[pianotech] [OT] Stuff Which Should Really Be on PTG-L

[Jim Moy]

On Sat, Jul 2, 2011 at 3:01 PM, Ron Nossaman <rnossaman at cox.net> wrote:
> What does Member Max have to do with the pianotech list?

Nothing at all, as I understand it. They are community software,
bolted onto Member Max. Were we desirous of community software, then
they would be a natural choice being the only vendor that integrates
with the membership database, contained in Member Max. This is the
connection that makes it convenient for you to perform membership
functions like signing up for a convention and paying your dues, and
community functions like posting to a discussion and emailing your
chapter members.


> If so, how. If not, why is it always thrown up between the question and
> a possible answer ... So what's the connection. How does the pianotech
> forum require Member Max?

I think they are always connected at the hip, because the same
computer that ran the administrative functions which are now a part of
the Member Max, also ran the email list function. And it was the same
volunteers who heroically ran both systems for so long. So it's
natural that when discussion of trading in that computer came up, a
replacement that did both things was required.

The interesting disconnect I see is in the lack of articulation of
what a online community is. It's not a bunch of employees you can
tell, "here's the new system." Were there a particular desire for the
pianotech or caut communities to live on a forum, then it would have
moved already since that exists on PianoWorld, is free to use, and
plenty of PTG members are already participating members there.
Similarly, if there were a desire to live in a collaborative,
hyperlinked, and otherwise gated community as my.ptg.org attempts,
then they would have moved already to Facebook or LinkedIn or some
other excellently implemented online community. But neither happened,
because the original "home" was pianotech at ptg.org (likewise,
caut at ptg.org). The ability to interact via the simplicity of email is
what brings these communities together. It is a delusion to think the
same community will form on my.ptg.org. Of course, a different
community will form. And some will talk to the old community members
but there will be strained relations. And some won't care. But what
existed will be lost, because it is so easy now to disband and
reconvene elsewhere, as is currently being proven at
pianotech at googlegroups.com which costs nothing, can be administered by
non-technical personnel, and appears to be a functional superset, that
is, not different in any meaningful way from the old mailing list in
operation, but having additional capabilities. Seeing that this is so
easy, I imagine that pianotech/caut will continue to exist, perhaps in
weakened form, just at a different address. Whether it continues to be
obliged to the PTG is the matter at hand.

My overall impression is that one side feels they've done so much to
bring such a bright, shiny future to the group that they can't
understand that the other side feels it is simply a forced relocation
plan, and they like their neighborhood just fine the way it is.

Jim