[sR.Kumo]

+ [More Interaction and Involvement Between Clans and New Players] +

I agree wholeheartedly with both Alan and NirvAnA. I know how it feels to try to get involved in a community, and then find out that the community is so tightly knit (although this most certainly is a good thing), that it is almost impossible to actually join in and become a part of that community. I get this feeling constantly, when I try to join servers on other games (namely, Minecraft), and I can't actually get into the community because everyone is such good friends with other that you feel left out instinctually.

Similarly to Alan's case, I joined these forums (at that time solely for the BSG), and I didn't actually post or read threads until a few weeks later. I started off just posting threads asking questions about general gaming related things, and later on moved on to regularly posting, reading threads, and finally actively being a part of the forum community. But the first step I took, before I feel that I actually joined the community, was joining a clan. I talked to the few people I knew on the forums, (pretty much just Shockwave at the time), and I got recommended to join AxiS from him, and I've been with them since.

Basically, a core part of getting to know people and getting involved in the community revolves around knowing people, and the easiest and quickest way to get to know people, I feel, is joining a clan. Sure, people don't need to join a clan to get to know others, but for a new member, it's a lot nicer to start off that way. Even if there are lots of people you don't actually know, every once in a while, you'll think, "Oh! it's that guy! He's in my clan isn't he? I talked to him on Skype yesterday!" and feel some sense of belonging on the forums themselves.

And through that, you get to know others. Those few clan members you see on the forums, makes you feel comfortable to talk with others, and you open up to and become a more closely tied part of the community.

I think, as Alan said, if clans actually looked for members rather than members looking for clans, that for one would initiate more bonding and involvement between new members and the current community.

+ [idea that I already spoke to Nirv about] +

idk if it's possible
but if when people signed up to the forums, there was a question on the registration screen
asking, "Are you looking to join a clan," and if they answered yes, their account name would automatically get added to a list, on a page that only clan leaders can access
that would be cool :P and they can toggle that option on their profile.
so like, clan leaders can actually look and see, oh, a diamond toss is looking for a clan? I want PD toss players, lets PM him"
because when people join JUST for BSG or GPD like I did
you don't bother making posts, so if you don't post on the "LF Clan" thread, no one even knows about you
so this would help players who first join JUST for tourneys, to actually get scouted out
and some time later they become part of community

+ [Site Promotion and Advertisement] +

I personally am willing to help out to my fullest, regarding getting people to know of this site. The only problem is:

- I really have no IRL friends who are into gaming of any sort. The few that are are more into LoL, WoW, and Shooter games.
- I live in Europe. So the people from here that I do interact with who are into Starcraft, would be more inclined to play on European servers.

Especially now with leveling, one of the primary things I had to deal with when convincing my brother to join this community was that he was attached to his HoTS level and all the profiles, decals,and rewards it earns you. Sure, this may seem rather petty, but it's still something to be attached to. Sure, you'll get back into your right league with ease, but you've already worked to earn something elsewhere, why in their minds would it make sense to leave it and earn it elsewhere.

Other than that though, I'm glad to help out promoting Sc2sea on the internet. On various FB gaming groups I'm involved in, I have sometimes already posted about the BSG and GPD tournaments this site runs. Sure, that's only a fraction of this site, but hopefully from that foothold they could get involved in the community the way I have done.

I feel, however, that it would be much easier to accomplish for member of our community already living in the SEA region - the vast majority of the forum members, so to say. If you have friends involved in eSports, and Starcraft, show them to the forums, and try to get them to join our community! Sure, I know sometimes you prefer to not involve your IRL friends in your gaming life. I'm like that myself, since my friends are not very much into gaming, I prefer to keep my nerdiness confined to this place, and away from them ^_^

But if it can help the community grow, and your friends are as much into the game as you are, what's to lose?

One more thing that should be focused on, in my opinion. When there's a barcraft, or a tournament, the majority of sc2sea members in that city that it's being hosted in, will probably attend. But, there will also be people from that city who aren't members of sc2sea, at the event.
SHAMELESSLY PLUG SC2SEA .
Wether it's at tournaments or barcrafts, or any other Starcraft event, if you just somehow, get people there to know about this wonderful forum, every person you bring here helps us develop our goal ^_^

I'll add more points later, there are a few more things I had in mind, they've slipped me now though. And it's touching midnight.. and school starts tomorrow .-.

Edit: see? Organized Kumo uses spoilers and to make everything neat and unclustered, unlike everyone else!