Facebook page

Gary et al
Its never been an issue of not embracing new technology!!
Its a simply a matter of having 2 Platforms and trying to make certain that they are Synchronized in every way otherwise unless they are synchronized then it will defeat the whole purpose of having a choice!!
A message posted on one must also be posted on the other otherwise it will marginalize one group that chooses to use one platform in favor of the other!
Why should those that like the Forum miss out on posted Rides, social interaction and other messages that are put up on Facebook simply because they do not wish to use or do not like to use Facebook and vice versa??
I am saying that it is vital that all messages reach all members irrespective of their choice of platform and at the moment that cannot be guaranteed.
Its fine at the moment because its still in Test Phase with very a limited number of members as crash dummies having access but can you see the mess that will be created when it goes live and all 200 plus members start posting? I am certain that those 200 members are not going to post on Facebook AND do it all again the Forum and vice versa!

 Admin

Hi Ulyssians,

Having had exposure to social media in a club environment with a demographic similar to the Ulysses Club, I would like to make the following general observations.

There can be a reluctance for some members to embrace new and emerging platforms and prefer to stay with what they know. That is fine.
Others are comfortable with more current platforms in preference to those currently in use.
That is also fine.

Businesses today understand the value in social media for marketing and are now integrating these various platforms into their strategy. Thus, it is important as a club to have a presence across as many platforms as is manageable to maximise the benefit.

1. You May Not be Reaching a Portion of Your Audience:
Unless you know that your audience uses one social media website, you can’t depend on reaching your entire target demographic by just joining one networking site.

2. Increased Search Engine Rankings:
“content is king”. The more quality content you have on the Internet, the better your website is going to rank and the easier that you will be found.

The Web site: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] should always be the main presence on the web for general access to information. ie The gateway.

The Forum: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] should continue to exist as a general conversation platform for those that are comfortable with using this. One main benefit of using the forum is the ability to easily search for historical data. The drawback is limited access from mobile devices except for using apps such as Tapatalk etc.

The Facebook group: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] can be used as an adjunct to the forum and is suitable for more instant access from many mobile platforms, but lacks proper historical search functionality.

Administration of content across multiple platforms, I would agree, is fairly cumbersome, tricky, scary, and time-consuming, but not insurmountable. An example would be posting links on Facebook to Forum posts or linking website content etc.

Just my 2 cents worth.. Gary

Ron I did not say or suggest that chris is doing a bad job I was saying what a good job he is doing Chris is also a valued member of the committee and the branch I have no issue with the good work that he is doing

Not exactly sure why you felt the need to post Kevin.
NO ONE has EVER suggested that Chris  is doing anything less than a great job. The issue is nothing to do with Chris or any one else only the concern of synchronization between the two Pages! Let's make that abundantly clear so no one is under any misunderstanding  - the issue is strictly technical.

Hi all I have read all the replies to my post re the face book page l have learnt a lot and I think Chris Collins is doing a great job with the face book page thank you
regards
Kevin Willoughby

Sorry Mr Suzuki no can do.
Have checked into this and there is currently no way to link the two so that a post to one will be posted to the other automatically.
They certainly be linked so you can access Facebook from the website - that is easy - but you can't post to one and have it appear on the other!

Cheers

Facebook should be streamlined with the bulletin board so that one does not have to post twice financial members from other branches should be able to log onto the face book page with out any hassle by using their membership number I am not anti technolgy I just would like it to be hassle free surely a I.T expert can sought tat out

Surely it's time to leave this nonsense alone, those who can, and want to use it will do so, and those that don't will leave it alone, however, having said that, what is the point of technology if we don't utilize it? and was their as much hesitation about using computer technology as that became available to us? must surely have been opponents to using it as against ringing everybody up, or writing to them all?
And we can all save power and read by candle light, and travel together backwards to the last century!
Regards Mick

just a thought guys n gals  note I am also in the FORD FPV car club of Victoria and we have run both the home page and facebook simultaneously without any problems for years that I am aware of but to be fair this is a much younger group of enthusiasts due to the high performance nature of the FPV cars/race cars and our track day program.We get updates directly to the mobile phone re all events as they come up which I find very useful

love youse all Snake

V is for Victory!

With respect to all I do not disagree with any of tbe comments and points.
.My point is the practicalities of administering 2 web sites. Every one will have to post TWICE!  Once on the Official site and again on Facebook and i can readily see that they will get out pf sync very quickly.
Whether we like it or not messages WILL get posted to one or the other but not both so thr half of the.members that favour one or the other will get the.message whilst the other half will miss out. Until someone  comes up with an easy way to synchronize the two so that one mirrors the other then we run the real risk of members missing out on important messages.

I don't think there can ever be enough communication. These days there is too much reliance on
electronic communication. In the past the topic of a Facebook page was brought up numerous times
at committee meetings and it was always squashed out of the fear that it would replace the website.
Many people don't use Facebook because of (sometimes legitimate) fears of personal antagonism that
can and does happen on some Facebook sites. We must also remember that our website has in the
past also been used by a few individuals that, under the protection of a pseudonym, have attacked
other members for just stating an opinion or a fact. Happily that does not happen much anymore.
There is also the fact that not everybody has a computer.

I think that the Yarra Ranges Branch communicates with all members very well with the Grapevine,
Ride Calendars (hard copy and web page), the web site and Facebook. As long as all forms of
communication are maintained and monitored, there will be something for everyone and no one
should be able to complain that they weren't told about something. It can be hard work keeping
everyone informed but it's worth it for the health and well being of the Branch.

