First off, I need to confess, I've been a bit of a lurker lately. I haven't been on the site much in the last year but I do come in on occasion. We adopted a puppy and having 3 pigs and a dog along with fighting Fibromyalgia now for about a year has pretty much kept me from getting involved in much of anything.
However, now all my 'spidey-senses' are tingling with the upcoming movie. I would like to see if we can take advantage of an opportunity and a challenge that will be presented to
GPC.
I might be overthinking it..but it would be really super if
GPC as a community was prepared for the onslaught of people who will be researching guinea pigs after this movie launches. Now that
GPC appears in the first of nearly every search for Guinea Pigs.. (YAY!!!) I think it is a great opportunity for teaching. I think the chance for the community to show it's 'true quality' (
Lord of the Rings reference) is here.
IMHO..it would be a huge opportunity (and Challenge!) to keep them from turning to to certain other breeder forums with questionable motives and as well as information. It would be nice to see a bit of a 'welcoming' approach to those seeking information for the first time with some kind of a filtering method to get the information dissemenated without constantly repeating ourselves, or forcing them to dig for it.
Does anyone know if the mods might consider opening up a special forum just for those who researching whether to get a guinea pig or not and have questions or some kind of a way to sort of 'flow' the newbies into a general area that is closely monitored by the more experienced folks?
As cool as the site has become, it's almost information overload when you first get here. It would be nice if there was some kind of a pop-up that recommended they go to an 'introduction' page for
GPC before posting or upon arrival or something. I don't know..I'm just brainstorming here.
Of course, there will be a lot of people looking to dump their pigs a few months to a year after the movie opens. I'd love to see a place where people can talk about options for those who feel they have to get rid of their pigs for dumb reasons that are easily fixed..you know..like 'I'm allergic to hay" or "they stink" or whatever...
Have
T or the mods, considered talking to Disney's people about having a referral link from their movie page...or writing an informational page for them on their own site?