TARS and Technology

Both Geraint & Peter gave some interesting thoughts on the use of technology or lack thereof both by TARS and the Board of Trustees.

Peter said "I am not sure what this "feed" consists of, but I know that Board members have not "installed" it". I was referring to the item marked "Please use this" at nearly the top right of this Forum screen. Clicking on this link will feed your browser with an RSS News Feed. This will work with 3 most popular browsers MS Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome and probably all other browsers.

To take the Internet Explorer 9 standard set up, one the left hand side of the screen, you should have a vertical menu, headed with “Favourites, Feeds and History”. Clicking on the Feeds heading will list all the Feeds you have set up, this forum will appear as “Forum”, clicking on this will give you all the latest links to the postings on this forum. Nor sure if the feeds column appears - if you have no feeds.

For those who think there is little activity on the forum, just 2 clicks will enable anyone to check.  Not too much to ask of anyone with an interest in TARS. Clicking on the item will take you directly into the full posting.

Geraint said "As things stand, I doubt very much that all of the Trustees are familiar with Skype (this is not intended as a slight on them, because I've never used it myself)."   Skype can be installed without cost on your PC. It can enable you to communicate verbally (as you would on a phone) with any other PC Skype user anywhere in the world without calling cost. You do need to buy a head set and microphone to plug into your PC, either by jack points or a USB plug, cost about £5.00.

A major advantage is that the conversation can be carried on by a group of people in different locations. To give an AR related example, management of “All Things Ransome” is carried out via Skype. If someone is unable to use Skype, because of a slow dial up line rather than broadband, a feature called Skypeout can used to contact them by normal phone can be used.

Should you want to add pictures to your voice, this can be done if you add a webcam to your PC. However this has a heavy bandwidth cost with multiple people on line and may not be necessary.

Whilst I can well understand the need for “rogue elephant provisions” to cover minority domination of issues. Perhaps the need for a fully signed resolution for between meeting issues could be met by digital signatures – or again is this too far in advance?

I do not see any particular enthusiasm for technology in recent TARS activities. This is a shame because it is the way children communicate nowadays.  If TARS neglects communication by technology, it is going to be increasingly difficult to survive in the future. Perhaps technology ought to be a standing item on all Trustee meetings.

Thanks Owen. To reply to a couple of points:

Skype - that's pretty much how I understand it works. I haven't used it personally yet, primarily because I haven't had any need to. But I can see its potential for conference calls, especially amongst fairly stable groups of participants, such as a committee. That does, however, rely on all committee members being comfortable with the technology, and I'd suggest that this can't be presumed. ATR is one thing - it's an IT based entity, so the chances are high that anyone interested in organising it will be comfortable with the associated technology. I suspect TARS is in a somewhat different position, in respect to the range of it's members experience, interests and lifestyles.

You could argue that Trustees should be encouraged (or even required) to adapt to and use Skype (or whatever superceeds it in time), and that this would be in the Society's financial and management interests. That is a valid argument. But there's also the counter-argument that doing this might discourage perfectly competant and experienced members from becoming Trustees, thereby denying the Society the benefit of their contributions.  Equally, there are quite possibly other members (perhaps in the younger, working age-groups) who are already discouraged from standing as Trustees because they can't manage the time required to travel to physical meetings, so it works both ways. I mention it merely to point out that what sounds like a very simple and obvious answer may have repercussions.

Regarding signed resolutions between meetings, I don't think digital signatures would make much difference. The existing Constitution wording already allows for multiple copies of the resolution, each signed by one or more Trustees. It wasn't really the physical signatures that I was highlighting as a potential problem, but the fact that every Trustee must sign such a resolution for it to be valid. Therefore, the resolution has to be passed unanimously (and outwith any "peer pressure" that might encourage unanimous votes in a meeting). It only takes one Trustee to refuse his or her signature to scupper a written resolution, forcing its deferment to the next formal meeting. I'd anticipate one or more refusals in respect to any significant or potentially contentious decision.  

I'm inclined to agree on your last point: I suspect that The Society is putting itself at risk by ignoring developments in the way that society works these days. We need to remember that TARS was formed in the early 1990s on a traditional "physical" model - physical publications, physical administration and physical events. That was perfectly relvant then, as there was no real alternative to paper magazines, management meetings face-to-face, and pre-organised and scheduled activities. The UK still ascribed to a relatively traditional week/weekend, and I suspect there were fewer alternate attractions (or pressures) on people's time during those weekends. How much of that "model" remains relevant - or even achievable - in today's world is a very good question. If an increasing percentage of people are used to finding any information they need in minutes, over the internet; to socialising for free at any hour of the day or night, at any distance, via Facebook, Skype, etc; and to receiving automated updates on any subject that interests them via an RSS feed, or twitter, or whatever, then how many will still be satisfied with a "news" magazine that arrives once every four months, a journal that comes annually, or meetings that they need to commit an entire day to, plus substantial travel costs, in order to attend?

