Inside Self-Storage announced today that its free online forum, Self-Storage Talk, has passed the 3,000 member mark. The 3,000th member, identified only by his user name, JakeChis, registered for the forum on Friday -- allowing Self-Storage Talk to meet its 3,000 member goal a full two months before its self-imposed deadline of July 4.
Inside Self-Storage had been hoping to meet the 3,000 members goal since mid-March, when it began a community expansion campaign. On March 17, the forum's Community Manager, John Carlisle, announced that Self-Storage Talk had set its goal as 3,000 members by Independence Day. At the time, Self-Storage Talk had around 2,650 registered members.
"I'm thrilled and somewhat surprised that the community met the goal so quickly," Carlisle said in today's article at Inside Self-Storage. "On the other hand, Self-Storage Talk members rise to meet challenges again and again. They take pride in the site and wanted to see it grow by leaps and bounds."
In mid-April, Self-Storage Talk members set a record for the most users online at one time: 560. The forum's previous record was 362, on Jan. 8. The surge of users online was probably stimulated by the delivery of Self-Storage Talk's monthly email newsletter, which was delivered that day. An Inside Self-Storage article about the surge of users going online noted that many of them had just begun posting again after allowing their memberships to become inactive for a period of time.
Self-Storage Talk is divided into several forums on different self-storage-related topics. There is a forum dedicated to the upcoming Inside Self-Storage World Expo in New Orleans (Sept. 29-Oct. 1). There are forums dedicated to day-to-day management of a self storage facility, marketing, education and training, construction and development, financing, legal issues, and technology. One of the most interesting forums may be Self-Storage Talk's "Tales from the Trenches," a forum dedicated to bizarre or interesting stories of strange items stored or unusual events at self storage facilities. The site also has specialty forums that focus on particular geographic areas and ancillary services.
Sources used:
"Self-Storage Talk users break participation record." Inside Self-Storage. April 12, 2010.
"Self-Storage Talk surpasses 3,000 members." Inside Self-Storage. May 3, 2010.