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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 4, 2013 13:54:17 GMT -9
I agree with a lot of 519 thoughts.
for the casual user of web pages and forum pages(such as myself) they need constant changes to the front page of a web site, and not just words, or announcements, we don't read a lot of the words so don't realize when they've changed, case in point of the little test that was performed on the forum pages banner. The casual user (such as myself) isn't familiar enough with computers in general to just start clicking around a web site searching for things that are new. heck we don't even have any idea there's so much there behind the scenes.
We need pictures and obvious changes to the front page to entice us to continue clicking around, otherwise it just looks from the out side like no one ever updates the page. And we stop going there.
I don't go there looking for any new material, I only use the site for getting to the forum pages.
Although I will say I was told about the calendar contest photos being posted there and I thoroughly enjoyed going through them and have more than once.
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Post by akgh519 on Dec 4, 2013 14:31:43 GMT -9
Fuzzy...great point Ie Nothing obviously new ie pics on the front page one probably won't look further
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 4, 2013 14:38:46 GMT -9
Maybe a link to an article from the news letter under a photo. If we want the GeoAK! site to gain more followers there needs to be a little bait put on it.
Please keep in mind these are only ideas from someone who doesn't know any better.
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Post by akgh519 on Dec 4, 2013 14:51:44 GMT -9
Fuzzy, That is one of the nicest ways I have been described.....or were you talking about yourself!!!!! Teehee
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 4, 2013 15:31:13 GMT -9
I'm with Scott about use. Photos are just one aspect of how people interact with the geocaching world.
Facebook and Twitter (and now Instagram) are becoming the primary ways that people are getting their "information". Businesses know that they must engage on these levels to remain relevant. I don't see how we'd want to be any different.
I've done website creation and maintenance for outreach organizations before, and I've created and maintained facebook presence as well. Add on my experience with MailChimp, and I have experience with everything but Twitter. (I had a Twitter account, but deleted it...)
I'm going to post yet another stream of consciousness...bear with me...
Website: The website needs some love. It is a primary way that outsiders interact with us. From Land Managers to those who happen in from links on the geocaching.com website, we are going to see traffic there. Information will need to be streamlined and "prettied up" to make it clear where resources are, and what they can find within those resources. The website should also clearly link to our Facebook presence (Group and/or Page), and Twitter account.
Facebook: -Group: The Group is great. Just like how Scott laid it all out, the way users interact is much better. It can be an essential part of the "converstation" about geocaching in Alaska. This is where we can follow converstations in realtime from our mobile devices (if we have the Facebook app and an account there). Photos, stories, questions, and more can be posted and discussed on the Group. -Page: The Page is the only way we can reach those outside of our "closed" Group in the Facebook realm. It can be easy enough to populate the Page and the Group. Having visibility to those outside of the Group is just as vital as our website (and Twitter, for that matter). Populating the newsfeed on the Page is easy enough with the integration of the MailChimp direct email system. All items that are relevant to the Page can be auto-posted to the Page. No need to do any extra work--the newsletter, event announcements, contests, etc can all be sent out via a MailChimp mailing and it will autopost to the Facebook Page. We just need to have Wes look into giving admin privilages to someone, and/or we create a new Page.
Twitter: Easy to post to. Simple messaging, links to articles, etc, and simple photo uploads. With the following we have from Land Managers, it is clearly an easy way to connect to folks. MailChimp also interfaces and cross-posts to Twitter if we (Scott) give permissions to access the account to post.
Instagram: Simple to post to. Combines Twitter and cellphone photography. Uses hashtags to link people to the account or phrase you want to. Simple cross-postablilty within the app to post to Twitter and Facebook automatically. For users of Instagram, it is a slam-dunk. It doesn't really have to be "maintained" in any way, other than to have a username linked to GeocacheAlaska! so people can tag and hashtag to the account. Photos posted to Instagram for GeocacheAlaska! will populate the photostream on the account, and "feed" for hashtags. Personally, I think we can put Instagram on the back burner for BoD consideration, as someone can just as easily start their own account, name it "GeocacheAlaska!", and start the photostream.