I'm not knocking the hard work put in by volunteers to produce those publications, or to organise regional and national events. I also think there's a continuing value in these things - the publications are tangible records, and physical gatherings and activities have a value far beyond anything that can be achieved online. So I'm not convinced The Society should rush headlong to dump all of the things it has done in the past, merely to catch up with the changes in our wider society. But equally it can't afford to ignore those changes, and I suspect that attempts to "circle the wagons" in order to continue the traditional "model" unchanged, are doomed to failure.    

I cannot add anything to Geraint's summary of the technology situation in TARS - he has covered all bases. Just a couple of more personal comments:-

I see now what Owen means by 'RSS feed'. I have to confess that, even during the time I was TARS National Secretary, it never occurred to me to click on "Get Forums as RSS News". I have an extreme reluctance to open anything on screen which I do not understand, lest it start up a process that will disorientate my browser and take ages to undo. I suspect the trustees feel the same. (And I might add here that during my term, one of the trustees did not even have email facilities, and all board documents, notices etc had to be mailed. However, that trustee had had a lifetime's experience in organising youngsters. Geraint is right to point out that this is a very much an individual 'lifestyle' aspect.)

There is only one way in which the trustees might be persuaded to adopt the more modern communication methods which Owen recommends, and that is for Owen to join the TARS Board and make strong recommendations to them in person (+ a demonstration perhaps). I hope he will do this, and I will be happy to propose his nomination next May and no doubt Geraint would second it . . . . 

I have been using the RSS feed for some time, in fact discussed it several months ago and requested a link be put on the forum. Which Gareth implemented. Obviously if no one understands what it means it will not be of value.

I also mentioned Skype in a previous post, as I use it both personally and as a tool for communicating on board meetings of a charity that I am connected with, it is fairly successful.

There is a wide use of technology amongst the young, but maybe not TARS members, as if it were the Junior section should be more active.

Everyone seems to have good ideas but none seem to go anywhere, I find the whole thing dismal and disappointing.

While using technology such as Skype may deter some good candidates from participating in running TARS on the Board, the current set-up completely eliminates the chance of ANY overseas participation which I am sure is also depriving TARS of the services of some good candidates. I still am amazed that the (corporate TARs ones not private personal) email addresses of the Board are not published anywhere by TARS as far as I can see, not on the website and not in the publications. If I want to contact a Board member directly, I have to send a snail mail letter?

Technology is here to stay and younger people don't really understand how anything can run without it. Morse and semaphore were useful and fun for the Swallows and Amazons but mobile phones, texting, email and Facebook are the modern equivalents. I discovered TARS through my early exploration of the internet, prior to 1995 it never came to my notice. I wonder how many other TARS members discovered it the same way. Most decent sized companies now have a Chief Information Officer to control the companies internet and online activities, perhaps TARS should consider creating such a Board position.

I was very pleased in the recent Signals to see that the Membership activity is now partially being done by an Australian member helping out the UK member. This is an example of how TARS can use technology to make the society run better. I would hope that TARS could explore other areas where this would be possible. The publications come to mind, though the size of the magazine files, especially with images, may make simple emailing impossible, but that can be got around quite simply.

" I still am amazed that the (corporate TARs ones not private personal) email addresses of the Board are not published anywhere.."

Adam - the TARS trustees do not have corporate email addresses. Two of the officers do - the Company Secretary and the Membership Secretary, and these are published in Signals. The private email addresses are not, of course, given in any place where there is public access, and that includes Signals. If you wish to contact an individual trustee, email the Co Sec and he will forward it. When I was Co Sec I frequently did this. Despite this minor inconvenience the policy is sensible and the reasons for it are fairly straightforward.

"Technology is here to stay and younger people don't really understand how anything can run without it."

