New member forum

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:09 pm

Why not have a new forum entitled - New Member Forum?
WGA doesn't really have a specific place for new members to introduce themselves. New members could post a quick note about themselves, life story or what ever, and/or any questions they might have.

Is this a doable idea or one that should be on the back burner?

Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 9:31 pm

It sounds doable to me. Let the newbys at it!

Joined: 2003-09-10 Posts: 1263 Location: Bristol WI

I like the idea.... why not call it "Introduce Yourself" so that we can learn a little about all our fellow members without putting the unwanted spotlight on the newbie.

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 4:49 pm

Just a note:

I would have never known this website was available if it weren't for ecorangers.

Is there a way that the WGA board would/could email new members welcoming them to the sport and placing the link in an email?

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 5:28 pm

quote:
Originally posted by Bushwhacking Queen:
...Is there a way that the WGA board would/could email new members welcoming them to the sport and placing the link in an email?

Been there, done that. I just couldn't keep up with it. It was becoming impossible to identify them all. We now rely on cache owners to do this when they see a newbie logging one of their caches. tb

Joined: 2003-09-10 Posts: 1263 Location: Bristol WI

quote:
Originally posted by Trudy & the beast:
Been there, done that. I just couldn't keep up with it. It was becoming impossible to identify them all. We now rely on cache owners to do this when they see a newbie logging one of their caches. tb

Manually, it is pretty much impossible.

BUT, using the same technology that brings us the "recent logs" page, it could be automated.

I hope it is something that the board and our membership's computer guru's look further into.

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:49 pm

quote:
Originally posted by Cathunter:

Manually, it is pretty much impossible.

BUT, using the same technology that brings us the "recent logs" page, it could be automated.

Hey, just pile one more thing on my to-do list.

Actually, switching over to storing the recent logs in a database was something that I have considered. Such an arrangement would allow us to make better use of the data we are already grabbing from gc.com (and have permission to grab), like identifying new cachers, the most active caches in the last week, number of finds per day, etc. We probably wouldn't bother keeping the logs more than a week or so, but we could keep summary statistics.

Cathunter, do you mean automate the entire process (including sending the welcome email) or just identifying new cachers? I think the welcome email would be more effective ("friendlier") if it came from a person, not a 'bot. Maybe recruit some members to be virtual pen pals, writing the new cachers automatically identified and answering any questions they have...

[This message has been edited by jvechinski (edited 02-14-2005).]

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:52 pm

Getting back to the original idea - not that welcoming new geocachers isn't a great idea - But that new member forum? Any thoughts? Or is it belaboring the point?

Joined: 2003-09-10 Posts: 1263 Location: Bristol WI

quote:
Originally posted by jvechinski:
[B]Cathunter, do you mean automate the entire process (including sending the welcome email) or just identifying new cachers? I think the welcome email would be more effective ("friendlier") if it came from a person, not a 'bot. Maybe recruit some members to be virtual pen pals, writing the new cachers automatically identified and answering any questions they have...
B]

Jeremy, let me start by thanking you for everything you do to keep our website going. As with anyone who volunteers their time, it is hard to know how much we dare ask. I hope you will be with us for a long time to come.

As for the e-mail, I was thinking of an automated mailing, short and sweet. Just something to welcome them and tell of the WGA, it's website, and our great online community. Close it with a real e-mail address linking one of us volunteers so they can respond with questions or comments. It could be written in such a way that the reader has no idea it is a bot.

Your idea is great too! Either way, knowing what Trudy & the Beast's initial e-mail did for so many of us, I think we can and should continue the process.

Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:48 am

Sorry for not being active on the boards lately, we've been really busy at work and at home lately.

I did something a while back with the data I had from logs and sent a "mass" message out to everyone who had found at least 1 state of mind cache. It was basically a page that listed the users, and had a direct link to the gc.com "send a message to this cacher". You still had to paste the message in it, but it came from you personally, and it only took me a half hour to do 100s of cachers.

If the WGA is looking to do something like this, I could give you some info on the "tricks" I used to do this.

We currently capture all new cachers that log in WI from the recent logs page, and then manually go through them to see if they are WI cachers or just visitors from another state. (I know the page hasn't been grabbing logs for weeks at a time. I apologize for this. I've been so removed from it at work, I didn't notice it was down).

I could always set up a page that lists identified WI cachers who haven't received a message yet, and give someone the link to jump them to gc.com to paste the welcome message. Then, it would remove that person from the list.

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:43 am

Bump

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:12 am

Thanks for the bump! This topic was briefly discussed at the Board meeting, but nothing actionable occurred in the allotted time for discussion. (How's that for political speak saying "We skipped that because we ran out of time."

)

I still think this is a good idea and wil resurrect this in with the Board. I can't imagine there being too many negatives.

My vision for the separate forum: "An unintimidating place for New Members to introduce themselves to the community and ask questions about the WGA and geocaching in general."

As a separate note: many of the other items discussed above were brought up at the meeting and most of these issues will resolve themselves with the upcoming website upgrades.

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Team GeoPink
- Jeff
Co-conspirator to make the world a better place...

Joined: 2002-02-18 Posts: 3399 Location: West Allis, Wi

quote:
Originally posted by rpaske:
Bump

Randy,

I'm not quite sure what the intended goal of the this proposed forum would be. Is this just a place to post their name and the fact that they are new? Or, is this a place to ask newbie questions, or both?

It's easy enough to create a new forum, but I don't know what it should be called, and the criteria for posting.

Bri

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"There are two kinds of hunting: ordinary hunting and grouse hunting."
-Aldo Leopold, A sand county Almanac

Brian
WGA President
Grousetales at wi-geocaching dot com
KC9GMW

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 2:13 pm

quote:
Originally posted by Cathunter:
I like the idea.... why not call it "Introduce Yourself" so that we can learn a little about all our fellow members without putting the unwanted spotlight on the newbie.

I like this idea.

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 2:41 pm

How 'bout we call it:

HEY LOOK!! IT'S THE NEW GUY!!

Sorry -- I'm a little loopy this afternoon (chained to the desk today)

Bec