From Ken Gibbs
The organisation of the Zoom call was excellent, unlike many of the 'events' I was obliged to attend during my UNICEF career. You indicated that sub-titles could be switched on and they worked very well which was just as well because the pictures were too small for me to be able to lip-read. I followed virtually everything. I'm still considering the various suggestions.
Restating the problem(s):
A) The Editorial Team cannot sustain the level of work that their job requires; and
B) We need, somehow, to trigger a response from our membership to engage rather more than hitherto.
These two 'problems' may conflict, one with the other. If we can encourage the membership to participate more actively, that would imply increasing the workload of the Editorial Board unless profound changes can be made in what is required of them. Ergo - we may need to develop an innovative approach where those who would be willing to submit material will have to provide it in a form which is easy for the editors to handle, further implying that the present model/platform is not suitable. Sorry. Gobbledygook, but I think you will see that to get the bits necessary to fit nicely together, the software might need to be changed.
There were frequent references made to the advantages of FaceBook which some of the group do not like or use. I regret that I simply will not use FaceBook because of the ethics of that platform's management. In my case, if I am forced to have to use FaceBook to make my product fit with the XUNICEF Blogosphere, then I would regretfully have to cease contributing. Simple as that. Remember that the Blog operated fine before I started contributing, so would probably operate just as well after I leave, and it may relieve certain editors of worrying what Ken is going to produce next. . .
The organisation of the Zoom call was excellent, unlike many of the 'events' I was obliged to attend during my UNICEF career. You indicated that sub-titles could be switched on and they worked very well which was just as well because the pictures were too small for me to be able to lip-read. I followed virtually everything. I'm still considering the various suggestions.
Restating the problem(s):
A) The Editorial Team cannot sustain the level of work that their job requires; and
B) We need, somehow, to trigger a response from our membership to engage rather more than hitherto.
These two 'problems' may conflict, one with the other. If we can encourage the membership to participate more actively, that would imply increasing the workload of the Editorial Board unless profound changes can be made in what is required of them. Ergo - we may need to develop an innovative approach where those who would be willing to submit material will have to provide it in a form which is easy for the editors to handle, further implying that the present model/platform is not suitable. Sorry. Gobbledygook, but I think you will see that to get the bits necessary to fit nicely together, the software might need to be changed.
There were frequent references made to the advantages of FaceBook which some of the group do not like or use. I regret that I simply will not use FaceBook because of the ethics of that platform's management. In my case, if I am forced to have to use FaceBook to make my product fit with the XUNICEF Blogosphere, then I would regretfully have to cease contributing. Simple as that. Remember that the Blog operated fine before I started contributing, so would probably operate just as well after I leave, and it may relieve certain editors of worrying what Ken is going to produce next. . .
Anyone who knows me, knows that I bang on and on about languages. It would be interesting if people would feel comfortable commenting or writing in their home language (preferably one of the 6 official languages !). However, I am pretty certain that this will have only a marginal effect on Blog attraction. Personally, I would be happy for commentators to leave comments to my articles in French, Portuguese, Spanish or, at a push, German as I have been teaching myself how to operate Google translate. . . .
Ken
From Niloufar Pourzand
Hi,thanks again to our great Editorial team and Tom, and for the meeting today, like Myra’s good suggestion re having a country or Paula’s regional focus - perhaps also the editors can proactively send emails to XUNICEFers with suggested themes/invitation for them to contribute? Also when you had themes - like when the CRC was ratified etc. - and then asked some of us to contribute - it was good.
From Niloufar Pourzand
Hi,thanks again to our great Editorial team and Tom, and for the meeting today, like Myra’s good suggestion re having a country or Paula’s regional focus - perhaps also the editors can proactively send emails to XUNICEFers with suggested themes/invitation for them to contribute? Also when you had themes - like when the CRC was ratified etc. - and then asked some of us to contribute - it was good.
Perhaps themes on overall wellbeing might be welcome too. I also agree with the point that the FB page situation should be clarified. Today I spoke with someone who might want to become XUNICEF and thought the FB page was our main forum. I explained to him.
It might also be good to interview current UNICEF staff in view of all the changes/updates. And that way current staff will also know about the group - for their own XUNICEF days. Maybe offering some Zoom sessions by XUNICEFers on themes of common interest might generate further interest. How about adding podcasts? How about Monthly or Quarterly “Chat Sessions” to welcome new members or for anyone who wants to join? Also you might want to welcome one article in other languages perhaps?
Thanks again so much. This platform/group/Newsletter means a lot to many of us.
Niloufar
From Myra Rudin
Just a mention to say thanks to YOU for arranging the meet and especially for working with my photos, and revising, editing, etc on all my features. It's appreciated –
Hope my comments earlier were of some value to the Blog... and acknowledge the others' good suggestions as well.
Happy 4th of July (it may be our last celebration)....
Myra
Best,
myra
Thanks again so much. This platform/group/Newsletter means a lot to many of us.
Niloufar
From Myra Rudin
Just a mention to say thanks to YOU for arranging the meet and especially for working with my photos, and revising, editing, etc on all my features. It's appreciated –
Hope my comments earlier were of some value to the Blog... and acknowledge the others' good suggestions as well.
Happy 4th of July (it may be our last celebration)....
Myra
Best,
myra
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