Feedback needed (corrected, with poll attached)

Brian, I honestly wouldnt like a limit, but I understand why it's need. I think the first 100 questions that arent dupilcates should be answered. I like it when youre happy. It makes your replies better and not as sarcastic. Thanks.

First 100 questions sounds fair. Thats roughly 10 sets on Fridays, hopefully that will lighten your already busy load.

Love your Q&A but 24 sets does get long even for reading so definitely not against you cutting down.

One easy suggestion would be to answer only one question on a given topic. When there are multiple questions I would say either combine them or just give more broad answer so you don't have to feel obligated answering 10 questions on the same recruit.

just pick the best ones that will you think provide the most info for the fans. we trust your judgment. 10 sets is perfect. keep up the great work Brian.

How about we just get rid of all the frivolous questions like "what is your favorite topping on pizza?" It's nice to have the "get to know Brian" element but this is a sports blog, not a gossip blog. Other candidates for deletion would be questions about other sports (like EPL soccer), etc. Let's just keep the Q&A on topic and I think that by itself will solve the problem.

There are a lot of duplicate questions. I would go for a 120-question limit, especially during the offseason.

Thanks Brian. Were there supposed to be options for us to choose from? You said "take a moment to click on a response."

My response is less in terms of limitations on total number of questions but rather on elimination (as much as possible) of duplicate questions. I think if you eliminate duplicates (within reason - just toss ones you recognize as having already been answered), that alone will control the number of questions and answers.

But yes, IMO some reduction would be very helpful. In the height of the fb season or as deadline for signing day approaches in recruiting, I find myself reading every Q&A, but honestly, when life is going on and there's no big crisis coming up, I'm skipping them, especially as therehave indeed been a significant number of repeats.

Whatever you decide, your blog is a terrific asset to all who are interested in Bruin sports. Appreciate it very much - thanks for all you do in this regard

Why don't you choose the best 50-100 questions that you think are worth answering? As much as I enjoy all of the Q and A, you could probably save yourself some time and stress by limiting the Q and A to 10 sets per week.

10 sets with you choosing which answers cover the most topics will work. I don't like the first 100 questions suggestions, I think that would lead to some folks powering through dozens of questions ASAP.
I could live with first 100, one question per person.

Thanks for all of your dedication to this blog.

Hi Brian,
I love the question and answer friday sessions, but could easily skip the comment section. Perhaps the suggestions to limit the questins to 100 or 150 would ease your load.
This is easily the best blog on MY internet (and I am on several in different areas), please keep it coming in whatever form works for you.
Thanks,
Bob

Brian I think ~150 or questions would be great. I would also appreciate you posting the answers in shorter intervals. I think most readers follow the blog at work, theres little incentive to read answers after 5pm on a Friday.

I think you should answer the number of questions that minimizes the impact on your weekend and that of your family. It's your blog, so answer the questions you are interested in regardless of topic.

Maybe those who ask questions should be required to sign in and one question per person.

-Either Choose the best 100 questions (your discretion)
-Or take the first 100 questions plus a bonus set of 10 (10 best of the remaining questions)

You can even put up a poll to help you decide (unless you already have a preference in mind)

Eliminate off-topic questions (like whether you prefer BJ's or Enzo's)
Eliminate duplicate questions
Done

This is another vote for eliminating duplicate questions. You often answer the same question or a close variation of it several times; I realize it may be more work for you to review the questions for redundancy but it might be easier in the long run.

I don't necessarily support a hard cap to the number of questions answered, some weeks are filled with hot-button topics that a lot of people want answers to.

And as far as the non-sports, non-UCLA questions: as much as I enjoy reading about the comparison between Chick-fil-A, the food given to the press at the Rose Bowl, and fried scorpions with Andrew Zimmern, I think those would be an easy place to begin to trim the fat and reduce the number of questions. Maybe you could just include links to blogs/forums for Deadliest Catch, Bizarre Foods, English Football Leagues, and Crocs.

By the way, thank you for all of your efforts.

I suggest you eliminate the comment anonymous button and that will alleviate many of the issues. Make these suckers sign up to chime in on the UCLA Gospel according to Dohn.

Wow! 15 comments in 15 minutes mid-day on a Monday.

Dohn, you must be doing something good!

Do yourself and the readers a favor. Just sift through the questions and pick out legitimate ones, and ignore the duplicates/hypotheticals. It gets tiring reading those types of questions, and it gets tiring reading your sarcastic responses to those questions.

100 or so replies sounds good to me. I love all the answers but some of the questions aren't really even necessary(screen out stupid questions).

