IoffL Contact Details

cgarvey

I didn't want to further spoil other thread so I started a new one .. and I'm sorry to nag.

My point in the other thread, I think, has been missed.

On the "Contact Us" page of IoffL, there is one email address (chairman), no phone numbers, postal address, or anybody's name. I think this is faceless, and not very approachable.

I think we should...
1) Publish the committee members' names
2) Publish at least one telephone number for the organisation (even if mobile)
3) Use info@irelandoffline.org to point to all committee members, (with reasonalby good spam protection!) .. get the Spam blocking sponsored if needs be (I'm sure many will help out.

- or -

Publish the email addresses for either committee members or their roles (adam@i or chariman@i).


From the other thread...

Dangger
Contact details have been up on the site for years (mine then Christian's). Since the AGM Christian's number has been removed. I'm sure the acting committee can get a number up there.

Like I said above, one non-human email address does not appear to be very approachable to me.

Dangger
The issue here is not contact being made. Contact has been made.

Understood, and I made the effort to contribute as best I could, and not just whine about the contacts!

dahamsta
The email address is available on this page on the site. If you want a phone number, email us and we'll send it on.

Thats almost mafia-like... To me, that's like saying a journalist "hmmm, but why would you want our phone number.. what's your game anyway, who put you up to this" rather than "Ring us, we'd be happy to talk through the issues we see...". However if thats what the committee want, could we at least publish that info on that page .. "As we are a voluntary organisation, we'd prefer not to publish individual's phone numbers. However you are invited to email us, and we would be happy to have [scretary/pro/representative] phone you".. or something along those lines?

(this is an awful long whine, sorry!!)

.cg

dahamsta

It's like this cgarvey: We're an interim committee, we're here for two months maximum, and we have an awful lot to get through in that time. Posting our names on the website is a miniscule item on our TODO list, they're only gonna be there a couple months anyway (maybe, maybe not). If you really want to know, here's the committee:

Adam Beecher
Brian Kidney
Damien Mulley
Elana Kehoe
Gareth Pelly
John Hackett
John Timmons
Ronan Briem

If I get a chance tomorrow I'll post them on the site, but I won't post their email addresses because it's just /asking/ for spam. And I won't set up personal email mappings either, because: a) (again) we're only here two months; and b) because IO will always be a transitory organisation.

Finally, I'm not posting my phone number on the site because the IO site is extremely popular with not just activists and interested parties, but spammers and utter nutjobs. If you /really/ want my phone number, you'll find it over on my own website.

And if people want to get in touch with us, sending an email asking for a phone number doesn't seem particularly onerous to me. Many of us have BB connections, and we spend far too much of our time online.

I'll post a note to that effect on the site when I get a minute.

adam

damien

I get your point cgarvey, we'll try and come up with something soon. But trust me there's a lot of stuff we are doing right now. we're snowed under. We'll have it on a todo list, but rightly remind us if we forget.

I'll talk to a mod too about getting a sticky made.

By the way I'll create a new thread about feedback on the website too. That's another thing that needs work.

cg will you give us a hand, please ? We need people like yourself who are passionate and give a care.

Damien

dahamsta

I've updated the contact page with a better explanation now. I'll leave posting the committee because we have a newsletter going out this evening and that'll be the "featured story" on the IO Geeklog from then.

adam

cgarvey

dahamsta wrote:

we're here for two months maximum, and we have an awful lot to get through in that time. Posting our names on the website is a miniscule item on our TODO list

I appreciate that this is minor, compared to a lot of other stuff going on.
(As an aside, I have no idea what is on the ToDo list.. is that my fault for not reading all threads more thoroughly, or should we have a webpage/boards sticky of current events?)

dahamsta wrote:

it's just /asking/ for spam.

Which is why I suggested getting some proper spam filtering (even with C/R if needs be). Being approachable is more important, in my view, than having the odd spam mail filter through the filters.

dahamsta wrote:

And I won't set up personal email mappings either, because: a) (again) we're only here two months; and b) because IO will always be a transitory organisation.

Fair point, so that leaves just the first half of my original point 3 to have the role email addresses published.

dahamsta wrote:

Finally, I'm not posting my phone number on the site because the IO site is extremely popular with not just activists and interested parties, but spammers and utter nutjobs. If you /really/ want my phone number, you'll find it over on my own website.

