Thoughts on the Sunday Chat?

[Jason Edge]

Over the many weeks we have had the Sunday chat at 6pm Eastern / 3 pm Pacific it has been rare that we have had more than 3 or 4 members online and in recent weeks we have been lucky to have 2 or 3 or any at all.

I think the low participation is due in large part because it is still early in the day Sunday and many of us are still out doing what we do on weekends.

Personally, I  am thinking a 9pm Eastern / 6pm Pacific chat time might be better? That would eliminate the possibility from any in the UK of joining in since it would be 2am UK time, but we might be able to get more of us here in the US on the chat after we have settle in at home after our Sunday activities.  We could also consider an alternate time for a UK/European chat if there was enough interest.

The Message Board where we post a comment or question and someone else replies later as they have time (as we also do with personal email), is better suited for most of the Q&A posts here on the site, however, it doesn't give you the instant, informal interaction we have with the chat room. I remember some of the early chats with several members on hand it they can be quite fun and informative and a great way to get to know each other.

I do not want to beat a dead horse and if the chat room is not worth pursuing I don't mind turning it off but wanted to get other opinions regarding perhaps shifting the hours to a later time frame, or even perhaps a different day. Maybe a Sunday or even an mid week chat makes more sense.  In fact we could setup a 9pm EST/6pmPST Sunday and Wednesday chat and see if members gravitate to either day and drop the one (or both) that we don't have any participation. 

With that said, I'm all ears an do appreciate your honest opinion.

thanks, Jason.

 

[Jason Edge]

I will adjust the chat times tomorrow and believe I see a consensus for a later chat time.  It looks like we should give Wednesday night a try also.  To make it more available to all time zones in US and Canada, I believe the 9-10pm EST / 6-7pm PST time slot is the way to go.  If you feel another time, perhaps an hour earlier, is better please feel free to chime in. Thanks for all the input on short notice.

[Robert Davis dye]

I am very busy on weekends so 9 pm will work better for me than the earlier time although my participation will still be sporadic due to other obligations.

[Dwight Hargrove]

I'm not a big fan of chat rooms but I would be more inclined to participate if it were on a weekday evening, say about 7:00pm

[Jason Edge]

Tony, The chat is already open all the time. Anyone can pop down into the Main Room at bottom of screen and can post right now or anytime. The scheduled chat is just that...a scheduled time to get together and chat.  In fact its never been turned off since way back when I first turned that option on.  

I am also not sure if more than two days a night for a "scheduled chat" is a good idea as we may spread the ranks too thin.  What we could do is maybe have an informal chat every evening say 9-10EST / 6-7PST. If we went with that approach I definitely wouldn't be creating an Event on our Events page or sending out reminders every day as that would get overwhelming on my part and you guys probably would not want an Event reminder every day.

 

[Jason Edge]

Also. If we run with a Wednesday and Sunday chat, members will be more likely to at least have one opportunity to join in on a chat. I'm sure there may be some that cannot make either.

Others that have not posted please feel free to let us know what you think. I only posted this a few hours ago so plenty of time to get more insight from everyone.

[Jason Edge]

Option 3 would be a time frame for people to pop in and out. Originally, the Sunday chat was listed as 6pm to 7pm EST but saw people popping in at 6:30, 6:45 etc and some chatted beyond the hr early on so I have been listing it as 6pm to 8pm EST.  I'm good for an hr chat myself ...beyond that I'm ready to go do something....go eat, go to bed, go drive the Cadillac! LOL. With all that said maybe we need to stick to Option 1 or Option 2:

Option 1: 9-10pm EST / 6-7pm PST
Option 2: 8-9pm EST / 5-6pm PST 

 

[Mark Nichols]

OK, I probably would pick option 1 first, but option 2 works for me.  As for sitting OnLine for two hours with no one on the chat, I can not see that happening, so I vote no on option 3.  Wait, can I go for what is behind the curtain?  If it is a 1971 Cadillac Coupe deVille, then Lets Make A Deal!!!

 

[Mark Nichols]

I can make the 6PM chat easier in the Winter, but as was said, during the summer my day is still going at 6PM and it is hard to stop to get on the computer.  By 9PM I am home and getting ready for the work week, so that would do better for me.  I like the weekday chat idea, but Wednesday at 9PM conflicts with Modern Family, which is about the only TV show I watch.  I know it is trivial, but I probably will not be on the chat if it is on Wednesday.

[Jason Edge]

More great feedback. Just to add I'm up at 4:45am most days...so after 10pm Sunday through Thursday is pushing it for me. 

So far I think we are leaning toward trying a Wednesday and Sunday chat  from 9-10pm EST / 6-7pm PST, and seeing how it falls out. 

How does 8-9pm EST / 5-6pm PST sound?  This is probably better for those of us on the East Coast but backing up into "play time" for those on the West Coast.

Maybe we should take a vote between the two options:

Option 1: 9-10pm EST / 6-7pm PST
Option 2: 8-9pm EST / 5-6pm PST 

Another option would be to just have a 2 hr chat window as follows:

Option 3: 8-10pm EST / 5-7pm PST 

I'm neutral as either time works for me.

 

[David Thomas]

I'm not a text or chat room person, but may participate sometime if time allows. For me, Sunday evening is a before go to work night. I get up before the chickens and usually hit the hay around 8 30 or 9, especially when I go to work the next day, so I doubt I'll ever be able to participate. But, I do enjoy following members projects, sharing knowledge and learning on this message board.

 

Something you may consider doing, having winter and summer chat times. Summer the sun does not set until 8 30 or later and most folks, I would assume ( me included), would be out enjoying the day activities until a later hour, where as winter it's dark at 5. Anyway, I think a chat room is viable and a good thing, and hope ours continues so someday I may have the chance to participate.