That's very true, but "younger people" do not run TARS. As I keep having to point out, it is run by much older people who are true to their own personal lifestyle and priorities (and that includes me). The older people would be happy to hand over to a younger group if such younger people were stepping forward and volunteering, but they are not.  In any case, I don't see how any of the "equivalents" Adam mentions would be an improvement. "Mobile phones" and "texting" are things I go to TARS meetings to get away from. "Email" we already use. "Facebook" is a waste of time and has been discredited lately. "Skype" - OK, but how long will it last? Next year it will be something else we all have to start using.  I have investigated "RSS" and it is just a sort of message service. I don't see the point of it - I would just as soon log on to this Forum direct.

To be honest, I don't see how any of the above would improve "overseas participation". There certainly are issues with TARS communication, but they lie elsewhere . . .

Regarding Peter’s kind suggestion that I might join the TARS board, if approved, I regret that ongoing health issues currently would make it difficult for me to attend any meeting with reliability. Regrettably I cannot forecast how I will feel on a particular day for travelling.

I do manage to attend events connected with other hobbies, but that is as part of a group so my presence is not critical.

However I could contribute to a meeting, if asked, by Skype.

Most people who are not in easy reach of their families; use Skype including webcams for face to face communication.

Certainly I understand Geraint’s assertion that TARS was designed to an older world of communication, also that ATR only exists as an IT identity.  However it does not mean that the management communication should be markedly different.

TARS does need to recruit, if possible, younger board members. I suspect  the younger potential members have busy work and family lives and have little time for meetings unless they can be held on line with the minimum of inconvenience.

Perhaps we need to find an IT champion within the ranks of TARS, who can drive IT matters on within the Board.

Robin Marshall makes the point that IT ideas and improvements come to nothing. Perhaps we can decide among ourselves on this Forum what we think TARS should be doing on the IT front. Then put a firm proposal based on these ideas directly to the board. Peter has very strongly indicated that unless matters are properly proposed to the Board, then mention on this Forum means that they are regrettably ignored.

If we want to do this, then I would be prepared to formally draft the proposal. We would need to finalise something by mid February, if the next Board meeting is in March – as Geraint has indicated.

We also ought to try and enthuse TARS to use the existing technology. I had planned (and failed!) to write a plaintive letter for December Signals – but now feel a “how to do it guide” might be of greater use. If I wrote such a guide, I would ask Ted Evans and Geraint to consider it before Signalling. Press date is the 15^th February.

I do agree that IT is not the total future for TARS and that meetings, events and visits are experiences that cannot be replicated electronically (yet). Being of an age where I am basically a paper based animal, I do appreciate reading both Mixed Moss and the Literary Transcripts.

However I think Signals and Outlaw could be dealt with electronically, with members logging on and viewing content which could be updated monthly. For the few who do not wish to use a computer, then short run photocopying is a cost effective solution.

TARS should be examining all its activities with a view to operating and improving communication with members cost effectively.

Owen has some sound proposals and I certainly support them. The How To guide sounds a good idea and could be included in all future Signals issues.

It surprises me that a lot of new new memberships come through the website but one rarely sees the new members posting on the forum. Of course they may just be viewing as some people are reluctant to post.

Previously Peter Hyland wrote:

" I still am amazed that the (corporate TARs ones not private personal) email addresses of the Board are not published anywhere.."

Adam - the TARS trustees do not have corporate email addresses. Two of the officers do - the Company Secretary and the Membership Secretary, and these are published in Signals. The private email addresses are not, of course, given in any place where there is public access, and that includes Signals. If you wish to contact an individual trustee, email the Co Sec and he will forward it. When I was Co Sec I frequently did this. Despite this minor inconvenience the policy is sensible and the reasons for it are fairly straightforward.

"Technology is here to stay and younger people don't really understand how anything can run without it."

That's very true, but "younger people" do not run TARS. As I keep having to point out, it is run by much older people who are true to their own personal lifestyle and priorities (and that includes me). The older people would be happy to hand over to a younger group if such younger people were stepping forward and volunteering, but they are not.  In any case, I don't see how any of the "equivalents" Adam mentions would be an improvement. "Mobile phones" and "texting" are things I go to TARS meetings to get away from. "Email" we already use. "Facebook" is a waste of time and has been discredited lately. "Skype" - OK, but how long will it last? Next year it will be something else we all have to start using.  I have investigated "RSS" and it is just a sort of message service. I don't see the point of it - I would just as soon log on to this Forum direct.

