Why Brad Doesn't Receive Answers To His Email

[Lynn Paris]

O.K. Here's the problem I encountered. I get an email from Brad Dressler saying that so far NO ONE has replied to his emails about attending a Professional Development Meeting. Well, I can't reply to his email (it's a "do-not reply" email) so I click immediately on the tamcon.ning site.

I expect to be taken to a "thread" on the email Brad posted, much as I would with, say, FB. But, I can find no such thread. I search all over the site and can't find ANY way to respond directly to his question other than to pick up the phone and call him.

I also look over several previous posts. I note that there are allegedly two comments on the launch of the new Brand Site, but the only one I can view is mine. I also see very few "new" (as in, within the last month) posts.

I think the problem is twofold. First, the site does not behave in the way that most of us are accustomed to having a social networking site behave. It's a great concept, but it is not user-friendly, or not friendly to this particular user. Perhaps I just don't understand how it works. But the fact that I don't is still relevant.

Second, we are all obviously so busy with our full-time jobs, in addition to our tweets, must-read blogs and professional journals, FB and other distractions that maybe this is one site that we tend to skip, mostly because not enough participate to make it viable. Or at least, a "must read." That is unfortunate, but until it becomes a site we HAVE to visit in order to keep up on what's going on with our fellow communicators, I fear that it will remain very much in the back of our minds.

And if anyone on this site actually finds this, I'd love to know what YOU think.

[Lynn Paris]

Hi, Brad.
Thanks for responding! And a discussion thread would be perfect.

I also agree that not enough people are participating which is what makes it not seem as valuable. Or, they get what they need to know from other sources, like FB. There needs to be a compelling reason to invest more time by coming here too.

At any rate, I guess the next time there's a meeting on how to use the Ning site effectively I better make sure I attend. It still seems somewhat counter-intuitive to me. But then so did all the other social sites . . . until I used them enough! Thanks again, Lynn

[Brad Dressler]

Lynn,

I partly agree with your post.

I believe that the issues are: First, perhaps we are not using the Ning site to the best of its ability (myself included). I will include my direct email address in all future correspondence, to make direct communication easier. And I will try to find a way to include a discussion thread in those future communications. As you mentioned, this would be intuitive. I should have thought of this before.

Secondly, I think that people are not using the Ning site because they do not know how to use it at all or do not see the value. That is a big part of the reason why the April meeting was focused 100% on effectively utilizing the Ning site--to benefit both ProComm and all of our individual offices/departments across campus. I think once people know how to utilize the site better, this will improve.

I also understand that with the end of the semester, everyone has had higher priorities. So, we will just plan an event for later in the summer. And between now and then, I hope that others and myself will learn how to better utilize the ProComm ning website.

Thanks,

Brad