Other Business

Ok..after hearing a few suggestions/concerns from a few members last year and again this year, I wanted to just toss out an idea related to the Discussion Forums on our Web site. This, of course, is only a suggestion that I thought I would share. Hopefully, someone on the Exec. Committee will see this posting and maybe just mention it in the next meeting.

Anyway, I've heard some members (mainly newer riders) say that there are "too many" Discussion topics on the Web site...and that they get a little confused about "where to post stuff" and/or "where to go to read stuff". Also, there seems to be a few Discussion Forums that have never been used and/or used very, very little by our members (i.e. Touring, Out-of-Town Rides, Beginner Rides, Triathlon, etc.).

The suggestion posed was this: Could we possibly condense some of the forums to make it easier for members to use them?

Personally, I think the Forums are fine and don't have a problem using them. I think whoever designed them did a great job to cover all of the interests of a large cycling club. HOWEVER, I do respect the opinions of other members, and see some good points with their suggestion. I also think its important to listen to all members ideas, especially newer members, and pass along the info to the Exec Committee to see what they think.

I don't know if the Forum can be changed, since it may be preset by ClubExpress. If it could, here is one proposal to condense the Forum. This proposal reduces it to just 6 forums...and I believe would cover all of the important areas of the club, and may make it easier for people to read and/or post:

There forums are:
1) Announcements/Events
2) Road Rides
3) MTB Rides
4) Safety/Education
5) Other
6) Exec Committee (only visible to ExecComm members)

Keep in mind...I am NOT trying to get rid of touring rides, triathlons, beginner rides, out-of-town rides, etc. but it just seems that these forums are not being used . PLUS, if someone does want to post something about one of these types of rides or topics...I believe they will easily fit into one of the 6 forums above.

Again...just an idea that hopefully the Exec Committee will discuss. Thanks

Mark Pike

Thanks Ryan! Like I said...I'm fine with it either way, but thought I'd
mention it.
I don't really know if its even an issue. Input from others would be
useful.

Mark P.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Other Business" <other_forum@ecvelo.org>
To: <krazyriff75@embarqmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 10:41 PM
Subject: RE: Just throwing out an idea for the Discussion Forums...
<<$18699165551$>>


Posted by: VT Ry on 4/27/2009 at 10:39 PM



Mark,
Thanks for writing all this. I, frankly, did not know it was a problem, so
really it is good to have this input. I set it up originally and just took
a quick pass at it and left it at that. The main idea with the different
forums was to split it up enough so that if you did not want to hear about
something you did not have to subscribe to that forum. I agree that there
are several that don't get used, but based on other internet forums I
thought the number of forums was okay. Anyways, it CAN all be changed, I
just need to go in there and change stuff. The EC is talking about this now
but it would be nice to have some other input, possibly from other club
members about this issue, one way or the other...

Ryan



Posted by: Mark P. on 4/26/2009 at 8:55 PM
_____

The suggestion posed was this: Could we possibly condense some of the forums
to make it easier for members to use them?





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