To be honest, I don't see how any of the above would improve "overseas participation". There certainly are issues with TARS communication, but they lie elsewhere . . .

the TARS trustees do not have corporate email addresses It would be good then for TARS to publicise that the Board may be contacted through the Secretary or have a generic Board email address. If I want to contact the Board member responsible for Overseas members, there is no indication anywhere that I should contact the Secretary to have my message forwarded. Setting up individual TARS email addresses which automatically forward to the appropriate office-holder is so easy that I wonder why it is not done, it involves far less invasion of privacy than publishing home addresses and telephone numbers.

"younger people" do not run TARS  And this is not seen as a problem? Younger people are unlikely to want to run TARS unless it is made easier for them by increased use of technology.

"Mobile phones" and "texting" are things I go to TARS meetings to get away from. Just as AR did not do business by Morse or semaphore I wasn't suggesting TARS do business over Facebook or Twitter, I was just pointing out that people are becoming far more comfortable with technological means of communication and to keep in touch TARS, even the older ones, should consider adopting ones that help.

"Skype" - OK, but how long will it last? Next year it will be something else we all have to start using.  Skype has been around for eight years and has recently been bought by Microsoft so it is hardly a flash in the pan in the internet world. In addition similar services are provided by Google and other companies, so the technology will continue even if the platform changes.

I don't see how any of the above would improve "overseas participation".  There is zero chance of participation currently offered to overseas members by the existing system of face to face meetings. Any of these proposals will change that from zero to a something more than zero chance of increasing overseas participation.I sometimes feel strong vibes that TARS really doesn't want these overseas members who don't fit into their nice UK regional system but is too polite to tell them to get lost.

Adam our contact with the board as overseas members would be through Iain.Khan-Gilchrist, who is the overseas rep. Previously it was Peter Wright who did pass on suggestions to the board.

Iain usually emails me just before a board meeting to see if there are any matters he should bring up. If you do not have his email contact me and I will pass it on. I assume Iain does the same with Harry and David.

Some things I have suggested have come about, one was PayPal payments although I think it had been discussed before, one other which I have heard no more of was a separate brochure directed at juniors about the Society.

My feelings are that if and when the proposed movie ever gets distributed and has some success has the Society got plans to take a advantage of the resulting interest from the general public in TARS. This would mean being up on the latest social and technical media.

Being something of a old fogey myself I do struggle with some of the latest stuff, but have found Skype to be a great tool, also RSS which will inform me immediately there is a posting on the forum.

If Owen is prepared to send some of the matters to the board I think it would be a fine idea.

I think Owen's idea of a 'how to' guide to the website for Signals is an excellent one.  (I think it was for Signals?) Perhaps you could draft something and post it here for comments?  It can explain about this forum, of course, but I was also interested in Geraint's earlier comment that 'the raw task of drafting news items, event information, etc can be done by any member willing to take the time to familiarise themselves with the site and do it': if you could find out and publicise how this is done it would be great.  (The news section being rarely updated is I think the most off-putting part of the website.)

Robin makes some good points, particularly the probable increase of interest in AR when the SA film is released. For me, that is the sort of question which is important, as opposed to a lot of the views on this 'TARS and Technology' thread which are concerned with the 'medium' but ignore the 'message'. We could have all sorts of technological innovations to aid communication, but they would be of no use unless people actually wanted to communicate and had something to say. In this connection I have just had a look at the 'Regional Forums' on this website. None of them are very up to date, and I see that the last posting on 'International Regions' was in April 2010 and was a sole query about TARS members in S France. The previous posting was in June 2009 (!) and concerned the death of an Austars member. This does not indicate to me a burning desire amongst overseas members to communicate with the rest of TARS in general. The situation is no better with the UK Regions. I am sorry but I think all these views about skype, RSS etc are missing the point by a long way.  

Where will people go if the new film sparks their interest in the Swallows and Amazons. I would suggest that the internet and google will be high among the list of likely first places. TARS must ensure that its website is attractive, up to date and allows people to pursue their new found interest, either by providing the information they are looking for or by displaying links to other sites where they can find answers. Ideally they will attract people enough that they will want to join TARS.

Why are there no reports of the AGM activities or regional events? People do end up writing them for Signals etc., why doesn't anyone post a report on the TARS site somewhere? In my opinion, TARS and its UK Regions which have not infrequent events due to their relatively large numbers and relatively short distances, should have led the way in trying to use this forum to publicise events, report on them and generally demonstrate that there is life in TARS and that it is an organization worth joining. All it would take is for each event organizer to remind people of the TARS site and maybe ask one or two likely candidates to post something. There should be clear instructions, easily found, for how to post on this site.