Love the Q&A but would recommend limiting the number of questions/responses. My opinion would be to pick the questions you think are the most interesting and spend a set amount of time answering them. If you finish, great, otherwise, go be with your wife and kids and post what you got.

Oh, first come first serve shouldn't apply to questions...dumb questions don't take a lot of time to ask...heh.

I think everyone is grateful for your Q&As whether it is 10 questions or 1,000.

Why not use your discretion to eliminate questions that are duplicates? I can't count how many times I see the same exact question asked with 3 or 4 different words. That and eliminate hypotheticals automatically.

That should put it back in the 120-150 question range.

I don't know about limiting the number per se... I think it's great that you answer just about anything. Some questions require more involved answers and some don't.

Also, some people don't check the blog every minute of the day so Wednesday night after work... are screwed. I wouldn't go with the "First 100 nonduplicate questions posted"

You should toss the questions that are duplicated, hypothetical, or for some reason you don't like. Recruiting questions or personnel questions you really only need to answer once, e.g. How's so-and-so coming along.

I would say, have a approximate target number of sets 10-15. And just go through pick the more insightful questions and go until you feel like you've done enough.

I think they should be categorized.

My impression is that you answer the questions as they come in so organizing questions beforehand to avoid duplicates doesn't seem reasonable. I would say just answer the first question to come in on a given topic then only answer additional questions on that topic if the question/answer contains some new information or perspective.

As for all the off topic stuff, I do find some of it entertaining but I don't see any need to answer all of them and they have gotten pretty numerous. If you enjoy the question and have a humorous answer lined up go for it, otherwise skip it.

I like the number of questions and answers, but I understand your concern that it can get duplicative. If you get 5 questions about recruit X, maybe try answering the first one something like: "I got a bunch of questions about recruit X. Here's everything I know. . . . ." Or something like that; then you can delete the duplicative questions.

Don't allow anonymous commenting on the Q&A thread, so force everyone to register if they want to ask a question. I think that would inherently knock down the number of questions significantly.

First, make sure everyone knows only UCLA related questions will be answered. Dump the ones that aren't.

Have your programmer program in three choices that the the question asker MUST choose from (1) football-related; (2) basketball-related; (3) general...before entering his question. This will automatically sort the questions for you.

Delete duplicate questions. Decide for yourself if you want to limit the total number of questions per week.

I wouldn't limit the number of questions and answers. Nor would I go with a "first 100" system, since not everyone can be at their computer on Wednesday when you put the posting up. Eliminating off-topic questions and duplicative questions, may be useful. Plus, I predict the number of questions will decrease substantially after the football signing date for recruits in February. Right now is just a busy time of year.

First, make sure everyone knows only UCLA related questions will be answered. Dump the ones that aren't.

Have your programmer program in three choices that the the question asker MUST choose from (1) football-related; (2) basketball-related; (3) general...before entering his question. This will automatically sort the questions for you.

Delete duplicate questions. Decide for yourself if you want to limit the total number of questions per week.

1. Eliminate all questions from anonymous posters; if someone wants to ask a question then he/she needs to register.
2. Limit the number of entries/questions per poster, say one entry and no more than two questions.
3. Don't eliminate the social/personal aspects of the Q&A.

Many Thanks!

120 question limit (Brian 150 is too much for you to do!) and one per poster (so they must be signed in to get question answered). Sounds good to me

My two cents; treat it like the player Q&A. You set the number of Q's you want to answer and pick the best/ones you want to answer. If that includes Liverpool Q's, fine by me, I trust your discretion.

Remember, we are the ones who owe you for all your time and hard work, and we appreciate it!

I think the number of questions will be significantly reduced if you eliminate duplicate questions.

I basically like the format just the way it is. Dohn should use his discretion in taking questions. Also, readers need to be smarter in the questions they ask.

Don't ask who the "silent commits" are--they are silent for a reason and Dohn isn't going to disclose them during Q&A.

Don't ask things like "what's the latest on Hasiak"--I think we now that Dohn is going to report legitimate stuff once he knows it and the sources allow him to.

Don't ask him to read the minds of people, especially 17-year-old recruits he barely knows. He doesn't know what Carrol, Flournoy, Teo, or anyone else is thinking.

Don't ask about which guy from the scout team is going to start at left tackle next season...he doesn't know that, either.

Don't ask too many hypotheticals. He clearly doesn't like answering them.

Don't ask things that aren't realistic, like what would happen in Love, Westrbook, and Luc all played this year.

I have a problem with the question cap since the so many questions may be used up by repeat/what if questions.

