The only Maserati Club in the UK officially recognised by Maserati S.p.A. Owners Clubs.

WhatsApp group???

Home › Forums › General Chat › WhatsApp group???

Tagged: 

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 32 total)
1 2 3
  • Author
    Posts
  • 2nd March 2021 at 8:10 pm #14694
    David & Sue White
    Participant

    I am still of the firm belief that a club WhatsApp group or groups would increase members activity and inclusion, it would also have the side effect of of making the club seem more proactive and inclusive to all members ,eventually bringing more pro active members.

    I say this from experience.

    I am a member of “The Company of Master Jewellers” who until 18 months ago only had a forum not dissimilar to ours. There were very few posts and most were from the same group of members, it didn’t really have a lot of traffic, certainly not bringing a daily or even weekly encounter with other members, not dissimilar from our own forum.

    Since opening WhatsApp groups the difference is astounding, people are conversing on a daily basis about many different trade subjects. There are no firm rules but it is an accepted understanding that the chat should be connected with the trade and always courteous.

    The subjects vary from members looking for advice on suppliers to current affairs that effect the trade.

    It has brought the association to life and set it apart from the other trade association, “The National Association of Jewellers”, who used to be seen as market leaders and now have most certainly fallen behind, in most part due to the WhatsApp groups and the way that the Company of Master Jewellers have reached out through the these groups to speak, offer advice and interact with the association members.

    It has made all the participating members feel included, with a new relevance and now willing voices to offer advice to others, giving members the advantage of years of varied experience and knowledge where as before members, especially the younger or less active were becoming disassociated with the association, its relevance and direction.

    Currently they have two WhatsApp groups

    CMJ Retailers, which is for general trade chat and opinion

    CMJ buy & sell,  which is used for the buying and selling of trade stock.

     

    If the committee should decide to create a Whatsapp group there will be different areas of appropriate conversation that might eventually need their separate Maserati groups but maybe to start with I suggest just two?

    Maserati Club UK General chat

    Maserati Club UK  Tech help

    I dont believe there will be an issue with privacy, which I know had been a previous objection to setting up such groups, because all member join of their own free will, giving their own contact phone number and so there is then no recourse to the club.

    I think you will be surprised at the uptake and interest, then those that feel they want to try inclusion can become members and those that then decide after trying that it is not for them are free to leave.

    Maybe someone will bring it up with the committee again for discussion??

    2nd March 2021 at 8:15 pm #14695
    Stephen Ford
    Participant

    Well, it needs something as the forum is a bit quiet – so this idea would have my support…

    2nd March 2021 at 8:39 pm #14697
    simon-grantham
    Participant

    Brilliant idea, I am a member of several and it would be easier to use than the website

    3rd March 2021 at 9:41 am #14700
    Lee Moore
    Participant

    A WhatsApp group could possibly help connect members and promote communication, although I do feel that ideally some more could be done to increase forum use – its rare to see any input from the committee for a start! The club could be a lot more visible noth online and in the real world.

    If i’m honest I am not convinced a WhatsApp group would be any better supported, I always feel that the club is quite disjointed, with the odd little group who like to keep to themselves, this is probably true of many clubs / organisations but not all.

    In many ways forums are quite outdated however they are a good way to share technical info that may help others which is easy to find and use or add to.

    4th March 2021 at 6:50 pm #14743
    David & Sue White
    Participant

    Lee, I get your points but I would hope that WhatsApp is the perfect way to bring the club together rather than it being so disjointed, as you say there are cliques and will always be, I am a prime example being a proud member of the Yorkshire clique ?

    In many ways forums are quite outdated however they are a good way to share technical info that may help others which is easy to find and use or add to.

    I agree the forum should most definitely be kept because as you say Lee, it is a good source of reference especially for problems, where as WhatsApp you can only search by a word or words, then you have to trawl through all the messages which isn’t as convenient.

    5th March 2021 at 8:50 pm #14748
    profchristopher-green
    Participant

    Lee says he doesn’t see any Committee Members on here but I reckon  that Graham and I are frequently posting on the Forum. Regarding Whats App i am afraid i wouldn’t use it as to be honest its yet ANOTHER …….. and also as previously mentioned its search method and then having to trawl makes you give up before you start. The forum maybe old fashioned in some eyes but like anything its as good and useful as we make it .

    This does not mean that others cant use Whats App but i reckon it wouldn’t be used anymore than the Forum after an initial flurry t

    6th March 2021 at 2:12 pm #14750
    Lee Moore
    Participant

    Apologies – with regards to the comment about committee members, there are a few exceptions, however overall very few are visible.

    Maybe the WhatsApp should / could be looked into? Also some work on the Facebook or Instagram accounts?

