by Kimosabe » Fri Jun 27, 2014 6:39 pm
Is the question now more to do with why some people aka lurkers, don't contribute more? Are there ways to encourage them to contribute more often? (okay that's two questions) I can't help but notice that many of the best members this forum has are contributing to this thread and that some of them are probably already considering this.
My contribution/idea is one of mentoring newcomers to AD. Nothing particularly new about this, just that I would like to see a more structured approach to it. What I mean by 'mentoring' is that newcomers can be assigned forum mentors (who can voluntarily sign up to the job) to spend regular time with eachother as both passenger and driver. Could 'mentoring' be added as a separate entry on the forum board index?
As I have previously mentioned, the best lessons I have learned have come as a result of spending time with people who have done just this for me and others, it's just that it's reliant on a willing person to find that post by another member/ newcomer and to be able to offer their time in this way. I know it already happens but could doing this more explicitly help new members to get a better grasp of what AD really is? It could be that people are being put off furthering their AD interests by thinking that the IAM and RoADAR are their only choices. There's so much more to AD than that which is being taught by the IAM and RoSPA and perhaps making meetings between newcomers (who join this forum) and forum mentors more explicit, newcomers can be supported more as the drivers they can be rather than just the drivers the IAM/RoADAR want them to be? How many new IAM/RoADAR members never go any further than the standard AD observed runs and test results? They're where it's at for us as a forum. I've never been entirely happy with the 'us and them' which seems to happen between rival factions of the AD world. To me it makes no sense.
You people are incredibly good at being a forum and any fluctuations in new ADUK members are only to be expected. This echoes what is going on with the IAM and RoADAR, as I understand they also not only have membership fluctuations but also the capability to advertise to existing members. So our forum directly is fed by that but only if those people look outside of the AD-centric advertising. Is ADUK able to advertise it's presence (i'm not aware of ADUK having yet done so) through IAM and RoADAR? I realise that this is pretty obvious to many people here but to new folk, it may not be. So a more proactive approach might help to bring us a more vibrant membership.
Just some of my thoughts, randomly spat out as usual. I don't have a concrete plan but if it's ideas we need, there's a few to get us going. A more focussed discussion could be kept on track by mods or other nominated members, otherwise this could tail off again until it's brought up again in a few months.
Hope this is taken in the spirit in which it is meant.
All the best, Kimosabe
A wise man once told me that "it depends". I sometimes agree.