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01/14/2014 03:20:45 PM · #1 |
This Saturday, Leo is inviting all of you to a moderated meeting with many of the active Site Council to talk about the future of DPChallenge website and what can be done "within" the limitations of reality and the limitations of SC's abilities to encourage the healthy growth of our community.
Meeting is open to DPC members and registered users, QAs/comments will be moderated by me.
Current scheduled time is 12noon DPC Server time, 9am LA time. We'd like to keep the duration around 30 minutes to 1 hour, but recognize that we may spend longer on this, depending on the situation at that time.
The goal of this meeting is to exchange ideas and what we and they can do to help DPC to go forward, to get more "active" registered users and members, which is the only thing that will potentially sustain DPC into the future. (not just financially, it's important for us to keep new people coming in here for many other, more important, reasons.)
This meeting will take place at the new DPChat.net website with round table format until the end of moderated session. Meaning, you will be able to ask questions directly to the moderator (me), and I will do my best to present the most important questions to the SCs. You will be able to see their answers. Direct communication with the SCs will be available after scheduled time reached to keep things in order.
If you're interested, please start today to get your questions/comments ready. Session will be open to all after the first hour. Conversation will be recorded for those who are unable to make it.
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I do hope you'll join us for this, we can't know for sure how useful this will or will not be, but it is a very logical step in our process of trying to grow DPC, and we hope you'll join us in that effort. (the more of you who are helping, the surer our success)... |
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01/14/2014 04:40:04 PM · #2 |
It's VERY important to realize that there are severe limitations on what SC can actually DO, regardless of what they might like to do. For just one example, they need Langdon's participation to add SC members to their ranks.
Why do I say this? Because we'll have limited time available for discussion, and it's easily foreseeable that the interchange could devolve into an entirely pointless, unrealistic exercise of gripe-airing, when the GOAL here is to come up with some rational and executable ideas for improving the current situation, especially with regard to bolstering a faltering membership.
I think Leo's HUGELY to be commended, incidentally, for all the effort he's been putting in lately. My hat's off to you, Leo! |
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01/14/2014 04:47:33 PM · #3 |
I think this is a great idea. I also think what Robert just said is a really good point. Is there a way we could talk over what we would like to discuss before hand?
I don't know if you notice but I am no longer a paying member and won't be until some things are done to resolve the current lack of leadership on this site. I do plan on entering open challenges when I can but won't participate beyond that. I would gladly pay $25 or even a bit more a year to a site that uses my money to maintain as well as improve the site yearly. |
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01/14/2014 04:59:17 PM · #4 |
Cory maybe you can get a bunch of questions ahead of time and go to the table with a top ten list.
This should save a bunch of time with repeat questions. |
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01/14/2014 04:59:40 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by sjhuls:
I think this is a great idea. I also think what Robert just said is a really good point. Is there a way we could talk over what we would like to discuss before hand?
I don't know if you notice but I am no longer a paying member and won't be until some things are done to resolve the current lack of leadership on this site. I do plan on entering open challenges when I can but won't participate beyond that. I would gladly pay $25 or even a bit more a year to a site that uses my money to maintain as well as improve the site yearly. |
I see no reason that this thread shouldn't be used for that discussion, and it would be welcome.
I suspect many questions will be follow-up in nature, so those will have to happen on the fly, but it would be good to establish what are and what are not good questions. (there are, in fact, many questions that can probably be answered by non-SC members who are familiar with DPC ops.) |
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01/14/2014 05:10:01 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
My hat's off to you, Leo! |
He gave you that hat. Put it back on! |
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01/14/2014 05:52:49 PM · #7 |
Indeed. Leo has become chief cook and bottle washer (not to mention ambassador of good will) of a sudden, and that is fabulous. And thank you Cory, for assisting.
