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Regional Forums With the UK


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I know of a Scottish Forum and one that I set up to cover Cornwall and Devon and I'm currently hosting a section for the Channel Islands as well.

 

Certainly ours has proved remarkably useful when planning local events and is used by many cachers who don't frequent the National Forum here.

 

Are there any more Regional forums to be added to the list? I'm just interested as I feel they're a very useful resource.

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I know of a Scottish Forum and one that I set up to cover Cornwall and Devon and I'm currently hosting a section for the Channel Islands as well.

 

Certainly ours has proved remarkably useful when planning local events and is used by many cachers who don't frequent the National Forum here.

 

Are there any more Regional forums to be added to the list? I'm just interested as I feel they're a very useful resource.

 

Just to note that at GeoX we have a lot of Irish members too (and indeed admin is based in N Ireland :))

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Just to my twopenneth in

could we not have them all working from 1 main forum which splits into regions

a bit like Groundspeak splits into countries

then if we needed to visit another forum (like advice for hols etc.) we would be able to find it easily

That way maybe the work could be split into a few knowlegable people rather that one person trying to do a forum on there own

 

Fiona :)

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Just to my twopenneth in

could we not have them all working from 1 main forum which splits into regions

a bit like Groundspeak splits into countries

then if we needed to visit another forum (like advice for hols etc.) we would be able to find it easily

That way maybe the work could be split into a few knowlegable people rather that one person trying to do a forum on there own

 

Fiona :)

 

Good idea, but the problem is that they all operate very differently. For example, GeoX was set up as an experiment as a mods-free forum, and for a year and a half that has worked remarkably successfully.

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Just to my twopenneth in

could we not have them all working from 1 main forum which splits into regions

a bit like Groundspeak splits into countries

then if we needed to visit another forum (like advice for hols etc.) we would be able to find it easily

That way maybe the work could be split into a few knowlegable people rather that one person trying to do a forum on there own

 

Fiona :)

 

Well yes you could and once a forum is set up then adding extra boards takes a few seconds, however I think half of the attraction is that they are local, run by locals - for locals.

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I know of a Scottish Forum and one that I set up to cover Cornwall and Devon and I'm currently hosting a section for the Channel Islands as well.

 

Certainly ours has proved remarkably useful when planning local events and is used by many cachers who don't frequent the National Forum here.

 

Are there any more Regional forums to be added to the list? I'm just interested as I feel they're a very useful resource.

 

Just to note that at GeoX we have a lot of Irish members too (and indeed admin is based in N Ireland :))

Let's not forget the few English members that we have, but it is mainly Irish/Scottish based.

 

Just to my twopenneth in

could we not have them all working from 1 main forum which splits into regions

a bit like Groundspeak splits into countries

then if we needed to visit another forum (like advice for hols etc.) we would be able to find it easily

That way maybe the work could be split into a few knowlegable people rather that one person trying to do a forum on there own

 

Fiona :)

 

Good idea, but the problem is that they all operate very differently. For example, GeoX was set up as an experiment as a mods-free forum, and for a year and a half that has worked remarkably successfully.

It is a good idea, but you also have the problem that they are all ran from different sites.

What we could have is a thread that has all the regional forums on it here. Then Mr Lacto Sir could probably put a link onto his multi pinned topic?

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GAGB is pleased to announce that in response to suggestions made in the GC.com forum, we plan to host regional forums on the GAGB website. Initially these regions will be:

 

South West England

West England

Southern England

London

Eastern England

Central England

North-West England

North-East England

South Wales

North Wales

Southern Scotland

Western Scotland and Isles

East Scotland

Northern Scotland

Northern Ireland

Channel Islands

 

Clearly some regional forums are already established and cachers will continue to use those; however we will provide complete coverage even if some GAGB regions are little used.

 

Dave on behalf of GAGB committee

Caching as The Wombles

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Well yes you could and once a forum is set up then adding extra boards takes a few seconds, however I think half of the attraction is that they are local, run by locals - for locals.

Hear Hear

 

I see little point in duplicating effort... I for one plan on shutting the Kacher (Cornwall/Devon) Forum down and let everyone use the GAGB one...

?????????? ;)

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Well yes you could and once a forum is set up then adding extra boards takes a few seconds, however I think half of the attraction is that they are local, run by locals - for locals.

