Suggestion to the Contingent

I'd like to open up a social website, possibly, but not necessarily, Facebook account for neighbors to facilitate meet-n-greets. It has a benefit over Roadfood's site in that each member who signs up as a buddy will be E-mailed daily or weekly. You can sign up to have each individual post sent via E-mail, but that strikes me as overkill. What does the Contingent think of this idea?

I'm in. Good idea Mich. I already have a fairly large presence (pun intended) on the social web.
 I don't know of any sites that send emails out daily or weekly with the exception of yahoo groups.
The easiest for all of us I think might be to set up a Facebook group. Comments on individual postings are emailed out, but as far as I know there is no way to get a summary emailed of activity. I know that a bunch of us are already using it, and Roadfood.com has more than 1 group already using it.
Another easy possibility is FriendFeed.com. Again, no email function, but groups are very easy to set up and isolate from the rest of the noise on the site.
And just about any social web site allows for direct private messages as well.

Count me out.  I don't use facebook and have no desire to start.

This also restricts and prevents newbies from joining us on outings by finding Meet & Greets on the publicly available Roadfood website.  We had a batch of new folks join in the brat cookoff (some vicariously) last year by finding it through Google searches and otherwise. I don't think the wheel needs to be reinvented and web traffic diverted from Mr. Rushmore's website.

Have fun.

I'm in.

There goes the diet!

Count me in.

I agree with JRPfeff.

I don't really need another site to visit, when I should have all the Contingent information I need here. And I also don't like the exclusionary factor to lurkers and newbies, even if it's not on purpose.

The people that know of The Contingent, and follow The Contingent's activities, know of us from here on Roadfood, and that is where they'll look for us.

JRPfeff


Count me out.  I don't use facebook and have no desire to start.

This also restricts and prevents newbies from joining us on outings by finding Meet & Greets on the publicly available Roadfood website.  We had a batch of new folks join in the brat cookoff (some vicariously) last year by finding it through Google searches and otherwise. I don't think the wheel needs to be reinvented and web traffic diverted from Mr. Rushmore's website.

Have fun.

Oh, well. Never mind then. It will really only work if everyone signs on.
We do need to be a more proactive in communicating though. Several people missed out on the last meet and great because of where it was posted. And Roadfood.com appears to making the transition to Web 2.0 with a large presence on Facebook now. The page for the NOLA meet up is more active than the thread here. Just sayin'.

Big Ug,

I generally don't like to shoot down ideas from folks I call friends, but I'm with JRPfeff.  I don't participate in any social networks and have no desire to start.  Roadfood is where I want to be and where I'm going to stay.  I hope you will continue to show up for Contingent events and will feel like a welcome member in same, but if The Contingent makes a move to Facebook or any other social networking site, it will be without me.  Not a threat, just the way it needs to be for me.

On the other hand, I do agree with Chuck that we need to create a better "communication tree" for upcoming events.  However, I think that it should be handled within the confines of Roadfood.com in combination with our personal email accounts.

Not looking to knock your idea Mich, I know it's well intentioned.  It's just not going work for me.

Buddy

start a yahoo group!!  very easy to sign up for that - all you need is a yahoo email and if you don't have one, get one.  you can have the email notifications sent to whatever email addy you choose - i don't use the yahoo email at all except for the various groups i'm a part of - all the emails (some groups i have set for individual emails per posting and others are set daily digest or weekly digest) go to my hotmail account.

and no need to actually log into the group to make a post either!  just send an email to the group address and you're good to go.  same with replying to posts - just reply to the email and it automatically goes to the group (and everyone).  couldn't be easier!
 
EDIT:  well, shoot!!  i should have read all the comments throroughly before posting!  yahoo groups was already mentioned and already knocked down.
 
there should be a sub-forum section right here on roadfood for meet&greets.  if they're all listed in one spot (rather than in the individual/respective food section), will be less likely they'll be missed!
 

Don't forget that Roadfood has a PM function that will send you an e-mail that you have a new PM.