I think Peter is completely missing the point about technology and TARS. Technology is a means to an end not the end itself. No one has advocated Skype discussions of Ransome or his books to replace the discussion forums (though that might be fun to try). They are suggesting them as a way of TARS being able to tap into a larger pool of people to help conduct its business.

Previously Nicola Farr wrote:

I think Owen's idea of a 'how to' guide to the website for Signals is an excellent one.  (I think it was for Signals?) Perhaps you could draft something and post it here for comments?  It can explain about this forum, of course, but I was also interested in Geraint's earlier comment that 'the raw task of drafting news items, event information, etc can be done by any member willing to take the time to familiarise themselves with the site and do it': if you could find out and publicise how this is done it would be great.  (The news section being rarely updated is I think the most off-putting part of the website.)

 

 

Hi Nicola

If you go to the Home page of this site there is a box on how to post your own content.  Click on it and follow the tutorial, this enables you to post news items and many other things.

I set up my own personal folder and do it from there. Hope this helps

Robin is correct: look under "announcements", top right, "add your own content!" I've now added the same link to the forum pages under "Please use this".

Note that if you want to advertise an event, or report on an event, it is best to create an "event" or a "news" page respectively. The reason is that the Home page portlets will link to these, thereby making your content visible to the greatest number of visitors. If you want to create more static information - eg create material for the "characters", "real places" or "real people" sections of the site (under AR/Swallows and Amazons) - then it's best to create normal pages.

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

Previously Nicola Farr wrote:

I think Owen's idea of a 'how to' guide to the website for Signals is an excellent one.  (I think it was for Signals?) Perhaps you could draft something and post it here for comments?  It can explain about this forum, of course, but I was also interested in Geraint's earlier comment that 'the raw task of drafting news items, event information, etc can be done by any member willing to take the time to familiarise themselves with the site and do it': if you could find out and publicise how this is done it would be great.  (The news section being rarely updated is I think the most off-putting part of the website.)

 

 

 

Hi Nicola

If you go to the Home page of this site there is a box on how to post your own content.  Click on it and follow the tutorial, this enables you to post news items and many other things.

I set up my own personal folder and do it from there. Hope this helps

I’m glad to say that I agree with many of the points made by Adam in his last posting, to the extent that they envisage an ideal situation. I too would like to see a TARS website full of life and colour and reports and photos of current regional and national activities, to show that TARS is worth joining. This is not the case at present, but Adam does not seem able to take in the reasons for it, despite the position being explained many times by Geraint and myself.

I’ll try again, in blunter language. Adam asks “why doesn’t anyone post a report . . .?” and in this connection he mentions “one or two likely candidates”. It’s so easy to say things like that, isn’t it? “TARS ought to do this . .” “TARS ought to do that . .” Enough please! I’ll say it again – we are desperately short of volunteers. If you don’t believe me – read the Chairman’s Report in the current Signals (it’s on pages 39-41).

Take the TARS trustees for instance, who have come in for some stick on this forum. I attended Board meetings for nearly 4 years until last May. As been mentioned already, most of the trustees were not young. Most were retired, and two of them had had major heart surgery in recent years, one of them quite recently and yet he insisted on loyally attending Board meetings even though he was plainly still very weak. This trustee is over 80, and was an obvious case for handing over to a younger person but no volunteer could be found. Two other trustees were still working full time in demanding professional occupations, one of whom had to relinquish the chair of a TARS committee as he just couldn’t spare the time. Those who do take on jobs in TARS are under pressure to take on extra duties where there is no volunteer. TARS advertised for a new Membership Secretary for nearly a year, with no response, so the already hard-pressed Treasurer had to take that job on as well. There are other examples of people doing two jobs, both on the Board and in the regions. Do we really need to pester these people about skype, just at the moment?

But having said all that, I agree that TARS is not presenting itself to the public as well as it should be. However, a Press and Publicity Officer has been appointed and the situation ought to improve. Members should certainly make their views known, if they wish, to the Board, via their Representative Trustee, but I would urge that any such communication should be made in a spirit of fellowship. Phrases such as “it is not too much to ask . . .” are not really the best way to approach a hard-pressed trustee, nor are sarcastic comments such as “nice UK regional system”. . .

. . .which prompts my final thought (and I feel I must say this) - I never hear anything about what is happening in TARS Canada. There are no reports in Signals, nor on this website (can a “candidate” not be found to do them?). There is no TARS Canada website (as far as I know – it is not given in Signals), in contrast to the wealth of online info given out by TARSUS. Forgive me saying this, but I’m not sure Adam is in the best position to complain about UK TARS communication. I am sure there are very good reasons for the absence of Canadian reports, just as there are in the UK. Perhaps we could have a little more mutual understanding on this?

