Hi Oded,

Infact this is true!! There are so many people who are confused....

I think the "Member Activities" tab is OK (or rename is to "DO IT YOURSELF"), but the event section needs to be renamed to something like, "Commercial events" or something

Cheers
Ehsaan
Ehsaan, Nov 17, 2008 @ 11:50

I don't like the name commercial events for the Events section, cause most of them are not 'commercial' (pub owner advertising live music is a good service for Geneva in my opinion)

Why not renaming it ' Local Agenda' ? It's a name quite common on other similar expat sites for other cities for the same concept. Member Activities can stay as it is or meet up is a good idea too. Do it yourself is too cryptic and not immediat to understand ...

Vale
Hoiling, Nov 17, 2008 @ 12:19

Hi Hoiling

I agree that 'Commercial Events' may not be perfect, but, regarding the example you gave, a pub owner advertising live music is indeed a commercial advert.

Commercial does not mean that its not useful, or not interesting - just means the post is promoting/advertising a 'for profit' event rather than an activity/event meant to bring people together.

What think?

O 
SiteAdmin Oded, Nov 17, 2008 @ 12:28

Hi Oded,

How about a combined title "What's On?" with "Glocals Events" (or "Member Events") and "Public Events" as a split.

To be honest, one title would be best under "Whats On?" - I simply forget to look at the Events section at the moment, so listing it all in one place would be good. Maybe a different colour for Glocals and Public.

Rando'
Randonneur, Nov 17, 2008 @ 12:48

Sorry O, do not agree. Strcitly speaking of course you are right, but I'd see a commercial event more like something where I have to pay to get in (which is not always the case with the events), or where some kind of sale is going on. In the events section you'd find a lot of times events like various expos, fairs, festivals (not all of them with a fee to get in or purely commercial), concerts, or just in general more of what's going on in the region and in the city (the balloon festival in Chateau d'oex for example, choccolate festival, wine festivals etc etc) , live music, concerts (not always in pubs or commercial place), fairs, seminars and the list goes on. To me the point of the events section is a local agenda, to know what's going on in the cty (in the same way I check the agenda on the 20minutes, and Matin Bleu) ... in case I feel like going out with my friends and not really joining a memeber activity. You see what I mean?

V
Hoiling, Nov 17, 2008 @ 12:54

Oded, Somehow I think whatever name you pick people will still confuse themselves , we see this even in the forums where the explanation is fairly clear..



I think for myself and several others, the events are always an after thought when checking the site as Activities are always in a prominent place..



I also don't like using the word commercial in name for the events , a simple "What's happening" would suffice.. Alternatively why not have a Question mark HTML link after the name which would open a popup window describing clearly what the is meant for any of the tabs or forums.
britabroad, Nov 17, 2008 @ 13:05

Yo H :-)

I do understand, and I agree with you.

Not all of the posts in the Events section are commercial, and 'Commercial Events' is probably not a good name. 

I like 'Local Agenda' - just not sure that people would understand the diference between 'Member Activities' and 'Local Agenda' (same prob we have now)

As Britabroad said, even when reading the full explanation, its sometimes hard to understand the difference between Member Activities and Events, so we would love to find names that simplify and clarify the difference between the 2.

A good explanation, which I think was posted by Bustan_A a while back, is that with a 'Member Activity', you know you are joining a group of friendly glocals, and you know there will be an organizer to welcome you and to 'manage' the activity.

What think?

O
SiteAdmin Oded, Nov 17, 2008 @ 13:15

Reading through what has been said so far and what I feel, I would like to propose a combined title "What's On?" with "Members' Activities" and "Other Events" as a split.

"Members' Activities" would emphasise that it is by members for members.
haegar, Nov 17, 2008 @ 14:04

Local agenda is a good name for non members activities.



The distinction seems quite clear:

If a member wants to organize an event, it goes in the Members Section. I had a hard time figuring out this one ;)

If a member wants to organize a gathering at an event organized by a third party (let's take our pub organizing a musical bash as an example), it goes in the Member Section (answer expected).

