UA-12921627-3 Jump to content

How To Bring New People To The Refuge


Karen

Recommended Posts

How about this for an idea of how to get people to post here... how about we STOP running the board and members past and present down? If there are only a few threads active one of which happens to be this one how exactly is it encouraging for people to read so much negativity?

 

How about we remember the tens thats TENS of thousands of pounds this forum raised for some of these rescues that no longer feel like posting here?

How about we remember the fact we fought tooth and bloody nail for individuals and rescues being targeted, slandered and attacked by other forums? How about we remember the fact this board and its members stood up to be counted over the DDA LONG before any other group or forum jumped on the band wagon.

How about the fact several charities, rescues and groups would not even exist if not for this forum and its members?

How about we remember that even though there allegedly were cliques here we have a minuscule ban rate here MUCH lower than other forums because we tried hard NOT to get involved in interpersonal fall outs.

How about we remember that loyalty is a two way street? Refuge hasn't gone anywhere, Rick moved us to a new dedicated server and has paid for all this out of his own pocket without asking for a single solitary penny from any one.

 

How about remembering that if its interesting enough to post on facebook it's probably interesting enough to post here?

How about remembering that in the time it takes to post about how bad this place has become you could probably have started a post about something more positive or invited a friend to come join us.

 

Many of you have posted nice things about The Refuge and recognised what it's done for you and what the members mean to you - and thats fantastic! Without you members there wouldnt have been a Refuge to have acheived so much and with your help we can still acomplish good things, the support people give each other here is invaluable so lets not forget that or devalue what that kind of thing can mean to people. It's priceless and its still something that happens here on a daily basis.

 

Can we PLEASE draw a line under this thread now and move on to actually DOING something instead of just talking about it?

 

BTW: no I am not going to move the forums around as per Ricks plan - this is a LIVE board and mass moving threads and deleting forums is not recommended on a live board, since the forum move to the new server I cannot access the new forum database so if I cocked it up I couldn't fix it . Rick has it all in hand and when Rick has the time I'm sure he'll get things sorted but until then its not gonna happen and we'll just have to make it work as it is.

 

I find this post incredibly insulting and alienating to the few loyal members who actually post here and keep the board limping along - everyone still here wants to make things better again and probably need a thread like this to vent their frustrations and bounce round a few ideas about what can work for the future - but harping on about what a fantastic board this used to be, yes it was but it's not now, and basically telling us to live in the past, shut up and get on with what? is just not on. There's no leadership or direction to the board, most of the mods have fecked off and there's a handful of members posting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No thats not us and becuase of same name one of the reasons why we are closing down.

 

You can find us at www.futuresfordogs.co.uk Sadly after 5 yrs at the end of this year 4Pawz&more Rescue will be no more. Pauline has lived in Spain for a few years nows so is now no longer with us and too many other rescues on & off the net and business now have the same name.It gets confusing & annoying being asked why we haven't contacted people about dogs when not even ours and the first we hear about them is from angry public , constant calls about prices for boarding & grooming ,cost animal feeds and even home much do we sell our rats at !!

 

Am sad as loved our name but hey ho thats life.

 

 

Don't panic though rescue work is not over and along with the other volunteers we will still be doing rescue but as Futures for Dogs so yippeee to a new era.

 

Thank you for your reply, and sorry to hear the confusion with the name is having to make you change it. They do say something about imitation being the best form of flattery.

 

I will be following you :flowers:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Snow

 

People are posting feedback here because they care , they want to see the board restored and they want to see it succeed and not just walk away like others have done and they have left in droves no if ands and buts.

 

The board needs the intervention of its owner or a delegated authority , without that it will die and it does not matter how good it once was it will continue to lose members till there is noone left and its happening right now

 

A handful of people are trying hard to stop that happening and this thread is how they are doing it by giving the feedback that is urgently needed

 

Sam

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I find this post incredibly insulting and alienating to the few loyal members who actually post here and keep the board limping along - everyone still here wants to make things better again and probably need a thread like this to vent their frustrations and bounce round a few ideas about what can work for the future - but harping on about what a fantastic board this used to be, yes it was but it's not now, and basically telling us to live in the past, shut up and get on with what? is just not on. There's no leadership or direction to the board, most of the mods have fecked off and there's a handful of members posting.

 

Thats absolutely NOT what I said or implied I made a point of recognising the loyal members who have posted positively and stayed here keeping the forum going, but there have been people posting in this thread who have not been here in ages who have just popped up to post about how awful the place is and have dissapeared back off again without posting word one of anything positive or doing anything at all to change things.

 

We can all sit here and post about how bad things are or were but seriousy what is that doing to answer the question of how to bring new people to the forum?

 

And exactly what is so wrong with me saying that if you'd post it on facebook why not post it here? Similarily if its posted on another forum why not post it here as well? Whats so insulting or alienating about that? Why is me saying that alienating but people posting about cliques and lack of volunteers or lack of this or lack of that is not?

 

Exactly where did I say live in the past? I merely pointed out that this forum did a lot of good things and still does and it did those things despite being such an awful cliquey unwelcoming place as some posts have suggested.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

, but there have been people posting in this thread who have not been here in ages who have just popped up to post about how awful the place is and have dissapeared back off again without posting word one of anything positive or doing anything at all to change things.

.

