Captain Colonial Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Which is what we did on voting for new constitution - public notice and voting form in mag and on carrier sheet - still only 10% response by return post. Best way is what Dave suggests but by far even better, go to your local area meet - nothing beats direct interaction and club activity with your local members. The AOs work very hard for their local members, and big turnouts make great areas and reward their hard work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 But that's my point Norman, the voluntary information box for your area is already there, and most choose NOT to use it. However for those that do, the list is readily available and searchable for all members. But as Scott said, going to the meet will always give the best results. I note when I did a test search for Cheshire I got almost none of the most regular and active members. Where as one trip to virtually any Cheshire meet would have given you an introduction to them in person. I doubt Cheshire is unique. The reality is, time and again, and again, and again, when given the opportunity to add there area (to the nearest county, if not town) people just don't. Don't even get me started on phone numbers and email addresses. You wouldn't believe the resistance I've had just trying to get some AO's to make that info public in their signatures, and yet the same info is printed in the mag and on the local area map on the web site. In the end, I just respect peoples wish to not publish too much personal information on the Boardroom. It's their (perfectly reasonable) choice. As Scott said earlier, even as a club official (AO), I get only a very small sub-set of the data we hold on club members. It doesn't include phone numbers or postal addresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Unless I'm not seeing or doing it correctly, the members list does not give an address or contact details. I did raise the point about all the info in our profiles that only I can see. Of course it's best to go to area meetings, face to face is the only way to really meet people. But if I wanted to see the members who lived in my town I wouldn't be able to. Anyway, no point in going on about it if the members won't supply the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 OK, just to double check, (I see an "admin" view of something's which is slightly different). The members list "as is" just shows a lit of all members, sorted either by user name, post count or IIRC join date. You have to do a search, which will the let you put the area you're interested in, into the My Location field. The list that is then returned is all the members that have filled that area in, in their My Location fields. Unfortunately, this isn't that many people. You can then click on the user names returned to drop them a PM and suggest meeting up etc. As previously explained though, it does not now and never will, show any contact information as regards phone numbers or addresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Everall Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I do think that member profile SHOULD include their real names so when we meet people in the paddock we know who we are talking to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonesetter Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 I think if a member wishes to contact another in their area (or anywhere else) for a possible meet up or whatever, then PM'ing is fine...? Then it's up to that member if they wish to respond The Locost forum have a map with pointers on, and a when you hover your mouse over the pointer it tells you the members forum alias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FILFAN Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 As a bit if a compromise could we not just include the group area in people's profiles or a list containing area members. This is not specific information do shouldn't have any concerns for identity theft etc. would only allow this to paid up members though I do agree though that this could be a benefit to the club enabling members to contact like minded local people they may not normaly know exist as its not always possible to make meets and even then not every member attends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Yep, just tried logging in with a totally new username (free trial membership). The My Location search works perfectly, you don't even need to click on a members name to get the details, there's a pm button alongside each name on the list. Dead easy! Tel, I understand where you're coming from, but many members simply do not want this, forcing it would be deeply unpopular with them. The sad fact of life is that many are concerned about identity theft and worse, so will simply not participate in anything where those details are made public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Again Phil, given the free choice, many members have opted out, thankfully lots do put the info in, but in the end, we have to respect that some just don't want to make certain things public. We can encourage members and extol the benefits, but it's their choice. Even as an AO, I (and other AO's) have struggled to get local members to even participate in local ring round lists. (You know the sort of thing, a group text to say the weathers fine, anyone fancy a run out). Yet for some areas and AO's, this works wonderfully, without a hitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FILFAN Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 In not on about the location option I'm referring to the area. Just looked at a few profiles and I couldn't see it in anyone's even when their location is visible Mine is derby and notts north but my location is Retford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onliest Smeg David Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 When I post the distance to my local meets is shown under my avatar along with My Location: Valley of the Wild Garlic.. 'Area:Manchester-9 Lancashire-21 Cheshire / N. Staffs-26' which is not visible to other members. (oops... now everyone can work out my exact location ) I can understand that people may not want to display their exact location, that's their business. But I feel it would be a valuable tool for the clubs supportive inclusive family ethos to have more information available to members on others within their local area. e.g. A full member can access a list of other members within a certain distance of their location. A bit of personal contact from us the membership, may be all it takes to enthuse greater involvement! And greater involvement will result in a stronger club. If an individual does not want to be involved in club activities, then we have to respect their wishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Ah, apologies, that's different. We do have a complicated algorithm running in a bit of programming that Adrian has set up that shows the nearest couple of meet's to you. Again, though, making this public does a very similar thing to making the last part of someone's private address public; not something we could do with out express consent, I suspect. The other issue there is that members are totally free to attend the area they want to. This may not be the nearest one. I know in Cheshire, we have regulars that are actually far, far, closer to other meets. Likewise, I know we have locals that prefer to go to other areas. Amusingly, I believe on the postcode checker, Manchester's AO actually lists as being much closer to Cheshire's meet! But why not work with the tools we have? There's nothing to stop any member having a word with their AO and saying look, I'd like to send a message to all the local members on the database. If I write it, could you send it on for me. Many, if not all the AO's already do email out to the local lists with info about what's on. So collaborating on something further should rarely be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 The problem with the search on the members database is that it's not going to return anything meaningful. Say, I enter "Essex" as the location filter. It will give me everyone who has put Essex as a location. However if I put Colchester I will only get those who've put Colchester and they probably wouldn't have been on the "Essex" list. I got round this when doing a database of addresses by having a field for Town and another for County. Count was first and was selectable from a table. Once the County was selected all the major towns in that county were show for selection. This gave the enquirer the ability to find those in the nearest town. Seeing as most of those who don't want to share the address and contact details are in the UK phone book it's very annoying to get them to understand that their details are almost certainly in the public domain already. How about writing a bit of code to email everyone in an area a week before the Area Meet. The email could have an opt out return. May increase attendance to the meets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Again the point is that people have already put what they wanted you to see. The phone book may not also include photos of a tool lined garage or a discussion of whose sprinting at Curborough that weekend etc. Or the thousand and one other details that people discuss ad infinitum, that build up a specific picture very rapidly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonesetter Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 When looking and deciding whether to give that info, would members have known what the info was for? If they had been prompted to the possible advantage of stating their approximate location, perhaps more would? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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