If a member just wants to let the crowd know that there something going on somewhere and that s/he might be there, it goes in the Local Agenda Section (nothing formally organized)

If a member just wants to highlight an event that s/he feels might be of interest to the Glocamunity, it goes to the Local Agenda Section.



Sounds like a no brainer to me...
Free, Nov 17, 2008 @ 14:34

Great breakdown free - thanks alot

O
SiteAdmin Oded, Nov 17, 2008 @ 16:30

Members' Activities

Public Events
MarmarK, Nov 17, 2008 @ 16:52

How about - member activities and 'members out and about' or 'members timeout'

SMART08, Nov 17, 2008 @ 17:58

private events



vs



public events



-----------------



private happenings



vs



public occasions



-----------------



member organized meetups (m.o.m)



vs.



community events







poweryogi, Nov 19, 2008 @ 14:06

Join me!



and



Do you know?

:)

Dottie





Dottie, Nov 19, 2008 @ 14:17

VIG board (very important glocals board), what's hot ? the glocals matrix, the inner circle, now or never !, join in the fun !, here and now, *F.R.I.E.N.D.S.*, out & about, what else ?, beam me up scotty, or if u want to keep it international prefer latin *agendum memberus* .. lol .. for member activities ..



billboard, globoard (as in glocals), out and about, what else is there ? what's cooking ?, hidden agendas, the outer circle, there and then, or if u want to keep it international prefer latin *eventii localix* .. lol .. for events ..



.. or of course .. *locals* (member activities) & *globals* (events) .. to keep the community slogan going :))))



whatever u do .. spice it up .. style is everything .. lol .. and we do want that noble price for the site one day :))))



p.s. check the latin .. lol
atoll, Nov 19, 2008 @ 14:57

DJS1, Nov 19, 2008 @ 15:23

How about "glocals members events"

and "public events etc"

If it is really so confusing, why not have one forum with two branches, or two types of flags?  Just a thought
ewan, Nov 19, 2008 @ 15:40

If its going to go under the same heading eventually you could simple say, Member-organized activites and Other Events in Geneva/Lausanne



Mary
mary, Nov 19, 2008 @ 16:21

Members, Out & about..

Whats on in the city ?
uktheturtle, Nov 19, 2008 @ 16:45

Its a bit clunky but:



- Member organised/coordinated events

- Events of interest



Kiriel, Nov 19, 2008 @ 20:51

I would go for

- Get togethers

vs.

- Happenings

:)
Catherine A, Nov 20, 2008 @ 12:38

"Member Activities" is good. It says exactly what it needs to. I do forget to check events though. Maybe you could put them under one tab. Then for the "Events" put the "advertisements" for commercial activities in one color and things like the Escalade, local festivals, etc. in another color. And since you asked, the activities with no set data could be better highlighted or defined. Currently, the end of the other activities list, I suspect they are often missed.
Maplady, Nov 22, 2008 @ 03:33

Hi Folks

Thanks alot for the great posts and suggestions.

Some great ideas here, and it looks to me like the general direction is to combine the Activities and Events into one section called 'What's On' or 'Things to Do', and then, within this section, split the posts into 'Member Activities' vs 'Public Events' or something similar.

Might also be a good idea to visualy distinguish between Events and Activities via colors or icons.

All sounds pretty smart and useful to me.

Any suggestions on the actual functionalities of Activities vs Events?

Should people be able to RSVP for Public Events, or should the Public Events function as announcements only?

Should we have photo albums for Public Events, or only for Member Activities?

Thanks again, and please keep the suggestions coming.

Oded
SiteAdmin Oded, Nov 22, 2008 @ 12:18

Hello guys,



I've been giving this some thought for some time, and I read here great suggestions. I have to admit that all my ideas have been covered:cool: Shows the power of so many brains! So just wanted to let you know where my votes go to.



I really like Bustan_A's suggestion about Member Activity description: With a 'Member Activity', you know you are joining a group of friendly glocals, and you know there will be an organizer to welcome you and to 'manage' the activity. This is really simple to explain in the website to a newcomer.



