Unofficial CIHL Discussion Forum - A Huge Success

November 24, 2004

The Central Interior Hockey League has over the last few months, begun to take advantage of the World Wide Web as a tool to promote, inform and market to fans and sponsors alike. The League and most of the teams now have their own web-sites, but one key ingredient was missing; Fans from around the Central Interior Hockey League needed a place to meet online and talk about the league, their favorite teams, players and other issues.

The first full league-wide discussion forum was launched on October 9, 2004. Using the Network54 hosting service, the forum is based on the very similar and popular British Columbia Hockey League forum. The discussion forum was the idea and creation of Williams Lake resident, Duane Muir. Duane is also the President of the Williams Lake Stampeders Hockey Club, the team's webmaster and handles media relations for the Stampeders.

The discussion forum allows an individual to post a message, and other participants then respond with a series of messages related to that topic. Over the last several weeks, everything from "tough guys" to "goaltending", "officiating" to "rookies" has been discussed in detail. The responses range from humorous to critical. The forum is a great place to find information, and is often the first place that weekend game box scores and summaries will appear, sometimes within minutes of completion of a game.

The forum currently has two moderators who ensure that the content and language stays within proper boundaries. Both moderators have the ability to edit messages, and in extreme cases, to delete messages entirely. After a somewhat salty start, the various participants are becoming accustomed to the guidelines maintained.

It is hoped that this new tool will help to foster healthy team rivalries, and to provide an outlet for fans to express their opinions. So if you've got something on your mind about the CIHL and you want to ask the question or make a point, come check out the site at:

https://www.network54.com/Forum/355976

Duane Muir,
President,
Williams Lake Stampeders