Hear Hear

 

I see little point in duplicating effort... I for one plan on shutting the Kacher (Cornwall/Devon) Forum down and let everyone use the GAGB one...

?????????? ;)

 

I stick by my original quote... but it seems pointless for us to "Compete" against the GAGB There's not that many cachers in Cornwall, not enough to split across two forums..

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if you follow that through then why have the GAGB ones when we have a UK one already here?

GAGB covers more specialist topics such as landowner blanket permissions, and also has an off topic section, since these forums are moderated. The general geocaching chat at GAGB (and G:UK for that matter) is slow. I often redirect people from G:UK to here, whilst also answering their questions.

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if you follow that through then why have the GAGB ones when we have a UK one already here?

Well there's a need, I think that's been proven, our local forum attracts cachers who never post on the the main UK forum, and for organising local meets and our Geocoin it's been just what's needed - without clogging up the main Forums with yet more items that are irrelevant to 98% of the cachers who read them.

 

If the GAGB run their forums well, then I see little to be gained from having two forums discussing the same local issues and I've been assured they have people who know what they're doing when it comes to running forums properly, unlike me who merely plays at it.

 

Yes - I think the GAGB proposal does smack of seeing something becoming popular and then jumping on the bandwagon.

 

I just hope that a) It's done properly and B) That others will support what's best for caching in the UK and c) I'm hoping that 3 years of posts and users from our forum can be transferred to the GAGB version.

Edited by Birdman-of-liskatraz
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if you follow that through then why have the GAGB ones when we have a UK one already here?

GAGB covers more specialist topics such as landowner blanket permissions, and also has an off topic section, since these forums are moderated. The general geocaching chat at GAGB (and G:UK for that matter) is slow. I often redirect people from G:UK to here, whilst also answering their questions.

 

Sorry didn't mean GAGB forums in general which are great for national topics but the quote of 'Local, Run by Locals, For Locals' made a lot of sense to me..... leave the big boys to what they are good at

D

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the gagb forums are there to be used by cachers. the intention is/was not to jump on any bandwagon but rather supply an obvious need in one location so that it is easy for people to be able to pop over to another forum if they want to... like they are going off on holiday, without the need to go via a couple of links to try to find the forum they want.

 

we are in the process of migrating the site but the regional forums should be up and running very soon.

 

please i do hope that no one is annoyed as this has been done with only the best intentions. :P

 

the committee are open to any and all suggestions as to how to improve the forums to provide a need that has been identified. so let us know and we will try our best. ;)

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Yes I'm annoyed. I asked if there were any other local forums in this thread as a matter of information. At the point where it became apparant that there were several other forums around the UK and Ireland the GAGB decided to set up their own version of these forums. Numberwise theres not enough cachers to need two or three forums covering an area - hence why I'l take ours down and direct people to the GAGB site instead.

 

I think the GAGB should/could have consulted with the existing forums before declaring their Regional Forums open.

 

Yes I am annoyed at being told in the Geochat room that the GAGB have stepped in to ensure that the forums are run by people who know what they are doing rather than by people playing at it.

 

Yes I feel the proposed GAGB areas are too large, but no doubt that can be sorted out as the regional forums develop.

 

Yes I have put a lot of work into establishing our forum, emailing cachers in the area, dropping cards with the forum details into caches in the local area and indeed buying a domain and hosting space.

 

All in all - I'm annoyed - I just hope the GAGB don't pig up the good work various local forums have already done in preparing the ground for them.

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Yes I'm annoyed. I asked if there were any other local forums in this thread as a matter of information. At the point where it became apparant that there were several other forums around the UK and Ireland the GAGB decided to set up their own version of these forums. Numberwise theres not enough cachers to need two or three forums covering an area - hence why I'l take ours down and direct people to the GAGB site instead.

 

I think the GAGB should/could have consulted with the existing forums before declaring their Regional Forums open.

 

Yes I am annoyed at being told in the Geochat room that the GAGB have stepped in to ensure that the forums are run by people who know what they are doing rather than by people playing at it.

 

Yes I feel the proposed GAGB areas are too large, but no doubt that can be sorted out as the regional forums develop.

 

Yes I have put a lot of work into establishing our forum, emailing cachers in the area, dropping cards with the forum details into caches in the local area and indeed buying a domain and hosting space.

 

All in all - I'm annoyed - I just hope the GAGB don't pig up the good work various local forums have already done in preparing the ground for them.

