I recently posted a message on Kurt's Charlie Chan Message Board that I will also post here. Recently, the Message Boards have almost come to a halt. There are days and weeks with little or no activity. This is probably due to many issues, but I think the most important aspect is a lack of new people. "New voices" are necessary to keep any discussion group going. There are several Chan/Mystery Movie message sites that I am aware of, such as this site, Kurt's site, John Betancourt's site, Yahoo Chan site, etc. My thought is this - is there a way to electronically link all of these Message Boards, so that one Internet address will open up all of the message boards? A user can look at once at all of the topics being discussed, and would be a "member" of all sites at once. This might help stimulate activity, by allowing one master site instead of multiple small struggling sites. One person also suggested that all of the message boards be linked into one Facebook site. Once we create some sort of linkage, we then need to promote the site on the Internet so others become aware of it. I first learned of Kurt's site many years ago when I bought a Chan item on eBay, and the eBay seller had a link to the Message Board. There is an untapped group of movie buffs out there, who probably don't even know we are all here. I don't know much about Facebook, and I'm not a computer whiz, but does anyone else have any thoughts about these ideas?

John, kind of ironic nobody's replied to your message...yet. So... :).

First, just wanted to note what a great job Rush is doing on keeping Charlie alive with this site. I recently had an email conversation with him on some thoughts I had (which he graciously allowed me to pontificate upon).

I agree with you on "Newbies", but one question is how do you get them. Here are a couple ideas that I've seen:

1. ON-LINE EMAIL SIGN UP. Need a place for people to sign-up to an email listing. I have a site (music) and have to beg, borrow, and steal to get people to sign up...and these are friends and relatives!. However, everything I've read, says that an effective email listing is supposedly the best way to keep people coming back, notify them of functions & events, and (according to the info I get) is better than facebook, twitter, etc.

2. SITE UP-DATES. Regular updates to the Homepage. There always needs to be something new! In otherwords, a reason for people to revisit the site. Rush has the monthly poll, which is a great example! Some other examples might be:

a) A daily Charlie Chan Quote. Rush is doing this already in his weekly emails, which is cool! However, can you imagine if every new day you logged on you click an ICON--a bong sounds, followed by an aphorism from the movies! "APHORISM OF THE DAY"

b) How about a weekly test on next weeks movie. I'e. 5 or 10 multiple choice questions, such as: "What famous actress is featured in next weeks film?", "How many aphorisms does Charlie speak?", "What makes Charlie Chan in London significant", etc.

c) "This day in Chan history". Rush has collected a truly remarkable list of events, ranging from 1871 - 2013 listed under his "CHRONOLOGY" tab. They include: Birthdays, deaths, trips, appearances of actors and characters, as well as Film debuts, location information, and anything and everything connected to Charlie, by date! What if those popped up on the homepage on the day of the current year!

3. ACTUAL REAL WORLD EVENTS. I only know of two other events that actually offer the public (i.e. newcomers) a chance at experiencing Charlie Chan. Steve Fredrick's Charlie Chan tour in Honolulu, which is awesome! and the Chan movies periodically being show at the Old Town Music Hall, El Segundo, CA, and listed on the site under "BULLETIN BOARD". Sherlock Holmes has a museum in London, as well as a restaurant, and movies every few years (now showing "Mr. Holmes" staring Ian McKellen). And now, check this out, http://www.sherlocked.com/ -- The first ever, Sherlock Holmes Convention! So what about Charlie? As I mentioned other than those first two events, I know of no others. (except perhaps the book signings and lectures by author Yunte Huang).

OK, I hope I didn't offend anyone or go overboard spouting out my bright ideas all over the place ("Easier said than done", I know!) Rush told me he maintains the site in his spare time with little help, and there's no monetary support. And what a great job he's doing...hat's off to you Rush.

Maybe what we need to do is start a non-profit or something "The Fan's of Chan" or "The Charlie Chan Connection" or something, and actually sit around and talk about a game plan on keeping Charlie Alive for generations to come? We could host something centrally, or via a webinar. Then come up with ideas, such as: Web site support, benefactors, maybe a Charlie Chan convention, or a filmfest? (I dream big :)

Anyway, someone finally answered your post John (ha, ha).

TXS
Lou

Hello, John and Lou!

As Lou noted, I work on this site "in my spare time," which is sadly in too sort a supply! Both of you gentlemen make great points! I will bring the main issue up at tonight's Chat session and see what the collected thoughts are there in this regard. one of our most active members is also very much into Facebook and, in fact, has already set-up a Facebook site (is that the correct terminology?) linked to this present site. perhaps she can link to the others and that can at least become something of a beginning?

I feel that another reality is that many Charlie Chan fans are "aging out." Younger people, for the most part, have probably never even heard of Mr. Chan, and if they have, any reference may have come by them in the form of a negative snipe in a sociology or a film history class, etc. in college! If we could get one or more of the nostalgia-based cable channels to carry occasional Charlie Chan movies, that could go some way in remedying the situation, perhaps. Anyway...

Thank you BOTH, once again.

Sincerely,
Rush

Yes Rush,
I agree that we may be "aging out." I'm, er, north (way north) of 50 and I first saw a Charlie Chan film on Saturday afternoon TV in Pittsburgh sometime in the mid-60s. At work, I'm one of the oldest people on my floor and tried a non-scientific experiment yesterday: I asked 9 colleagues who I took to all be under 35 if they'd ever seen a Charlie Chan movie or heard the name. Eight of the nine were clueless; "No man, is he on 'Game of Thrones'? "Didn't he do some films with Kurosawa"? "Is that a guy or a chick"? You get the idea.
One fellow said he'd seen "The Jade Mask" and "The Chinese Cat" only because his father had them on DVD. I'm going to lend him three movies and see what he thinks. Recruiting new viewers can be an uphill fight in these "PC" times (and you know what I'm talking about)

I like your term "aging out"! That's a nice way of putting it Jamison. I first saw the Chan films in the early 80's on my local PBS station and have loved them ever since.

I'm going to give some DVDs to my local library in the hopes of sparking some interest in Chan and perhaps offering to do a Friday night showing this winter. Our local arts council has outdoor movies and I may approach them about showing Chan. These films have multiple appeals - art/film/history etc. To see them is to love them.

Janin,
That's a very good idea about donating DVDs to a library. I'm going to approach someone in charge at my neighborhood library and see if they're amenable.

I approached the person in charge of acquiring DVDs and blu-rays at my local library about donating three or four Chan DVDS and two "Saints." She said she appreciated the offer, but no thanks because the films were all in black-and-white and the Chan flicks would probably be "unacceptable" to library members. I tried to get her to say why,exactly, but she hemmed and hawed and I had other places to go.