Survey response about value of membership: “It’s lessened considerably since we got rid of the forums on the web site (I’ve been a member since 2004). The other social media forums don’t duplicate the ability to connect with club members over our shared experiences in the sport (and are too scattered, to boot). Without one place to connect, it’s not terribly useful.”
President’s reply:
- Well, first off, the forums have not been done away with! They are still here! See! I’m writing in it right now! 😛
- But yes, the forums are a lot less active than they were on the previous website and generally in previous years. A lot of the conversation traffic seems to have moved over to the community Facebook groups, the program Facebook groups, and the club Facebook page. However, we realize that not everyone has Facebook (for various reasons) and social media apps are not really the best place to have conversations in order to be all inclusive of our membership. We would definitely like to drive chatter back here to the club forums and we are going to implement some ideas this year that will hopefully help with that in 2019!
- One great option about this club forum over the old website’s forum is that this version does allow direct messaging! And it allows you to set up a club member profile with avatar and contact information, etc. You can create group conversations. You can tag other club members in posts so that they see it too! We had hoped members would organically discover these options, but perhaps we need to be more active about showcasing the features of the forum and hopefully that will drive participation.
- We encourage everyone to add an avatar image, add a cover image, and use the forums! Post workouts! Ask if anyone wants to go drink and talk triathlon! We are a large community of like-minded folks who share a love of multisport racing!
That’s a rambling answer, but hopefully you will see some changes this year that drive some content and usage to the forums and help us develop a better community of friends!
Bryan
President | DC Triathlon Club
