Update on the Fans of the WCHA group in Facebook

[Benson Gray]

why can't/isn't there be a way to vote on the web site?

There certainly could be. The challenge is finding a good way to verify that every member only votes once. A postcard in the magazine is a simple solution to that problem.

Benson

 

[Todd F]

Is there a vote for something coming up? Been offline a few days.

 

[Dan Miller]

Is there a vote for something coming up? Been offline a few days.

Three director positions are up for election. Details are in the latest issue of Wooden Canoe.

 

[MGC]

I nearly missed the card that was included in the most recent Wooden Canoe. It came flying out when I removed the issue from it's wrapper. Then (after I voted) the card rode around under the visor in my truck where I had put it for safe keeping and to mail it. Lucky for me it came down as a reminder for me to post it.
Stamps....yeah. My wife has stamps and the checkbook. This household functions in spite of me.

 

[Michael Grace]

Electronic voting has been discussed at length; it is desired as an effective means of rapid communication and it simplifies the process for many people. However, we do not yet have a mechanism in place to ensure integrity of an electronic election - there is no way in place to ensure one vote per membership. In addition, there is a significant portion of our membership that cannot or will not vote using electronic means, yet everyone must have the opportunity to vote. But rest assured that the concept of e-voting is very much appreciated. I am confident that if an effective election process that includes e-voting can be generated, it will be used.

 

[Gil Cramer]

Back to the fans of the WCHA on facebook. Evidently, I am a persona non gratis or whatever. After seeing the deck structure of the Belle Isle style canoe, I wrote some obvious observations. They were deleted for whatever reason. The observations were: Screw holes in two ribs which indicate sponsons. Diamond head bolts, deck shape , and handhold under the long deck structure suggest Carleton. the inwale has a scarph under the deck for whatever reason. Take a look and see what you think.

 

[Nick Dennis]

Back to the fans of the WCHA on facebook. Evidently, I am a persona non gratis or whatever. After seeing the deck structure of the Belle Isle style canoe, I wrote some obvious observations. They were deleted for whatever reason. The observations were: Screw holes in two ribs which indicate sponsons. Diamond head bolts, deck shape , and handhold under the long deck structure suggest Carleton. the inwale has a scarph under the deck for whatever reason. Take a look and see what you think.

I will do some investigations about this and let you know Gil.

Nick

 

[Benson Gray]

Evidently, I am a persona non gratis or whatever.

No, the account you are using has no profile picture. This means that a moderator needs to manually approve each of your postings. This causes a random delay which can be confusing. That group has an ongoing problem with spam. Many spammers don't bother to add a profile picture since they are constantly creating new accounts as the old ones get banned. The profile picture doesn't have to show your face, but you need to have some image to avoid the delay. Your message is posted now. Let me know if this doesn't answer your question or if you need anything else. Thanks,

Benson

 

[Worth Gretter]

I went to look at the FB Fans of the WCHA page, and now I remember why I don't use that app. Every time I look, I get a different selection of whatever content they want to feed me. No consistency and no ability to re-visit something of interest.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I've stopped reading Wooden Canoe, it's just too hard to read, ie: small type.

Just curious, Dan, would you read WCJ if it were distributed to you in digital format? That would allow you to zoom the text to any size via your browser. It would also save the WCHA printing and mailing costs.

 

[samb]

Please do not stop printing the journal!

Sam

 

[MGC]

Just curious, Dan, would you read WCJ if it were distributed to you in digital format? That would allow you to zoom the text to any size via your browser. It would also save the WCHA printing and mailing costs.

