What Happened????

Am I the only Junior/Outlaw on the site???? That's kind of sad. Does anybody know why this is??? Just because there weren't computers in the books doesn't mean we shouldn't use them! Well, lemme know if you know what happened here.

Deirdre -

Many thanks for raising this!

You're not quite the only one, Alistair has posted as well. He's keen to try and get Juniors around the world to correspond. These Forums as a whole have a low usage and I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps if each TARS Trustee took it upon themselves to post once a month there might be more of a groundswell that would bring in more Juniors too.

There used to be a Centreboard site for Juniors but then this got hacked into and so taken down. Then we had a Yahoo group which worked quite well, as this also allowed photos and other things to be put on the group site. As it was restricted to TARS juniors I was able to post full colour copies of Outlaw for example. It still technically exists but isn't really used. It's email based, is this the best way for Juniors to correspond rather than a large website?

But then nowadays I am told that a Facebook group is a possibility.  As far as I can see, people tend to join Facebook groups to register a view rather than for a long term active membership, so I'm not clear if it would work.

I'll raise it in the next issue of Outlaw - or do you want to write something? 

Rob and Captain Flint

"Perhaps if each TARS Trustee took it upon themselves to post once a month there might be more of a groundswell . . . ."

Rob - I can't agree. As I have said on another thread, the key to the TARS future (junior and adult) lies with the grass roots. Members don't want to hear from the Trustees, they want to hear from each other (although, alas, many members don't seem to want to hear anything at all).

Generally (!) Forums rely on a critical mass of like minded people and some initial publicity. Are the Forums are specifically "pushed" in the printed publications that TARS produce? (Signals/Outlaw etc?) If they aren't mentioned / featured on a regular basis, you might be missing the initial publicity push to get it moving ... (?)

There's also a question of having a reason to post ... technically any member can post content to the site (including Juniors) , maybe if a couple of Juniors started doing this, other's may follow which might in turn result in some Forum traffic ... ?  Just a thought ..

.. Having said that I do agree with Rob, if you look at the "news" box on the right, you'll notice items appearing every few months, this isn't the sign of a particularly active organisation. To be realistic, having some idea of what TARS gets up to, I would be expecting there to be some relevant news at least least once a fortnight, if not once a week - all you need is for the person with the news to post it! (doesn't specifically need to be a Trustee tho'!)

If people are expecting news on a regular basis, they'll check back on a regular basis, or if they're like me, the news will instantly appear in an RSS folder in their email program, provoking a visit to the site to read the full text ... 

I created a juniors discussion page on the AusTARS website, but so far no juniors have sent any messages for me to put in there.  We have plenty of enthusiastic juniors, but no-one seems to want to converse with the others in this way.  "Curiouser and curiouser", said Alice.

Previously Rob Boden wrote:

Deirdre -

Many thanks for raising this!

You're not quite the only one, Alistair has posted as well. He's keen to try and get Juniors around the world to correspond. These Forums as a whole have a low usage and I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps if each TARS Trustee took it upon themselves to post once a month there might be more of a groundswell that would bring in more Juniors too.

There used to be a Centreboard site for Juniors but then this got hacked into and so taken down. Then we had a Yahoo group which worked quite well, as this also allowed photos and other things to be put on the group site. As it was restricted to TARS juniors I was able to post full colour copies of Outlaw for example. It still technically exists but isn't really used. It's email based, is this the best way for Juniors to correspond rather than a large website?

But then nowadays I am told that a Facebook group is a possibility.  As far as I can see, people tend to join Facebook groups to register a view rather than for a long term active membership, so I'm not clear if it would work.

I'll raise it in the next issue of Outlaw - or do you want to write something? 

Rob and Captain Flint

 

 

“Are the Forums specifically "pushed" in the printed publications that TARS produce? (Signals/Outlaw etc?)”

No, Gareth, they are not. In the current edition of Signals, the website URL is given, but that’s all.

“If they aren't mentioned / featured on a regular basis, you might be missing the initial publicity push to get it moving ... (?)”

I agree.

“I would be expecting there to be some relevant news at least least once a fortnight, if not once a week.”

I don’t think you can reasonably expect that. Not a lot happens in the Ransome world at large, and even less in TARS. The idea of TARS Trustees posting “news” on the Forums in their capacity as Trustees is misplaced – the TARS Board only meets three times a year and its proceedings are routine and do not constitute “news”. Regional news should be posted in the Regional sections of this site (but not all regions do this). However, if you substitute “opinions” for “news”, then I think you and Rob have a point, and a much more frequent and comprehensive exchange of opinions (or suggestions or whatever) between all members, whether Trustees or not, would be a healthy development. We’re back to your first query !

I think you all have a point, it would be great if the trustees gave a short report on their board meetings, the regions should list their future activities, and then write something about what they did, I notice Pippa in the S/west has on occasions done this.

