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yaroslaw

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I think it would be a great idea to post BASH winners (along with 2nd and 3rd place) on Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-International-Association-of-Penturners-IAP/86851308084).
I can see it is not very frequently updated since last BASH.
Also, some announcements can go there too, not just Featured Photos, so it can be of really useful to members:) I go to Facebook, for example, much more often then any other website (IAP or other sites related to my hobbies or work projects).

Let's discus this?

Thanks:)
 
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Dan Masshardt

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I don't really understand facebook - especially creating an online facebook presence - for an entity that's an online presence! :) If I'm online, I'll come to the IAP - I don't really understand facebook's draw! :)

Facebook is where many many people 'live' online.

Stuff comes to you rather than you going to it.

It is huge and businesses and organizations that miss out on Facebook miss out big.
 

maxwell_smart007

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I'm sure you're right, Dan - I just don't 'get' it...

Interesting how this question came up JUST as a new study was revealed indicating kids get an average of 11 hours of screen media time a day - 11 hours! Add eight hours of sleep, and that leaves only five hours in the day when kids are not staring at an online media device...likely because the battery is dead! :biggrin:

I remember when my mom got mad that I spent two hours watching television when I lived on the farm - THE channel must have had something good on that day (yes, one channel and a party line - and no, I'm not that old!)! :)

The modern world is just a big social media boom - the world's biggest social/psychological experiment! :)

Back to the facebook page - can everyone 'edit' the IAP's facebook? How would it stay current/active, given that the IAP changes every second?
 
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yaroslaw

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Kyiv, Ukraine
I want to state that MY penturning business started on Facebook, I've found all my first customers and most of my resellers there (some of them - through art shows).
So it is a powerful way to share with people something.

And BASH is a perfect time to share everything on FB! It can draw more people to penurning, and more people to Association. And actually, more clients to Penturners - members of IAP.
 

yaroslaw

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IAP facebook page can be edited by this page creator and people he delegate this right to.
It is not about "staying current", it is all about news (and about changes). Posting new featured pen each month is good, also posting announcements about BASH, posting BASH winners, important changes, other contests announcements and winners, collaboration or donation projects, etcetera. It would also be beneficial for all, that if a photo of a pen is posted (and picture worth a thousand words, especially on FB) and author of this pen is presented on FB to make his name "facebook active" to lead on his FB page.
 

Edgar

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Hey Yaro,
I hope the situation in Kiev has settled down.
Have you been able to return to your shop?

I think the IAP fb page is set up for only adminstrator(s) to edit. Anyone can post, but any edits must be submitted for approval.

Ed
 
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Dan Masshardt

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The challenge is that it takes yet more volunteers to keep it updated

The creator has the authority to allow only those they want to post Some can be admins, others just given permission to create content

Maybe a good way to get a couple new volunteers involved?

There are lots of pen turners on FB that don't come here Why they don't still baffles me with all the great stuff going in here, but it is what it is :)
 

alphageek

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I'm sure that Jeff may come in here and put in his comments at some point, but I think the answer to your question Yaro is that I believe that Jeff along manages the IAP facebook account, and I know that he runs at the edge of the time that he can afford to allocate to the site just by keeping up with the Bash on here. I'm sure he doesn't have a ton of time to allocate to FB during the bash, but maybe he will use some of your thoughts more after the bash?
 

Dan Masshardt

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I'm sure that Jeff may come in here and put in his comments at some point, but I think the answer to your question Yaro is that I believe that Jeff along manages the IAP facebook account, and I know that he runs at the edge of the time that he can afford to allocate to the site just by keeping up with the Bash on here. I'm sure he doesn't have a ton of time to allocate to FB during the bash, but maybe he will use some of your thoughts more after the bash?

I'd say IF iap did more on Facebook, Jeff couldn't be responsible for that in addition to having too much on his plate as it is.

I think it IS a worthwhile conversation though and if we saw the value there, maybe put together a small FB team to help share stuff there and link people back here Just a thought
 

alphageek

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I'd say IF iap did more on Facebook, Jeff couldn't be responsible for that in addition to having too much on his plate as it is.

I think it IS a worthwhile conversation though and if we saw the value there, maybe put together a small FB team to help share stuff there and link people back here Just a thought

That really depends on what Jeff wants out of it. Personally, I'm kinda with Andrew on this one... I get that it would be good to have it with some updates, but then again - would Jeff really want to have that be a place where its "easy" to see some updates for FB people? If you put too much there, what would be the draw to come here? Its a fine line between marketing IAP on facebook and people reading there instead of being drawn here.

Also - there is that "penturners" group on FB. Its really the wrong feel for me. Its good for sharing (pictures),etc... but horrible for questions. There is no good way on facebook to search at all for previously answered questions. Here at least people can search pretty well, or we can link back to prior threads. Facebook has none of that "history" aspect worked out.
 

Ed McDonnell

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I also fall in the "I don't get it" camp.

I don't want stuff coming to me that I didn't specifically ask for, so that's not going to convince me. I don't much care for telemarketing, junk mail or spam emails either.

The times I've gone to facebook I've mostly found what looks like an unorganized spew of largely worthless posting (to me anyway). These same people / vendors often have very nice websites.

I don't have trouble making friends in the real world. I don't need some over engineered algorithm doing it for me in the virtual world.

IAP has a very nice website. Given the number of new members posting introductions every day, people don't seem to have any trouble finding it.

Ed
 

yaroslaw

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Kyiv, Ukraine
All I say, that a FB page of IAP should serve the purpose of GETTING PEOPLE HERE on the site and promote Association. For some people like me, it could be a reminder "hey, check out the IAP, the BASH starts!" (I've missed start because all that local thing).