Peter has put a clear reason for the technology not working, as I understand  this thread was started to suggest technologies may be the answer to some of TARS problems, however if as Peter states the existing Trustees would not be able to use it either because of age or other considerations it is a non starter.

I read the chairman's report with concern, the Society cannot continue like this, I would suggest if it is not too late that a plea be included in next years renewals for volunteers for the various posts. Stressing the fix the Society is in, also a full page add in Signals. Having been involved with many organizations I know from experience how hard it is to get people to help.

Switching to Canada, I noted a long time ago there was no link to TARS Canada on this site and so suggested cooperation between TARSUS and Canada which included their participation in our newsletter, plus I was going to design a joint website called Swallows and Amazons in North America which would include details of both TARS groups. The newsletter got of the ground and I believe is a success, I have drafted a couple of prospective web pages but got somewhat stuck as it is something I really have no expertise in, I requested a volunteer or two to help with no result.

Another problem was I could not figure out how to link the site from the Ransome site. I can edit the TARSUS page but seemingly not the page that gives the link to TARSUS, Gareth used to be a help in things like this but I assume he is no longer involved so I suppose Geraint is the one to go to.

Of course it sometimes seems that all this effort is a waste of time, having started a Google group as did Canada, with virtually no participation from members apart from a first initial response,  also a Facebook page with the same effect.

I think we assume everyone is passionate about TARS as we are, only to find TARS plays a very small part in other members busy lives,

After reading Robin's helpful posting, I went to 'Signals from TARSUS' (accessible from this website) and there is indeed some news from Canada in it, and even more in the May 2011 edition. I have to admit that it did not occur to me to go to the TARSUS newsletter to get news of Canada, but now I know. It is a little bit hidden away!

Robin also confirms that volunteers are thin on the ground everywhere, so we must take this into account when commenting on lack of reporting from any region of TARS. Robin's last sentence sums up the sad situation very neatly, and there is nothing I can add to it. Alas, I can't come up with an answer.

To answer Peter's questions about TARSCanada, you could perhaps recall that TARS has about 30 members spread across the second largest country in the world, so getting enough TARS to any meetings organized is slightly more difficult than asking people to drive twenty or thirty miles for a meeting. Yet we did do this in the past. At the last summer TARSCanada Ontario meeting I organized in Toronto back in about 2005, our furthest participant was from the Vancouver area, a mere 2100 miles as the crow flies, but he only came because he had another reason to be in Toronto. At our Arthur Ransome's Russian Winter Holiday Birthday party with skating in the local outdoor rink with two types of hot pot and storytellers who told some of Old Peter's Tales, and a cake modelled on the one in Winter Holiday, we had about eight adults and some uninterested children who enjoyed the skating and hotpot but not the story telling. There I think the furthest distance was only about 400 miles. Our usual numbers were about ten to fifteen menbers plus additional non-TARS friends and even then many of them had to travel distances that most British TARS would consider excessive, but we are more used to. This was all before the website was set-up but reports were printed in North Pole News, the former TARSCanada newletter. Those reports were elicited by the organizer specifically asking if some or all of the participants present could write a few lines. It wasn't that hard to get at least one report from those attending and it wasn't the organizer who had to write it. I have seen similar reports in Signals regional newsletters and they could easily be posted on this site.

I am very pleased to see that the Midland Region has recently posted about one of their recent events. I hope that other regions will also realise that there is a potential forum here for publicising their events. The success of any website depends in good measure on driving up the number of visits and TARS could help itself make this site more attractive by using it for their own affairs.

I agree a TARSCanada or TARSUSCanada website would be a good idea but so far among our 30 Canadian members, no one has volunteered, I am not sure how many TARSUS members there are and whether any of them have the expertise? My own expertise is minmal in that field, even though I do know how to use Skype. The demographics of Canadian members tend to be older, and less web-savvy,  my children although properly introduced at an early age, to Ransome have decided Ransome is just another one of Dad's obsessions that they can safely ignore without ruining their lives. My last attempt at organizing a meeting here in 2007 was kiboshed by a personal injury that put me hors de combat for a couple of months and no one else has taken up the slack since and I no longer have access to the location where I used to hold the meetings. In addition, I am getting out of touch with what younger people want to do with all my children now either in university or graduated.

