) no matter if there was "food on the table" or not. The only difference now is the side doing the service has wised up and quietly stopped doing so. To which I sadly have to say good for them! If I sound resentful sorry. I am not but I am being realistic and rather then attempt to fight the tidal wave of apathy we are being swamped in, I choose to shake my head and step aside. I will do, what I always do, and tread water for as long as I can but something has to change.

Anyways, I am done with this subject because I can't remain polite about it. I am going to stop now and let this post die like so many others.

-misj-

[Alex Hess]

I blame a lot of ExoMagic's slowdown to me.

I did tons in the background to keep exomagic going. But about 5 months ago I stopped cold turkey to focus on school. I was promoting, advertising, and doing all kinds of things to get traffic to this site. Now that every medium of traffic source has stopped on a dime, there hasn't been any new traffic. Old members tire off, and no new members come. This has all happened before, and it happens to a lot of websites.

As I've said before, the site is always going to remain open, and I will continue to pay the bills. It's the users choices to get traffic and continue discussions here until I can ignite the fire again. Hopefully shortly in the future (now that schools over) I can contribute more time to magic, and more importantly, more time to exomagic.

[Eoin Lavery]

It still amuses me as how little people have actually responded to this.
Misjief, you are right in the fact that people come here, watch tutorials (even steal a few) and leave no gratitude to people. I acknowledge that this will not fix the problem on its own and that it will be slow, however that won't mean i won't give up.

Alex, First and foremost congratulations on graduating. I know how hardit is to totally dedicate yourself to something like a website because of things like school, or family things like deaths or holidays and even illness. Although the fact that even through school ExoMagic is still online, fees still paid. That shows that YOU are dedicated. The fault does not mainly come down to you, simply because of the fact that there is still such a thing as exomagic, not just a blank area in virtuo-space where it used to be.