chatroom night

**Rich Z** · 09-26-2014, 10:20 PM

So I send a mass email to all members stating that there will be an open chat on such and such date and time. How many of those are going to have as their first thought, "What is the chat going to be about?"

It's the topic matter that will attract people, not simply the fact that a chat room is there to visit. The chat room has been here for a LONG time and never really been used although it has always been available to everyone. I know I sure wouldn't have any interest unless the topic matter was stated and it was something I was interested in.

Sorry to seem obtuse, but I've got chat systems on some of my other sites and seen how they just become disfunctional without some structure.

mrr23 · 09-27-2014, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich Z

So I send a mass email to all members stating that there will be an open chat on such and such date and time. How many of those are going to have as their first thought, "What is the chat going to be about?"

It's the topic matter that will attract people, not simply the fact that a chat room is there to visit. The chat room has been here for a LONG time and never really been used although it has always been available to everyone. I know I sure wouldn't have any interest unless the topic matter was stated and it was something I was interested in.

Sorry to seem obtuse, but I've got chat systems on some of my other sites and seen how they just become disfunctional without some structure.

i agree with you. was just suggesting how to get it out other than just announcing it on the forum.

**Rich Z** · 09-27-2014, 10:44 AM

Normally the best draw is by featuring some relatively well known person in the industry to discuss something that they are well known for. But unfortunately, I don't believe we have anyone like that who frequents this site.

So if anyone has any suggestions about a topic they would like to ride herd on to draw participants, please let me know.

Otherwise if anyone would like to just set a periodic time and date for a general chat session, we can give that a whirl and just see what happens.

mrr23 · 09-27-2014, 11:20 AM

I like general chat. I use it as a time to meet and catch up. Also use it to talk about the upcoming events for that weekend or month.

**Rich Z** · 09-27-2014, 11:41 AM

Using a chat in that manner could work if there were enough people logged in here at all times. Someone merely noting the symbol indicating that there is currently someone in chat could drop in and just strike up a conversation.

Unfortunately there are two problems. (1) There isn't very much traffic here and rarely more than a few registered members online at the same time. And (2) If someone logs into the chat and does not specifically log out by clicking on that red dot in the upper right hand corner, then it appears they are still in the chat even though they have logged completely off of the site. For instance, right now the symbol is showing a member as being in the chat that actually logged off about 3 hours ago.

So anyway, the chat system is there for whoever wants to use it. If you want to state days and times you will be there, feel free to do so. If someone wants to host specific topics, I can set up a separate forum where they can make note of these events so others might become aware of them.

I'll do what I can to help.

mrr23 · 09-27-2014, 11:53 AM

#1 can be solved with a couple mass emails. First one announcing a trial for a set time and night for chatroom. This will garner some attention over time as it will show efforts by the admins of the site trying to draw traffic.

As time progresses, we can get those members to find guest hosts.

Right now I would just focus on a general chat. This way those clubs that have sections on here can promote their events personally as well.

Let's think big but start small.

**Rich Z** · 09-27-2014, 02:34 PM

Honestly, mass emails to all registered members is not a step to be taken lightly. There are over 4,000 registered members here. I would assume that at least 80 percent of those email addresses are no longer valid. So I would get a ton of messages bounced back to me as undeliverable, flooding my inbox. And some mail services (yahoo, hotmail, gmail, etc) will make note of a large number of bounced emails and assume that the source (me) is a spam bot, then block the site and IP address)

Heck, if I remember correctly, one of the members requested that I set up the chat. So I did so. Far as I know, he never used it afterwards and has been long gone from here.

I really hate to sound negative to these kinds of suggestions, but I have been through a lot of this stuff already in the past and experienced first hand some negative consequences that aren't readily apparent beforehand. I certainly don't know what is needed to turn this site around, but I have seen things that could quite likely make matters worse.

So if someone wants to take the bull by the horns and try to drum up enthusiasm and participation in the chat room, then by all means, give it a whirl. If I feel the participation in the chat is robust enough to be a selling point to invite long absent members back, then I will consider bearing up under the headaches that would be caused by a mass emailing.