Getting more members involved

rcforall · July 07, 2009, 01:12:30 PM

Hi All ,
I have been noticing that regular contributors to the forum are around 10 to 12 members .
Its even worse in the case of our neighbor
This can lead to boredom over a period of time .
How do you increase the number of contributors ?
Quality of posts ?

Sai

anwar · July 07, 2009, 01:19:35 PM

I think this was brought up earlier. Not everyone needs/wants to participate, it is a personal choice. But many people take the time to visit, login, and read what is happening.

I think that is fine. Like anything in life, the interest levels for an individual towards this hobby has its own cycles. Just let it ride its course.

We can try more things like monthly sweepstakes for smaller prizes etc if we wanted to, but I am not sure such marketing is needed for a "non-profit" organization like this.

And quoting the famous "nobody", "aana free, jaana free, pakde gaye tho, khaana free!"

suniljoseph · July 07, 2009, 02:07:28 PM

as a person who is interested but not a good contributor, i think i maybe able to give some feedback.

i am interested in the hobby, but got a few restrictions.

1. i don't know much about this hobby, and when the discussion goes technical, it goes over my head.
2. i don't know anyone who has this as a hobby. so i need to talk to a few people, and i would love it if someone takes their time to tell me more.
3. the range of products available are confusing to a person who is new. The prices are high, and i have no idea how much i will be spending once i get into the hobby.
4. i dont know about any laws, or whether i need to get permission from someone to fly. i haven't seen such a discussion anywhere.

suggestions:
1. those who are interested in the technical aspect will always talk about it, and i dont have any problem with that.
2. it would be a good idea to introduce noobies like me to those with experience so that we can meet them and learn more, face to face, like a mentor.
3. a few combos would be of great help. or maybe a few RTFs. it would also be a great idea if those trusted sellers could sell their products through the website, like a shopping portal. classified properly, it would be of great help for everyone to find great products.
4. a noobie section with a step by step guidelines would also be of great help.
for eg: before i start what should i look for.
* a good location to fly.
* any applicable laws, or permission from any authority
* trusted sellers, best model to start and how far i can go with it.
* pictures of various parts so that people like me can understand a bit more of the tech stuff that is being talked about.
* any videos showing how to assemble a model.
etc etc

any increase in activity will be beneficial to the sellers, and i hope they will take the initiative.

suniljoseph · July 07, 2009, 02:12:24 PM

i just found those videos posted by anwar... just what i was talking about.... it explains a lot...

http://www.rcindia.org/beginners-zone/rc-beginner-videos/

izmile · July 07, 2009, 05:11:00 PM

Ya, lets start accusing people and shout at new comers...

This for sure will make them speak out...

anwar · July 07, 2009, 05:32:12 PM

lol izmile

All we want is for this place to be known to people who are looking for unbiased information about RC in India.

I think we are finally in the first page of Google searches for "rc india" and "india rc". Once we are allocated a "PageRank" (an automatic process that usually takes about 6 months), our ranking would be even better.

If somebody did not post for months or even years, but finally sought everyone's opinion on the forum about a particular model he is planning to buy soon, there is nothing wrong with that ! In fact, that is all we want !

And it doesn't matter much "who" says something, "what" is being said is more important. Even if the "regular"s discuss things that are applicable/useful to everyone, well that is life !

OT: BTW, a Japanese gentleman who we fly with is leaving the country for good, and he just asked me to pick up two of his planes for free

They will go to people who are beginning the hobby here, and are on a budget (cannot transport them to India, as they are already built and flown).

suniljoseph · July 07, 2009, 05:40:50 PM

too bad it cant be transported to india.
you could have send to those who start and once they get the hang of it, they could send it to others... i mean, it would have been a great way to test the water before we jump in.
investing this kind of money is not easy for all. I actually have not told anyone that i am going to spend this kind of money and there is going to be a big row in the future.
btw, wouldn't it be great if the sellers could sponsor a cheap and used RTF so that those who are interested could try out the hobby?
as long as people are honest, everyone would gain. or they could ask for a deposit.

anwar · July 07, 2009, 05:46:26 PM

I think the barriers to entry are smaller now, especially if you go the SPAD/foamie way.

Plus, for something that can easily get damaged in crashes, such a rent/loan scheme would not work (it would work for the radio/electronics, but simple radios are also pretty inexpensive now).

OT: One of the two planes is a Seagull Harrier 3D .46, not suitable for beginners (unless we put a lot of DR/Expo and/or put the other person on a buddy cord).

tg · July 07, 2009, 07:05:50 PM

Quote from: suniljoseph on July 07, 2009, 05:40:50 PM
too bad it cant be transported to india.
you could have send to those who start and once they get the hang of it, they could send it to others... i mean, it would have been a great way to test the water before we jump in.
investing this kind of money is not easy for all. I actually have not told anyone that i am going to spend this kind of money and there is going to be a big row in the future.
btw, wouldn't it be great if the sellers could sponsor a cheap and used RTF so that those who are interested could try out the hobby?
as long as people are honest, everyone would gain. or they could ask for a deposit.