Hopefully that is not a serious suggestion, although giving consideration to your current board membership, we have no choice but to assume that it is.
Without hesitation, I would immediately drop my WCHA membership and also my sons if that happens. I presume others might do the same.
A quick review of the current board membership and member renewals has me curious if that is a "throw it at the wall to see if it sticks" kind of comment. Hopefully our membership has not elected a board that wants to terminate the WCJ.
It has been the position of the board that the published journal is the "official" record of the WCHA and its communication tool with the membership. Has that changed?
We were recently informed that the board voted to add a content editor seat and that Michael Grace is that board member. Does this suggestion imply that there was a subcurrent within the board that does not agree with hard copy WCJ ongoing?
A more rational choice might be to offer a digital option for those who prefer online content for whatever reasons. For those of us who prefer a print hardcopy, that would not be a priority, but if it is offered as an option, digital content is more easily searched and indexed.
If this is a serious discussion that is underway, hopefully Nick and the board will explore membership comments in a more deliberate way than as a tag along comment in a thread about Facebook.
Mike

 

[dtdcanoes]

Oh, man ! I'm finding it tough to stay on top of things. Every time I take my wife in for a procedure the Journal (s) come with me for some calming.
Now there are murmurs of a book burning at the WCHA ? I can't zoom one sentence at a time on the tiny screen. It won't even come to me any more because my membership is no longer. This reminds me of Elaine from Seinfeld ," I just need one square ! one square ? " Maybe, just a tag along.
Dave

 

[MGC]

Sorry, can't spare a square...hah...good one.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

 

[Todd F]

OK, I finally get it....

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The WCJ is not the topic of this thread and any further discussions of it should probably be in a separate thread. However, I feel I should defuse some overreactions to my simple question to @Dan Lindberg.

Hopefully that is not a serious suggestion

I made no "suggestion" either on behalf of the BOD nor myself personally.

I simply asked Dan out of curiosity if he would be more likely to read WCJ if he could digitally enlarge the WCJ typeface, which he says is difficult for him to read in hard copy. Digital versions exist.

Hopefully our membership has not elected a board that wants to terminate the WCJ.

I've never heard anyone on the BOD suggest terminating the WCJ. That, in my personal opinion, would be virtually unthinkable.

We were recently informed that the board voted to add a content editor seat and that Michael Grace is that board member. Does this suggestion imply that there was a subcurrent within the board that does not agree with hard copy WCJ ongoing?

The appointment of Michael Grace as content editor had nothing to do with any "subcurrents" or "suggestions" on the BOD. We simply needed someone to continue the role of content editor.

A more rational choice might be to offer a digital option for those who prefer online content for whatever reasons.

Again, no "choices" have been made, but thank you for that suggestion. It sounds rational to me and is basically what my simple query to @Dan Lindberg was asking about.

Sorry that my simple query sidetracked this FB topic and perhaps caused some misinterpretations. Members should feel free to ask BOD members anything they want—some of us contribute here and all our email addresses are publicly availble—and there is also a topical forum here for threads on the WCJ.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

At the risk of violating my own suggestion that this thread should stay on topic, I also don't want my above comments to give the impression that the BOD has not been formulating plans or taking any actions re member benefits.

To the contrary, the BOD has unanimously approved a set of actions the goal of which is to enhance member benefits—not to take any away. Implementing these actions has involved a lot of time, technical expertise, and voluntary and paid effort. It is the President's role to announce them when they are ready, hopefully by or at Assembly.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

A guy doesn't stop in for a day look what he misses.

The WCJ - I expressed my displeasure back when the changes took place, no point is rehashing them again.
But going back to the std 8 1/2 x 11 size would be a big improvement. Odd ball sizes are terrible.

Digital - this was also asked about back then, I likely would, I do get the digital version of the local paper.
FWIW, I've cancelled all other paper media for the same reason.

Voting - I'd stick with the paper voting, just cause that's what folks expect and it works well.

Voting 2 - Considering that we currently have about 1100 members and there's usually a short list of folks willing to be on the Board, I'd be less concerned about the voting method and more about making membership attractive to potential new members.

The FB site "Fans of ..." - I do visit and even comment sometimes, but consider this a supplement to the WCHA web site. (this site)

Dan

 

[Benson Gray]

if it is offered as an option, digital content is more easily searched and indexed.

The Wooden Canoe archive at https://www.woodencanoe.org/product-page/wooden-canoe-journal-archive-on-usb-flash-drive comes with a full Adobe index for searching.

Benson