If there is a cap I say Brian should be able to weed out the repeats and useless questions.

I'm not really all that pleased with the choices, so I'll give you my two cents via a comment, and you can place it where you see fit. First, you should combine questions - put all related recruiting together, especially as it pertains to a particular recruit. Second, feel free to skip off topic questions, like who has the best press box food, etc. However, if they add to fun of the blog, then leave them in as you decide. Finally, while I like the idea of not having anonymous posters, I see where people have created multiple sock puppets for themselves, so I'm not sure that making them register will solve much. I like the blog and Q&A, but it takes me three days at least to catch up on all the questions. Shorter is probably better.

I do not feel you should put a limit on the number of questions asked. Some of the best questions are asked near the end and some of the worst come at the beginning.

Instead I think you should feel free to ignore those questions which are duplicative of others already answered, crazy hypotheticals and others which you deem to be uninformitive or stupid, and questions which seem to be deliberately insulting or nasty. I think the vast majority of your loyal readers trust your discretion.

Also, I think there is currently a spike in the number of questions because the basketball season is in full gear and football recruiting is at a critical stage. There are other months (i.e., May through July) when little is going on and the number of questions will undoubtedly drop. At those times, you may wish people were asking more questions.

In general, it should be up to you what you do with the blog, but my suggestions would be:

1. Eliminate frivolous questions.

2. Post two entries, one for basketball, one for football, each week that cover recruiting for each sport. It wouldn't change much week to week so hopefully wouldn't be much of a burden (cut and paste from previous week - make 2 or 3 updates) but would answer most of the questions that are out there (especially at this time of year). Something like this:

Morrell Presley (TE) - offered, committed, signed LOI
Devon Kennard (DE) - offered, low interest (most likely to USC)
Manti Te'o (SLB) - offered, med interest (25%)
Myles Wade (DT) - not offered, other issues
etc.

I agree with the other comment that right now with football recruiting and basketball going at the same time, this is an unusually busy period. I bet when football recruiting is over the number of questions becomes more manageable.

Also, I wouldn't limit the number of questions, but maybe eliminate duplicative questions.

The Q&A is one of the best parts of an excellent blog. I wouldn't fool with it much, plus I bet it generates a lot of hits (I'm trying to help your bottom line).

I have a username that I signed up for a while back but always ask questions anonymously. If anonymous commenting is eliminated I'll just sign in. It's not going to have any effect on the number of questions. There's no barrier to entry.

Brian, as long as the question has to do with UCLA sports, it should be used. I don't think a cap is necessary, but the poems, chick fil a, and questions not related to UCLA need to go. 25 different sets of answers, with a good portion of them not relating to UCLA is a classic case of diminishing returns.

Brian, your blog is great and to be able to ask the preeminent UCLA beat writer questions every week is phenomenal. That said I agree with many of the posts above about how to eliminate a number of questions without creating an artificial limit:
1. eliminate off-topic questions (chick fil-a, VB junk, etc.)
2. elminate duplicate questions
3. a lot of the ridiculous comments would be eliminated if you required people to use a user name and not "Anonymous". that way, you can also see the users that are not acting appropriately and take action against them.

Brian,

I love the Q and A. However, you are now getting so many questions that your answers are broken out over two days and over 20 posts. I think the best system would be to limit the number to 150 or so questions and that you choose the questions you believe are most interesting or would give the general readership the information they most covet.

Also, if there is a way to put more content in each post instead of having so many separate posts, it would make navigating the posts more use friendly.

Thanks for all your hard and good work!!!! My mom went to Rutgers and she would be proud... if she cared about sports, that is.

100 questions.
1 per registered user.

Your blog is a great addendum to your reporting. Using it to provide insight on issues that do not rise to a level of a full newspaper article (or notebook item) is a great service to diehard fans. I also enjoy your personal insight into covering UCLA athletics (interaction with coaches, going beyond the x's and o's, etc.). It gives diehard fans an opportunity to feel closer to the program than just sitting in the stands and reading generic sports reporting.
In regard to Q/A: Take whatever action will improve the quality/value of the responses. You have a unique vantage point from which to comment on UCLA athletics. The Q/A would be more interesting if you only responded to q's that leverage your unique perspective.

Keep up the great work.

1) limit one question per registered user, no anonymous questions.

2) do NOT limit to first 150/200 questions without one question rule because VB and his aliases and friends will just hog up all the questions.

3) do NOT limit to only serious questions, because the chik-fil-a type of questions actually give the blog some personality.

4) if possible (it should be), to match ip addresses to eliminate repeat posters using aliases. or just request to not post under multiple aliases, just one question per person, and check ip addresses and ban offenders.

