Hi....
I received a message from one of our newer members asking why I didn't use a blog for our program. He pointed out some of the advantages and informed me that he was about to enter graduate school to start a masters program in instructional technology. His stated interest was that of application of technology to facilitate learning.
Frankly, I think he had some great ideas .... but they exceeded my computer skills. (That may be hard for someone who grew up with computers to fathom.)
He also questioned the greeting at the start of each of our messages.
Without producing all of the messages between us, I thought it might be a good idea for you to see my last answer.
Gordy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think we understand one another.
First: I am 78 years of age and not a techno as far as the internet is concerned.... So let's chalk up some of my answer to ignorance on my part ! I have no idea why the term "blog" turned off so many of our Group (????????). In my business life, I never touched a computer and barely knew where to "plug it in"...... Simply hired people to do that. My kids thrust me into the world of computers reluctantly when I was 70.
Second: For years I've spent several hours a day carefully filtering and editing the incoming messages which then went out to the Group.... I do that with a eye toward clarity and teaching above all else. I strive to prevent the dissemination of misinformation that I've witnessed. I have spent my own money on my MailList Controller from Arclab and expect nothing in return except the pride I take in being as effective a teacher as I can be coupled with the many things I have learned from our members . (It's axiomatic that we LEARN AS WE TEACH !!!!)
Having spent almost all my life fly fishing and fly casting since the 1930's, and having fly fished in various corners of the World I figured I might have some information of value to offer.
Third: While I'm not averse to change, I'm at the point of reining in the number of hours spent on a computer in favor of more hours out on the water fishing and traveling to more wonderful fishing venues now that I've retired as a surgeon.
Many have asked me how long I plan to host this Group. Frankly, I don't know. In keeping with the dictum, "ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END", This will too. Hopefully someone will take over in some form be it blog or otherwise when that happens. Who knows, perhaps it might even be you !
I get asked repeatedly if I'm going to write a book. The answer is no.... This despite the fact that while refusing any credit for doing so, I've helped many of our current authors with their fly casting and fishing texts and am in the process of doing exactly that now. I don't want the acknowledgement or any profit if any is to be had.... Just the satisfaction of having helped.
Last: The way I set it up almost 8 years ago, the greeting has been just a bit personalized with each person receiving a message with his/her name followed by " & Group". I can see how that could be misinterpreted. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to do it, so I'll experiment with a change and try it for a while as a more simple greeting and see if there are any comments.
This was the reason for the test message, yesterday.
I do appreciate your thoughts !
Best,
Gordy