Wednesday Night is Turning Chat 9:30 Eastern

I think the chat is dead

john lucas

For the last few months if anyone was there at all it was really sparse. I missed the last 2 weeks due to obligations. Went there last night. Stayed 5 minutes and no one showed up so I left.

Re: I think the chat is dead

William Duffield

Maybe we are beating a dead horse, but I don't think so. Bob and I usually have something interesting to discuss on all three chat nights every week, but on the second Wednesday of every month {e.g. last night), we attend an in-person dinner and woodworking club meeting. These events, or course, have the advantage of woodworking stuff we can see and touch, but some disadvantages over the chat, as well. For starters, they require me to be on the road for four hours, most of that on NJ superhighways. If you are looking for something, we can usually provide a pertinent URL almost instantaneously, if you make a request on the chat.

Darren also usually shows up, but being a bit further west than the rest of us and with business and family responsibilities, he can't get to the chat by 9:30 Eastern Daylight Time. You have to be even a little more patient if you want to discuss things with a woodworker or turner on the West Coast.

What do you think we might do to reattract participation in the WoodCentral Chats? Or, should we just give in to the Orwellian mind control of TwitFace and the like?

Re: I think the chat is dead

Stuart Johnson

I finally threw in the towel when there would only be one or two. I decided I would rather spend time in the shop especially this time of the year when it's just too hot during the day.

Re: I think the chat is dead

jake niedling

John - I tried it about 6 different times and found it not to be very appealing. Its hard to develop a continuous discussion on a topic. Lots of hi's, hello's and bye's mixed into multiple topic conversations going on all at the same time. I know others have discussed the participation issue in the past, so maybe there are some ideas to improve it or make it more appealing. Maybe, only have it once a month with a guest on a specific topic. I know with technology today, I have seen some live Podcasts, which involve some live video. Now something like that would be an improvement. Participants could still type in questions or comments. Of course, a topic would be required for it to be effective as well.

Re: I think the chat is dead

mikeee12345

An interactive voice only meeting like a (skype) meeting would be more interactive as a conversation. It takes too long to type in an interactive thought while different attendees are typing comments. Hopefully this technology gets better and easier to use. Skype conference calls can have issues depending on the available bandwidth and equipment being used.

Re: I think the chat is dead

mikeee12345

An interactive voice only meeting like a (skype) meeting would be more interactive as a conversation. It takes too long to type in an interactive thought while different attendees are typing comments. Hopefully this technology gets better and easier to use. Skype conference calls can have issues depending on the available bandwidth and equipment being used.

Re: I think the chat is dead

AZ in Colorado Springs

I've been in the chat only a couple of times. I have a full time job and do some volunteer work, so my free time is limited. I get a lot out of these message threads, and I can read them when it suits me (standing in a checkout line, for instance).