 

Point taken, it's just sad to come back here and see the forum this way. I see the point of posting here as well as other places on the web to boost activity. My earlier comments were not meant to be a snipe or by lack of leadership I wasn't referring to Pingu I was referring to mods, reps and members. Wasn't meant as a negative either just an observation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

but there have been people posting in this thread who have not been here in ages who have just popped up to post about how awful the place is and have dissapeared back off again without posting word one of anything positive or doing anything at all to change things.

That would include little ole me then :rolleyes: but didn't in anyway mean to imply it was an awful place.I did post a cold care thread for your pets though :biggrin: Have no suggestions as to how to boost the site or would be doing it with ours we have been plodding along for years with just a handfull here and there so if could make ours more popular I would gladly offer some suggestions. :biggrin:

Edited by flukespad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Snow your first post has upset me as it seems to have upset others, it did come over as attacking the people who have been posting and keeping this forum going and it did look as if you wanted us to live in the past on what this forum has achieved. Yes it achieved a lot in the past but isn't now for whatever reason but you can't live on past achievements, everything has to move forward.

 

I posted a lot of dogs on here that need rescue places, I have 2 transport runs to post now, 1 is to get 2 dogs out of another pound to safety, one will be pts if we can't get him out.

 

Maybe there were negative things posted in this thread, it is how members feel or doesn't that matter? If members feel so negative about the forum then it won't survive, how do you know if the members are feeling negative if they don't say so.

 

Lack of communication causes a lot of problems, if members don't say they are not happy how can admin know? If admin doesn't know they can't do anything about it so the board just gradually disappears. Instead of having a go at the members who have posted on here what they think, we should be working together to bring the board back again.

 

I will post these transport runs because I am putting the dogs before how upset I am over your post, not sure what I will do after that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From a purely personal position I find the board hard to navigate and impossible to post from my phone - I have no idea why as I use Jaws which is the common voice reader software for VI folk and the Iphone built in voicereader :wacko:

 

I would like to participate more but it takes so long to do anything that frustration sets in and I give up as I manage other forums and websites much easier :(

 

Not helpful to anyone else I know but I will keep trying and should I work it out then you will be begging me to shut up again :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think basically we need to rethink what this board is primarily about...and then people looking for specific forums will know whether we fit their bill or not. As it stands, it's not really about rescuing dogs any more, the Foster Homes section hasn't been used since spring, and the Transport has only recently been reactivated. Are we just a place where people who have dogs can chat to like minded folk? there are plenty of them about, how to make this the one people want to visit...well, I'm honestly not sure! I think in the past there have been a lot of clashes of egos, several online arguments between two people have escalated to include their friends and then all of them disappear! Many names who posted a lot..and kept the rest of us amused..have gone, Melp, Claz, Wendy to name just a few. They've either got a busy life now that doesn't leave time to come in, or they've found other forums that they prefer for one reason or another. Maybe those people still here who are in touch with lapsed members could ask them why they left? anything that can be done to tempt them back? I know several people have insisted there weren't any cliques in here...well, sorry but I disagree, I definitely thought there were, and people in the inner circle were allowed to get away with saying things that we on the outside wouldn't be, which I think probably made some people resentful. Of course you always get people who get in a huff for no reason (a recent poster in RMF comes to mind) and they will never be happy no matter what is done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am guilty of being AWOL for no particular reason other than I think I have nothing interesting to say :rolleyes:

 

I shall make an effort to post again, after all I do come here every day to lurk and see what everyone else has been up to and behaviour like mine won't help the general malaise.

 

I appear to be completely addicted to Facebook, so even if I just post the tosh on there over here at least it will be something. Every little helps! :biggrin:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am guilty of being AWOL for no particular reason other than I think I have nothing interesting to say :rolleyes:

 

I shall make an effort to post again, after all I do come here every day to lurk and see what everyone else has been up to and behaviour like mine won't help the general malaise.

 

I appear to be completely addicted to Facebook, so even if I just post the tosh on there over here at least it will be something. Every little helps! :biggrin:

 

You, my dear lady, always have something interesting to say or at least something amusing which is far better!

 

Suzanne and Tiks I agree with your posts as well.

 

Mxxx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Snow

 

People are posting feedback here because they care , they want to see the board restored and they want to see it succeed and not just walk away like others have done and they have left in droves no if ands and buts.

 

The board needs the intervention of its owner or a delegated authority , without that it will die and it does not matter how good it once was it will continue to lose members till there is noone left and its happening right now

 

A handful of people are trying hard to stop that happening and this thread is how they are doing it by giving the feedback that is urgently needed

 

Sam

 

Absolutely agree - a very sensible post. :flowers:

 

Surely it must be useful to find out what people dislike about the forum? If they have gone because they didn't feel comfortable, isn't it good to know why they felt that way, so that we can improve the atmosphere? (not aimed at you, Sam, obviously).

 

I found the whole tone of Snow's post hostile and defensive - that sort of thing is far more likely to put new posters off than an honest exchange of views about what we do or don't like. We should be free, surely, to express our feelings about this, without feeling it's going to be taken personally?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair to Snow it seems she may be the only Staff member who comes on here now, if others do I haven't seen them for some time. Controlling a forum is quite a job, on your own it is really difficult even if the members are good, there is always something to do.

 

Like others I was upset over Snow's first post on here, but if she is the only Staff member on I can understand why.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(a recent poster in RMF comes to mind) and they will never be happy no matter what is done.

THats me I take it, lots of things make me happy, but I can say that being on here is not one of them, thank you to the person who alerted me about this, same old same old.

If you always do what you've always done you always get what you've always got.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...