Newsletter: The newsletter is huge. I think we could tone it down. When Cathy told me how much content she already had before I even submitted my copy for my story, I was blown away. I think soliciting stories is good, but I also think that we should limit how much goes into each newsletter. As someone who has done newspaper publications, I can see where we might want to focus our attention on a set number of features, solicit for those features, and keep it simple. For example: President's Corner; Upcoming Event Announcements; Travel Log (like what Mike has sent in after his travel exploits); General announcements; Event/Geocache Outing stories; Monthly contests.
Much of what is relevant, yet unknown to users is going to be what is discussed in these forums and on the facebook/twitter page. Many stories for the newsletter could (and should) be taken right from those sources. If we are talking about event planning, or a change/concern to land policy or whatever, it should be in the newsletter. The Newsletter should be...news. The Newsletter is the one thing everyone will want to see as a member. It comes to them via email, Facebook and Twitter. That way, everyone can see the news of GeocacheAlaska in whatever form suits them.
To that end, the Newsletter can be put into a digest form ala other MailChimp newsletters I get from local, state, and federal non-profits. Simple, easy-to-read content that links to the whole Newsletter, hosted on the Website.
I plan on creating such a digest in MailChimp from the upcoming newsletter from Cathy. That way I can shoot a copy out to anyone who wants to see what I'm talking about, including the BoD. The only thing that I won't be able to do is show how the Twitter and Facebook integration works, because I don't have admin access to the Twitter account or Facebook Page. MailChimp isn't a new form of social media, rather it is a simple direct email system that makes some good-looking, easy to create emails for our subscribers.
Clear as mud, once again I'm sure...
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 4, 2013 15:39:16 GMT -9
Speaking of all of these accounts, would we want to have the Facebook, Twitter, etc. accounts all on one, single email address? Can we have these accounts for the Facebook Page, Facebook Group, Twitter, MailChimp, etc all on one @geocachelaska.org email address? That way we can have anyone who maintains these accounts use the same account.
Also, with people moving, leaving the game, no longer on the board, etc, the email address and account info would carry with the organization, and not any one single person.
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 4, 2013 18:03:20 GMT -9
Website: The website needs some love. It is a primary way that outsiders interact with us. From Land Managers to those who happen in from links on the geocaching.com website, we are going to see traffic there. Information will need to be streamlined and "prettied up" to make it clear where resources are, and what they can find within those resources. The website should also clearly link to our Facebook presence (Group and/or Page), and Twitter account. That's what I thought the web page was for. People from all over the world should be wanting to visit our web site. plus all the land managers, our web site needs to look like it doesn't get forgotten. Where does it say that "the web site is to be used for "permanent" stuff and not for making announcements? I would think it would be the first place searchers go to look for us. Yes the web site does need some love please keep up the nudging Summer
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 4, 2013 18:11:57 GMT -9
But the truth is, the website ranks very low on the scale for how members want to interface with the club. Thus it has only been getting functional updates (adding newsletters every month, posting the photo contests, running the sales pages in the store). And that's all that an overworked and understaffed BoD is going to be able to do at the moment. It sounds like you should let Neversummer take on some of the work. it' sounds like he really knows his stuff. I'd like to make a suggestion. A single board member shouldn't be working on more than 2-3 things at a time. When a person works on to many things none of them come out decent.
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 4, 2013 18:15:31 GMT -9
How bout current links to the folks from the land manger section. Those links go no where.
And what is that projects section anyway? Those links don't work either.
The maps of the BLM make it look like there's no caches there at all.
Old stuff like that helps no one.
