Tecumsea
PlanetFigure Supporter
I am surprised at the reluctance of members of Planet to say where they live, Town or City and Country. This may be deliberate, although any reason for this escapes me, or just an oversight.
Disclosure to me has a couple of advantages.
1) It enables contact between Planeteers within countries at shows, clubs etc, at the last Euro we organised a meal and Planet Badges so that we could recognise fellow forum members. I've just seen a thread where two members have just discovered that they live just a few miles apart-Avatars are unhelpful in this respect!
2) Members often post items for sale and an immediate reaction is "Where are you" as there is a need for either the buyer or seller to calculate postage costs.
I recently encouraged a new member in Canada to post a "Calling all Canadians" which resulted in many positive responses and it looks as though some people who would not normally have met will now be able to put faces to names by attending one of the Canadian shows.
I have met many new friends through Planet and to me extending the boundaries beyond just a computer screen is a means of developing the hobby, encouraging show attendance, Ad hoc meetings, local contact, etc.
I would be interested in the forums views on this, should there be more encouragement when joining to show your location? could existing members be encouraged to add it to their personal details?
Keith
Disclosure to me has a couple of advantages.
1) It enables contact between Planeteers within countries at shows, clubs etc, at the last Euro we organised a meal and Planet Badges so that we could recognise fellow forum members. I've just seen a thread where two members have just discovered that they live just a few miles apart-Avatars are unhelpful in this respect!
2) Members often post items for sale and an immediate reaction is "Where are you" as there is a need for either the buyer or seller to calculate postage costs.
I recently encouraged a new member in Canada to post a "Calling all Canadians" which resulted in many positive responses and it looks as though some people who would not normally have met will now be able to put faces to names by attending one of the Canadian shows.
I have met many new friends through Planet and to me extending the boundaries beyond just a computer screen is a means of developing the hobby, encouraging show attendance, Ad hoc meetings, local contact, etc.
I would be interested in the forums views on this, should there be more encouragement when joining to show your location? could existing members be encouraged to add it to their personal details?
Keith
Good idea though, when I was ebay selling I got enquiries from people within a few miles radius who were otherwise unknown. It does make you wonder how many people there are who follow this hobby in a relatively private & solitary way; an iceberg syndrome perhaps, the majority hidden under the surface.
