A weekly "Ask the expert" thread?

[Scottish Business Owner]

I have an idea I want to run past you all. I'd like to look into organising a weekly ask the expert thread on the forums.

Pretty simple idea we post up a topic or idea and introduce the expert and then people can ask them questions on their area of expertise with the main benefit being that all the info is kept in one thread.

So any thoughts or suggestions on whether this is a good idea? What about how we could make it better or of more value

 

[kmbookkeeping]

To be honest , I think there are too few posts at present to want to compress them into a single thread. Perhaps something to stimulate discussion, but I notice only maybe one or two posts per day.

Kris

 

[amestaper]

Anything that gets folks talking must surely be a good idea? An individual forum with a highlighted topic every week would develop into a helpful bank of information over time and may attract more traffic and new members interested in what questions people are asking.

Do you propose private or public discussions and would the 'experts' be guest users invited from off site?

One criticism , but only with the thread title. Would any candidates want the lofty title of 'expert' bestowed upon them, when very few ever are, and risk having their credibility bashed by replies from members who just don't like a smart arse? I've seen this happen at my own forum when a new member with many years experience encouraged questions and people tried to shoot him down. Althought he had the best of intentions, I removed their thread out of respect for their online profile that was taking a kicking.

I think a casual pub talk Q&A would work though.

 

[Mike Lewis]

,

I think the idea is worth trying. But to pick up Kris's point, it should be a different thread for each expert. And the thread title should reflect the area of expertise.

Mike

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Appreciate the comments so far

Kris - take your point about the forums not being busy. I think I will do a separate post in the private section regarding this to perhaps bounce some ideas around.

Mike - I kind of see each weeks post being a separate thread. I would put the post in whatever section was most appropriate and maybe sticky it for the week it was running. I would also look to promote this via social media etc in the hope it could entice new people into the forums.

Keep your thoughts coming