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 4, 2013 20:00:13 GMT -9
How bout current links to the folks from the land manger section. Those links go no where. Can you be more specific about which links don't work for you? I clicked through the first eight or ten and they all worked. The links to people's names open an e-mail box so a cacher can communicate directly to the Land Manager if they so wish. If one hovers one's cursor over the name, one can see the "mailto:" tag. Yup, that's an old page that will go away or be refreshed when Scott completes the website rebuild. The only link that doesn't work for me on that page is the Zazzle.com link for the old calendar. The BLM map was generated by BLM. The main purpose of that map is to illustrate the cache exclusion zone, NOT to illustrate where the caches are. Because the number and location of caches in an area is fairly fluid, cachers should use geocaching.com resources to identify cache locations.
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 4, 2013 20:02:50 GMT -9
Speaking of all of these accounts, would we want to have the Facebook, Twitter, etc. accounts all on one, single email address? Can we have these accounts for the Facebook Page, Facebook Group, Twitter, MailChimp, etc all on one @geocachelaska.org email address? That way we can have anyone who maintains these accounts use the same account. Also, with people moving, leaving the game, no longer on the board, etc, the email address and account info would carry with the organization, and not any one single person. Yes, ultimately, that's how the accounts should be/will be/are set up. Just as are the Zazzle, SurveyMonkey, Groundspeak Distributorship, and many, many other accounts necessary to conduct GeocacheAlaska! business. Some early accounts, such as the original Facebook group (probably got the term wrong) were created under a past Board member's personal account and we've since learned the issues with that approach.
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 4, 2013 20:14:00 GMT -9
I can make any email address @geocachealaska.org that we want to have. To that end, I think that we need to lay out, in writing, a plan of how we are going to utilize these social media and other means of communication. Within that plan would be the control lines to access these accounts. As they are on the web, the webmaster account has been used for some of it.
It's going to take some committee work to bring such a plan together. Do we need to form a web committee to take on this project? It could also be handled under the existing Education Committee (outreach), though I think a project like this is getting specialized enough to warrant the temporary creation of a smaller committee specifically to handle the task of developing these web interfaces.
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 4, 2013 20:34:56 GMT -9
It's going to take some committee work to bring such a plan together. Do we need to form a web committee to take on this project? It could also be handled under the existing Education Committee (outreach), though I think a project like this is getting specialized enough to warrant the temporary creation of a smaller committee specifically to handle the task of developing these web interfaces. I think it would be appropriate to create an ad-hoc committee to map out the plan. Some current Board members have the history of what has and has not worked in the past. NeverSummer, Mac_5115, and others have brought new ideas to the forefront and some have already been implemented (creating a Twitter account, etc.). Revamping the website itself is a major undertaking that will require laying the foundation as described by Scott, adding the content, testing it in parallel with the old website for a while for compatibility with most of the common browsers (Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, to start with), and then making a clean break from the old website. Already, this year, Scott performed a major upgrade of these forums, which took a significant amount of time. Recently, Scott ran the photo contest and published the calendar, which I feel is the best looking one, yet. Scott also manages the Sourdough nametag webpage generation and distribution, a job I've offered to take over when I become Secretary next year. Also on Scott's plate is the 2014 pathtag contest and other things that come with the role of Fundraising Chair. In exchange, he's stepping down from Chairing the Education Committee, a role that involved coordinating several Eduvents and creating content for at least two of them. During the past six months, Scott has also hosted the Annual Kenai Picnic and played a pivotal role in the two HOBO CITO Events and was instrumental in the design of the 2013 pathtags and geocoin. I'm sure I missed a few things, but I listed what I could to point out that Scott is involved in many facets of Alaskan geocaching and does so because he enjoys it and is very good at it via several unique skill sets that few people have. Does the Website need some work? Of course it does. That fact has long been documented in Board discussions. Is there progress being made? Yes, Scott has been checking out new web building applications that will vastly expand the functionality of the site. However, for the time being, the site is still meeting two of its primary purposes quite nicely: 1) the location where current Land Manager policies may be found and 2) the online store for bling and membership purchases. So, before people throw too many stones at our current Webmaster or poke him with too many sticks, I'd ask that they look at what he has already done and read his posts about what he plans to do. There's a lot of detail work that goes on behind the scenes. I know that first hand having built the original website with Scobey and then maintaining and expanding the website for several years afterwards, prior to handing the reins over to Scott's more capable hands. I, for one, know that when Scott is done, we'll all be impressed.
