Reader Email
July 28th, 2006 @ 12:45 pm by Mrs. Bee
First of all, I wanted to say I really enjoy your website and reading all the bloggers’ crazy wedding exploits- you really have to be a bride to relate. Your site is great, with lots of functionality and features 
Now on to my question- I know there are lots of brides that read your blog that are regulars on the knot wedding boards. However, in the last two months, there have been numerous technical issues with the boards. We would have ‘bad spells’ where you’d get numerous error messages or the boards would be painfully slow. Today- the boards have been down all morning. I know I am not the only bride going through withdrawals here! We don’t need any more stress in our lives & we need our wedding friends there to give us advice on fonts and colors and other random daily emergencies!
I know you have contacted popular vendors in the past to get answers on behalf your readers, and I was wondering if you would be willing to seek some answers from the knot. Maybe they will respond to you since you now have wedding authority!
Thanks & keep up the great work.
Amanda
~~~
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention - we will definitely look into it.
Meanwhile, we’ve been toying with the idea of launching our own messageboard. There are already many popular boards out there - theknot, weddingchannel, liweddings, ultimateweddings, pricescope, indiebride… do you think there’s a niche for a weddingbee messageboard?
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19 Responses to “Reader Email”
I think message boards for Weddingbee is a GREAT idea!
The message boards out there are filled with a lot of useless chatter. But if you’re looking for a community of brides to bond with, some of the boards have some very friendly ladies.
It took me a while to learn how to nagivate the boards to find useful information. Even after learning how to, I still find other mediums to be better resources (like blogs). But that’s a personal preference.
I agree, The Knot boards have had serious issues the past 2 months. Not cool!
I would love a message board on weddingbee. It’s my fav of the wedding sites, and everybody is so helpful/accessible. Also, while the beehive is a great feature, it’s sometimes a little hard to use and navigate.
I really don’t know how the powers that be at The Knot expect me to waste away my Friday at work when their boards are down. Today is definitely the worst, but Amanda is right about the continual problems. I am so done with the issues, but like a junkie I gotta keep going back!
I think it would be a great idea.. particularly in conjunction with the beehive. I think with the beehive, you only get responses if it’s towards the top of the blog. But once it gets a day old or so, responses wane off pretty quickly. With a message board, you will get more responses and it will be easier to look up previous questions asked etc.
I like that there are no boards here, but the conversations and tips are guided by the blog post topics, rather than a free-for-all like message boards.
I don’t imagine it would end up so much more, or less, useful than other message boards, and it may stifle conversation/comments on the blog posts.
I like the way it’s set up now…I think it’s a bit more…intimate? I don’t know…I don’t think I’d like message boards.
I agree with Miss Ant that many message boards out there are just filled with idle chatter Nevertheless I still enjoy them and I have made some wonderful friends from them
I also agree with Miss Ant in that I like the blog formula because I get the same info I would from a message board and I get people’s comments and in a sense there are friendships built in the same way
I think because I visit this site everyday a messageboard would be lovely since I know so many names already
If there is a messageboard, I think the set up is very important. I can’t stand the boards where you have to constantly check up on responses by bookmarking the page. But I do like the boards where responses are emailed directly to you, so that you can have a running conversation.
Overally, I’m not a huge fan of boards, as there is a lot of off-topic things going on. I find blogs more specific and to-the-point.
for all the bees’ sakes, DO NOT launch boards. all of the bees will spend all their time and energy monitoring the boards, rather than posting.
the posts, and the comments, are fantastic; all of the blogger bees are so creative, thoughtful, insightful and just FUN that it would be a shame to waste that energy on “stay on topic please.” “no flame wars.” “you’re banned.”
I agree with K - I feel like the current format is more intimate - I avoid blogs in general b/c it’s overwhelming and am not familiar with the ‘etiquette’. I feel like I can find nearly every answer to every question by just searching and reading. I love the honesty and frankness of all the writers. And I agree with hm, save your energy.
I for one, like the idea of a message board, and I’m also a member of pricescope. I think the great thing about message boards are the forums, where you can go to find information on a particular subject, you just post a thread, and you get advice as well as suggestions. I LOVE WeddingBee, it’s fantastic, and I think a message board would be a great idea. Maybe you could get someone (who isn’t a bug ro flower) to moderate. Since we know that almost everyone on Weddingbee is very calm, sweet and tactful, I don’t think we’d have to worry about them getting out of hand.
i think the wedding world has a place for both - blogs and boards, but personally i like both for what they are….seperately. I think WeddingBee is great as is…
My first reaction was to say, “Yes!” but now I’m not sure if message boards would be a good idea–for the reasons everybody cited above. Even though I don’t post on the Knot’s boards (I logged on once, asked an innocent question and got tons of snarky responses), I still prefer the current format–I was really surprised the first time I saw poll results with ~150 responses–I honestly didn’t have any idea that so many people read this blog! I think it’s much more personable as it is now, without a bunch of “OK everybody post pics of your veil!” and “Whose celebrity wedding was your favorite?!?!” type of threads.
So I suppose the short answer would be…I like these boards the way they are
Dangit…seems like I can’t post a comment lately w/o messing it up…
The last sentence should read, “…I like THIS BLOG the way it is :D”
I like it the way it is and read weddingbee faithfully rather than the knot because of the blog format. Much less “random” and therefore helpful. To get more of a sense of readers’ preferences, why don’t you do a poll/vote on this?
Dear Weddingbees,
Please do not launch a messageboard. Continue to grow in the next year, and perhaps consider whether or not you should launch one on the basis of neccessity then. I love the warm and intimate atmosphere that you all have built of this “home”. Don’t transform it into just another busy, fast-paced skyscraper. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ms. Krizia
Mrs. Bee, New York
Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet
Engagement Date: May 7, 2004
Wedding Date: March 5, 2005
Venue: Westside Loft, New York
About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
i personally don’t use message boards but there are a lot of women who use it to get help in their wedding planning.