Open PTO to local poultry clubs?

Post by **poultry_admin** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 9:23 pm

Hello All,
We admins have been discussing an addition to PTO for some time now and think we would like everyone's feedback on the idea.
So, we would like to propose to reach out to local poultry clubs that are on the web/facebook like:
http://kdppsa.ca/
or
https://www.facebook.com/brantcountypoultry/
in order to see if they want to collaborate with us on PTO.

There are a few reasons why we think this would be a benefit to both.

PTO has members in almost all areas of Ontario, surely some are local club members already. And people move around. Wouldn't it be good to know what poultry association to join in the new location?
PTO could be a bridge between the valued work of local poultry organizations and a virtual one
this bridge could help both sides grow by offering what is missing on the other. PTO misses the face to face contact (we are fixing that with the Piknik) and local clubs have the problem of slow responses due to member meetings once a month.
all local clubs I have seen have no way for members to ask experienced poultry guys other than in the meetings or by exchanged telephone numbers. In many cases that is too slow, treatments earlier are better than later....

Collaboration could look like this:

We place the club in the directory
a new category "Clubs" will be created on the forum above the "Admin" and threads and topics for each club that wants to collaborate.
we would like to welcome the new members and hopefully start a fruitful exchange of information.
we would like a favorable mention in their meetings and on their website to let the members know we exist

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sun Feb 14, 2016 8:56 am

I think its a great idea.

Clubs by nature are not for profit, and tend to be comprised of older members, where online tends to be younger people. Given that this site is not for profit (no ads and I'm sure you'll do what you can to keep it that way), its a good match.

New folks to poultry and teens need a place to gain knowledge without having to learn the hard way. I know I would have loved a resource like this when I was a teen. I certainly benefitted from my connections with the elder poultry folks I knew.
Plus its great to find decent birds through other enthusiasts who may be local rather than shipping stuff in from a distance.

I also find that the folks who have certain hobbies are not good (or fast) at managing their websites.

Post by **Killerbunny** » Sun Feb 14, 2016 8:58 am

Great idea! What he BR said.

TomK · Post by **TomK** » Sun Feb 14, 2016 9:13 am

What they said... :running-chicken:

Post by **poultry_admin** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:08 pm

Thanks for participating in the poll everyone!
I think this result it pretty clear.
So I would like to ask everyone's help to identify clubs that we could contact.
I am looking for the following information:

web address/ facebook site
email address of a contact
street address for the meeting location/club house

I have been playing with the map a bit on the weekend and now have a way to show them there, too.

So as a first step, I would like to ask everyone who has information to forward it to me or post on the new category "Clubs".
I will collect the info, contact the contact person for the club, with an email "Hello we exist, and we would like to post your information to our members". With their approval, we can create an entry in the directory and map for the respective club. The next step in relationship building will then be driven by the responses we get.

Now, I have to say that I am concerned about the aspect of "politicking" or forcing own ideas onto other people. And I am soooooo glad that at the moment, our 300 members get along and there is none (or vvvvvvveeeerrrrrryyyyyy little of it) going on. I am sure you guys agree that we would like to keep it that way!
We admins will do our part in moderating (and administrating) so we can keep a positive atmosphere where all levels of bird enthusiasts are welcome. If you see anything going on you don't like, don't be afraid to use the little exclamation mark in the top right corner of the post.

: Exclamation Mark.GIF (13.36 KiB) Viewed 4090 times

It will prompt the moderation process. Moderators might agree with you, they might not, but at least you have another person looking in on the potential issue. It also helps with a speedy response from us as any admin/mod who is online can get to it. If you were to PM one of us, it has to wait until the one is online next. It also helps us keeping track of them and comparing them so we can start to "speak with one voice".
And lastly I would like to ask your help in keeping the tone friendly, open and inclusive. I think we have done a great job at it, let's keep it up!

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:28 pm

In some cases, where the club is more informal than formal, the club might be nothing more than a listing of contact people (i.e. oxford on Rideau bird club, no web or email that I know of, just a contact phone )

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 6:46 pm

I'd like to know what the cons could be, just to help avoid potential pitfalls or stepping on toes.

Post by **poultry_admin** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 7:13 pm

baronrenfrew wrote:QR_BBPOST In some cases, where the club is more informal than formal, the club might be nothing more than a listing of contact people (i.e. oxford on Rideau bird club, no web or email that I know of, just a contact phone )

Hmmmm..... I'm not sure we are geared to groups that much offline. This would be a huge step.... Although, it can be done.
I'm also not sure we have the resources/volunteers to call around. I know I don't have the time during normal working hours.
So I guess, if someone wants to volunteer to call, we can make the connection with the name and phone number.

I would strongly recommend AGAINST posting phone numbers on here though! Please PM one of the admins and we make the connection with the volunteer who calls.

Post by **poultry_admin** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 7:34 pm

windwalkingwolf wrote:QR_BBPOST I'd like to know what the cons could be, just to help avoid potential pitfalls or stepping on toes.

I'm not sure there are too many. I would phrase it as "free promotion for the clup/group to 300 plus poultry people". Maybe there are new members for them among us?

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Tue Feb 16, 2016 8:02 pm

I agree, just to know that they exist, and have an idea where to find them and what events they do (auction, show etc) is helpful. I suppose the feather fancier is the "old fashioned" way of doing things (and I'd like to support rather than compete with them), and general info that we have here brings more folks to the hobby which is good for everyone.

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