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 4, 2013 20:54:24 GMT -9
In the projects area, I'm not sure why some one would contact saidbystacy. Is she still a good person to contact about a CITO? And none of the other links will show anything but an error message or internet will not display.
Links to land managers in the BLM nor interior open e-mails sites for me. Are these the current people to contact?
But it's good the money making outlets such as join GeoAK! and Alaska Geocoins are well updated.
And yes, a fresh new Home page would be awesome. Do we really still have photos of indian summer from 2007, and Fur Rondy 2008? How about some newer photos of what cachers in Alaska have been up to. And those all over the state. Haven't we gotten a bigger presents in Fairbanks and The Kenai peninsula lately? Lets show off to the world what we've been up to.
We've grown a lot in the last few years and our Home page doesn't show it.
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 4, 2013 20:59:07 GMT -9
It sounds like you should let Neversummer take on some of the work. it' sounds like he really knows his stuff. Yup, Joel is going to be a great addition to the Board. His ideas have been publically acknowledged and implementation in December or after the first of the year has been targeted. November was an extremely busy month for those who could "onboard" Joel in addition to my being out of the country for two weeks, but you knew all that already. In an ideal world, I agree with you. One of Wes' stated goals for 2014 is work load leveling across the Board. You've already seen me divest myself of several things and Scott is stepping away from the Education Committee. More prioritizing and work leveling will occur.
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 4, 2013 21:12:20 GMT -9
In an ideal world, I agree with you. One of Wes' stated goals for 2014 is work load leveling across the Board. You've already seen me divest myself of several things and Scott is stepping away from the Education Committee. More prioritizing and work leveling will occur. Many of the projects can be spread out over board members,committee members, or volunteers.. When a member is tied up with 3 things already they should be used for questioning instead of actually being on the committee, allowing them to work on what they all ready are, and letting other committee members take it their direction. I'm sure you're aware JOAT only move from one committee to another, from the education committee the finance committee.
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 4, 2013 21:18:30 GMT -9
Many of the projects can be spread out over board members,committee members, or volunteers.. I agree. But, when the call goes out for help, people don't exactly line up. One exception is how the Geofest Committee has come together and made it fun to plan the Geofest. Another success story was the 2014 Nominating Committee work to identify candidates to run for next year's Board. Both Committees are hopefully harbingers of things to come. Not exactly. Scott was deeply involved with both the Education and the Fundraising Committees. He will have a greatly reduced role if any in the Education Committee in 2014, which will free up more time for the website overhaul.
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Post by TheFirefly on Dec 4, 2013 21:21:14 GMT -9
My head is spinning reading all this. Lots of good thoughts and conversation.
I admit, even though I'm supposedly in the generation that just 'gets' this e-stuff, I sure wish there weren't so many different entities. I just want one place for it all! Not one that will streamline and put everything from all over together, but one place! But alas, I dream.....
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 4, 2013 21:26:36 GMT -9
Do we really still have photos of indian summer from 2007, and Fur Rondy 2008? How about some newer photos of what cachers in Alaska have been up to. And those all over the state. Haven't we gotten a bigger presents in Fairbanks and The Kenai peninsula lately? Lets show off to the world what we've been up to. I've repeatedly put out requests for photos for the website over the last couple years. So far I've received zero. Give me photos and I'll put them up.
