BOF communications survey

[John Morris]

It's good to hear that so many of you have a strong, persisting and urgent wish to make the BOr website better.

Now, remembering that BOr is ALL of us, not just a few hard-pressed unfortunates in Darley Dale, NOW is the time to put your muscle where your mouths are and volunteer your services (to be measured in guaranteed person-hours per week) to Mike Hamilton.

No need to wait until Monday, Mike can take good news at any time...

And don't worry if your contribution will not be that of a fully-skilled web designer. BOr can always use more foot-soldiers.

If you want it to be better, MAKE it so!

[tendon]

BOr - is that offical? I'd heard it was BOg.

[John Morris]

Does it matter?

Just so long as it's not BOring...

[Mrs H.]

NOW is the time to put your muscle where your mouths are and volunteer your services

Yes John but you should remember that some of us offered our services fullsomely and freely only to be told in no uncertain terms that if the management thought those services were required they would "get someone in",

I now don't have time or inclination to repeat the offer and am unlikely to bother to find either in the future.

[John Morris]

Ouch!

I hope you would agree with me, Mrs H, that much has changed since the person who made that particular remark departed from amongst us.

And I trust that you would not seek to associate any of the current British Orienteering management team, directors or councillors with the view so outrageously, and foolishly, expressed by that person.

Never look back into the underworld...

[awk]

It's good to hear that so many of you have a strong, persisting and urgent wish to make the BOr website better.

Now, remembering that BOr is ALL of us, not just a few hard-pressed unfortunates in Darley Dale, NOW is the time to put your muscle where your mouths are and volunteer your services (to be measured in guaranteed person-hours per week) to Mike Hamilton.

In addition to running the school club, mapping, planning, chauffering, coaching and even occasionally competing John?

[stodge]

Offered to help some months ago (advice on ways forward, rather than actually doing the site) - got no reply......

[Becks]

If months ago was pre JK last year Stodge, please please offer again!

[John Morris]

AWK wrote:-

In addition to running the school club, mapping, planning, chauffering, coaching and even occasionally competing John?

And the answer, unfortunately, is Yes, I'm afraid so.

(Although you might try to spread load locally...)

Not only because there's a mountain of work to be done to keep the show on the road but also because if there isn't a continuing admixture of those whose concerns are local/tactical with those whose sights are set on the strategic/global, then collaboration is rapidly replaced by confrontation.

... As nopesport postings, all well meant, can occasionally demonstrate...

[awk]

And the answer, unfortunately, is Yes, I'm afraid so.

No, John, it does not behove me to take on more voluntary work, particularly for an organisation to whom I'm already paying rather a lot of money every year. It behoves BO to deal with the website: 91% of survey respondents use it, the web is the most popular means of communication, and yet there is "widespread dissatisfaction" with the site, from "all profiles of respondents".

Of course, BO don't have to deal with it - but the price for that will be members' continued expressions of dissatisfaction.

BTW, you say we're all part of BO. Only because, if we are to orienteer, we effectively have to be, not because we particularly want to be, a situation BOF was strongly advised not to get itself into.

[Jon X]

some of us offered our services fullsomely and freely only to be told in no uncertain terms that if the management thought those services were required they would "get someone in",

I now don't have time or inclination to repeat the offer and am unlikely to bother to find either in the future.

Blimey

Thought that well-aired grudge (whether or not also well-founded) must be past its sell-by date by now, what with 'management' having changed and all.

Must just be its 'best before' date I guess

[Mrs H.]

You underestimate me Jon, being a true Harpie i'm quite capable of harbouring a grudge for infinitely longer than that - but unfortunately - as John Morris well knows - a couple of things have happened lately which have made me think that inspite of the new management some vestiges of the Matlock Mafia persist. And anyway - it sounds like i'm not the only one to have my offer ignored and i was merely explaining why - despite John's exhortations - I will not be offering again.

I don't much care for your suggestion that my treasured grudge may not be well founded - it was a very public put down at the time.

[SeanC]

My personal opinion (for what its worth) is that logically John is right. This is a sport where 99% of the work is done by volunteers. Designing, managing and maintaining a big website is a skilled and potentially time consuming job. This is likely to become more so as the web becomes a more important form of communication. I'm not a pure web
developer, but the sorts of things the ecommerce team do in my (typical) company would surely benefit the site and the sport, ie things like:

- ensuring the site works in different browsers (does the BOF site work in IE 7? apparently its 3% of browsers already)
- getting the site up the google listings
- getting links to our site on various other sites
- installing a content management system so that non technical people can manage their content
- automatic testing to root out broken links, dead ends etc.
- ensuring that the site conforms to the latest disability discrimination laws
- monitoring the popularity of various pages and doing market research to work out why various pages are unpopular
- ensuring a popular, clean, consistent look and feel throughout the site

Then there's various applications that could help, such as the fixture/postcode map application produced by Ollie O'Brien.

So why not ask for help from the numerous orienteers with some experience in this area? The problem I see is that these volunteers might need some leadership. Ollie produced his excellent application when he identified a need and worked out how to do it. Does BOF have a webmaster? Maybe the webmaster needs to organise a long term plan, identify specific areas where some help is needed, then ask for specific volunteer help. He/she might then get some good response. Or is the root of the problem that the webmaster needs more time for these growing expectations and perhaps we should be thinking about a salaried post?

[Mrs H.]

As I recall what Ollie actually got was a flea in his ear from BOF for illegal use of their data - which wasn't even true (and that is not very long ago either) it is hardly ccondusive to people to make the effort is it - I would suggest that the first thing BOF did was actually find someone with some descent man management skills instead of leaving it to poor old John to come on here cap in hand asking for help.

[PorkyFatBoy]

Can't we just pay Pyrat to do it?

There are some things that you just can't do well enough yourself - take DIY for example. I can do, or will tackle most things apart from plumbing and plastering, which I pay someone to do for me, so that I can be sure that it will work properly and look good, and more importantly, it will be done in a timely manner.

So if we can't get a good enough job done quickly enough on a volunteer basis, then we'll have to spend the cash and get an someone to do it properly.