Survey ~ Meet Up

[Katherine]

Hello,

As some of you may know your Board of Directors has been considering making a change to Meet Up either solely for trip posting & logistics purpose, or, for, perhaps, to host the other functions of our website as well. We decided that we would like the input of as many of our members and guests as possible. Please be aware that we recognize that we will not receive a full sample of input and will take that into consideration. Please also know that the Board may make decisions contrary to how you voted.

Here is the link to the survey we created: Meet Up Survey

The survey will be available through Sunday, December 13th.

We encourage you to take the time to voice your opinions and thoughts.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, thank you.

[Dan Foster]

I started to take the survey, and then realized my answers would vary wildly based on the specifics of how the proposed NSPN group would be seen by paid, unpaid, and prospective new members. Some meetup groups (and their members and events) are completely hidden until you've paid your dues or are approved to join. Others are viewable by anyone, with registration reserved for paid or approved members.

Here are three local sea kayaking meetups, each of which presents a totally different "face" to prospective members. (If you're a member of any of the three, log out of meetup to see what they look like to non-members).

http://www.meetup.com/Cape-Cod-Sea-Kayak-Club/

Non-members can see everything the club does.

http://www.meetup.com/New-England-ACA-Level-5-BCU-5-Aspirants/

Non-members can see everything the club does, but Location is shown only to members

http://www.meetup.com/NortheastSeacoastKayakers/

Nothing visible until you join and are approved.

New members must be approved by the Organizer

Content of this Meetup Group is only visible to members

Without knowing what NSPN is proposing, I can't really give you meaningful answers to the survey questions.

Feel free to delete this if you don't want questions cluttering up the survey.

[Katherine]

Hi Dan,

We are considering all options...

We want feedback from as many people as possible, feel free to use the comment boxes on the meetup site.

Thank you,

[jason]

Hi Dan,

We want feedback from all and please use the comments boxes.

Thank you,

It would seem productive to encourage a dialogue on the site before making a major switch.

I think that Dan needs some feedback before he can reply to the survey.

[dcycleman]

I don't really like the meetup format.

It always seems that there are wait lists for all the paddles.

Not sure I see the benefit.

Not trying to be a downer, just my view.

I'll fill out the survey too

Dave

[rfolster]

Try to approach the MeetUp questions as if we were able to maintain the same "functionality" of NSPNs current setup. We are not looking at this survey as a means to make the decision to switch or not, but instead just get a baseline feeling about the possibility of switching. I am quite sure that there will be more discussions, however please also feel free to provide questions and comments as well.

[leong]

I already filled out the questionnaire. I was negative about the switch-over because I couldn't see any advantages. Perhaps you could tell us what are the advantages for the user and/or maintainers?

-Leon

[Katherine]

A friendly reminder to complete the MeetUp survey.. it will be available through Sunday and we would appreciate your input

[Pintail]

Like Dan F, I started to take the survey (participate in?); but soon realized that I could not answer objectively since I had never even heard of "Meet Up" (Funny: I had told KevinB that I was interested in the group that <he> started but must have missed something, because I was unaware of that Meet Up message board -- before looking at that site, I had <no idea> of what it was).

Anyhow, without experience of Meet Up, I cannot see how I can answer informatively. Neither do I see the point of changing now -- how is it seen to be (possibly) an improvement? I would be heart-broken if all the history buried somewhere in the archives of this website were to disappear. Is it a matter of being cheaper to manage or something like that? (We have always had money in the bank)

Until someone can enlighten me, I shall be set against change, I daresay.

Edited December 12, 2015 by Pintail

[leong]

Until someone can enlighten me, I shall be set against change, I daresay.

I made the same point above in post # 7 and I'm still waiting for an answer!

[rfolster]

Until someone can enlighten me, I shall be set against change, I daresay.

I made the same point above in post # 7 and I'm still waiting for an answer!

Gentlemen, as the Board of Directors continues to research the viability of MeetUp as a potential option, we do not want to assume whether or not people are familiar or unfamiliar with MeetUp, and we do not want to assume that any individuals unfamiliar might tend towards the negative side of the spectrum. Just being able to quantify how many do and don't know about it, and their opinions about the topic no matter how well informed or not, will help steer us as we move forward to the next step. Please be patient, as the MeetUp topic is one of several items that the Board is dealing with simultaneously whilst maintaining our own personal lives, especially as we head into the holidays. Rest assured that there will most likely be more information to come.

Today is the last day to participate in the poll, and I would like to stress that it is understood that being unfamiliar with MeetUp makes answering the questions in an informed manner challenging, Please don't let that dissuade you from completing the poll, as any and all responses are helpful to the process. Thank you.

[EEL]

Based on my experience and what others have said in other clubs/groups who transferred to or started with a MeetUp setup, I believe MeetUp essentially provides the same functionality in terms of online discussions. However, that is not its focus and is not its strength. For the sake of brevity, I believe it is best suited for an activity focused group as it makes it quite easy to announce, join, and report on activities. By that I mean it is best suited for groups which exist in order for members to engage in an activity of joint interest. It also may lead to more people becoming aware of a given group and joining. How it would work with the "CAM" mode as practiced by NSPN is a question to be answered. Whether it is better at feeding info by email that the current site is a question as well. It has the "feel" of a modern "social media" site. Overall it seems people who use it like it and it seems to work well for those groups who have adopted it.

Ed Lawson

Who is not stating a preference

[Inverseyourself]

Will the Meetup-function be used specifically for Trips and the remainder of the (exceptionally well designed and cherished by all who know and frequently use it, wink, wink) NSPN-website be left as is? I don't expect an answer to this now but I could certainly see myself liking such a scenario.