I think the only question I have, considering the lack of actual power the SC currently has, is whether it would be possible for the forums to be more dutifully monitored. For about the past year, so many threads derail into contentious brawling rather than constructive discussions whenever we disagree or have different views on an issue. I used to get a lot of knowledge and insight from them. Now I find myself avoiding them because if I have a different opinion, and wish to voice it, I open myself up to derision and ridicule. Can't SC intervene, either on the thread or via PM to the antagonizers and keep things civil? Anyone thinking of joining up just has to read the threads to be scared away by the lack of civility. |
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01/14/2014 06:57:39 PM · #8 |
I have been thinking of questions for site council but if I understand it right really site council has three jobs: #1 make sure ribbon winners have followed the rules and issue DQ's to those who don't #2 monitoring forums #3 receiving emails from members with complaints of harassment from other members and playing referee and banning when appropriate.
I am with Johanna I would like to know why there isn't more intervention in the forums and more members banned or suspended. Could be that there are not enough of them to go around?
Beyond that I look at the whole situation kind of like this:
Langdon is the pilot of an airplane. We are all passengers. The site council are stewardess. At some point Langdon set the airplane to autopilot and jumped out of the plane. After awhile the passengers noticed the airplane was starting to lose altitude and some of them got concerned. They complained to the stewardess. The stewardess's would like to help but their job is to keep order between the passengers they can't fly the plane. The way I look at it the only way to get things back on track is for Langdon to get back on the plane and start flying it again or hand over the job to someone else.
My other question for site council would be how often they communicate with Langdon. If they do communicate with him fairly regularly, is there a way for us to voice our concerns through them to him? |
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01/14/2014 07:14:42 PM · #9 |
| Stewardess is not the preferred nomenclature. Flight attendant, please. |
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01/14/2014 07:17:02 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by sjhuls:
I have been thinking of questions for site council but if I understand it right really site council has three jobs: #1 make sure ribbon winners have followed the rules and issue DQ's to those who don't #2 monitoring forums #3 receiving emails from members with complaints of harassment from other members and playing referee and banning when appropriate.
I am with Johanna I would like to know why there isn't more intervention in the forums and more members banned or suspended. Could be that there are not enough of them to go around?
Beyond that I look at the whole situation kind of like this:
Langdon is the pilot of an airplane. We are all passengers. The site council are stewardess. At some point Langdon set the airplane to autopilot and jumped out of the plane. After awhile the passengers noticed the airplane was starting to lose altitude and some of them got concerned. They complained to the stewardess. The stewardess's would like to help but their job is to keep order between the passengers they can't fly the plane. The way I look at it the only way to get things back on track is for Langdon to get back on the plane and start flying it again or hand over the job to someone else.
My other question for site council would be how often they communicate with Langdon. If they do communicate with him fairly regularly, is there a way for us to voice our concerns through them to him? |
And it would seem the captain returned to the cabin from his extended coffee break very shortly after your post for a minor course adjustment. No idea if he's headed back out for more java soon though. ;)
Message edited by author 2014-01-14 19:17:23. |
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01/14/2014 07:43:05 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Cory:
And it would seem the captain returned to the cabin from his extended coffee break very shortly after your post for a minor course adjustment. No idea if he's headed back out for more java soon though. ;) |
Surely he returned to the cockpit? Hard to fly from the cabin... |
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01/14/2014 07:54:33 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by bohemka:
Stewardess is not the preferred nomenclature. Flight attendant, please. |
This plane is from the 1960's ;) |
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01/14/2014 07:56:23 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by sjhuls:
...Langdon is the pilot of an airplane. We are all passengers. The site council are stewardess. At some point Langdon set the airplane to autopilot and jumped out of the plane. After awhile the passengers noticed the airplane was starting to lose altitude and some of them got concerned. They complained to the stewardess. The stewardess's would like to help but their job is to keep order between the passengers they can't fly the plane. The way I look at it the only way to get things back on track is for Langdon to get back on the plane and start flying it again or hand over the job to someone else.. |
a perfect analogy... Also, "flight attendants" duty to keep everyone calm during a situation until 1-crash 2-safe landing!