And there are other Ransome related news I am sure, such as updates on the Windemere steam boat museum. and many others I had one member ask why is there never anything about the current Amazon Publication with a link to order it on this website.

I have tried to publicise the website and the forum on Signals from TARSUS ,and in fact there will be a mention of Deidre and her Polls with a request for members and juniors to take a look in the forthcoming edition.

I do not recall anything in Signals, I think I will write a letter to the editor relating to the lack of interest, maybe we all should.

Deirdre Rob Bodens idea of a small piece from you to appear in Oulaw asking the same question makes sense, maybe you could do one for Signals from TARSUS, contact Elizabeth Jolley erjolley@mail.com.

Gareth could we have a link to RSS on the Forums page it seems not everybody knows about this.

I think some people are wary of Facebook  especially for younger people.

I hope we can get this thing going especially among our younger members as not all of us older ones are comfortable with  this medium which is a pity.

Robin

>Gareth could we have a link to RSS on the Forums page it seems not everybody knows about this.

On the front page, top right hand corner, you will see some text and a link which reads; "Get Forums as RSS News" .. maybe someone could write a little news article about what it is and how useful it is?

Mmm, I'm not convinced that it's only Trustees or board members who would have news that people would be interested in(!) During the summer months (at least) are there not regional events on a fairly regular basis? Are not reports of goings on at such events not news?

(Indeed, might people be more interested in this type of news than board news?)

I don’t think you can reasonably expect that. Not a lot happens in the Ransome world at large, and even less in TARS. The idea of TARS Trustees posting “news” on the Forums in their capacity as Trustees is misplaced – the TARS Board only meets three times a year and its proceedings are routine and do not constitute “news”. Regional news should be posted in the Regional sections of this site (but not all regions do this). However, if you substitute “opinions” for “news”, then I think you and Rob have a point, and a much more frequent and comprehensive exchange of opinions (or suggestions or whatever) between all members, whether Trustees or not, would be a healthy development. We’re back to your first query !

 

I know where it is, you know where it is, but some go straight to forums and miss it hence the request

However the news item may work too

The thing is that we need to let others know that this is here for them to read.

Robin

As a result of some earlier discussions I have booked space with the Signals editor for an item to appear in the next edition extolling the virtues of these pages and forums. (Now there's a mistake for a start, the discussion should probably have been via these forums).

I'm in throws of writing the piece now. Does anyone have any good ideas about how it should be worded? I thought to liken it to Cache Island, or perhaps patterans. And if we could get a piece in Outlaw as well, that would be great (though someone else should write that).

Andrew

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

I do not recall anything in Signals, I think I will write a letter to the editor relating to the lack of interest, maybe we all should.

Deirdre Rob Bodens idea of a small piece from you to appear in Oulaw asking the same question makes sense, maybe you could do one for Signals from TARSUS, contact Elizabeth Jolley erjolley@mail.com.

Ok, sufficiently prominent?

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

I know where it is, you know where it is, but some go straight to forums and miss it hence the request

However the news item may work too

Thanks Andrew 

I think the publicity will help, Cache Island sounds good, I think Rob Boden is going to tackle Outlaw.

I keep plugging it in SFT.

Robin

Thank You Gareth, looks fine

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

I think you all have a point, it would be great if the trustees gave a short report on their board meetings 

 

 

I'm sorry - I'm going to appear pedantic and negative, but we cannot escape reality, however much we may wish to. Robin suggests that "the trustees give a short report". Who is meant by "the trustees"? All of them? Some of them? You will get different reports from different Trustees! (Particularly where they have disagreed with each other). Who is going to do this job? I am the Board Secretary so I might be asked to do it.  To write a precis of a meeting takes some time. Forgive me saying so, but it's very easy to blithely suggest that reports be posted on the website, but you are in fact giving somebody extra work to do.

Operation MOO: More Online Outlaws.

I suspect also - with respect to the trustees - that their reports might be a little dry for this kind of a forum.  It might be worth each regional group having an 'Internet officer' (or something along those lines) to report on local meetings / events which can then be discussed.  Alternatively a selection of articles from Signals / Mixed Moss could be reproduced here 'blog-style' with the opportunity for people to comment, etc.  Another alternative is to make clear links to existing interactive Ransome sites (Tarboard, the various blogs and facebook groups, the wiki, etc.) in order to keep them current and alive.

Here's a quick proposal: why not everybody who has posted something on here about slow traffic / lack of posts start a new thread in the next few days on a semi-controversial Ransome-related topic.  There's plenty we could be discussing: what's happening re: the new film?  What did people make of The Last Englishman?  Would modern-day Swallows, Amazons and Ds have been allowed on the lake in Winter Holiday?  What's happening to the Steamboat Museum?  Should TARS come to some arrangement with landowners/national parks over information boards / plaques at important sites?  What can AR's writings tell us about British policy in Iraq and Afghanistan? (Okay maybe the last one is stretching things a tad...)