5) post quick hit answers in the same post as announcing the q&a session to not get those items repeated in questions.

6) if all the above is accomplished, then limit the questions to 100-150.

I voted for no cap, but if there is to be a cap, it would be nice if the answers are more than some of the snarky "this is a stupid question" answers that (rightfully) appear currently.

I guess it boils down to: if you're going to limit the quantity, make sure you increase the quality. (and no more soccer/rutgers/butt-kissing posts, if there's going to be a limit)

Do with it as you see fit, but please remember what keeps us coming back to the blog, making you more visible, and hopefully making you more money :)

Doing all this picking and choosing seems ideal but in the end might actually take more of Brian Dohn's time.

100 question hard cap.

Only one Haiku per week. Pick the best one.

I don't think there should be a limit, but I think all of the hypothetical questions need to be taken out. We don't need to have questions like "What would happen if Trevor Ariza stayed all 4 years" and things like that. I think that if these were eliminated, the number of questions would go down quite a bit. Otherwise, I think the Q & A's are a great idea, and I definitely want them to continue!

Eliminate questions that repetitive

Please do NOT remove the personal information. It adds color to the segment and makes viewers feel like they know you, which in turn adds to the loyalty of your viewers. Come on, don't take away the one thing I look at during work that can make me laugh out loud. My co-workers faces are too priceless when they realize I'm not being productive. You're not going to make me miss that, are you?

And I realize the irony of this statement being repetitive itself, but yeah, just remove the repetitive questions on recruits, etc. At least with the personal we get something new each time. Go Reds and Stevie G's defense attorney!!!!!!!

Separate the Wednesday Q&A into 2 sections. You can post one,

Q&A: General Questions

the other,

Q&A: Recruiting

to focus on commits, verbals, etc which is when you tend to have the most repetitive Qs. The variety that asks "Where do you think Flournoy is going to commit." This will help filter the Qs and you can easily toss out Qs that don't belong.

I like both the serious questions about football and hoops but also enjoy the Qs about Chick-A-Fil, PapaJohns, Rutgers, your journalistic experiences, and what Alfred eats for dinner. Some of these have become an running gags that never ceases to bring laughs.

The thing is, you can experiment and go back if things aren't working to your satisfaction. Hopefully, it's not a huge demand on your time. You already go the extra mile and then some.

If you get rid of the question and answer portion from the website do you think it will speed up the download time? Seriously it's the worst ever. Oh wait, that’s another question, dang it!!!

Last week I got carried away and asked a ton of questions. All except three or four questions from sets XI to XVI are from me. I won't do this anymore and this should cut down on the overall number. Shoot--what else could I possibly ask??

I love your Q&As and can read them for hours. Please don't ever stop!

My Suggestions.

1. Don't answer questions that can be answered via a quick skim of your blog's recent posts (if people don't want to take the time to read your posts, you shouldn't take the time to answer their questions).

2. limit off topic question to 5-10 per week (only really funny ones like the Bond movie one should make it in).

3. don't answer stupid questions, or ones merely designed to get a rise out of people.

4. don't answer hypotheticals unless they are particularly imaginative.

Gurgle Gurgle

Hey don't limit to just the first 100...sometimes I log on Wednesday at 3 pm and there's already over 100!

Dohn, why not just pick the questions you want to answer. No need to answer the same or similar question twice or go through the time to post a question and reply with saying Im not answering this question. Use some person digression and just skip certain questions. But I agree, having more then 15 sets is too much even for the reader.

Off topic, but is it time for the staff to use the ace in the hole on Hasiak? Rumors going around that he decommitted.

The question right above mine is a perfect example of what should be excluded from Q&A.

Here's a suggestion for Brian: When you introduce the Q&A each week, mention if there's any line of questioning that is off limits. For example, if there are recent posts on the topic or no new news, just say that pre-emptively to ward off extra questions.

I love the blog and the weekly Q&A so leaving it as is would be fine. But limiting it to 150 questions would be fine as well. However, whether you put a cap on it or not, what seems to me to make the most sense is to skip questions already asked and to skip questions that are completely hypothetical. Just update the instructions to note that Q's over 50 words, hypothetical questions and repeated questions (already asked earlier in the same week) will not be answered. Then you probably wont even have to limit it to 150 as it will probably just naturally be less than 150 most weeks. I think this will result in less work for you and wont substantially affect the quality of the blog or the information flow.

I think an FAQ qould be a good idea, and then just put the most commonly asked questions on there. Otherwise, just delete q's you dont wanna answer or are duplicates.