New members

[Steve Mac]

Hello IPS, just a suggestion.

I am not criticizing, I want to help you, not real help, (like doing this myself) just advice like you often get here.

There has often been talk here about getting new members, like there is always in all of the groups that I am or have been involved with here locally in Sydney. 

A while ago if a new member here, asked a question, they would be inundated with welcomes and advice offered. It is not the case now. Recently I responded to a New member, count 1,  "Help with palm please" ,  No one had answered for over two weeks. I almost did not bother either, because if I had joined a new group and asked a question and not had an answer in a few days, I would figure that this site is dead and dump it. No surprise that after two weeks of being ignored the person did not respond to my answer. 

Just suggesting, can someone on the board (not me), or a committee (not me), or often on line (not me), try to monitor for new members, it is so hard to get them and so easy to lose them again.      

[kinzyjr]

@gtsteve I often respond to the folks who I see are new when I at least have some idea of what they are asking.  In my case, I have a limited body of knowledge so I can't always give them more than a "Welcome to PalmTalk".  You have my agreement that it is imperative that new folks are promptly assisted and welcomed.

[Jillian]

I’m thinking something might have been technically wrong in the past week with the site. It took a week for me to become a member. I verified my email, I sent emails asking if there was a problem. I tried again today and finally it allowed me to complete the process.  

[Silas_Sancona]

7 hours ago, gtsteve said:

Hello IPS, just a suggestion.

I am not criticizing, I want to help you, not real help, (like doing this myself) just advice like you often get here.

There has often been talk here about getting new members, like there is always in all of the groups that I am or have been involved with here locally in Sydney. 

A while ago if a new member here, asked a question, they would be inundated with welcomes and advice offered. It is not the case now. Recently I responded to a New member, count 1,  "Help with palm please" ,  No one had answered for over two weeks. I almost did not bother either, because if I had joined a new group and asked a question and not had an answer in a few days, I would figure that this site is dead and dump it. No surprise that after two weeks of being ignored the person did not respond to my answer. 

Just suggesting, can someone on the board (not me), or a committee (not me), or often on line (not me), try to monitor for new members, it is so hard to get them and so easy to lose them again.      

 

3 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

@gtsteve I often respond to the folks who I see are new when I at least have some idea of what they are asking.  In my case, I have a limited body of knowledge so I can't always give them more than a "Welcome to PalmTalk".  You have my agreement that it is imperative that new folks are promptly assisted and welcomed.

Agree with both thoughts.. Both kind of blend together really..

While many members here are quite welcoming when new members join/ post, As Steve mentions, i have also seen where a post gets many "views" but not always the quickest response.. 

To that end, as Kinzyjr mentions, sometimes he, or i.. or whomever else might not have the best answer and a more general "Welcome to Palm Talk"  is a best answer, for the moment.. While uncommon, possible a post might not get noticed right away.. That does happen. 

..What might help is if when someone sees a post, yet might not feel the most confident answering, maybe point them in the right direction if you catch it before someone else replies.. " X member here may have more experience w/ x subject.." This at least acknowledges the person's question has been seen, and not ignored.. 

This is something all who participate in the Forum can do to make those climbing aboard feel at home... Especially if adding new membership is an important goal..



 

[LJG]

3 hours ago, Jillian said:

I’m thinking something might have been technically wrong in the past week with the site. It took a week for me to become a member. I verified my email, I sent emails asking if there was a problem. I tried again today and finally it allowed me to complete the process.  

This shouldn’t be the case at all! We have someone manually checking and approving new members (not me). We might need to add more peopLe to make sure no one has to go through this. Sorry it happened. 

[Jillian]

I initially signed up on Saturday 6/20/20. I sent an email after I was unable to access the site asking why it was taking so long. So I just found a response, to that email, in my Junk dated June 24th. Because my verification and registration showed up in my regular inbox, I didn't think to check my junk.  So my apologies! And and thank you, the mystery is solved.  

[kinzyjr]

@Jillian And a belated Welcome to the forums! to you