Andy, whose sole connection to sea kayaking these days is the NSPN-website, which he checks obsessively several times a day

[leong]

Just being able to quantify how many do and don't know about it, and their opinions about the topic no matter how well informed or not, will help steer us as we move forward to the next step.

Rob/Katherine

I belong to several kayaking Meetup groups in Florida. Although, they might have potential (I don’t know) none function nearly as good as NSPN. But, let’s assume that a meetup option will serve our needs just as good as current NSPN. But why change over unless there’s an advantage? That’s what I meant in my earlier post where I stated,

“I was negative about the switch-over because I couldn't see any advantages. Perhaps you could tell us what are the advantages for the user and/or maintainers?”

As we engineers used to say about modifying a system: " Sometimes the enemy of good is better"

Respectfully,

-Leon, who’s been a member of NSPN from day one!

Edited December 13, 2015 by leong

[Katherine]

Hello Gentlemen & Ladies that may be lurking,

The reasons for considering a switch are many and include the ease of trip posting, organizing... An additional consideration is the amount of time a few volunteers spend upgrading and maintaining the current website, it can be cumbersome and burdensome.

One of the options we are considering is using the Meet Up only for trips and maintaining the NSPN site.

I urge you all to complete the survey, if you hasn't done so already.

If you have ~ thank you!

[leong]

An additional consideration is the amount of time a few volunteers spend upgrading and maintaining the current website, it can be cumbersome and burdensome.

Oh, knowing that I wouldn't have been so negative. I certainly appreciate all the work done by those who run the site.

-Leon

[jason]

Hello Gentlemen & Ladies that may be lurking,

The reasons for considering a switch are many and include the ease of trip posting, organizing... An additional consideration is the amount of time a few volunteers spend upgrading and maintaining the current website, it can be cumbersome and burdensome.

One of the options we are considering is using the Meet Up only for trips and maintaining the NSPN site.

I urge you all to complete the survey, if you hasn't done so already.

If you have ~ thank you!

How would moving trips to meetup help with the current website? It would see that if you want to split it up meetup and the website would have to be maintained. If your talking about dropping the forum and the history, that would drop the web site maintenance, but it would get rid of the forum history.

[beckt]

I think the loss of the forum history would be ... well... a loss. There is a lot of valuable information tucked away in there. (spoken as a lurker). I think the forum offers a sense of community....

[Gcosloy]

As Ed already pointed out Meetup does provide the functionality for online discussion. Most of the Meetup groups that I'm familiar with do not exercise that function much. However if NSPN went to their own Meetup, I think the membership uniquely would take advantage of the discussion function. If this were the case then the current NSPN site would only need to be preserved for the historical archives, perhaps read only. Meetup does seem to be inherently more friendly, perhaps the medium truly is the message?

[rick stoehrer]

this site and this url has been our online home for...20 years? There are VOLUMES of information (some good, some bad), all or our squabbles and all our victories recorded here. The memories of the club and it's members. It as much as anything else, is NSPN.

The forums we have work plenty well enough.

Yeah, I sound like the last guy selling buggies as roads are getting paved for them newfangled automobiles, but that's my 2 cents.

...for her quirks and scars and as many things she can't do as can, she's beautiful and our home.

"All things counter, original, spare and strange:

Whatever is fickle,, freckled (who knows how?):

With swift, sweet, sour, adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change..."

Edited December 14, 2015 by rick stoehrer

[Katherine]

Thanks for all your comments and passion.

Katherine

[jason]

As Ed already pointed out Meetup does provide the functionality for online discussion. Most of the Meetup groups that I'm familiar with do not exercise that function much. However if NSPN went to their own Meetup, I think the membership uniquely would take advantage of the discussion function. If this were the case then the current NSPN site would only need to be preserved for the historical archives, perhaps read only. Meetup does seem to be inherently more friendly, perhaps the medium truly is the message?

As things sit today, the content from the current forum can not be imported into Meetup.

I don't know how it's envisioned.

My guess is one of ~3 options.

Using Meetup for trips and using the current site for the forum (Fracturing things).

Moving everything to meetup and dropping the old forum/content. (Could be done but loses the history)

Moving everything new to meetup and attempting to keep the history on the old forum. (Who would stick around to apply security updates / patches and work on the old site? Would the BOD pay for hosting and software support while also paying the meetup fees?).

If the forum does move to meetup I don't see anything unique with NSPN, it will be another cookie cutter group that will have history going back to it's meetup establishment in 2016....

[Inverseyourself]

It is becoming apparent how NSPNers think about their website.

I do realize, though, that maintaining it as a webmaster takes time and effort for members who do this on a volunteer basis in a busy life.

Using NSPN, for me, is a little like listening to public radio. I expect it to be there for me to use and enjoy but I know it's not for free.

I would have no issue if the BOD decided to assign a portion of membership fees to thank the volunteers maintaining this platform, maybe even with something less formal and accountability-driven, like a new paddle, or a PFD, VHF, or whatever, once a year.

I know, I know, once $s are mentioned, emotions start to run high.

Strictly speaking for myself (!!!!!!!!), given what I get out of the NSPN website, I wouldn't mind if the membership fees went up 5, 10 or 15$, especially if it meant not going full-Meetup!

Just my 0.0002 cents.

[gyork]

My thoughts are well aligned with Inversehimself (post #23) .

gary

[leong]

My thoughts are well aligned with Inversehimself (post #23) .

gary

ditto