Through my National Committee activities I see what happens to branches that do not communicate.
Thanks to the hard work of the YRB committee, all is good at Yarra Ranges.

Henry Rokx

I appreciate members are stating their opinions and respect those that disagree with their opinion.  That's healthy.
My belief is there is no such thing as 'over-communication' and that comes from years in leadership positions where, despite what I thought was clear communication, hearing, "Why didn't you tell me," was common.  I don't doubt that will still happen and on many things being communicated, it won't matter.  But there are times, such as with the death of a loved member (we have just marked a year since Danny Morrison rode on), having a variety of communication channels is very, very healthy.
Keep in mind that in many ways, 'The Grapevine' and Saturday's announcements by both notice board and verbal communication, also say the same things as what are communicated by the website.  In addition to those, the Branch often also uses printed handouts.
The only caveat on my support is that the website works so well because the succession of webmasters have been diligent in keeping it up to date and I give due credit especially in that to Ron as current webmaster, and who has put his hand up for some years in the absence of any other contenders. I know Chris is also diligent in setting up the facebook page experiment and don't doubt his capacity to continue to monitor it as well. But there will come a day, hopefully later than sooner, when other responsibilities or personal changes will require Chris to move on. That will then be an extra position to fill. That can be true of every other form of existing communication though.

Our Branch Facebook page is brilliant.  It does not replace the main WWW site, it complements it.  The posts are instantly available to those on the FB trial.  It allows me to see what is happening in the club easily, with immediate updates such as the bowling night last night or the rides that take place.  There is no need to wait while my PC (slower than a wet week) or phone (smallish screen) navigates the internet.  I do not see sense of anyone who does not want the FB pages up getting a bit "anti"; all they have to do is ignore it.  The Branch having a FB identity does not impede their access to the WWW site but does allow others access both FB and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  Bottom line, I support the Branch initiative of having FB and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I think it's great we share our options sensibility and objectively so I would like to venture my opinion.
I think it's a mistake having two sites. It's great now in test phase but if it is adopted I suggest it's going to be unworkable as everyone is going to have to post comments messages rides etc twice otherwise those who are not looking at Facebook for whatever reason are going to miss out.
So in reply to an earlier comment those that don't like it don't use it isolates those members from accessing messages that are on Facebook but the poster is too lazy or doesn't like the forum or Facebook to post on the other.
My view is one or the other but not both.

As a rider on the side line i appreciate the structure of the original site but struggle to know who is actually making comments. I am hesitant to join in as there are times im not sure who i am actually talking to. With Facebook i am able to put faces to names and do enjoy the spontaneous input that i can access easily.
Luckily we can enjoy the best of both worlds this way.
Tina (crash tester) or as im know now ilean ☺

With Facebook, I have it connected to my phone so automatically get notified of updates. There have been several rides I have missed out on by forgetting to log in to the website often enough so I welcome this trial. Thanks to the committee for being open minded enough to allow this trial, and especially to committee member Chris Collins for getting it up and running. To those who don't like it....simple solution is don't use it.

Thanks for the feedback Kevin. We currently have in excess of 20 club members (you included) who are helping us test a face book page.  After two months of establishing the test page, we have received positive responses. I'm a little concerned that you feel this way given that your a regular face book user. From my perspective, we have tried to mirror the web site and concentrate on upcoming rides, upcoming events and Give live updates when we are attending events. As K2 has pointed out, the web site will remain the main conduit of information for members. Facebook is not for everyone Kevin but it is a fantastic tool (fast / convenient / user friendly) when used and managed correctly. Cc

Thanks for the feedback, Kev & Gav - it highlights how different media can meet the needs of different people. Given that the Facebook trial is a zero cost supplement to our website powered by willing Yarra Ranges members, and that there is no intention to discontinue our current excellent website, I am happy to continue the trial and I look forward to the collective constructive feedback of those involved.

Cheers

I still think that a facebook page is not needed when we have a perfectly good bulletin board that works for members we should let financial members have a vote on it that is all members not just those thar turns up to the monthly dinner

KBW it is as simple as this with facebook we can reach a much larger audience far quicker than just the club website
and that goes to the core of what Ulysses is all about...........Motorcycling is universal... knowledge shared is knowledge gained
We share knowledge on the mid week rides with all and sundry and all people are welcome Ullysians or not but it means for me as volunteer ride leader that I have to post every week twice on 2 different formats which is a pain in the ass but I will continue to do so to make sure that all lines of communication are open for all riders

Snake

Unfortunately Snake because some like our World Wide Official Site and others want Facebook there isn't much choice but dual posting to both.
 
Some like Tea some like Coffee, Dogs or Cats, Blonde or Brunette its unfortunate but that's human nature.

Cheers

KBW it is as simple as this with facebook we can reach a much larger audience far quicker than just the club website
and that goes to the core of what Ulysses is all about...........Motorcycling is universal... knowledge shared is knowledge gained
We share knowledge on the mid week rides with all and sundry and all people are welcome Ullysians or not but it means for me as volunteer ride leader that I have to post every week twice on 2 different formats which is a pain in the ass but I will continue to do so to make sure that all lines of communication are open for all riders

Snake

Hi Kev
At this stage there is no intention to replace the Website with Facebook.
Both will run concurrently and those that prefer Facebook will use Facebook and those that want to remain with our Official Site will see no changes at all.

I don't think that a facebook page is needed by the club our web page and bulleton board has worked perfectly and suits the needs of members of the club