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

Tue Sep 16 17:08:27 BST 2014

And please don’t forget that some of us aren’t on facebook or twitter.  Called me luddite…

Richard

From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk [mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of Two Lochs Radio
Sent: 16 September 2014 16:25
To: Paul Golder; cma-l
Subject: Re: [cma-l] the Community Radio Toolkit Needs You!

Excuse butting in, but personally I find phpBB type systems way superior to Facebook for the sorts of use I would envisage for this. They may be long-established, but they are also well ahead of FB for functionality and user friendliness. They have vastly better features for editing, formating, making things clear with little diagrams or colour etc than FB does. They are also for more organized in logical presentation with topics, search abilities, automatic alerts on topics...

Facebook has a very slight advantage in that people may be already checking it for other purposes and so see things in passing, but on the downside important business stuff can disappear in a welter of trivia! The better PHP systems allow one to ask to be alerted if there is a reply in a thread of interest and so get the best of both worlds.

Just my tuppence worth. I'll duck now.

Alex
----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Golder<mailto:paul at pvg.co.uk>
To: cma-l<mailto:cma-l at commedia.org.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: [cma-l] the Community Radio Toolkit Needs You!

I've set up lots of phpBB-type forums in the past - really popular 10 years ago, but I think they've had their day now.

What's wrong with setting up a Facebook Group?  Minimum of fuss / people familiar with the formats / probably not going to die out in the next few years etc

Paul
Phoenix FM
www.phoenixfm.com<http://www.phoenixfm.com>

On 16 September 2014 15:20, Associated Broadcast Consultants <info at a-bc.co.uk<mailto: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<http://www.a-bc.co.uk/>

On 15 September 2014 19:34, Bruce Rodger <bruce at celticmusicradio.net<mailto: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<mailto:bruce at celticmusicradio.net>

On 15 Sep 2014, at 16:11, Phil Korbel <phil at radioregen.org<mailto: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<http://www.radioregen.org/>
www.communityradiotoolkit.net<http://www.communityradiotoolkit.net/>
www.connecttransmit.org.uk<http://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<mailto:bruce at celticmusicradio.net>> wrote:
Phil writes: "...The much loved Community Radio Toolkit<http://www.communityradiotoolkit.net/> 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<mailto:phil at radioregen.org>> wrote:
Hi colleagues

The much loved Community Radio Toolkit<http://www.communityradiotoolkit.net/> 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<http://www.radioregen.org/>
www.communityradiotoolkit.net<http://www.communityradiotoolkit.net/>
www.connecttransmit.org.uk<http://www.connecttransmit.org.uk/>

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