    7th March 2021 at 7:11 pm #14763
    Graham Wood
    Participant

    WhatsApp has been discussed many times and if we were to trial it, it needs someone to volunteer (as Chris says) to manage the initial ‘flurry’ of interest in adding mobile numbers to the group and also to keep an ‘eye’ on it. Too often they become a vehicle (no pun intended!) for just circulating the latest jokes doing the rounds.

    I am in a number of WhatsApp groups, and to be honest they are too many – I struggle to keep up with them. I do not spend all my time on social media and cannot be bothered to keep scrolling back through the messages when many get posted in a short space of time.

    I am sure it will suit some and I can see the benefit of an Event Organiser setting one up to get messages across to members before an Event, during and after when members may post images of their experiences. I have seen this aspect work fairly well, but you need the Event Organiser to be willing to do it. Of course, after time it just degenerates into general joke circulation and the group should be deleted after a suitable time period.

    In short, we need 1 (or more) members to volunteer to be Admins and/or take on a Social Media role for the club…

    7th March 2021 at 10:31 pm #14765
    simon-grantham
    Participant

    how disappointing Graham, surely any extra interest must be better than the few who post now

    7th March 2021 at 11:06 pm #14766
    Graham Wood
    Participant

    Not disappointing Simon, we just need volunteers.

    8th March 2021 at 3:11 pm #14772
    Lee Moore
    Participant

    Do you feel it is just a case of needing volunteers?

    There are 16 names in the clubs “who’s who” yet probably only 2 or 3 contribute to the forum on a regular basis?

    The instagram account has no post, surely it would be fairly easy for some photos from events etc to be added? I would imagine there would be a few already posting from events, just not on the club account.

    Its a similar story with the Facebook page, although I realise that not everyone is into social meadia or online activity, it does seem that Maserati owners (or club members at least) are less keen than others.

     

    8th March 2021 at 7:27 pm #14777
    Tony Jaskeran
    Participant

    I would be happy to update the Instagram account, however would need members to send me photos & content. This does not require a lot of time I think.

    With the WhatsApp group ideally you need someone who can regularly view the content & probably has a lot of spare time. I used to be a member of my sons FA football group, sometimes there were over hundred messages in less than an hour so a fair bit to read through and moderate.

     

    8th March 2021 at 7:39 pm #14778
    Lee Moore
    Participant

    WWould it be possible to have a few designated people able to post on the Instagram account? That way it wouldn’t be down to one person relying on receiving content instead have posts from areas and events as the occur. Would help the club remain current.
    <p style=”text-align: center;”></p>

    8th March 2021 at 7:56 pm #14780
    David & Sue White
    Participant

    Hi Graham

    I would have Whatsapped you if there is a such a verb ?with a charming short video of my juvenile attempts to get to this forum string, it has just taken me over 40 attempts to log on then it just did it ?, it was the same old groundhog day experience of the circular log in routine.

    Anyway i digress.

    I did hold my hand up and offer to manage a whatsapp group when I first suggested it to the committee a year or so ago but in their wisdom they decided it wasn’t what members might want and in their eyes they saw it as in infringement of privacy issue ?. There is also the down side as you can no doubt see, I am not the best at spelling nor grammar, I even spelt Grammar with an e! Writing in general is unfortunately not my forte and takes me an age, I blame Dyslexia and yes I had to use dictation ?.

    I certainly do get your eloquent point regarding “descending into a forum for just circulating the latest jokes doing the rounds” and that is also a fear of mine, we all are starved of time without yet once again being expected to watch everyones idea of a great joke video AGAIN. You never know if the next one is the “best thing you have ever seen”, but obviously members are always free to bow out.  Its just that whatsapp is such a good medium and takes less disc space for images videos etc which can be very useful for demonstrating repairs techniques etc.

    Images are easy to find again when you know how, they are after all just in the groups individual settings which you go to by just tapping the name of the group at the top, then chose media file. Subjects are a bit more difficult you can search for individual words easily with the search box but you have to search all of your groups so the word has to be VERY specific, once again this would be easily demonstrated in a whatsapp video ?

    I will most certainly set one up for the Yorkshire Coast and Moors event in autumn and see how useful members find that.

     

    Yours David

    11th March 2021 at 4:37 pm #14800
    howard-poole
    Participant

    I didn’t even remember there is a Club Facebook group until reading this thread…and it appears to have had no posts for 6 months so is even less supported than the forum.

    The navigation limitations of WhatsApp do not lend themselves to any real depth of communication unlike Facebook.  If  more people were to utilise the FB group then I believe the push-fed notifications would drive some activity and perhaps lead to many more adhoc meets among members.  It’s also much quicker to use than the forum and can be properly moderated to avoid wandering off topic, I’ll post something and see if enthusiasm results.

    The Silverstone Social (albeit with many more members than us) is a purely Facebook based club and is very successful and well supported.

     

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 32 total)
1 2 3
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
MENU