It would only need a small concerted effort to get some debates going.

Deirdre -

Operation MOO! I like it. I'm now wondering if it is worth reviving the Yahoo Group, the site still exists with loads of photos etc. I just don't know enough about what format is best, but Yahoo is easy to use, and messages come through on email which I guess a lot of Juniors do have access to.  As only TARS Juniors can join it means that we can post safely, and post TARS material.  

Rob

Previously Deirdre Iams-McGuire wrote:

Operation MOO: More Online Outlaws.

Which is why you really want news from members rather than (or in addition to occasional) board reports. "Many hands .." ,  load distribution etc etc .

Previously Peter Hyland wrote:

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

I think you all have a point, it would be great if the trustees gave a short report on their board meetings 

 

 

I'm sorry - I'm going to appear pedantic and negative, but we cannot escape reality, however much we may wish to. Robin suggests that "the trustees give a short report". Who is meant by "the trustees"? All of them? Some of them? You will get different reports from different Trustees! (Particularly where they have disagreed with each other). Who is going to do this job? I am the Board Secretary so I might be asked to do it.  To write a precis of a meeting takes some time. Forgive me saying so, but it's very easy to blithely suggest that reports be posted on the website, but you are in fact giving somebody extra work to do.

Previously Rob Boden wrote:

Rob you may want to look at Google groups as a way to go, I am in the process for making one for TARSUS members which will also have a TARSUS Outlaws page (Deidre you will receive an invitation to join).

This will be for members only (TARS are also welcome) but all members have to be invited and it will be monitored as this forum is.

I am hoping that members will participate as unlike the UK it is very difficult to have activities on a face to face basis because of the vast distances between members.

I choose Google as they seem to be the dominant force now, Yahoo seeming to have lost it.

If you would care to take a look Rob I will send you an invite.

Robin

Deirdre -

Operation MOO! I like it. I'm now wondering if it is worth reviving the Yahoo Group, the site still exists with loads of photos etc. I just don't know enough about what format is best, but Yahoo is easy to use, and messages come through on email which I guess a lot of Juniors do have access to.  As only TARS Juniors can join it means that we can post safely, and post TARS material.  

Rob

 

 

Previously Deirdre Iams-McGuire wrote:

Operation MOO: More Online Outlaws.

 

 

 

Harry Miller has just set up an "Arthur Ransome Canada" Google Group in the last month, You have to request to join it and be approved. So far it has only a few TARSCanada members with a couple of biographical sketches and some photos of Ransome related sites in the Lakes but I hope it will grow.

Robin

Many apologies - for some reason I didn't spot that your comment was waiting to go up.

I agree this has been an interesting discussion. I reckon it is one where there is truth on all sides:

A Society like TARS can't expect its Trustees to make everything happen from the centre; a vibrant website needs active involvement from a critical mass of members. That said one roll of the Society's leadership is to, er, lead. So the more people who show n active (even occasional) interest in the website forums can only help to turn things over and achieve a critical mass.

However, I agree with Peter's point that it is very easy to suggest that certain jobs are created , eg that each region appoints someone to post news items about regional events, etc on an ongoing basis. This would be the ideal, and I'd say it's a bit of a "no-brainer" that regular news items about the Society's activities would be good publicity, and thus may attract more interest from prospective members. But in the end someone has to do the work, and the Society relies totally on volunteers to do that.

Maybe the best suggestion is Duncan's? ie, those who are visiting/using the forums do as little or as much as they are able to create interesting conversations, in the hope that this will gradually build more involvement and thus achieve a "critical mass".

One other idea I've come across on other forums is a kind of "graded status" for users, depending upon the number of contributions they make. I suppose in an SA context that might mean new users start as "Ship's Dogs" and gradually work through Ship's Boy up to Admiral, or something like that. I'm not sure that I like the idea, as I suspect it might intimidate new Ship's Dogs from holding conversations with existing Admirals, and also it may encourage people to post comments simply for the sake of it. But in a situation where we want to encourage active visits to the site, that might be an acceptable price?

I suppose it's a thought; I'm not saying I'd vote in favour of it. And anyway, I've no idea whether such fora are compatible with this site's software.

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

Peter having been a member of some mainly non-profit boards I agree that the proceedings are pretty boring, however there are some points at some meetings that can affect members and might lead to a discussion amongst same members. I would not suggest full minutes of each meeting mainly a brief summary of anything of import.

etc

however there are some points at some meetings that can affect members and might lead to a discussion amongst same members. I would not suggest full minutes of each meeting mainly a brief summary of anything of import.

Robin makes a fair point and I am willing to give it a try with regard to selected topics. I think everyone will realise that arguments put forward during Board discussions cannot be reported here as this would breach the rule of confidentiality. Perhaps just the name of the topics could be mentioned. The Board's consent will still be needed, and I will put Robin's suggestion to them. A discussion of this Website is scheduled for the next TARS Board meeting in March.