If you cursor over a members name it will open a drop down box that you can use to add that member as a contact or you can start a PM to that member.

From the PM screen you can generate a PM to 5 contacts at a time.

Mike, that is exactly the problem with the PM function: You can only PM 5 members at a time.  At present there are more than a dozen and a half Contingent members that need to be contacted at any one time.  Our numbers increase with each function.  I would love to initiate all our communication within the boundaries of Roadfood.  Is there anything that can be done to ncrease the number of members who can be contacted at any one time?

Buddy

joclyn

 
there should be a sub-forum section right here on roadfood for meet&greets.  if they're all listed in one spot (rather than in the individual/respective food section), will be less likely they'll be missed!
 

jocelyn, the Meet & Greet (actually called "Eat & Greet") forum already exists, in fact, you've just posted on it!  It has existed for some time now and it is where The Contingent, as well as other established groups within the Roadfood family post the news of their latest gatherings.

The problem with the last get together was that it was initiated by someone who was not a regular poster here at Roadfood.  That person (Maureen, the WTMJ producer, to whom we are grateful for her interest) mistakenly placed the initial post in the Roadfood News forum.  Most of The Contingent members saw the post and we all assumed that everyone saw that invitation.  Additionally, none of us thought to move the thread to this Eat & Greet forum.  This caused several members (including my own daughter) to miss the thread.

It was a simple oversight.  We live, we learn.  Next time something like this happens we'll be smart enough to take the appropriate action.

Buddy

Would it be possible for us to circulate the email addresses of all Contingent members past and present, adding new ones as they come in, so that if any one member starts up a new thread he/she would just send out one mass email saying something simple like "Hey, new Contingent thread started here: www.roadfood.com/newthread." This could resolve the issue of everyone having plenty of notice at the planning stages of events and continue to drive traffic through official Roadfood.com channels.

BTW, I plan on proudly wearing my WWbbD? bracelet in the French Quarter for the Roadfood Festival in March.

I've sent a message to Stephen about increasing the PM limit and have asked about RF e-mail to users from users.

I'll let y'all know what I find out.

MikeS.

Mike, thank you for taking action on this matter.  Just wondering though, why is there any limit on the number of PM addressees in the first place?  Is this a limitation of the website's operating system or just an arbitrary number?

Any help you can give us regarding this issue is appreciated.

Buddy

BuddyRoadhouse


Mike, thank you for taking action on this matter.  Just wondering though, why is there any limit on the number of PM addressees in the first place?  Is this a limitation of the website's operating system or just an arbitrary number?

Any help you can give us regarding this issue is appreciated.

Buddy

Not 100% sure, but I am guessing that the limit is intended to make the system less useful for mass spam attacks. If there ius no limit, one could, in theory, send a spam PM to a lot of people in short order.

Even though I have a Facebook page, I'm not very active on the site (and I'm happy with that). A Facebook group might be a good way to issue supplementary messages and reminders about Roadfood eat-n-greets, but I would just rather come to the Roadfood site for the primary info.

My advice. Don't overthink this. Forget Facebook. Forget Yahoo Groups. Forget email. They don't work and they don't promote growth and diversity. The group spontaneously created itself right here in the Roadfood.com forums and that is where it belongs because it is the interactivity of its members not just through a specific thread but the whole body of the forum that created the bond.

Buddy hit it on the head. The last eat and greet got started in the wrong place and was missed by a few. A forum is setup for eat and greets. It just needs more diligence and awareness to guide it to the right location next time so it doesn't happen again.

Tony Bad

BuddyRoadhouse


Mike, thank you for taking action on this matter.  Just wondering though, why is there any limit on the number of PM addressees in the first place?  Is this a limitation of the website's operating system or just an arbitrary number?

Any help you can give us regarding this issue is appreciated.

Buddy

Not 100% sure, but I am guessing that the limit is intended to make the system less useful for mass spam attacks. If there ius no limit, one could, in theory, send a spam PM to a lot of people in short order.

If that's the case, then there's an easy solution: Tie in the number of people a member can PM at one time to that member's longevity and "productivity".  In other words, the longer you're a member and/or the more posts you have, the more people you can send PMs to at one time.  Someone who is looking to use the site as a launching pad for junk email is not going to spend months and years posting legitimate comments, building a reputation among our online community, only to send a one time mass mailing for Cialis and get kicked off forever.

I won't be presumptuous enough to suggest the specifics of how this system might work, although if asked I'd be happy to contribute.

Buddy

Uh, despite what I said earlier, I AM going to have to disagree with a few people here about something - social media IS important for spreading the word and getting the word out there.

Do you think the brat taste-off interested people because they happened to stumble upon that particular thread, or on a Google search?
The answer is NO. The interest came because several of us posted about it on Twitter and Facebook, using that thread as a link to what we were talking about. I, myself, directly messaged a Journal employee with the information and thread links. Unfortunately, it was too late, otherwise we'd have had a news crew there, too. Due to Twitter, not Google. Not Roadfood.com

The Milwaukee ethnic grocery Meet & Eat was followed along vicariously by people on Twitter and Facebook, as was the WTMJ4 day. WTMJ4 did a story on us AND posted the story and video on their website, which led still more people here, and I recently wrote up a review of McBob's for Examiner.com, using links to here and to WTMJ4, which has generated even more interest. Not Google. Not just stumbling upon Roadfood.com

I am going to go out on a limb and say that WTMJ4 "discovered" Roadfood.com in part by the postings we've done on Twitter. We can ask Maureen, but I'm pretty sure I know the answer already, since I follow a majority of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and WTMJ4 employees, and they follow me back on Twitter.

Furthermore, interest in Roadfood's New Orleans Festival has increased because of the Facebook fan pages (not because of the practically-dead thread here), as well as me and others posting about it on Facebook and Twitter. Even Michael Stern is on Twitter now. In fact, the Facebook Festival page is FAR more active than the thread here on Roadfood.

The ones saying "we only need this site" and are writing off social media are sadly underinformed. Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Brightkite, Foursquare and many other sites are ways of helping, not hurting, this site, The Contigent, and Roadfood.com's presence, both online and in the meat world.

Mich - I've changed my mind. I'll join a FB group (not a Yahoo group, tho - gotta draw the line somewhere!). It doesn't mean that I'll stop coming here, but it'll be nice to have yet another way to reach everyone. Since I'm already on Facebook, it won't be another new site for me to visit - I'll just sign up for it and wait for the notification emails to roll in. There is no reason we can't cross-post or cross-communicate. I thought one of our unofficial mottoes was "The more the merrier". In using social media, we'll have much more.

And to Buddy and Jim, your family members both use Facebook - you, specifically, won't have to join any group or sign up for FB - I'm sure they'll join the group themselves and keep you informed, in addition to whatever's posted here on Roadfood.

My objection was to just one more site I'd have to visit. The other objections I'm reading seem to be just uninformed, centrist, anti-social networking phobia, with no grounds for the fear.

If someone wants to join the FB group, that's great. If they want to stay only on Roadfood.com, that's fine, too. If they join both, that's ideal. The people who are members of both will cross post, as a way to inform everyone. FB automatically notifies you of new activity on the page, plus has everyone's e-mail address, whereas with Roadfood, you actually have to subscribe or post in each individual thread to get notifications. If you miss thread, you missed the information. A lot of people don't post here on Roadfood hourly, daily or even weekly (I know that's hard to believe for the RF site addicts). That's a lot of threads to be overlooked for the occasional poster or lurker. FB also does not limit how many emails can be sent, and to how many members.

BTW - Mich was never suggesting abandoning Roadfood.com for a new site altogether. I don't know how some of you got that.
It IS possible to be a member of more than one site. His page will simply be a supplement to Roadfood.com, not the only resource.

Also, Davydd - promoting growth and diversity is EXACTLY what social media is all about. It doesn't work? Please cite your information source for that statement.

We'll need a How To for those of us less experienced.  i have a Facebook page.  What's next?