I watched this move called "Flight" starring Denzel Washington (I think it was a fantastic movie)... at this point, engines are stopped, and pilot has his eye-covers on his face, sleeping... We all hope, he will wake up, make this miracle move to land fly safely... I don't think we want to land just yet! |
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01/14/2014 08:10:16 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by Cory:
And it would seem the captain returned to the cabin from his extended coffee break very shortly after your post for a minor course adjustment. No idea if he's headed back out for more java soon though. ;) |
Surely he returned to the cockpit? Hard to fly from the cabin... |
This is a very funny plane Bear. ;) |
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01/14/2014 10:40:09 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by sjhuls:
Originally posted by bohemka:
Stewardess is not the preferred nomenclature. Flight attendant, please. |
This plane is from the 1960's ;) |
Sometimes the older plane is the only one which can do the job ... it may not be the most elegant or have the fanciest amenities, but it works.
Originally posted by Linked Item:
... Caruru, 100 miles west of the Brazilian border, has no roads linking it to the outside world. And its 800 residents know that going by river to a sizable town would take days of arduous travel.
"The DC-3 is what brings the food, all the things the town of Caruru needs," says Carlos Julio Diaz, one of the hamlet's officials, as he gets off the plane.
In a sparsely populated swath of plains and jungle the size of France, the runways are muddy and the cargo is heavy. The only plane that handles the job of ferrying in heavy supplies must be lumbering, with big balloon wheels and the durability to take a pounding, says Hans Wiesman, a Dutchman who's searched out DC-3s the world over for a book and a documentary film ... |
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01/15/2014 02:00:04 AM · #16 |
| I still lurk occasionally and see some good ol' photography discussion. I can honestly say that my love for photography was a direct result of DPC and the good people that took the time to answer my photography questions. I wish there was a way to highlight a rookie corner somehow. I do feel like the website itself got left behind in all this Web 2.0 stuff, I'm still hopeful someday it will catch up with the times to be better at enabling people to help others on photography. Not saying that can't happen or hasn't, but somehow focusing on other people answering photography questions and stressing that is one of the required DPC booster shots. Just my opinion. |
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01/15/2014 03:44:25 AM · #17 |
| But who will police the stewardesses? |
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01/15/2014 03:51:52 AM · #18 |
| Thanks for chiming in, Matthew! I like the idea of a "rookie corner" :) |
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01/15/2014 03:57:33 AM · #19 |
What's a passenger gotta do to get a couple of these???!
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01/15/2014 04:35:55 AM · #20 |
Now, I won't be able to join Saturday due to surgery tomorrow.
I have to say that I admire all the people and their actions they have been taken the last few weeks, days to revive the site.
It is working, so much is sure.  Hanneke reappeared for the Masters challenge and a few new contestants stepped in.
Several discussions have already started and I think a hosted meeting with the SC is good.
However, IMHO 1 important person should be present as well.
And that 1 person is captain  Langdon.
After all, he's the one and only who evokes some of the frustrations, he's the only one who can answer really important questions such as "what is going to happen with DPC", "where does he want to bring DPC", "does he still care about DPC".
Is he willing to be more involved again, does he have the time to start with.
If not, is he willing to give SC more autonomy, more rights to handle issues he normally takes care of.
A meeting with DPC is a good start, but the most important player needs to be reached here and be accessible for questions, propositions, discussions. Because if he's not willing to express himself or to act, than even 10 meetings will not bring what we all expect from DPC: become the DPC again it was years ago.
Just my humble opinion.
Message edited by author 2014-01-15 09:13:55. |
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01/15/2014 05:04:53 AM · #21 |
Originally posted by Nadine_Vb:
A meeting with DPC is a good start, but the most important player needs to be reached here and accessible for questions, propositions, discussions. Because if he's not willing to express himself or to act, than even 10 meetings will not bring what we all expect from DPC: become the DPC again it was years ago.
Just my humble opinion. |
Fully agree with Nadine. No Langdon, no cure, it is simple like that.
