[cma-l] the Community Radio Toolkit Needs You!

Tue Sep 16 16:05:10 BST 2014

Well... We currently have an active forum supporting people who do
community radio - and you're using it!

At the Community Media Association we've thought long and hard over the
years about setting up an alternative forum - but then we would be moving
the conversations away from this list to another location and splitting the
conversation.  I think we've all seen plenty of user forums that have died
a death through lack of activity.

We still use Mailman for this list because basically email works.  We could
have a secret members-only forum run from the website using the latest
technology - but we prefer to run open mailing lists as it fits with our
ethos to facilitate the free exchange of knowledge and information. Email
is quick, simple, cheap and everybody knows how to use it.

This list receives no funding and is run on a 'best endeavours' basis by
the CMA - the cost of which is borne by the organisation.

These days there are so many competing forums and channels, especially when
social media is also considered, that we think it is a good idea to stick
with a tried and tested reliable technology such as email. And we will
occasionally use Twitter to draw attention to something on this mailing
list - if you're not already one of the 7500+ followers that we currently
have on Twitter <https://twitter.com/community_media> then do follow us.

I think we have an excellent resource with the CMA-L mailing list - let's
continue to use it well!

And stay tuned for some upcoming news *exclusive to this mailing list* of
an opportunity to tender for producing some radio advertisements for a
careers event to be broadcast commercially. You won't get to hear of this
anywhere else!

Best regards for now

Bill
-- 
Operations Manager
Community Media Association
http://www.commedia.org.uk/
https://twitter.com/community_media
http://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation

Canstream Internet Radio & Video
http://www.canstream.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/canstream