You just described an "aeromodelling club" which typically will have a few "club" trainers that ppl in the club use for training. And "typically" the local hobby shops "gift" local clubs with these trainers. So, form a small group and you could invest in a cheap/good trainer that can be used by your group.

suniljoseph · July 07, 2009, 07:13:49 PM

Quote from: tg on July 07, 2009, 07:05:50 PM
form a small group and you could invest in a cheap/good trainer that can be used by your group.

If there were enough ppl and if i was good enough to help other people start off, then i wouldnt mind contributing one cheap model. those who want to fly can bring their own power packs.

rcforall · July 07, 2009, 07:22:40 PM

Quote from: suniljoseph on July 07, 2009, 07:13:49 PM
Quote from: tg on July 07, 2009, 07:05:50 PM
form a small group and you could invest in a cheap/good trainer that can be used by your group.

If there were enough ppl and if i was good enough to help other people start off, then i wouldnt mind contributing one cheap model. those who want to fly can bring their own power packs.

Guys don't get me wrong but I think for doing anything one needs commitment , freebies don't always work in fact freebies normally reduce commitment , If you want to learn something you have to commit by investing in it , it is only then that you have the will to go for it and learn it .
sai

rcforall · July 07, 2009, 07:28:50 PM

Anwar ,
One suggestion , not all like discussion , many may like to maintain Blog pages , log of their activities etc .
Can members who have the passion for writing be given a space/page to themselves to maintain a BLOG about their RC activities ?
Like this for example
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=115141

sai

anwar · July 07, 2009, 07:55:09 PM

A quick and dirty way to do that is to continue posting under their intro entry in the RC People board.

There are couple of modules for the forum software to support blogs, but they are still in beta. Not worth messing with the stability of the forum.

rcforall · July 07, 2009, 09:46:13 PM

May be you could create a thread to guide bloggers on how to use the current resources on the forum to create Blogs.

Sai

atul_pg · July 08, 2009, 07:51:48 AM

Hi Anwar,

Is it possible that you can make a sub-folder in your public_html and install wordpress, so people who would like to blog can easily do so...Can this be done ? Am not sure if it would affect the smf already installed..

rgds

atul g.

anwar · July 08, 2009, 10:30:33 AM

There are many ways a blog software can be installed under the same domain, it takes less than 5 minutes to do it. The issue is integration (like single username and password for both, visibility of the blog from the forum and vice-versa etc).

rcforall · July 08, 2009, 11:10:49 AM

Anwar ,
I am a total non techo but my suggestion will be members might actually find Blogging to be useful.
In fact I would say you could do away with the sweep stake and include value additions like Blogging .

Another idea might sound funny but what about a Virtual Hobby Mall on the lines of E bay with shops paying RC India monthly rentals that could make the forum self expanding and self sustaining .

Sai

anwar · July 08, 2009, 11:41:46 AM

Sai - I guess the point is that the same 10 people who are active now *may consider* doing occasional bog entries. And that can be done under their intro entries and the "what did you do last week" long thread.

That said, when the blogging software comes integrated into the forum software in a stable release, I will test it and enable it here.

rcforall · July 08, 2009, 11:57:59 AM

Quote from: anwar on July 08, 2009, 11:41:46 AM
Sai - I guess the point is that the same 10 people who are active now *may consider* doing occasional blog entries.

Quite likely ,but I noticed on RCG though that the Bloggers were not the one who feature much in discussions that is why the suggestion.

sai

anwar · July 08, 2009, 12:11:49 PM

Quote from: rcforall on July 08, 2009, 11:10:49 AM
Another idea might sound funny but what about a Virtual Hobby Mall on the lines of E bay with shops paying RC India monthly rentals that could make the forum self expanding and self sustaining .

Sai

I would like to stay away from any "commercial" activites, at least for now. And "commercial" means in a totally non-profit manner, just to sustain the sweepstakes, and giving back to the RC community.

The farthest I want to go is coming up with something like a tee-shirt or hat with the RC India logo on it, get some sponsorship to make it really affordable, and have it made available through existing hobby stores. The main motivation being that it would cause more people to be aware of the hobby when they see others wearing these. Others will also benefit from being aware of the existence of this forum as an open place to discuss this hobby.

The less important motivation is that it may help us run the sweepstakes without worrying too much about sponsorships. Even that I am not too worried, since I have not pitched it to all my contacts here, and there are some significant personalities who love this hobby here (all the way up to multiple members of the royal family), who can help with sponsorship if contacted.

anwar · July 11, 2009, 01:07:52 AM

We are continuously adding new features to RC India, so that it becomes not only the open forum that it is now, but also a diverse platform for people interested in this hobby to express both their thoughts, and their desire to help this hobby.

We have just launched a Wiki (http://www.rcindia.org/wiki/) which is the latest step in this direction. Anybody having spare time may help add content to the Wiki, there by help create easily accessible information for the RC community.

We will add other features, as the appropriate software becomes available.