Zip code?? Please answer the poll--THANKS!! Ed

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

Would you be willing to tell IAP your zip code?

  • Yes, I would love to meet other penturners.

    Votes: 294 96.7%
  • No--good luck finding me!

    Votes: 9 3.0%
  • I got a better idea, which I have explained in the thread!

    Votes: 1 0.3%

  • Total voters
    304
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.

ed4copies

Local Chapter Manager
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Messages
24,514
Location
Racine, WI, USA.
UPDATE:

Anyone interested in getting their pin on the map....

Have a look at THIS POST



The Chapter "steering committee" is becoming aware of the difficulties of keeping a chapter going and growing. One of the major roadblocks is the lack of information about where our members live (in generalities, not your house number!!)

One thing we are considering is ASKING for your zip code. We realize some will see that as "an invasion of privacy" or "removing your anonymity". Yes, it is. So, do you object to that or would you like to meet with other local penturners? Do you have a better way for us to know who is close to whom??

Thanks for any comments and your participation in the poll!!

Ed and the IAP steering committee!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

mtgrizzly52

Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2008
Messages
326
Location
Kalispell, MT, USA.
no problems here - 59937

I wish there was a chapter in my area, but pen turners are looked down on from the other turners in the area.

mtgrizzly52
<img id="ums_img_tooltip" class="UMSRatingIcon">
 

alphageek

Former Moderator
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
Messages
5,120
Location
Green Bay, WI, USA.
I see no issue in giving it. It would be REALLY good if Jeff can put a special place in the USER CP (other than location) for it. That way it wouldn't be on each post and it would be in a independant field which could help make a google map of them.

Imagine going on a trip and being able to lookup members on your route!
 

MarkD

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
2,293
Location
Sayre, PA
I agree that the USER CP would be the place for this rather than trying to keep track of it in a thread.
 

ed4copies

Local Chapter Manager
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Messages
24,514
Location
Racine, WI, USA.
Just to clarify, Jeff is considering putting a field in the "personal profile" which would allow YOU to put your zip code in and allow Jeff (and whomever he delegates) to sort by that zip code to help us establish "chapters" (or at least determine that there is no interest in a "neighborhood").

So, you don't need to give us your zip code here (where it is kind of public). When he asks for it, it will only be "mostly private".
 

wood-of-1kind

Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
4,114
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
Hi Ed...There are other Canadian and International members out there who may wish to join or make a chapter. Please add Canadian postal code information. Darrell Eisner ,Haliax , Nova Scotia B3S1H4



ED, so what about adding 'postal codes' to take care of the Canucks? Occasionally we come out of 'hibernation' from the deep freeze and turn an occasional pen.:wink:

Thanks Darrell for thinking 'globally'.:)
 

walshjp17

Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2012
Messages
3,415
Location
Weddington, NC
The postal code suggestion is a good one, not just for our Canadian brothers and sisters, but also for members in the UK, Australia, Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. Any penturners in Antarctica?:)
 

ed4copies

Local Chapter Manager
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Messages
24,514
Location
Racine, WI, USA.
Hi Ed...There are other Canadian and International members out there who may wish to join or make a chapter. Please add Canadian postal code information. Darrell Eisner ,Haliax , Nova Scotia B3S1H4



ED, so what about adding 'postal codes' to take care of the Canucks? Occasionally we come out of 'hibernation' from the deep freeze and turn an occasional pen.:wink:

Thanks Darrell for thinking 'globally'.:)

If Jeff adds a field for the "zip code" and formats it to be alphanumeric with 9 positions (for the US zip plus four), it would also accomodate every code I have seen in shipping all over the world. Even Canada's weird alternate letters and numbers.
 

John Pratt

Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
179
Location
Lawton, Oklahoma
Yep, 73507.

Now how about one of those interactive maps that has dots representing all the members and you can click on an area which displays all the members in the area or near-by zip codes. It wouln'd need to be narrowed down to actual addresses. If I click on Oklahoma it would show a bunch of dots that I could click on that would then show the members name in their respective zip code. Like they do for different brand stores.
 

jeff

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
8,968
Location
Westlake, OH, USA.
I see no issue in giving it. It would be REALLY good if Jeff can put a special place in the USER CP (other than location) for it. That way it wouldn't be on each post and it would be in a independant field which could help make a google map of them.

Imagine going on a trip and being able to lookup members on your route!

Of course, this is what we're considering. There are many technological options that will make this fun and useful, and I''ll be investigating them. We had this feature in the old forum, but I never got around to coding it here.
 

Russianwolf

Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2007
Messages
5,690
Location
Martinsburg, WV, USA.
Yep, 73507.

Now how about one of those interactive maps that has dots representing all the members and you can click on an area which displays all the members in the area or near-by zip codes. It wouln'd need to be narrowed down to actual addresses. If I click on Oklahoma it would show a bunch of dots that I could click on that would then show the members name in their respective zip code. Like they do for different brand stores.

I think we used to have one...... Maybe I'm remembering my days at BT3central though.

As far as privacy, My sig already says where I live. If you cant get the ZIP in 2 seconds you are VERY computer illiterate.
 
Last edited:

jeff

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
8,968
Location
Westlake, OH, USA.
I'll add that if we integrate this with the user profile, that the raw zip code would not be viewable by anyone except the member entering the data. The server would only use it to generate a geocode, which would then stick a pin in a map. Hovering over the pin would show your username.

Furthermore, we don't even have to make a map. We could take this data and simply analyze it looking for clusters of information, then contact those members to see if they'd be interested in forming a (or joining an existing) local chapter.

And for even more excitement, there are simple ways to turn an IP address into a geocode for mapping. Some forums show you a map of where the current users are located. They do this by IP address, no additional data required from the user.

This sort of thing will always be opt-IN at penturners.org. We have no interest in violating anyone's privacy or making anyone uncomfortable. We're only trying to enable those who want to gather with local penturners to do so.
 

jeff

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
8,968
Location
Westlake, OH, USA.
Yep, 73507.

Now how about one of those interactive maps that has dots representing all the members and you can click on an area which displays all the members in the area or near-by zip codes. It wouln'd need to be narrowed down to actual addresses. If I click on Oklahoma it would show a bunch of dots that I could click on that would then show the members name in their respective zip code. Like they do for different brand stores.

I think we used to have one...... Maybe I'm remembering my days at BT3central though.

As far as privacy, My sig already says where I live. If you cant get the ZIP in 2 seconds you are VERY computer illiterate.

Yes, we used to have one.
 

ed4copies

Local Chapter Manager
Joined
Mar 25, 2005
Messages
24,514
Location
Racine, WI, USA.
Yep, 73507.

Now how about one of those interactive maps that has dots representing all the members and you can click on an area which displays all the members in the area or near-by zip codes. It wouln'd need to be narrowed down to actual addresses. If I click on Oklahoma it would show a bunch of dots that I could click on that would then show the members name in their respective zip code. Like they do for different brand stores.

I think we used to have one...... Maybe I'm remembering my days at BT3central though.

As far as privacy, My sig already says where I live. If you cant get the ZIP in 2 seconds you are VERY computer illiterate.


There are MANY hints as to where people live!!

However, I wanted to see who was in Wisconsin, well to find them all (who gave us a state name), I needed to search "Wisconsin, WI, Wis" So, not only did I get wisconsin, I also got Winnebago, and other cities (NO other motor homes, though).

So, with a couple hundred to mull through, the task was lengthy (I did NOT take the time to do it).

IF we want to use that to find places where a chapter might be viable, it will take more time than I am prepared to give it. With zip codes, I could plug in a few numbers and get an idea how likely we could "found" a chapter.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom