Replies

1. 
   JunkQueen | Nov 23, 2010 02:06am | #1

   Not to beat a dead horse

   buuuuutttt, that temporary shutdown is the LEAST of our concerns.  I suggest you peruse the various posts regarding the site to bring yourself up to date about our frustration.   If you care.  We know Jason doesn't. 

   Sydney

1. 
   stillsuesew | Dec 16, 2010 03:08pm | #4

   Beat - that - dead - horse - AMEN

2. 
   stillsuesew | Dec 16, 2010 03:09pm | #5

   !

2. 
   sewchris703 | Nov 23, 2010 12:24pm | #2

   Ignored problems

   But what about all the other "problems"?  New posts that don't show up as new; email notification that doesn't work, being unable to reply to posts. etc?  All the complaints about this board ever since the format has changed?

   CHris

1. 
   VictoriaNorth | Dec 15, 2010 10:39am | #3

   Sorry for the frustrations

   I really am very sorry for the frustrations you all feel about the forum here. I will certainly pass along the technical problems you have been experiencing. We did have the larger technical issue which I posted about, and I have looked through the other problems you have been reporting here. I will see what I can do to get them fixed. I do care that you are unhappy with the changes that were made here, but unfortunately much of my time (and that of our technical staff) is spent on the larger website as a whole (as well as the websites for our other magazines), working on the print magazine, and shooting videos as well. I will see what I can do to get these problems taken care of, and will try to check with Gatherings more often. I really do understand your frustrations, and I will try to get these issues resolved as soon as I can.

   -Victoria North

1. 
   Ceeayche | Dec 27, 2010 02:57pm | #6

   Frustrations

   Vicky,

   Thank you for your response. 

   I suggest that your management take heed of the ongoing compliants.  You could easily make a business case for this and get it cleaned up by the end of 1Q.  Most of the complaints are not on new issues since the change in the platform.  In investing this small effort, you may see a dramatic decrease in the dissatisfaction with the site (because now it's compounded by what is perceived as a long period of being ignored).  Most publications that are going to survive this information aged understand and embrace the relationship that these web features create.

   You all are quick to ask this body for feedback on your latest issue, and typically we're very responsive with thoughtful feedback you can use to improve your product.  You often use these posts for your published product in the letters section.  This means at least every two months SOMEbody is logging into the site, and your credibility is compromised when it appears you haven't bothered to look at the other feedback you've received.

   Earlier during the holidays,  I suggested that you all consider getting an intern on staff to go through them address each of the complaints, group them and assign them with priorities.  This will enable you to give the participants feedback on what will and won't be changing in the near and short term. That effort should take a week or two of focused work, but would go a long way towards creating goodwill with your loyal members (most of whom are also subscribers).  The intern would get valuable experience and your members would feel some "Threads love" and attention.  For example, if you'd made this decision at Thanksgiving, you'd be finished be now and could craft a reponse outlining your plan of attack for 2010.

   Whatever you do, it's long overdue and I think your management team ought to know.  You had a well engaged, tight knit group of loyal subscribers and contributers that is being eroded through benign neglect. This new fangled system should be able to give you churn reports since the new system went into effect.

   By the way, I manage a facebook site and website for a Fortune 30 company in addition to my other duties as a manager in the business. My job has me living away from home three months out the year and traveling every month.  Like you, we have a variety of sites to manage on the web and have to manage the technical support with our vendor. I know the work can be done and be done effectively with the aid of a laptop and an aircard, but you've got to put in the time. In our case, we consider the sites a valuable avenue to communicate with our customers-- and we believe they deserve prompt responses.   And, since there are at least two of you putting in face time on this site, it seems like you could split the duties and make quick work of it.  It's just like email.  You go in every day same time, and check the boards.  You set a benchmark for how long is an acceptable time before you respond to the posts.  You log and categorize the complaints and the responses.  When you craft a response, you reuse the same response for each identical question.  In your case, you can not only address the concerns but search for story ideas.  It should be a win-win effort for you.

1. 
   Crazy K | Dec 28, 2010 01:13pm | #7

   reply to CHL -frustrations

   Very well put!  I used to check out the Gatherings daily.....sometimes several times.  The commaradarie was great and fun.  Now I cehck once every few weeks......usually when I have nothing else to do! :(   I have found another group that interacts more the way it used to be here.......so that's where I go for my info and entertainment.

   Thanks for your very articulate post.

   Kay