20,000 Members in 3 Years: A Look Back

[theFRANCHISE]

After launching in April 2007, the Baltimore Ravens Official Message Board has now surpassed 20,000 registered members!

To put this milestone into context:

[QUOTE]
- Since 2007, the Ravens have gone 35-27 (with two games left to play in 2010), made two consecutive trips to the playoffs (with a third likely pending), drafted three Pro Bowlers (with more to be honored), and acquired several big-name free agents

- What once began as only 5 forums, evolved into 15 different public forums, all encompassing different areas of discussion

- 7 of the Top 10 posters were registered in 2007 (including Moderator 2, one of the original moderators), with most remaining active

- The original Moderating team has since recruited 6 community members to join the staff; this speaks to the close interaction that the staff has with the community at-large and the personal investment that we members have in this message board

- The message board, in conjunction with BaltimoreRavens.com, introduced a new level of interactivity with the Ravens: player and coach Q&As, reader mailbags, player profiles, fan contests, and regular giveaways

- Member feedback has directly led to changes on the message board and BaltimoreRavens.com, including: more video content, live streaming radio broadcasts of games, live streaming press conferences, downloadable wallpapers, more up-to-date news, a centralized gameday hub, a more effective search engine, and social-networking features and connectivity

- Member feedback led to a subtle journalistic and philosophical change in BaltimoreRavens.com articles, with pieces being written from a more critical standpoint than years past

- Members have since been mentioned and quoted regularly in blog posts on BaltimoreRavens.com, escaping the relative anonymity of the past

- The official message board is now considered the pulse of the Ravens fanbase, with bloggers on BaltimoreRavens.com, the Baltimore Sun's website, and other media outlets citing posts from topics created in our forums
[/QUOTE]
[img]http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/public/style_emoticons/default/baltimore-ravens.gif[/img]
As you can see, we've come a long way. Starting as a tiny community with only a dozen regulars, we have now gathered a large collection of eclectic, unique, and passionate fans that you won't find anywhere else. As the official message board, we've created a unique environment where fans of all teams are free to respectfully engage others in thoughtful discussions about all aspects of football. Along the way, we've also brought together members with shared hobbies and interests in the Off-Topic Forum and created a "something-for-everyone" experience that transcends age, gender, race, and culture.

There are very few who can say that they haven't learned something from another member during their time here. The inherent nature of a message board is the sharing of opinions, and often, while one's opinion may not change, they may still take something valuable away from the discussion. I have learned a lot from all of you and I am proud to still be an active member, three years later.

Everyone here deserves a pat on the back for making this community what it is, no matter what they bring to the table. If not for you, we wouldn't be sitting here at 20,000 members and counting, and we wouldn't be able to reflect proudly on what we've been able to accomplish in bringing together people of various backgrounds and uniting them in our common love of Ravens football.
[img]http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/public/style_emoticons/default/baltimore-ravens.gif[/img]

[berad]

Huge registration numbers for an online fan forum. Credit that to the success of the Ravens, the aggressive marketing of the New Media department, and the devotion and passion of the fans. This board is excellent and I was so anxious to be a part of it once it began...

By the way, Franny, I've got you beat by two days, I believe

[theFRANCHISE]

By comparison, the Colts' official message board (founded around 2004) had to merge with an unofficial community to get to 30,000+ combined members; this message board was built from the ground-up with no merging or acquisitions needed to build the community.

I ran numbers back in January comparing the Ravens and Colts message boards, and we either matched or trumped their numbers at a staggering rate, especially considering that we're the younger community.

[Raven07]

As one of the first members alongside Franny haha lonngggg before the mod days "the dynamic Duo!" ..... and as this Messages boards First Hall of Famer ..... i must say this board has come a long way in the postive direction, establishing a team friendly, Family environment that ppl of all ages can come and talk football, really speaks volumes for the amount of time and work and dedication everyone has to these forums....

Congrats to all! and Keep it up!

[codizzle]

Its amazing how far the website and board has progressed so quickly... Just in the time ive been here the board has blown up and yet the mod's and admin's have handled it extremely well! This is by far not only the best nfl forum ive seen but probably the best forum period I have been a part of...
Congratulations everyone for being a part of the ravens community! The best fans in the world!!!!

[lgcs27288]

Go Ravens!
Go Forums!
Go Us!!!!!

[flynismo]

We rock. That is all.