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Post by ladybugkids on Dec 4, 2013 21:32:50 GMT -9
My head is spinning reading all this. Lots of good thoughts and conversation. I admit, even though I'm supposedly in the generation that just 'gets' this e-stuff, I sure wish there weren't so many different entities. I just want one place for it all! Not one that will streamline and put everything from all over together, but one place! But alas, I dream..... +1000!!!Even if the information comes consolidated via MailChimp, I'm not really keen on having to click on a bunch of links to open a bunch of browser windows to get the information I need. I'd be content to go the website for more or less static information such as Land Manager information and Bling sales, come here to forums for conversation and planning, and read the newsletter to catch up on events of the past month and learn some tips. I know Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, FourSquare, LinkedIn, ad naseum, are hipper, cooler, or more "in," but my bandwidth just can't expand to go there. I already spent two-three hours per day dealing with Board and Reviewing issues with the relatively few tool sets I employ. Scott S. has been against Board members taking on more than two or three things, lest they don't get done well, and I'm concerned about using too many social media outlets for the same reason. However, Joel has sketched out the possibilities and Scott A. has proposed a committee to work out the strategy, so I'm willing to see how this plays out.
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Post by fuzzybelly on Dec 4, 2013 21:40:36 GMT -9
Do we really still have photos of indian summer from 2007, and Fur Rondy 2008? How about some newer photos of what cachers in Alaska have been up to. And those all over the state. Haven't we gotten a bigger presents in Fairbanks and The Kenai peninsula lately? Lets show off to the world what we've been up to. I've repeatedly put out requests for photos for the website over the last couple years. So far I've received zero. Give me photos and I'll put them up. Not one photo to post to the home page of what have been 100's of GeoAK! hosted events since 2008? I know I don't know how to get all the photos that have been posted on geocaching.com but surely someone here does. Or at least ask the person who took one if we could use it instead of posting a message on a place where people don't visit.
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 4, 2013 21:50:42 GMT -9
While valid input has been given on many points, I can see both sides of the coin. I'm lucky to be an inside outsider now. I may not know the history in complete form, but I do recognize how the website, forums, facebook, twitter, etc look to an outsider hoping to learn more and become an insider.
All in all, we should be looking at updates as discussed, and utilizing the tools we have at our disposal to reach out to others in the greater geocaching community.
Just because one person might not use facebook doesn't mean that they don't use twitter. Or check their email. Or that they like to visit a website over facebook or twitter. The bottom line comes to the educational theory of "multiple intelligences". We need to approach outreach as an educational process, and therefore we need to have our efforts meet our "learners" on their level. That means email for some, facebook for others, or just the geocaching.com website or apps to simply geocache or attend events.
At any rate, things are amazingly different (for the better) around here in the forums since I joined. The site has had some updates, and we now have an active facebook presence (GeocacheAlaska! Group). I dig it!
Scott, you're doing a bang-up job, and I'll be the first to defend your efforts. I'm looking forward to helping you out and lending my expertise to these outreach ideas.
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 4, 2013 22:03:32 GMT -9
Also, I'll put it to you this way:
The efforts to engage the public via website, newsletter, facebook, twitter, etc is a full time job at any agency or business.
That said, the admin efforts for Facebook and Twitter can be as simple as you want. If it is building a user base or reaching the heavens, then it is a full-time job. But, to simply keep those two outlets active takes little effort. I have been posting things here and there to the facebook, for example, and it reaches and engages people quite well. And all I had to do was post a photo or link to a story, make a statement or ask a question, and people respond and engage.
So, it can be done. The more people that contribute in social media, the more is self-sustains.
Ok. Then let's talk about other outreach elements. Newsletter. Still written and produced. Still can be sent out via notification email (MailChimp, current emailing process used, e.g.).
Now, if a digest is created via MailChimp, there can easily be a link to the hosted pdf on the website. A single click opens the file just as saving or opening the attachment in the current form of email notification. A singe effort can add content to Twitter (where land managers and agencies follow us, and can see what we're up to) and Facebook (where it can be visible on the Page for any visitors interested in learning more to see it).
I'm not trying to create more work or efforts. I'm trying to let folks know what works for agencies (like the one I work for...) who don't have a full time, permanent outreach manager to post constantly to social media or publish newsletters on a weekly basis.
A handful of active social users make for an active social presence. Newsletters, announcements and contests can supplement the feed via publication of those items. It isn't more work. It's more effective work.
