I agree with Chuck. Their are private conversations all the time that happen through pm and email from this forum. Having a private forum for communications for WBCCI groups seems like a great idea.
As far as WBCCI becoming a priority on this forum, I think we are far from that. In fact, WBCCI is only a small portion of what we talk about here. And in order to not clutter up the threads with where to send the checks, where do we meet for our monthly business meeting etc, we now have a place for these kinds of threads to take place.
Plus, if you really wanted to be a part of a "private" forum, you would just ask to be admitted. My guess is that there will be people who get access to these forums who are not members of the club, but who are involved in the area somehow.
The intent here was to offer a venue for the biz activities of a unit of interest to unit members - not to isolate a conversation of interest to all streamers. As I said earlier, this is a brand new adventure, we are find our way as we go. This is an interesting conversation....
One of the problems of being a MAL it's difficult to get together with all the other MALs to discuss business. To me, it doesn't follow that because MALs aren't a unit, they don't have business to discuss. For example, if MALs wanted to organize to approach the WBCCI for voting rights, this might be business they could organize and discuss in detail via a private forum group.
Just thinking out loud. But if it's being considered, I would vote for adding a WBCCI MAL group to the private unit forums.
NEU members for the most part are wicked active here, on these forums. It's a great place for us to reach out to our membership.
Why would you want to hide your enthusiasm and activities behind "closed doors"? I enjoy reading all the NEU posts and would think that keeping this information in a public forum would be more conducive to increasing membership and member interest than if it was "hidden" behind closed doors.
Perhaps I don't understand what the perceived value is of this new space.
i'll provide you with one specific and one general example...
completely explaining how segregation is bad would take much longer...
---some young frustrated wb unit official aired her? local unit problems here in an open thread....
later that same person reconsidered and took another direction besides resigning....
we all got to read it, comment on it, learn about it, learn FROM it and so on.
we also gained unique insight into the wbcci overall and local unit problems....
in my opinion it was a valuable exchange and worthwhile reading for everyone even remotely interested in wbcci issues or human dynamics.
would any of that have happened IF a private unit forum had existed?
and there have been many many useful, interesting and frustrating wbcci topics discussed openly here...will that still happen?
general example...
---you have 1 hour to read and post. there are 10 doors available...
#1 is private and you have been accepted into that group.
where to you take your energy and ideas and efforts?
the overall forums and membership and collective influence of this site declines with private subforums...
who could really benefit from private forums?
consider this...
there has been an ongoing thread on a womens only rally.
we've all be able to read and post there.
no one has taken that thread in a negative direction.
if anyone could justify a private thread
it would be a group of women wanting a private rally...
don't they deserve a private subforum?
really anyone planning to attend any rally could benefit from a private thread...
do you really want guests and lurkers reading when you will be away from home...the dates and details?
i can think of many really worthy subgroups for private forums...
do you really want to go there with the overall forum membership?
cheers
2air'
__________________ all of the true things that i am about to tell you are shameless lies. l.b.johnson
we are here on earth to fart around. don't let anybody tell you any different. k.v.
Why would you want to hide your enthusiasm and activities behind "closed doors"?
You wouldn't. If I understand it right, the enthusiasm and activities that are currently discussed on the open forum would remain there. The unit forum would be for discussion of unit business that usually takes place off the forum, at business meetings, rallies, etc.
If I understand it right, the enthusiasm and activities that are currently discussed on the open forum would remain there. The unit forum would be for discussion of unit business that usually takes place off the forum, at business meetings, rallies, etc.
hi dougjamie...
reread post #31 and try answering the questions about what is or isn't private forum content...
and who will moderate that?
cheers
2air'
__________________ all of the true things that i am about to tell you are shameless lies. l.b.johnson
we are here on earth to fart around. don't let anybody tell you any different. k.v.
reread post #31 and try answering the questions about what is or isn't private forum content...
and who will moderate that?
cheers
2air'
The choice of whether to post on private or public thread would be up to the person posting, no? That is their choice regardless of whether there is a private unit forum. They can choose public thread, or private PM, or another website forum, or unit email list, or Yahoo group, or email to friends...
From what Janet wrote in her post #1, the unit forum will be moderated by a moderator chosen by the unit. Janet, any details on how this works? Does the moderator work under the same rules as ASForum moderators? Also, what is the intention of the private forum as far as who will use it? Is it for the use of just the leadership of the unit? Or is intended to be used by all the members of a particular unit, and the moderator just verifies whether a person is a member of the unit and can join the discussion?
