And yet..... There are some of us who feel that as addictive and exciting as Facebook certainly is, we are unsure that the FB group really supports the CVRDA mission.
I would really like to open up some discussion on this topic, here on the forum and would value your thoughts.
My thoughts:
When Neil and I set up the CVRDA FB group (By Neil: Sep 7 2007) we used the CVRDA Mission as a group description, with the main intentions to:
- get classic and vintage racing dinghies racing together as often as possible
- share and disseminate information about classic and vintage dinghies.
- get classic and vintage dinghies on the water for people to use, see and appreciate.
- to keep all these boats sailing and in good condition and viewed by as large an audience as possible and to raise the public awareness of these boats and the nautical heritage they represent.
- to help and support classic class associations finding it hard to compete in the modern sailing scene and help them find hosts for their nats.
However, our main intention was for the FB group to be used for ephemeral 'chat' mainly around the organisation and marketing of CVRDA events. We set the FBgroup up to encourage and support owners of classic boats to attend CVRDA events. That was it. That was the purpose of the FB group.
Our presumption was that the normal discussion, that intended to: 'share and disseminate information' would remain on the forum, where it is searchable and we can make some effort to try and keep it for a few years at least. I just want to cry when I see interesting material is posted on the FB Group, knowing that it will be impossible to find in a few days time. The bottom line is that the traffic on FB has totally sucked the forum dry......so is this a problem?
The flipside to this is the incredible ease of using FaceBook and the wide range of content from very knowledgeable sources that the FB group now enjoys.....but does this support the mission? and does it support the association? I am not sure.
I have some potential ideas for how we might go forward, but first, I would really appreciate any thoughts from the CVRDA Members and Forum Members.
I look forward to hearing what you think, here, on FB or if you wish by private message.
Best wishes
eib