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 4, 2013 22:08:36 GMT -9
I've repeatedly put out requests for photos for the website over the last couple years. So far I've received zero. Give me photos and I'll put them up. Not one photo to post to the home page of what have been 100's of GeoAK! hosted events since 2008? I know I don't know how to get all the photos that have been posted on geocaching.com but surely someone here does. Or atleast ask the person who took one if we could use it instead of posting a message on a place where people don't visit. What about using Calendar Contest submissions for the photos on the site? Also, we can glean any photos posted to our twitter and facebook, give photo credit, and repost to the website. Also, this is where a flickr or Instagram feed would give us plenty of photos to use. In addition, if we need glossy geocaching photos that inspire for filler/new content on the page, we can always just use photos from a google images search with proper photo credit. Photos can be downloaded, then uploaded to a photo host like flickr or some similar website by anyone with the login credentials. (a BoD member, or committee member monthly job?) The problem really is having photos in one place so that our webmaster can use them to populate the website or other online publications. We can fix that.
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 4, 2013 22:19:59 GMT -9
Not one photo to post to the home page of what have been 100's of GeoAK! hosted events since 2008? I know I don't know how to get all the photos that have been posted on geocaching.com but surely someone here does. Or atleast ask the person who took one if we could use it instead of posting a message on a place where people don't visit. I would suggest that you go work your way through old event caches and find some photos that you'd like to see on the website. I'm not the only person volunteering here, so please jump in and help out. Get permission from the photographer and then send me the photo or at least a link to it. Then I'll put it up.
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 4, 2013 22:22:36 GMT -9
All ~270 photos submitted to the calendar contests over the last 2 years have been posted on the website already.
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 5, 2013 8:10:55 GMT -9
I've seen the calendar photo submissions, but I wasn't sure if fuzzy was talking about photos for the front page, or where.
As for photos of events, etc, I think that we have a pretty good foundation for getting those to our web-based outlets. Most events have someone from the BoD there, and others have someone who is involved enough in the GeAK community to pitch in. Meaning, we have folks who are on hand who either already take photos, or could be asked to snap a handfull and email them/upload them after the event.
It's extra work, yes, but the rewards of helping our webmaster keep the photos on our website fresh are boundless.
And, speaking of, I'd be happy to add the gleaning of existing photos from events and facebook posts to my todo list after the new year. Once we "catch up" on the photo submissions, we can keep looking into more sustainable options for our members.
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Post by NeverSummer on Dec 5, 2013 8:22:14 GMT -9
Also, JOAT, if you need help with the slide show, let me know. I don't think I can make it to ANC for the event, but I want to contribute in any way that I can.
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Post by NorthWes on Dec 5, 2013 8:32:21 GMT -9
President's comments:A) Much (but not all) of the conversation in this thread has been very useful, pointing out areas where some changes would help with our primary mission points to advocate, educate, and congregate (the social side of the game). B) I'm not going to allow this conversation to continue down the turn it's recently taken, where disparaging remarks are made about particular individuals and their contributions to the work of GeocacheAlaska! Inc. The majority of our board members (and especially those with executive board positions) work very very hard to accomplish the successes we've seen so far. In fact, they work too much - which is why a primary goal of mine for Board Work in 2014 is leveling out assignments and tasks. Our three primary mission points are to advocate, educate, and then congregate - in that order - and we'll be prioritizing tasks accordingly. We won't succeed in meeting the basic work assignments, let alone the really cool eye-candy stuff that is the icing on the cake, if we descend into sniping sessions here (we've worked very hard at keeping our GeocacheAlaska! Inc. forum pages a civil place of conversation, unlike what many have noticed & commented on regarding the Groundspeak Forums, where attempting to keep the conversations civil is literally a full-time job). It's Bambi's 'Thumper Rule' - modified: if you don't have anything nice to say in a public forum, then don't say it - please, take the sniping remarks to a face to face venue and work out your differences over a cup of coffee somewhere, or bring it to me privately and the president will do it his way for you (which usually never makes the originator of the complaint happy at all...) C) To keep this forum thread civil, I want the participants speaking to ideas