What do I do personally nowadays? I do help run All Things Ransome and TarBoard, which admittedly are not Canadian based, but I feel I am making some contribution to Ransome lovers worldwide.

I am disappointed that Peter doesn't seem understand that by opening up the possibility of contributing to the operations of TARS from overseas members, and UK members who cannot travel to meetings some of the load could possibly be taken off  the current over-worked Board. By restricting the potential participation of remote members by ignoring "how" they can perhaps contribute, Peter exemplifies part of the problem. All Things Ransome could not operate with just those individuals who could possibly manage to meet face to face, so perforce we have adopted the only practical way of running the sites. It is not impossible to run a meeting with a mix of people present and remotely, we do that all the time in business. It takes a bit of etiquette and discipline to remember the invisible people are there. but it is a skill easily learned.

Thanks for the earlier tips about how to post on the website.  I am afraid it's probably true that, as Robin says, TARS plays only a small part in my life.  However, next time I join in an event I'll definitely check if the organiser or anyone else has plans to post a report on the website, and if not I'll do it.

It's good to see the Midlands updates today.  A little more activity should help make TARS look more attractive to prospective members.

“I am disappointed that Peter doesn't seem to understand”

I do understand the point that Adam is making. In fact an overseas contribution is already being made by an Australian member with regard to membership records. However, with regard to the general application of communication technology in TARS and the likely problems I heartily endorse Geraint’s posting of 16 November on this thread above. Whether this makes me “part of the problem” I don’t know, but when all’s said and done it is not me whom Adam has to convince – it is the TARS Board (of which I am no longer a member). I assume that Adam will be contacting the Board direct about this, otherwise nothing will happen.

Several interesting points have come up in this discussion. Some seem to revolve about how we can communicate especially with the Board.

Anyway I will start draft the "How to Use Our Forum" article for Signals. As I said earlier I will send it to both Ted and Geraint for technical comment, I will then publish the draft here for user comment (the most valuable comment of all!). After this it can be sent to Signals for publication in the April 2012 edition by 15^th February at the latest. I would actually hope to send it earlier. We will also put the Guide in the technical section of this site.

The second part of the exercise will be to put a paper up to the Board, recommending how technology can best be used by TARS to communicate with existing members and the wider world. Again I will put my draft up for comment.

Not sure how much the Board appreciates that according to the ClustrMaps link (at the bottom of the home page) over the last 13 months more than 40% of the site visits are made from outside the UK.

For those interested in statistics, the significant figures are for 18 Oct 2010 to 16 Nov 2011

Previously Peter Hyland wrote:

“I am disappointed that Peter doesn't seem to understand”

 

I do understand the point that Adam is making. In fact an overseas contribution is already being made by an Australian member with regard to membership records. However, with regard to the general application of communication technology in TARS and the likely problems I heartily endorse Geraint’s posting of 16 November on this thread above. Whether this makes me “part of the problem” I don’t know, but when all’s said and done it is not me whom Adam has to convince – it is the TARS Board (of which I am no longer a member). I assume that Adam will be contacting the Board direct about this, otherwise nothing will happen.

 

I had already acknowledged the Austar's contribution and I too endorse Geraint's comment that TARS needs to reconsider how it does its business and activities in the light of the changes of the last twenty years. I will be contacting Owen to see if I can help him in preparing any of the documents he plans to send to the Board. In this case I believe that more is not necessarily better. One well thought out proposal with backing from a number of people is likely to have more impact than a number of different ones possibly advocating different courses.

On Friday 18 November, Adam Quinlan wrote

'Why are there no reports of the AGM activities or regional events? People do end up writing them for Signals etc., why doesn't anyone post a report on the TARS site somewhere? In my opinion, TARS and its UK Regions which have not infrequent events due to their relatively large numbers and relatively short distances, should have led the way in trying to use this forum to publicise events, report on them and generally demonstrate that there is life in TARS and that it is an organization worth joining.'

The following day Peter Hyland wrote 

'I too would like to see a TARS website full of life and colour and reports and photos of current regional and national activities, to show that TARS is worth joining.'

May I draw to your attention the fact that some Regional pages, in particular Midland and South Western, of the website, do have up to date information on forthcoming events? SW Region have been posting accounts of their events with photographs within days of their happening for about the past three years.

It is disappointing that two persons so involved in TARS are not aware of this. Possibly part of the reason is that the structure of the website is not making these more prominent and therefore not well known?

Many thanks, Yvonne.