That's not a problem, ChiTownDiner. One of us will help anyone that needs it.

You have a FB page - are you a member of Roadfood's Facebook page, and their New Orleans Festival page? (I think you are, but I don't know for sure)

If so - then you would join The Roadfood Contingent page (when it exists) exactly as how you did it for the other Roadfood pages. Once you're joined, you'll see notifications of updates, whenever there are any. If there is an announcement, it'll be posted to the page, as well as e-mailed to all members of the group. Any pertinent information will then also be posted to a thread here. Plus you can post there, too, to respond to other members, just as you would in a thread here.

The key is to communicate with as many ppl as possible, and make sure to cross-post, so everyone will see everything. We don't want to exclude anyone - just the opposite.

X1 -

Thanks!  I've been out of touch the last few weeks but am back now.  I did Roadfood Facebook page and will check out the NO festival page.  I'm getting it...we might just be able to teach this old dog a few new tricks!

Wonderful to hear!
I hope you're doing OK.

Ask and you shall receive, well sort of sometimes...

The PM limit has been increased to 25. No e-mail option though.

Thanks, MikeS!
That'll help things along a bit!

I think increasing the PM limit will help alot, because even if you have to send 2 PM's with a limit of 25, we should be able to cover the entire Contingent.

I have no problem with facebook-(as I am obviously there, ) but it does get a little complicated for some...

X1

Also, Davydd - promoting growth and diversity is EXACTLY what social media is all about. It doesn't work? Please cite your information source for that statement.

I'm no spring chicken when it comes to social media. I've been online for a good 26 years now promoting all kinds of interaction including managing the nation's busiest (at one time) online message board and chat rooms with one or two moderated chats nightly on America Online at its inception in 1988. I've been on Facebook and Twitter since 2007. I've always been an early embracer and had started two groups on Facebook, Pursuing Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches with 466 members and BEE Social Group (Class B RVs) with 34 members that pretty much know each other through RV rallies and socials around the country.

The problem with Facebook is that groups with a narrow focus are extremely difficult to just happen upon and even once formed seem to have little interactivity because people remain strangers boxed into a narrow topic unless they are friends from outside Facebook. The Contingent formed here in Roadfood.com with three commonalities. The first is Roadfood.com brought them here (a common interest). The second is members found more familiar discussion commonality mainly because of region. The third is Contingent members got to know each other on a more personal basis not through any single contingent thread but a body of threads throughout Roadfood.com on a variety of topics. That last is more the cement bond than the first two and probably created the comfort and desire to get together.

Getting back to that Class B RV group. Much like Roadfood.com, RV.net has a Class B forum. It was there that people got to know each other and rallies spontaneously got started. People bonded through a variety of topics in the B forum. In RV.net's wisdom they decided that in the future if one wanted to organize a rally they could no longer do it in the Class B forum but had to do it in a separate Rallies and Shows forum. That immediately killed the organization and spontaneity. So now it is dispersed. One group set up a dedicated web site that was informational only. Another group set up a web site in Yahoo Groups and I volunteered to set up a Facebook group amongst those that met at a social in Louisiana last year. They are all deader than a door nail.

The Contingent is similar to what I observed in the B forum as is the other spontaneous gatherings that have been occurring with Roadfooders along with the more officially sponsored Roadfood.com gatherings. It happens here and if you want it to remain active and growing the focus should remain primarily here. If you disperse you end up with dispersed groups of people with no unity. Facebook has its place and may one day wipe out these traditional message board based forums but has too much uncertainty and oddly anonymity right now. It has been great for friends from before Facebook but is not a social media that seems to create new friends as has Roadfood.com. I have friends on Facebook from Roadfood.com here whom I have never met but feel very comfortable in being friends. In the PPTS group I formed with 466 members I don't think I have yet to cultivate a new friend from it that I didn't know from outside Facebook.

That's my opinion of course and my basis for that opinion.

I like the idea of a social networking site dedicated to informing folks of local eat-and-greet opportunities.  I'm in!