-Jamie
__________________
Doug & Jamie, AIR #650
Last edited by LuminumTraila; 10-12-2006 at 12:38 PM.
I am on another forum which has a large public area, and a small private area for paid club members. Perhaps you would be surprised to know that the private area is rarely used. The vast majority of posts still are made to the public area, because that is where you get the most activity and responses. The private area is used for officer discussions, and planning the annual rally. Then the rally discussion is moved to the public area when the details are worked out. I think if you experienced this sort of set up, you would see that the stuff that's hidden in the private areas isn't anything that the general public is missing out on. It's mostly stuff the general public wouldn't care less about.
2air, I think I do see your points. But I think most of them can be overcome with a little vigilance. No different than the rest of the forum; it needs moderating. but its %99.9 self-moderated. occasionally, I delete a duplicate post. or split off-topic posts into their own threads. Or move ads for "parts" from the "trailer" section to the "parts" section. The same could be done with private threads, by their moderators. The thread you mentioned should have been public...and if it was in a private forum, it could have been moved. It wasn't really about "unit business"; it was a unit member asking for help making a decision.
What I'm talking about is more along the lines of what Steph mentioned....stuff you wouldn't want to see, for the most part. still, things that need to be decided "by committee", where threaded discussions are easier to manage, rather than circulated e-mails. like, "in who's basement are we going to store the unit coffee pot?". there's a bunch of "housekeeping" type stuff...boring stuff that would just clutter up the portal page if it were public. Stuff like, "our unit's equipment trailer has a flat tire, and needs to be fixed. do we need to get approval from the membership at the spring business meeting (6 months from now!), or can we appropriate funds now so we can get the thing fixed, and bring the equipment TO the spring business meeting?".
just a hypothetical...
stuff like that is why we elect representatives...to handle that crap for us, so we can just "go camping".
Why would you want to hide your enthusiasm and activities behind "closed doors"? I enjoy reading all the NEU posts and would think that keeping this information in a public forum would be more conducive to increasing membership and member interest than if it was "hidden" behind closed doors.
Perhaps I don't understand what the perceived value is of this new space.
Thanks for your kind words about the NEU's enthusiasm and our activities being posted here in on the forums. These types of posts would still be in the "regular" forums. As you've said it helps us increase membership and interest in our events. In fact 30 new NEU members (membership is by rig, so more than 60 newbies) in the last year can be attributed to our posts here on the forums!
I think that the WBCCI Unit forum would be for the dull stuff. Examples:
NEU Inventory - what's available for rally hosts to use (maybe even post pictures of the items so folks know exactly what we have)
Membership directory info and updates
Committee meeting info
Meeting minutes (ZZZZZzzzzz)
Rally reports
etc, etc.
This type of information is going out by email now, no easy way to track who has seen what or a way to place information in categories.
__________________ Michelle & Leon
WBCCI # 7032 Region 1, New England Unit
Looking for a WBCCI Unit filled with fun loving folks to camp and travel with in the New England area? Well, you've just found it:
The other great thing about this type of thread system is that it will join those members together which are geographically separated. For example, the NEU is a vast network of people living at times thousands of miles from each other. What a great way to keep people in the loop.
And again, just because you are not a member of that unit, doesn't mean that you can't participate in that forum. You just have to submit your request for access to that unit's moderator.
The other great thing about this type of thread system is that it will join those members together which are geographically separated. For example, the NEU is a vast network of people living at times thousands of miles from each other. What a great way to keep people in the loop.
And again, just because you are not a member of that unit, doesn't mean that you can't participate in that forum. You just have to submit your request for access to that unit's moderator.
Uberlanders is so right about this! We have "regular" NEU members in AK, CA, AZ, WA, FL, MI and even some based in New England.
__________________ Michelle & Leon
WBCCI # 7032 Region 1, New England Unit
Looking for a WBCCI Unit filled with fun loving folks to camp and travel with in the New England area? Well, you've just found it:
Quick Links
-J
These types of posts would still be in the "regular" forums. As you've said it helps us increase membership and interest in our events. In fact 30 new NEU members (membership is by rig, so more than 60 newbies) in the last year can be attributed to our posts here on the forums! 
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