and what the implementation would take, not tearing down past actions or participants. We are a work in process, and our remarks here must build up both individuals and the work we purpose to do. There's depth to every discussion that goes way beyond a single great new idea. Two examples: 1) Photos - anywhere we (GeocacheAlaska! Inc.) use a photo, it needs to be submitted to us by the photographer for the use we intend to put it to - either website, calendar, or educational presentation. This keeps us from violating copyright issues (regardless of whether it matters to any one individual, it matters because it's an oft-overlooked but still-in-force law). We cannot rightfully scavenge website photos from geocaching.com and re-use them unless we have the photographer's permission. If a great photo is noticed by someone who wants to see it used in a GeocacheAlaska! Inc product, that someone should be the agent who contacts the photographer and asks for specific written permission to re-use the photo. 2) Communication format and style - Neversummer aptly remarked that implementation of a broad-spectrum approach to disseminating information is a full-time job, BINGO! Another member noted how nice it would be to access all the info at one source point; several members have offered great input on all the options available. In 2014, we'll see a working committee which will research and suggest ideas for improving our outreach - not just a shotgun canister blast across the spectrum, but a thoughtful and tested way to communicate our message to the appropriate audience using the most useful methods available. The website MUST be both a source of information and a storehouse of information; one which has some nice eye-candy, but which also allows the user to access stored information of great value (land manager info, procedures, etc). Merely changing the front page to an 'eye-candy' delight does not satisfy the larger and primary function of our website, which is to be an information resource. I'll have a lot more to say, but I'm asking current participants to stop the conversation here until I'm back from this road trip and can establish the working committee so your input builds towards success, rather than being a series of remarks which don't build up anything or anybody. If you have further remarks on this topic contact me directly at skinnerwesley@gmail.com. There are great ideas here, which need many extra hands to implement. Be sure - those of you who've participated thus far will be included as we go forward. Right now, work is calling... The Forum Admin has gone through this entire thread and removed the embedded "flame war" that was developing. Let's keep this thread On Topic and Civil. Carry on!
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Post by SSO JOAT on Dec 5, 2013 8:52:50 GMT -9
Yes... I request that there is a bit of a 'tone it down' in this thread. The forum admin already had to take action on a couple posts late last night when he had plenty of other things to get done. This forum has been a fairly happy place with meaningful postings. Let's not allow the conversations to drop into the realm of personal attacks, insult throwing, of blame gaming. Such posting is against our forum rules and posts that violate such rules will be unceremoniously edited, censored, or deleted as any one of the forum admins deems appropriate (for BoD members who need to speak freely, take it to the Sandbox and out of public view). This thread will be subjected to such editing at some point in the next couple days. At the moment, all 3 of the forum admins are otherwise too busy to do line-by-line removal of any inflammatory postings.
This forum has been remarkably free of the need for the admins to make regular use of the "moderate" functions. Let's keep the discussions civil and productive. While I do not personally have any issue with my position on the GCAK BoD being called to task, please do so in a constructive manner. For example, being critical of not changing images on the index page should be accompanied by offers to help find or solicit the new photo(s) for that page, or at least some specific suggestions on what you'd like to see put up there. Calling for the webmaster to go out and search all of the internet looking for some new photos on his own and without direction are not going to be met with a favorable response. It would be no different than telling the Newsletter Editor that she has to write all the articles in the newsletter. No, she is just assembling the content provided into the proper format for distribution. The website is the same way. Provide me with content and I'll put it up and make it pretty.
In the mean time, I'll be continuing with the full rebuild of the website that is occuring on my laptop. When I get the foundation and structure in place, it will be loaded up to our web server in a testing location. At that point, everyone will be able to see the product of countless hours of behind-the-scenes web authoring work. I expect that the transition from the old site to the new will occur quite rapidly at that point. I'm able to conduct practically all the web testing through browser emulators on my computer. I can sim all the major browsers as well as mobile device access without having to load up to a server.
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