On 16 September 2014 15:20, Associated Broadcast Consultants <
info at a-bc.co.uk> wrote:
> I agree to a certain extent - the problem occurred with the move to the
> "new" format website.  From what I recall you had to re-register on the
> site, and it seemed many active contributors were lost at that point.
>
> Another problem is the landing page on the new site after login.  Even
> though you may have clicked on the Forum tab at the top, after login you
are
> redirected to another page called "Activity" which actually seems an
> oxymoron because it does not seem very active!  At this stage I reckon new
> sign-ups might give up - assuming the forum is not active.
>
> I agree there should be an active forum supporting people who do community
> radio.  I have at times thought about setting one up myself, but really I
> think it's best if such a forum is hosted on an independent website like
> this one or CMA.
>
> Having said that, even the Media UK forum seems less active than it used
to
> be - maybe Forums are not "where it's at" nowadays?
>
> Glyn
>
> --
> Glyn Roylance - Principal Consultant
> Associated Broadcast Consultants
>
>
>
>
> On 15 September 2014 19:34, Bruce Rodger <bruce at celticmusicradio.net>
wrote:
>>
>> Hi Phil,
>>
>> I hope my comments will be taken as constructive criticism - as you will
>> remember I was a regular participant in the original toolkit forum, but
>> since the re-vamp my contributions - and pretty much everyone else’s -
have
>> mostly dried up. We need to fix that, and I’m not convinced funding will
>> resolve that.
>>
>> I do support what we’re trying to do with the toolkit - it’s a very
>> worthwhile project (note the “we” there….)
>>
>> The one thing that surprises me about the community radio scene in the UK
>> is that there is no active web forum. Think about just about any
>> hobby/sport/pastime/activity, search around a bit, and you’ll find a
wealth
>> of volunteer-run web forums. Whether it’s Land Rover maintenance, or
theatre
>> technology, or skateboarding, or hillwalking, or photography, or people
who
>> live in a certain town, or one-legged blind naturists….. you get the
idea.
>>
>> I’m involved with several, and they’ve grow from being initially a place
>> where like minded people could chat, through being a repository of useful
>> information and knowledge, to being the de-facto reference site for any
>> technical or non-tech queries on that subject. In one that I am involved
>> with, we have an active membership ranging from school kid know-it-all
>> wannabe’s through to industry professionals at the apex of their
profession.
>>
>> It’s not funding that makes these work - the web hosting is often paid by
>> google adverts, or out of the pockets of the admin team. There are no
paid
>> admins, authors or moderators - it’s done by the community, simply
because
>> it’s THEIR community.
>>
>>
>> The toolkit is never going to happen without formal funding - but what
our
>> community lacks is a community forum. Which is a bit sad, bearing in mind
>> that community is what we’re all about! It doesn’t take money, it just
takes
>> a bit of time and some community buy-in.
>>
>> Bruce.
>>
>> (ps - I made up the bit about one-legged blind naturists. I don’t think
it
>> exists - unless one of you know different?)
>>
>>
>> Bruce Rodger
>> Celtic Music Radio 95fm
>> bruce at celticmusicradio.net
>>
>>
>>
>> On 15 Sep 2014, at 16:11, Phil Korbel <phil at radioregen.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Bruce
>>
>> The site is un-funded and we've not had the resources to support new
>> content or the forum.
>>
>> Watch this space for the re-launch...
>>
>> Would hate to see you when you're being critical ;)
>>
>> best wishes
>>
>> Phil
>>
>> Phil Korbel FRSA - Director, Radio Regen, charity no. 1077763
>>
>> www.radioregen.org
>> www.communityradiotoolkit.net
>> www.connecttransmit.org.uk
>>
>> Please note that I work at Radio Regen under 2 days a week so responses
>> might not be as quick as we'd like.  Many thanks.
>>
>>
>> On 15 September 2014 14:51, Bruce Rodger <bruce at celticmusicradio.net>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Phil writes: "...The much loved Community Radio Toolkit is re-launching
>>> soon "...
>>>
>>> I really don't want to be a wet blanket here - but I've got to ask. Is
it
>>> really "much loved"? The document itself is fine, but the website aint.
>>>
>>> The "Forum" section - which is potentially one of the most valuable and
>>> useful areas - has had 3 posts this year, the last one 3 months ago. The
>>> "News" section has had 3 posts this year, and the "Feature" section -
which
>>> claims "Every now and then we put the spotlight on a different community
>>> radio subject. These features allow us to look at particular topics in
more
>>> depth, with articles, website links and interactive contributions from
>>> members" - has not been updated in four and a half years.
>>>
>>> I don't find it a particularly user-friendly experience.
>>>
>>> Before the last "rebranding", it was quite a useful resource, with an
>>> active forum. But I'm now just a very occasional visitor, and any time
I do
>>> visit, I get the feeling that the only footprints in the sand are the
ones I
>>> made last time I visited.
>>>
>>> It's a concept with great potential, but needs more buy-in and
>>> participation from the community to make it work.
>>>
>>> Bruce.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 15 September 2014 11:04, Phil Korbel <phil at radioregen.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi colleagues
>>>>
>>>> The much loved Community Radio Toolkit is re-launching soon - allowing
>>>> far easier access to our huge free library of 'how to' resources for
the
>>>> sector.
>>>>
>>>> As you'll know if you've delved there - it has a lot of writing in it -
>>>> which looked great on the printed page and pdf's but frankly runs the
risk
>>>> of looking a tad dull on a web page so - we need more pictures!  If
you'd
>>>> like a name-check on the new site and have a photo or cartoon that
really
>>>> says something about community radio would like to share it with us -
and
>>>> the sector?
>>>>
>>>> No prizes - this is just about sharing.  Please send images by email to
>>>> this address in the next couple of weeks along with a short caption and
>>>> photographer credit if required.
>>>>
>>>> More news about the re-launch soon
>>>>
>>>> best wishes
>>>>
>>>> Phil
>>>>
>>>> Phil Korbel FRSA - Director, Radio Regen, charity no. 1077763
>>>>
>>>> www.radioregen.org
>>>> www.communityradiotoolkit.net
>>>> www.connecttransmit.org.uk
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>
>>>> Reply - cma-l at commedia.org.uk
>>>>
>>>> The cma-l mailing list is a members' service provided by the Community
>>>> Media Association - http://www.commedia.org.uk
>>>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/community_media
>>>> http://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation
>>>> Canstream Internet Radio & Video: http://www.canstream.co.uk/
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>> Reply - cma-l at commedia.org.uk
>>
>> The cma-l mailing list is a members' service provided by the Community
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>> http://www.facebook.com/CommunityMediaAssociation
>> Canstream Internet Radio & Video: http://www.canstream.co.uk/
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>>
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>
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
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