newsletter?

[garterman07]

i don't know if there is one but i haven't read any thing on one yet so...

what i am proposing is that we as a great garter snake comunity make our selves a newsletter??? it would be a great chance for every one, some people could run it and send in their articles and others would benifit from the knowlege contained in it. there are lots of very smart people on this forum that should have a newsletter that could be if wanted emailed to all members upon thier agreement, that would contain such things as a basic care sheet, the gold fish thing, feeding tricks and tips and something along the lines of a spieces of the month type deal. i am hoping that others would feel the same way on this as i do

[adamanteus]

I know what you're saying, but much of the subject material you're suggesting is already on the forum for you reference.

Information on basic care can be found here;

http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet

The "Goldfish thing" can be found here;

http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Garter_Snake_Care_Sheet#THIAMINASE _PROBLEMS

Then of course just general news, who has what new snake, who's snake has had babies and so on, is in the threads on a daily basis. So I'm not really sure what a newsletter would have to offer that we don't already have. It will be interesting to read what other members think of your idea though.

[garterman07]

i see what your geting at and agree completely with you. i was just puting that out there to see what people have to say about it thats all.

[Cazador]

Interesting idea, Chris. As you may know, we've been discussing the idea of allowing members to voluntarily "donate" money toward the maintenance of this forum. Donations could run as little as a dollar to as much as any individual wishes to contribute. We've also been discussing what "perks" a donating member would receive. There are a few ideas, but it might be nice to have a summary of the most interesting threads in any given month, biweekly or even weekly period so that contributing members would be able to view and comment on the most interesting threads without having to read 100+ posts every day. Maybe your newsletter idea would be a great addition to the other perks that contributing members get? Of course, the articles section will always be available to members and non-members, alike. Any thoughts?

Rick

[adamanteus]

I'm not sure I quite understand you Rick. Do you mean the newsletter would only be e-mailed to competition winners, or that competition winners could contribute, or that their winning thread would be featured in the newsletter? Am I being stupid? It has been a long day!:rolleyes:

[Stefan-A]

I'm inclined to agree with James here, it would seem a bit redundant. Not only that, it would create a lot of extra work for somebody to put that newsletter together. If somebody not a member of the forum staff would like to create a newsletter independently, then that would be nice, but it would still be redundant.

There are however as many tricks, or "recipes" as there are snake owners. The best way to adress that issue, is by letting the owners themselves contribute by adding their tricks to the care sheets.


Just to revisit a previous insane suggestion, how about that "Member Of The Month" competition? Did we euthanize that idea already? ;)

[garterman07]

the news letter could be a subscription thing, i kinda get what rick is saying, maybe if the people that donate to help keep the forum working with donations or other contributions would get the "inside scoop" on like possible up coming competitions, and things along that line. but the general part of the news letter could be emailed to every member that wishes for it.

[Stefan-A]

I don't think we're big enough for something like that. Besides, mailing it is the easiest part, somebody is going to have to write the whole thing.

[Cazador]

Sorry for the slow response, but I'm preparing for a conference and haven't been online nearly as much lately. I was just suggesting that a newsletter could highlight the most interesting threads by providing certain members who wish to receive it, links to the most interesting threads. That way they don't have to read every thread in order to find the "best" ones. It could also include any other "site news" and other ideas that people wish to contribute.

I wasn't making any reference to competition winners. I was just proposing that members who donate to the site would have the option of getting this "newsletter." All ideas and counter-ideas are welcome, though.

[drache]

hm
personally I don't feel the need for a newsletter
I come here to hang out with the nice people who share my affliction
I still like the donation idea

[garterman07]

your right i don't think we're big enough yet. but when thamnophis gets larger and alot more popular it might be essential to get a newsletter.

[adamanteus]

That way they don't have to read every thread in order to find the "best" ones.


Tell me I'm not the only person who reads every post! I must get a life!:D

[garterman07]

lol i read them all...cause if i don't it bugs me to think that i might have missed something that could have helped me.

[adamanteus]

I don't suppose I'd ever considered the fact that not everyone reads every post. Perhaps it would be a good idea to "highlight" somehow the most relevent and interesting threads, so that they are easy to find. But who would decide which thread is interesting and which isn't?

There's a really good idea somewhere in this thread, we just need to pin it down!

[drache]

I read every post
Mikhaila doesn't though . . .

[adamanteus]

When I first joined I spent hours every day reading back through old threads. So I have now read every post on the forum...all 11,733 of them! And I memorized every one!:rolleyes: :D

[Cazador]

Doesn't everybody? :D

One of these days somebody is going to go on vacation though, and they'll miss the newest 1,500 posts that occur during the week they're gone ;). Then they might either get overwhelmed or lose interest altogether. I'm sure that Matt can vouch for the validity of that statement after his trip to Mexico.

I think that whomever does the newsletter should arbitrarily decide which threads to "highlight." Maybe they should be thought of as "featured threads" rather than the best threads? Perhaps the "newsletter" could even be a rotating job.

Rick

[adamanteus]

Perhaps the "newsletter" could even be a rotating job. Rick

Good idea Rick. Can I go last, please!:D

[Snaky]

Well, I read every post... But sometimes (busy at work) I'm behind for days, catching up is a pain in the a.s.s. ( why the language filter ) with all those post done every day:D

I like the newletter to pinpoint on the most interesting posts, but it might become a burden for the persons who need to make it.

[drache]

I get "behind" sometimes
since this is something I do for fun, I don't feel any pressure to catch up
I take my time with it
sooner or later I end up running out of posts to read
this house thing is going to seriously set me back though

[Elliot]

It's a good idea, but like everyone else has already said there isn't really a need for it with the forum still being relativley small. If it gets bigger, I can see where it would help, but right now it's still pretty easy to catch back up if you get behind.

[Thamnophis]

The forum is a kind of newsletter.

I try to keep all topics, but when I get behind a few days and I see 674 new posts, I get selective.