The Future of the Club

[bash]

Im with Garath when it comes to the website and personally I prefer a 'donation' type of setup.

Bash
Ps, dont bother nominating me Ive got so many personal commitments at the moment that I cant find time to wash my car.

[Lotus-e-Clan]

Peter
not at all.......you are only being given web space.......
you would be in complete charge of it
you would need the same amount of input as now........
the lotus forum are only offering you free webspace nothing else........
they dont want your name or to be in charge of the site in anyway shape or for......
I hope that helps.......
Im just thinking of ways to avoid accounts/fees/money/more work and effort......
I just thought itd have been easier......
I dont mind if you/we do or not..........just thought 'free' was good
cheers
Gareth

Sorry Gareth you might have misunderstood the subject of my post. I was responding to John's post not yours. I should have quoted Johns post to make it clear.
My bad.

Or have I now misunderstood the intention of your second post?

Hold-on. I see. I *think* I get it now!
You are just trying to explain to me that by providing webspace there is no need for any forum subs? Which *could* mean that the Lotus Excel forum can revert to its previous informal format?
Except the moderation role would have to be resolved and the transfer of the forum archive might be impossible given current ownership rights (whatever they might be)?

Sooner or later there has to be a poll that definitely clarifies the direction of travel that's palatable to the majority ?

I guess it will be impossible to fix this without upsetting someone.

[theelanman]

You are just trying to explain to me that by providing webspace there is no need for any forum subs? Which *could* mean that the Lotus Excel forum can revert to its previous informal format?

Peter
Yes....that's it pretty much.....
As for moderation........erm ......I think that is for the more senior folk to sort.......I'm a newby......
Ta
G

[don.hasi]

It is great that Chris is still onboard, but I feel that he may not be wanting to take on "day to day" operations.

But this is just a guess. He hasn't asked for further help and it is his board. So, don't panic. The day to day business is his take in every sight. If he needs support, he will shout. As long as we are all nice to each other, he has no work with moderating. And in the opposite as an admin he is full in charge regardless if there is further support or not. So it won't minimise his risks or his work.

[alanmoss]

The forum was set up to be free to use and should, in my opinion, remain that way.

Many of us have contributed to the forum on that basis - help and support freely given - and newer owners or prospective owners have been able to gain information, and in due course contribute from their own experiences.

The concept of the owners club was set up to gain access to various events which give space to "clubs".
It has never been formally set up, simply a means to an end, and others have spoken about the implications of a club structure.

Gareth's suggestion to move the whole forum as a separate entity onto the TLF platform seems eminently sensible.

When the predecessor to this forum closed it was absorbed into a section of the main TLF and most of the technical info was lost as it is not easy to take posts between two incompatible forum platforms.

Before we define different solutions there has to be a clear understanding of what we are trying to achieve, and why.

[Johnwindwood]

I'm voicing a preference. I didn't expect to be (or maybe I did?) 'shamed' out of voicing a preference by the standard social media 'put up or shut up' stance. That's the kind of stance that only reinforces my unwillingness to support the official transformation of this community into a formal club. If I had wanted to help *run* the forum in any capacity I would have made it known, I've been around this place for a while now. But that does not mean I don't have an interest in *how* it is run.

If you want to go ahead with your plan and do have the support of the majority then that's OK by me. But, before I give up and move-on, I can offer you a secondary preference (assuming my first preference is unsupported) which would be for a two tier subscription. One at the higher level for 'Club activities plus Forum support', and the other for 'Forum support only'. That way everyone can be catered for.

I guess the wholesale transfer of this forum to the Lotus forums as suggested by theelanman would circumvent the need for the formation of a structured club and the potential issue of forum moderation would be solved too?

For me the current issues and proposed remedies only serve to highlight the greater loss of Angus's support!

That's unfair Peter. My implication, rather than "put up or shut up" was genuinely meant as "Give us all some other ideas". Personally, I don't think that changing to a club is necessarily a good idea-I'm on the Committee of another car club and there is a lot of work involved that inevitably falls on the shoulders of a very few, and there are not that many active members of this forum. (For instance.)

I am also in favour of moving to the Lotusforums and continuing in the format we currently have.

[theelanman]

if you wish to see an example
can I just say that www.lotuselancentral.com is also hosted by TLF and was just migrated over to the same server......
it is very very similar to this site...........
they have their own maintenance/storage/moderation.....and are completely separate from TLF
self funding (donations......everything is free.......manuals/downloads/service bulletins/wikipages/etc...)
self governing
no input or rulings from TLF.......they just get on with their own thing.......

just a thought.... it might be worth looking at their 'model'....as it seems to work very well.......
theyre not a 'club'........they are an online group that share and help with their forum questions technical or otherwise
have plenty of 'banter' and also meet up once in a while....they have a repository of information both on the forum but also guides that members have written in the form of wikipages.....

they have one head guy and he selects a moderation team......so to that end there are about a 6~8 mods.......
deleting spam.....and resolving 'heated debates'

again just further thoughts

[richardw]

Thanks Gareth, I'm waiting for Chris Hopper to get back to me. Until we know where he is coming from, there isn't much we can do.

I agree that TLF is a good forum - many members here are members there also.

Cheers, Richard

[Sirclip]

If it needs to move, I'd be in favour of 'porting' the existing website as-is to another host, providing there is some method by which it can be properly/regularly maintained. If this means a small subcription charge, then I'd be happy with that, partcularly if the alternative meant that a new website (design) was needed.

I fear that the problem may be that there's so many differing opinions on what's best, then a conclusion will never be reached and it'll be stalemate (c.f Brexit )

In order to be as democratic as possible, maybe a simple on-line poll (http://www.doodle.com) would help decide the most preferred solution.
Martin.

[don.hasi]

(c.f Brexit )

In order to be as democratic as possible, maybe a simple on-line poll (http://www.doodle.com) would help decide the most preferred solution.
Martin.

First this is a good idea, but cares the very same problem in it like the brexit comedy that not all who want to vote do vote in a particularly time span.