Post by Robert Twiss on May 12, 2016 9:16:24 GMT 1
Dear members,
Our Swift Owners' Forum now exists for over a year and we have crossed the barrier of 100 members!
Estimating that there are probably about 200 active Swift pilots in the world, about 50% have become members and we think that is an achievement to be proud of.
Our purpose with this forum is to build a worldwide community of Swift enthusiasts and we are certainly on our way now.
However we think there is some room for improvement, especially in two areas:
1. Most pilots have registered themselves entering the bare minimum of information in their profiles. This means that is is hardly possible to have a look at the member list and find out, for instance:
This information could be useful for any member who wants to organize an activity or who wishes to know which other members can most likely supply him with some information he needs.
Although everyone has of course a right to his privacy, we think a community spirit is better fostered if we share some information about ourselves with the other members.
2. Most members don't participate actively. So far, only 10 members contributed more than 10 posts. The overwhelming majority of all posts have been contributed by the three administrators Christian Hugon, Phil Trueman and Robert Twiss.
While we think this is understandable in the starting-up phase, on a mature forum it is normal for a larger percentage of the membership to participate actively.
Participating doesn't mean that you are expected to post an article. You can just share a beautiful flight you made last weekend by posting a few pictures and maybe a line or two of text.
Or you can share a wonderful place to fly with the other members. Or you can ask a question if you want to find out something.
In short, it is really easy. There are no barriers. In fact, if you have any trouble at all posting something, just ask one of us. We are glad to help you.
We are planning or have set in motion a few measures to encourage sharing among the members:
That's it for the time being.
Have a good flying season!
Robert - Phil - Christian
Our Swift Owners' Forum now exists for over a year and we have crossed the barrier of 100 members!
Estimating that there are probably about 200 active Swift pilots in the world, about 50% have become members and we think that is an achievement to be proud of.
Our purpose with this forum is to build a worldwide community of Swift enthusiasts and we are certainly on our way now.
However we think there is some room for improvement, especially in two areas:
1. Most pilots have registered themselves entering the bare minimum of information in their profiles. This means that is is hardly possible to have a look at the member list and find out, for instance:
- which members are flying the Alps
- which members have an electric Swift
- which pilots have a lot of Swift experience, etc.
This information could be useful for any member who wants to organize an activity or who wishes to know which other members can most likely supply him with some information he needs.
Although everyone has of course a right to his privacy, we think a community spirit is better fostered if we share some information about ourselves with the other members.
2. Most members don't participate actively. So far, only 10 members contributed more than 10 posts. The overwhelming majority of all posts have been contributed by the three administrators Christian Hugon, Phil Trueman and Robert Twiss.
While we think this is understandable in the starting-up phase, on a mature forum it is normal for a larger percentage of the membership to participate actively.
Participating doesn't mean that you are expected to post an article. You can just share a beautiful flight you made last weekend by posting a few pictures and maybe a line or two of text.
Or you can share a wonderful place to fly with the other members. Or you can ask a question if you want to find out something.
In short, it is really easy. There are no barriers. In fact, if you have any trouble at all posting something, just ask one of us. We are glad to help you.
We are planning or have set in motion a few measures to encourage sharing among the members:
- we have expanded the Profiles with a field called Name/ surname where you can enter your real name (since most people enter a nickname in the "Display name" field) and with a field called Main Flying location where you can enter the place where you do most of your flying. The field Location / Country is intended to be used for the place where you live.
- we will change the registration procedure for new members. A new registration will be treated as a request to become a member, which has to be reviewed and accepted by an adminstrator. In the future, candidate members can be requested to complement their profiles before they are admitted.
- we ask you, the current members, to review you own profile and make sure that at least the following fields contain useful data: Name / Surname, Location (City / Country), Main flying location (City / Country).
If you own a Swift, we would appreciate if you fill in its details as well in the fields Your Swift type, Building year, Building number etc.
Just in case you don't know how to edit your profile:
- click on Profile in the main menu
- click on the button Edit Profile on the right upper side of the Profile screen
- click on the tab Personal
- edit your profile data
- we consider placing a poll to give you an opportunity to let us know what can be improved on the forum
That's it for the time being.
Have a good flying season!
Robert - Phil - Christian