Sometimes I think, would it not be better when we combine all that energy we put in the forum threads about DPC future and now this meeting this Saturday, into an effort to create a new DPC website and community? There's so much talent around, I know it's a mayor job, but then we have control ourselves without being dependent on someone we never see or hear. |
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01/15/2014 05:22:06 AM · #22 |
langdon doesn't need an invitation. he already knows what's going on, and if he wants, he can pop in join to conversation. In "Help/About" page it reads...
"The original idea behind the site was for it to be a place where the two of us and a couple of our friends could teach ourselves to be better photographers by giving each other a 'challenge' for the week. The idea quickly took off and became much more in the months that followed."
So, that means this website wasn't found for business or public but just for fun between friends. I am not sure how much "fire" langdon had in him to take care of anything like this monster he created! Right now he might have other business, a couple of kids, a monkey and a few onions to peel... who knows what!
I hope, even if he doesn't care much, he makes a few very easy, possible physical changes to this website to keep some of us happy and excited again and leave for another 10 years!
Join this Saturday, and if he pops in, we just grab his hand hand cuff his wrist to plane's yoke! |
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01/15/2014 06:20:02 AM · #23 |
Well of course he knows what's going on and he doesn't need an invitation.
Cory's invitation is addressed to each and anyone around so includes Langdon automatically.
It has been proposed that SC gets more rights - I'm sure he read that somewhere.
Several physical updates have been proposed - I'm sure he read that somewhere.
But did he ever popped an answer? What is his opinion around this? For which reason wouldn't he attribute those rights?
Simple rights which can e.g. arrange that this image  finally receives what it deserves since 4 months: the yellow ribbon and 3rd place, together with the correct colour of ribbon for the 1st and 2nd place.
Simple rights which can arrange that people who have paid there membership indeed get the access they've paid for without any other workaround.
Does he want new members or not? If not, why not?
If yes, why doesn't he use e.g. Google to reach new meat.
Why doesn't he arrange ads on photographic sales sites?
Set up simple banners in different sizes for the members to put on their personal website. I think a lot of us would be happy to put up a DPC banner on their website with a click-through.
We could create a banner each one for ourselves, but this contains a risk of non uniformity and I'm not in favour of that. Banners of a website need to be the same everywhere on the web.
There is a dialogue needed. A dialogue among the members is often on the agenda.
But a dialogue with Langdon is the only thing which can bring solutions, but most of all answers, to all the questions members (and maybe even SC) have.
So I really hope he will be able to jump in Saturday and that he will take the time to start a real dialogue with everyone.
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01/15/2014 08:36:32 AM · #24 |
Originally posted by FocusPoint:
langdon doesn't need an invitation. he already knows what's going on, and if he wants, he can pop in join to conversation. In "Help/About" page it reads...
"The original idea behind the site was for it to be a place where the two of us and a couple of our friends could teach ourselves to be better photographers by giving each other a 'challenge' for the week. The idea quickly took off and became much more in the months that followed."
So, that means this website wasn't found for business or public but just for fun between friends. I am not sure how much "fire" langdon had in him to take care of anything like this monster he created! Right now he might have other business, a couple of kids, a monkey and a few onions to peel... who knows what!
I hope, even if he doesn't care much, he makes a few very easy, possible physical changes to this website to keep some of us happy and excited again and leave for another 10 years!
Join this Saturday, and if he pops in, we just grab his hand hand cuff his wrist to plane's yoke! |
I understand what you are saying. The problem is he takes peoples money with a certain expectation by the person giving that money that the site will be well run. When I started a few years ago I feel I got my money's worth now not so much. What is the difference? It is hard to put my finger on it. I think the main problem is that without upkeep the site has gone stale, old members get frustrated and leave and it isn't doing anything to attract new members. If Langdon isn't willing to run things he needs to pay someone to do it for him, until I see that happen I will not be paying for a membership. I just don't see Langdon suddenly renewing his interest in this site, his heart is not in it. |
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01/15/2014 09:41:52 AM · #25 |
Bump
Message edited by author 2014-01-15 19:26:59. |
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