I also like having one section called "Events", and then having 2 sections "Member Organized Events" and "Public Events" or "Events of Interest" as sub-sections. Again, keep it simple...



Oded - For your questions, I think having the RSVP and photo album as optional for all the postings is the best, I would let the organizer decide to include or not.
Rasputin, Nov 22, 2008 @ 12:49

I believe the best would be to have all events/activities listed in one spot listed by date, as usually members look for something to do on a specific occasion.

It would be great (as already proposed) to differentiate between get-togethers and happenings with different colors and to be able to filter on the event type.

Maybe some categorizing would be good also. For example the sport category could be a member suggesting a hike or a ski-day, as well as the opening of a new sport shop or a get-together for watching a game in a pub or even a local/regional/national sport event (GSHC playing, meeting, etc.).

The possibility of RSVPing would be good, as well as adding pics and maybe feedback on the event? (to motivate others to join on the next run?)



Good luck with the developments ;)



Cat
Catherine A, Nov 22, 2008 @ 12:59

Hi All,



In general, we're talking about the distinction between

A. ACTIVELY ASKING OTHERS TO JOIN ("Member Meetups", "Member Activities") AND

B. PASSIVELY LETTING OTHERS KNOW/ RECOMMENDING / SHARING INFO OF,

SAY.. A WINE TASTING that needs to be clarified. It is the word "Events" that is the crook in this drama...



My suggestion is to remove 'Events' and say:



1. 'OUT IN THE CITY', 'WHAT'S UP IN THE CITY', 'WHAT'S UP IN TOWN',

'WHAT'S UP IN THE AREA',

sounds lively and gives a Barcelona-London-New York feeling.

If it's too much - use the word 'Area', if 'City' or 'Town' does not represent the area.



2. 'MEMBER ACTIVITIES' or 'MEMBER MEETUPS' is perfectly clear to everybody -

i.e. that members post when they ask others to join; alternatively, call it 'JOIN ME FOR' !!!



Example from reality:

A 'wine tasting', was posted by the wine maker herself -

someone who lives out in the country and simply suggested to others to go there.

If this had been a "Member Meetup", the person would say "I am going to...please join me at 2 p.m.". It is a good example, because information of larger events (parties, exhibitions) are clear - they are 'What's up in Town' not 'Join me for'.



In sum, as in real life - the difference lies between being ACTIVE-PASSIVE, ACTING-INFORMING, ACTING-SUGGESTING. :D



If you want to clarify further to members how to post, just add under each category

(once they've clicked and chosen what they think is the proper one) what you want to be included in this category.



Easy-peasy!!!





Much Love,

the very very very structured and clarifying

Liz



























[quote]Howdy Folks



We wanted to ask for your help in finding a better name for our 'Member-Activities' and 'Events' sections. Here's the background - thanks a lot for your feedback!



Current Situation & Problem:



1. Right now, we have 2 separate sections on glocals:

• "Member Activities" – For activities organized by members, with the aim of meeting new people and having fun (Language exchanges, After Work Drinks, Jogging Partner…)
• "Events" – For announcing events (Usually used by venue owners to promote their clubs, bars, organizations…)

2. Many members are not clear on the real difference between Member-Activities and Events.



What we want to do:



Find better names for the 'Member-Activities' & 'Events' sections, to better explain the difference between them (Note: we might include the 2 sections under 1 heading in the future,but that is a seperate topic...)



How you can help:



Let us know if you have any good ideas for the 'Member-Activities' and / or 'Events' section, or what you think of the below ideas:



Some Names we are considering:



For what we now call "Member-Activities":

Member Activities, Member Get Togethers, Member Meetups, Member Socials, Activity Partners, Do stuff together



For what we now call "Events":

Event Announcements, Local Happenings, Commercial Events, Commercial Happenings.



Thanks a lot, and have a great week



The glocals gang[/quote]
Liz2006, Nov 22, 2008 @ 17:39

consolidation, consolidation, consolidation!
SimSim, Nov 23, 2008 @ 00:27