Perhaps I should reiterate part of my comment made on 19 November above:

The reality is that relatively few visitors explore every part of a website, so I really can't over-emphasise the benefit of using the dedicated templates for news and event items. By getting automatic links into the Home page portlet, you'll greatly increase the chance that people will see and look at Regional information.

I've just experimented with a change to the portlet order, putting the Forthcoming Events and News listings higher up the right-hand side of the Home page. At present this applies to the "Regions" page too, so anyone visiting there should also see the Forthcoming Events portlet without needing to scroll down.

Maintaining the Regional pages is still valuable, as you can use them to maintain a permanent set of links to your past event reports, as well as a location for more permanent information about the respective regions.  

Previously Dr Yvonne Varley wrote:

Possibly part of the reason is that the structure of the website is not making these more prominent and therefore not well known?

 

Why don't we have a session at next year's IAGM on using the TARS website? The hotel is bound to have wireless so we can have a live demonstration! And perhaps a discussion on the use of IT in the Society? Or possibly, a session on the future of the Society, including how its structured etc.

This is a long thread, but returning to an earlier point, I do find it odd that while email addresses of lots of regional committee members, and virtually all regional officers, are listed in Signals, Trustees' are not. But this means that most Trustees' email addresses can be found in the regional committee pages if you look back through a few copies.

At the very least could Trustees be asked if they'd be willing to have their email addresses published in Signals?

On another point, though not entirely unconnected, I've never understood why Signals doesn't carry a report of each Board meeting – there were a couple of pertinent points reported in the last Signals which shows what could be done. I'd be really interested in hearing what the Board have discussed/decided, especially as TARS is currently a company limited by guarantee so every member is actually a shareholder in/owner of the company. While I feel TARS would benefit from being a simple membership society, in the meantime it could be structured and act like one - reports from board meetings being an example of how this could be achieved.

After all, most of the running of the society is done by members other than Trustees: events by regional committees, the IAGM organised by each region in turn, the Literary Weekends, membership secretaries, editing our journals (with one honourable exception), Amazon publications, running the website, the Library, the stall, Cochy, Ship's Baby Fund, distributing leaflets to museums etc. 

"It is disappointing that two persons so involved in TARS are not aware of this"

Somewhat red-faced, I have just carried out a more thorough exploration of this website, and Dr Varley is quite right - there are reports of regional activities available via the links on the 'Regions' page plus, in many cases, photographs. I made the mistake of looking at the 'Regional Forums', accessible from the 'Forums' page, and these do have rather old postings on them. I suspect Adam may have done this too. 

So in fact this website is serving its purpose pretty well. Perhaps the Regional reports were just a little bit hidden away, but Geraint's improvements to the signposting should improve things.

My apologies to those who have been posting their events and reports all the time. I think that there is enough information, but the websiote design means that it doesn't leap out and grab the casual surfer.

Question, what exactly can a member editor do? Just create a new page? Can you edit an existing page they didn't create, for example to add somethng to one of the existing pages? and if you can't, who can?

I had not looked in Regions either, well done these people, there is no doubt it needs to be brought to the attention on the home page as this is what most people see.

I think Geraints adjustments help.

Adam

I can't claim to be an expert in Plone, and it's a while since I've spent much time on the site. But my basic understanding is that whoever creates a page has the option of granting or witholding sharing rights. These can be set on a page by page basis for adding material, and/or editing existing content. Such permissions can be granted globally (to "Logged in users"), or to individual named user(s). When you create a page, look under the green "sharing" tab to see the options available.

So where appropriate several users - say a regional committee, or several users in one country -  can collaborate on a page or pages. In other cases the page creator may well have good reason to retain total control of the material.

Site administrators can add/edit, etc by default (they can also grant sharing rights on pages originally created by someone else, which I guess could be useful if the original creator is no longer active).

It's best to place whatever you create in your own folder (My Folder). If you want to link to your content from an existing part of the site, you'll either need to get the original page creator to edit that page, or ask one of the site administrators to do it.

Just a note on publication states: items marked "Public Draft" are visible on the site, even if they are not linked from elsewhere. They will, for instance, show up via the Search Engine. So if you want to keep your work invisible whilst you are creating it, remember to set the page's "Status"  to "Private"(right hand end of the green editing bar).

Hope that helps.

Previously Adam Quinan wrote:

Question, what exactly can a member editor do? Just create a new page? Can you edit an existing page they didn't create, for example to add somethng to one of the existing pages? and if you can't, who can?