It has value only to high-FB users, but nowadays more and more people converts to this "religion". It's not good or bad, it's just a fact. For me it is good as I started my business not paying a cent for advertisements. But I don't want anyone to convert:))) It's also very time consuming, if not used wisely.

Anyway, I perfectly understand time issue, so this discussion is all about that - how as a community we can deal with that and take that thing from Jeff's shoulders.

A group of volunteers is a good idea, but we should work out criteria what should be posted on a page (and what shouldn't), how often and how to cordinate work inside a group.
I ask myself if I can be one of the volunteers? The answer is yes, If I wouldn't be the only one, as I know quite well how time consuming it can be, and sometimes I work 15-17 hours as it is, without this exciting new activity:)))
 
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edstreet

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No longer confused....
I'd say IF iap did more on Facebook, Jeff couldn't be responsible for that in addition to having too much on his plate as it is.

I think it IS a worthwhile conversation though and if we saw the value there, maybe put together a small FB team to help share stuff there and link people back here Just a thought

That really depends on what Jeff wants out of it. Personally, I'm kinda with Andrew on this one... I get that it would be good to have it with some updates, but then again - would Jeff really want to have that be a place where its "easy" to see some updates for FB people? If you put too much there, what would be the draw to come here? Its a fine line between marketing IAP on facebook and people reading there instead of being drawn here.

Also - there is that "penturners" group on FB. Its really the wrong feel for me. Its good for sharing (pictures),etc... but horrible for questions. There is no good way on facebook to search at all for previously answered questions. Here at least people can search pretty well, or we can link back to prior threads. Facebook has none of that "history" aspect worked out.



which one? There are about 12+ different pen groups.
 

alphageek

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Also - there is that "penturners" group on FB. Its really the wrong feel for me. Its good for sharing (pictures),etc... but horrible for questions. There is no good way on facebook to search at all for previously answered questions. Here at least people can search pretty well, or we can link back to prior threads. Facebook has none of that "history" aspect worked out.



which one? There are about 12+ different pen groups.[/QUOTE]

doesn't matter Ed... Any of them/All of them - its an issue with the format/purpose of a forum vs facebook for me.
 

jeff

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I do the best I can to update the FB page, but I only post something occasionally. Believe me, I completely understand the value of FB and one of several things on my list is to post more frequently over there.

However, I do not believe that FB is a good "home" for a community. The lack of indexing and searching is the primary shortcoming. So, I don't believe it's a great place to mingle, but it certainly is a good "hook" to bring people here.

If someone with good FB skills who understands this philosophy would like to volunteer to help keep the page a little more current, I'd be willing to add you as a content creator there. PM me.
 

Dan Masshardt

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I think hook is the right word The threads and quoting here are much better for conversations that seeing 50 comments on a Facebook post!

The other thing I think people need is a reminder of how valuable this site/forum/ library is. There are people in the FB pen turning groups who are members here but don't seem to come much. There are others turning pens who still haven't heard of the iap!

It baffles me!
 

edstreet

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No longer confused....
No one is advocating jumping ships.

Interesting to note this brings up some very interesting topics

One major downfall to the facebook groups is archival. This leads to serious problems with many 'old salts' as we see the same thing over and over and over and over. Same questions, same problems,

The search feature is also perhaps one of the reasons IAP does not have that many active users. I would wager that most are digging up past convo's and looking for something very specific as you would in an encyclopedia. This very single fact will never be out of style as there will always be a need for it.
 

brownsfn2

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Facebook is not a discussion forum. That is why the first thing you see when you log into facebook is a "Newsfeed". It is a good place to share life events and important happenings. I know others use it as a discussion forum but you miss so much and can't easily organize the data in that format.
 

jeff

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No one is advocating jumping ships.

Interesting to note this brings up some very interesting topics

One major downfall to the facebook groups is archival. This leads to serious problems with many 'old salts' as we see the same thing over and over and over and over. Same questions, same problems,

The search feature is also perhaps one of the reasons IAP does not have that many active users. I would wager that most are digging up past convo's and looking for something very specific as you would in an encyclopedia. This very single fact will never be out of style as there will always be a need for it.

"... IAP does not have that many active users..."

What is an active user? How many do we have?
 

edstreet

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No longer confused....
No one is advocating jumping ships.

Interesting to note this brings up some very interesting topics

One major downfall to the facebook groups is archival. This leads to serious problems with many 'old salts' as we see the same thing over and over and over and over. Same questions, same problems,

The search feature is also perhaps one of the reasons IAP does not have that many active users. I would wager that most are digging up past convo's and looking for something very specific as you would in an encyclopedia. This very single fact will never be out of style as there will always be a need for it.

"... IAP does not have that many active users..."

What is an active user? How many do we have?

I should have been a bit more clear. I was talking about the overall number vs the number who actively take part in ongoing discussions. Many just look things up and does not take part in discussions.
 

Jim Burr

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Personally, I'd never swap one with the other. There are three, that I know of, active pen turning forums on FB. I know I've sent 4 people here from there. A lot of showing pens and questions. Many don't seem to know IAP exists. But there are friends from here that help guide the masses. I think helping direct new folks here gets me 3 more random numbers in the Trivia draw tomorrow!!! Right? Please??
 

buttonsHT

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Jan 25, 2014
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Burlington, ON
I think it would have been a great idea during the BASH to update on facebook. Even just simple posts like "Have you done your daily trivia today?" or "Have you voted in the beginner pen contest yet?". Posts like that would be great. It gets traffic coming to IAP which is what a forum needs.

Also it's a great place to archive past BASH contest photos in an easy to navigate gallery.
 
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