Does that sound like a good category for the Discussion area?
This is a friendly community, and after all, we all need each other to survive in the business. Nonetheless, I do know some people are loath to ask questions because sometimes the seasoned members have "heard it all."
My take on this:
- It is important for the life of AFI to help increase the sense of community that members feel with one another.
- It’s NOT ok to treat new people in the community badly.
- Newcomers will ask dumb questions. They will ask questions that have been asked dozens of times before. They will make various faux pas. You need to accept this.
But that’s the easy part.
- The hard part is the oldies need to accept this too. We all need to know how to not only tolerate but encourage newbie questions.
- Tired because there is no new discussion or ideas? You want this site to be lively? then we need to be careful not to deter the newbies from participating again.
- When a long-time regular says "FFS, search the forum for the answer before you post" that's not only unhelpful, it drives away that newcomer and other newcomers from participating.
This doesn’t necessarily we're going to ban or punish those that do respond with a sarcastic comment. It does mean overwhelming such posts with so many more good remarks.
Some people only post once. If they get a rude or hostile answer, do you think they'll be back? Their posts need to be responded to. Respond nicely, usefully, and hospitably. Ask a question in the response to solicit further contributions. This is how we build the community to be even better and more helpful. Can you help out here?
Communities need new blood to survive. If we drive away the new blood, our community won't last long and serve you the way it has in the past.
What do you think? (oh no, was that a dumb question???)
Comments
Post it in the discussions, Stephany. "Start a discussion" - you'll see the link. Make an attention grabbing headline and see what happens ... no, that was not a dumb question.
Okay, everyone, I've been in Ann Arbor today attending an Arts & Cultural Tourism Marketing Forum -- way cool how the Convention & Visitors Bureau is working with the arts organizations ....
HOWEVER, this thread is not a place to ask "dumb questions." This thread is me asking members what is the best way to make the site work well for new members.
PLEASE -- take questions that are "dumb" or other questions that do not pertain to that topic to the "Forum" and start a new discussion asking your question. Here is how to do that.
Do not ask other questions here. Thank you.
I really appreciate all the info in this thread. Before I had been popping over as I received email notices, but now I'm learning how to use this site. I will now use the home page and the tabs at the top. I might even upload an avatar - didn't realize I was being so irritably anonymous - I rarely look at the avatars as they're so tiny I can hardly see them anyway, lol! But thank you all, especially Connie, for all the help you offer.
You should read Maria Arango's book. It covers most of the commonly asked questions in a light-hearted, easy-to-read format.
I still don't see a need for that category.
This blog was started to discuss where to put all of the dumb newbie questions, not to field dumb newbie questions. Unfortunately, many of you have misunderstood the intent of the initial post. Go back and read it again.
Bryan, your question itself is not dumb. It's been asked and answered on this site several times before, but may be hard to turn up in a search. But this blog thread is not the right place to discuss it. It rightly belongs in a discussion post, probably in the business section.
But first, try a search in the business section for your topic. If a specific keyword search doesn't turn up proper results, try broadening the search by eliminating keywords.
Here's how:
1) Go to the Forum section.
2) Scroll down to the topic you're interested in. In this case, business will probably do the trick
3) Do a search, using your keywords. Try tax, or "business ID".
4) If, after searching fruitlessly, then post your question in the most appropriate discussion forum as a new question.
Here's a short cut to the business section.
I used the keyword "Tax" and came up with 29 discussion topics. That's 29 times this question has been asked, either the same question, or similar question.
Discussion groups, or Forums, as they're now called, are the place to ask the community your technical questions, your logistic questions, your questions about shows and jurying. It's where the community can help you with the things you need to know now.
Blogs, on the other hand, are a place to state your opinion, or to tell a story, or to describe how you feel, how you think, how you work. They are designed to let you stretch out and talk about things. Like Nels' "Tequila Reports", for example. Not grouped by topic, not grouped by technique, or show. Chronological bits of information in the stream. People can post their opinion, or add to your thoughts, but a blog post is not intended to be a public discussion forum. That's what the discussion forums are for. Blogs can be tagged with keywords, but discussions can't, except perhaps by the original poster, or owner.
Learning where to post and how to post is one of the hardest things for newcomers to learn. The Ning platform (what Art Fair Insiders is hosted on) allows for a lot of different ways to post information, and it can be very confusing. Starting your own discussion question helps to keep that topic focussed, and it also makes it a bit easier to search for, instead of lumping it into another person's blog on a completely different subject.
Sure this is a blog about "dumb questions". But it wasn't intended to be a catchall for every dumb question in the world.
Bryan, your initial question is not a dumb one. But asking it here won't necessarily get you the response you're looking for. Try adding a new post, after a "search and read" in the Forums>Business topic.
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