[George70]

Although I may not speak as much concerning our team as others, let me say that I am proud to be a part of such a vibrant community online - I believe that I have even made some interesting friendships here, and I wish only the best for our online community in the months and years ahead.

[BALTIMOREFLACCO]

Siiiiiiiiiiiiick

[rlh445]

I feel so bad that I signed up in '07 and still have less than 1,000 posts, .

[PWNEDbyDEANO]

20000 members is pretty ridiculous. It means around 6500 join every year, meaning we have a rate of oveer 18 new members A DAY. For a relatively young franchise that's great.

Especially as I don't think we've ever been a bandwagon type team, except perhaps for the Superbowl year and this year.

[H8R]

H8R for MOD, THERE... I said it! : P

[Ravenmore74]

I think people are really starting to grasp the concept of "Purple and Black," and the Raven Branding...
I see more and more people wearing purple shirts and black pants and they to are making a statement and most fans already know what that statement is....

[Marc2k6]

Yes! April of 2007 members should get a special tag. Mods hook it up!

[Ryan561]

In my opinion we have the best forum of any other team...

[Perfekt]

its funny thinking back. i remember the days before i joined an just being a guest scanning the site.

[PuRock]

It depends what day it is but sometimes I am listed as a member since Dec 31, 2007, other times I'm listed as Jan 1, 2008. I think it has to do with daylight savings time. I was having a pretty boring New Years that year.

[Perfekt]

actually i didnt realize how long i had been on this site til i read this article. i have to say this site alone has made my ravens experience that much better. just wish they would start doing little giveaways to us fans again. Like say once a month they giveaway a signed ravens autograph shirt or something of that effect. would help to elevate our popular status even more.

[dpatrickguy]

This forum is awesome. Love coming here all of the time.

[UMDan]

[quote name='Ryan561' timestamp='1293035383' post='583222']
In my opinion we have the best forum of any other team...
[/quote]

Agreed!

I've only become a regular at the board recently and I really feel like this is a truly terrific site. I just want to thank everyone who helps make this board and the website run: the administrators, the moderators, the bloggers, all the other Flock members... and whoever else I forgot to mention. Without all of you this board wouldn't have reached 20,000: which is quite a feat. I hope to spend many more years on this board and I hope all of you are still around. I love the city of Baltimore, the Ravens, and BaltimoreRavens.com!

[bmorefan80]

Wow, 20k members! I know I haven't posted in the longest time, but I do come on the boards every week to see what other fans talk about.

It's good to see we are becoming a growing fanbase around the country and this board is just going to get bigger.

[Natural Born Hitters]

I am very glad to be apart of this forum and community. It truly has been great from the members to the mods. I believe I was the 76th member to join also. 20,000 members that is insane. GO RAVENS!

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='Perfekt' timestamp='1293036861' post='583236']
actually i didnt realize how long i had been on this site til i read this article. i have to say this site alone has made my ravens experience that much better. just wish they would start doing little giveaways to us fans again. Like say once a month they giveaway a signed ravens autograph shirt or something of that effect. would help to elevate our popular status even more.
[/quote]
Oh, we've got ideas...we've got ideas alright. We Mods are always submitting ideas to the Ravens Digital Media Team and your collective input has definitely helped shape the community, from added functionality to the overall layout of the message board, in addition to the content offered on BaltimoreRavens.com itself.

Cheap plug time, but it's always a good idea to drop a line in the Feedback section; that's how I got my start in terms of pitching ideas that later came to fruition in some form.

[PuRock]

Forget 20,000th, that was so yesterday! What's in right now is #20,016 - [size="6"][size="4"]natedog[/size][/size]

Welcome to the party!

[JEEPercreepermd]

Wow Congratulations and much thanks to all of those who put so much time and effort into making this such a great place to connect with other Ravens fans and just some really great people in general!

[Clutch Ravens]

We could fill a quarter of The Bank with Ravens forum members.

Ya think that has something to do with less-than-reputable sports news sources quoting this site from time to time? Like the Gaither for Asomugha debacle for example.

[svt2nv04]

Wow, that's cool. I didn't realize the forums here just opened up in April of 07...

[svt2nv04]

Wow, that's cool. I didn't realize the forums here just opened up in April of 07...

[ravensalways]

I've always liked this forum, I'm more of a reader than a poster though.

[Mahatma_Sloth]

I love this forum. been here since the beginning and I won't go anywhere else though it hasn't been as fun lately since i cant get into ridiculous arguments about Mark Clayton with Fly anymore