Member Communication

[smexie]

Things I have used to promote communication between members include: Secret Santa's/Easter Bunnies/Birthday Fairies, Quizzes, Group Diary, Member Postboxes.

Member Postboxes.
Basically, each member that wants one starts a thread up in the designated area titled '[Member name]'s Postbox' and members can give each other gifts-avvies/banners/stories etc as lil' 'parcels'.

Quizzes.
Members seem to enjoy quizzes, as it helps everyone get to know each other, and they are fn to fill out.

Secret Santa's/Easter Bunnies/Birthday Fairies
Each member is randomly paired up with some one and has to give a gift to them (be it avvies/banners/stories/blinkies etc) on xmas/bdays etc. Promotes friendliness.

[Fredtart]

Those ideas are really cool... can I use them? ^-^

Contests are a good way to promote fun communication, and if you have a general board and set up a bunch of threads, I think that helps. Also, I actually think Cboxes are good. It brings everyone to a casual level, it's especially good for RP boards, and it makes the staff equal to members, though not completely.

[Gamoc]

I have found newsletters as a great way of communication. It lets you members know what updates are being made to the site and what to expect. I use both PM and Mass email for it, just for those who don't get on as much. I am going to be having one every month. In this news letter, we plan to go to members(one for each news letter) and interview them. It is also good to let your members insert their own articles, opinions about the board or things that they think would be good.

Another is to just PM your members for no reason, it helps them get to know you on your forum and to want to come back. I have had many members who like me because of that.

I would also suggest a hidden board for members of a high post rank to post in. Whether you give them a member group and hide a category for them, it encourages members to want to post more to get to that board(whatever it may be about)

Those are a couple of ideas that I suggest using, and Freddy May, these ideas are not copyrighted, so you are free to use them.

[lelandhoney]

how can i find a broad of my own lelandhoney

[Bret]

i send out masses once a month cause every month i usally a=have a major update but every week i have somthing small

[~»tobi«~]

We do mass emails a few times a year . We do a newsletter with upcoming improvements and site changes . I think if we do them too often our members regard them as spam . This way when they get one they know it contains pertinent information to their forum

[Gamoc]

tobi said:

We do mass emails a few times a year . We do a newsletter with upcoming improvements and site changes . I think if we do them too often our members regard them as spam . This way when they get one they know it contains pertinent information to their forum

Well, it sort of depends. Some places, like ProVision, tend to send mass emails all of the time and it works out okay for them because they have a lot of things to tell members about. It is good to do mass email with big things because it keeps members informed with what is happening, and encourages them to come a take a look and talk about stuff. I am not suggesting using mass email to just say hi, but only for the important things, like, what you said, site upgrades, extreme contests, and all that stuff.

[Loucifer]

I've used the 'mass PM' feature a couple of times, but I don't think I'll use it again - I'd rather just use an announcement!

In order to reach all of my members I often send out a 'newsletter'. I do this on a monthly basis or when something important (such as a competition) is happening on the forum.

Because I also run a webzine, the newsletter that I send out is a text version of the HTML one that I send to the members of my mailing list. Again, this happens about once a month (although - I have been known to be a bit slack!).

Recently, I have started to welcome new members with a PM. Since the forum began (around 4 months ago), the staff and I have always made a point of replying all Introduction posts. I think it's just polite to do so.

I've recently added a cbox (which is 'members only' to avoid unwanted spam). I've never been to keen on the idea, but quite a few of the members requested it and they seem to be enjoying using it

[Former Member]

I mass e-mail and PM when something important happens, but there is only so much posting staff members can do before members should reply to posts on the board in my opinion.

As for messengers, and talking to members via them - Bad experiences which is the reason I don't have a tagboard. I've left a polite message on a post saying 'You've broken this rule etc' and then they let rip at you (on messenger), saying its a stupid rule. Funnily enough, no one ever tells me its a stupid rule until they've broken it. Same for suggestions or complaints, when there is a link on the main table of where to send them and its mentioned a lot if the site news, when its posted.

I was a member of the board way before I became admin, and there was no rules so I knew what things were like without them and I'm learning the ropes - People say they want rules, and then they don't. Its all about compromise, but the abuse is annoying.

Maybe I'm just attracting the wrong members?

[arsenal1993]

I mass email to get to the un-active members, that encourages them to come back to the forum.
I Pm all announcing things like maintenence mode/new staff.
I talk to a few members on msn.

[Matt [Malfoy250]]

I send PM's to all my new member,s greeting them and letting them know that if they have any questions they can feel free to contact me.

We also have an Out of Character board so members and staff can communicate with each other about all types of topics.

Usually, I don't mass pm or mass email my members if I have to, I mean, they might find it annoying, and that's the last thing that you want.

[HoudiniDerek]

It is rare I do anything. I find emails to be somewhat abrupt at times or they tend to be too many at a time...the same with mass PMs. I got three in one day once and looked to see if I could opt out of those. I think that is why some members always opt-out...they have had bad experiences before.

I try to send one out a year IF necessary. Otherwise, I post Announcement threads and hope that they are active enough to see them.

[zhongliu]

LINK REMOVED

[Zath]

I sent out my first mass email today on one of my boards. It has 260+ members and many view but don't post. Part of the board lends itself for viewing and maybe member to member pms rather than outward open discussion.
The mass email I sent was asking a question about the latest addition to a game we play and their thoughts on the change. I also added a seasonal comment
So far I've already had 10 members come back and several have posted.
Even though the mass email is basic and almost uninspiring, it worked.
I will be doing the same atleast once a month to encourage further activity. I just wish the email facility allowed more creative and decorative mails.
It would be nice too if the Users Online Today worked better and showed all who had been on rather than just the ones it manages to catch.

[HoudiniDerek]

I have to agree that the Email all function can work effectively. I did that and several have returned...although for how long, I cannot say. I have used it once and I will probably only use it once a year or so to remind people that they need to be active or deleted. I think a year is plenty of time to be active on your own in an RP forum...unless they have made arrangements with me prior.

I guess I will have to see how well it works. Otherwise, I just use the News Fader or Announcement idea because most of the information only affects ACTIVE users anyhow.