Thanks for restoring my faith...... having read your and others earlier posts about local forums I went ahead and set up the East Anglia Cachers forum I then read the post from the GAGB and almost did the same as you are planning but as I set up the Forum 'for local by locals' I will let it run and see who goes where.... It's your time and effort but please don't rush into anything ;)

Dave

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GAGB is pleased to announce that in response to suggestions made in the GC.com forum, we plan to host regional forums on the GAGB website. Initially these regions will be:

 

South West England

West England

Southern England

London

Eastern England

Central England

North-West England

North-East England

South Wales

North Wales

Southern Scotland

Western Scotland and Isles

East Scotland

Northern Scotland

Northern Ireland

Channel Islands

 

 

Nice idea, but where does Yorkshire fit in?

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Yes I'm annoyed. I asked if there were any other local forums in this thread as a matter of information. At the point where it became apparant that there were several other forums around the UK and Ireland the GAGB decided to set up their own version of these forums. Numberwise theres not enough cachers to need two or three forums covering an area - hence why I'l take ours down and direct people to the GAGB site instead.

 

I think the GAGB should/could have consulted with the existing forums before declaring their Regional Forums open.

 

Yes I am annoyed at being told in the Geochat room that the GAGB have stepped in to ensure that the forums are run by people who know what they are doing rather than by people playing at it.

 

Yes I feel the proposed GAGB areas are too large, but no doubt that can be sorted out as the regional forums develop.

 

Yes I have put a lot of work into establishing our forum, emailing cachers in the area, dropping cards with the forum details into caches in the local area and indeed buying a domain and hosting space.

 

All in all - I'm annoyed - I just hope the GAGB don't pig up the good work various local forums have already done in preparing the ground for them.

 

I don't think the comment about someone in the chat room saying the GAGB were going to run it properly came from a committee member of the GAGB having read back through the logs.

 

The offer from the GAGB is just to try and bring things together in one place as suggested by a couple of members.

 

No Harm was intended and if offence has been caused I am sure that was not the intent.

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If GAGB want to set up yet another forum for Scottish and Irish based cachers, then

fine. I doubt that they will be used. I see little point in dividing Scotland up into regions. We are a small country after all (but "the best small country" according to the posters you see at the airports ;))

 

The two forums that are already well-established here are very different and suit the needs of local cachers very well. I reiterate that Geox was set up as mods-free forum for very specific reasons and those of us who use it like it that way.

 

Cachers will use the forums they like best: it would be a shame to close down forums that are already working well in response to GAGB's move.

Edited by Firth of Forth
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Hi,

 

I'd like to clear this up.

 

Yes I am annoyed at being told in the Geochat room that the GAGB have stepped in to ensure that the forums are run by people who know what they are doing rather than by people playing at it.

 

The comment was not made in the Geochat room, but in a private message session.

 

Secondly the comment wasn't intended to cause offense. It was made in reference to forums springing up using free forum hosting services. Some of these "free" services are being run using software that is out of date and has know security holes. In some cases the same software as the current soon to be migrated to new software GAGB forums.

 

The original suggestion and intention was not to replace any existing services, but to provide additional resources for those areas that wished to have a forum that currently don't

 

Apologies for any misunderstanding that I may have caused.

 

Stuart

Edited by StuartP
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The original suggestion and intention was not to replace any existing services, but to provide additional resources for those areas that wished to have a forum that currently don't

 

In that case, maybe the regions being offered could reflect that. And perhaps you could provide links to the existing forums in the same way that has been done here.

Edited by Firth of Forth
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The comment was not made in the Geochat room, but in a private message session.

 

Stuart

 

Obviously not that private if committee members of the GAGB can read it at their will and then quote Private comments on the National Forum.

 

And my apologies if I misread the point of your comments.

 

Sorry, didn't know about it till you mentioned it here.

 

Now can we please calm down and move on, I am sure we can link to your forum quite easily.

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I'd be surprised if you couldn't code an HTML link to another website.

 

I just don't see the point of duplicating forums. If the GABG has a forum covering the South West, it seems silly for there to be another.

 

But yes, I'm still very annoyed about the way this has been done - I'm perfectly calm - just annoyed with the arrogant high handed way this is being done.

 

Thats all.

Edited by Birdman-of-liskatraz
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