I don't even want to know what made you so parenoid!! In my experience posting my phone number to a huge number of subscription/evaluation and a number of websites has never led to any crank/late-night/annonymous calls .. but you've obviously found otherwise, which can't be fun. Weird that it doesn't happen on your own site, but that it might on an activism site (I'd expect it on a political activism site, I guess). Would any other committee member be willing to publish their number?
(I'll happily allow my number to be used, but it would be answered in my company's name, so I don't think that'd be very professional, but I'm prepared to, none the less)

dahamsta wrote:

I'll post a note to that effect on the site when I get a minute.

If I can help in anyway, let me know.

.cg

cgarvey

damien.m wrote:

cg will you give us a hand, please ? We need people like yourself who are passionate and give a care.

Absolutely, in any way I can. Not sure how, but I can certainly try. I'm cool with updating web sites, I can ring if I'm told where/what, I can type, I can try and be somewhere (although, being self-employed, this isn't always possible).

.cg

damien

Right, I'll get this made a sticky. Clicking on any of our names will send us a pm. The committee members can add any other contact details they want.



Adam Beecher


Brian Kidney


Damien Mulley
email: damien (at) mulley (dot) net

Elana Kehoe


Gareth Pelly


De Rebel


John Timmons


Ronan Briem

dahamsta

cgarvey wrote:

As an aside, I have no idea what is on the ToDo list.

It's just the committee TODO, a list of tasks we've set ourselves. They've been posted in dribs and drabs here, but you'll get a summary this evening when the newsletter goes out. If you're on the list that is; if you're not, get on it!

http://lists.beecher.net/mailman/listinfo/io-announce

Which is why I suggested getting some proper spam filtering (even with C/R if needs be)

SpamAssassin is running on my mail server, but that's a fix, not a solution. And for the record, C/R Bad. I don't respond to C/R email, it's a cheap hack that does more harm than good.

Fair point, so that leaves just the first half of my original point 3 to have the role email addresses published.

I don't see a reason why. Info@ goes to me, I'm always here. If I'm not, I'll amend it to go to someone else while I'm away.

I don't even want to know what made you so parenoid!!

I'm not paranoid, I'm careful. Plus I already get loads of calls and texts because I'm first in everyone's address book, that's quite enough.

Weird that it doesn't happen on your own site, but that it might on an activism site

(I'd expect it on a political activism site, I guess).

Asked and answered.

Would any other committee member be willing to publish their number?

I don't understand the urgency of the phone number tbh. I'm not being difficult, I genuinely don't understand.

If I can help in anyway, let me know.

Appreciate it. Damien, find something for this man to do.

adam

cgarvey

Keeping this one short ...
Agree to C/R, but my point was more do our best to keep spam down (rather than how we do it), and that its more important to be available/contactable than to have 5 messages a day that slip through SA. I'm trying to be objective here and trying to see the PoV of a journalist first (and I'm not one), and someone trying to determine if the organisation is serious or not.

The phone number thing isn't urgent or a big deal, it is just purely to satisfy some new journalist who hasn't established contact yet .. here's of IoffL and goes to their website to get their input into an article of the state of the phone network. I just think that s/he would prefer to ring over emailing. The only time I've ever been contacted by any journalists (in a variety of capacities) was by phone, so maybe my experience is too narrow.

So I'll leave it at that, there's my suggestion and opinion, and it is only that.

As for the mailing list, we learn something new everyday .. am on it now.

.cg

dahamsta

In all honesty most journalists that do talk to IrelandOffline (in my past experience) are pretty wired. Even The Phoenix talked to me (when I was ex-IO) via email before hitting the phone, and if ever there was an olde worlde (sorry Yoda) publication, it's The Phoenix. Another example would be when I was PRO, I had to do about four radio interviews in one day, and although the final arrangements were done over the phone (as I travelled to Dublin for the "blackout"!), it all kicked off over email.

I haven't been involved in IO for some time, but I can't see it having changed that much in the interim. But screw it, we'll put a number up there over the next few days. Just not now, we're trying to track down Elana, who may have disappeared into hidden depths of XP.

adam

Paddy20

Personally, I think what cgarvey is on about is the obvious need for all organisations to have a Public Relations Officer's (PRO) details posted upfront so that any media have a contact name and number for IOFFL.

If IOFFL is without this at present. It would seem to be bit negative, for a campaigning organisation ?.. just my 2cs worth.

jwt

Sod it Adam......put my number up there for the moment, at least till the EGM. :eek:

If I don't get enough heavy breathers during that time I will formally request the number to be taken down


Seriously, if I get any calls of an "official" nature I'll handle them, and put them to the committee.

Hows that?


John

dahamsta

Good stuff John, thanks for that.

http://www.irelandoffline.org/home/staticpages/index.php?page=20020428212504688

adam

cgarvey

Well done kids, and that's a wrap

.cg