Furry Writers' Guild Forum

Coffeehouse Chat future

FWG Ideas and Feedback
#1

While the Tuesday chats that happen in the Slack group seem to be well-attended, there’s been a steady decline in attendance in the Shoutbox chat on Thursdays (and the Shoutbox in general, although that may be a different topic).

So…

If we drop down to having just one Coffeehouse chat, what would be a good day and time?

I’m not making this a poll yet, because I’d like to get some more informal feedback. Leaving it at Tuesdays, 9 AM Pacific/12 noon Eastern, is of course an option, but I know that may not be optimal for everyone (for instance, if you’re at work during those hours and can’t open a Slack channel).

And, yes, “keep two chats” is also an option. But:

[ul][]We’re just not seeing much use in the Shoutbox. I know some people can’t or won’t move to Slack, but at this point those people seem to be in a very distinct minority (and they also don’t seem to be regular Coffeehouse attendees).
[]The original notion of multiple chats was to cater to people who could only attend one or the other. In practice, even when both chats were active there was a lot of overlap between attendees.
[*]It’s getting tough to keep coming up with topics for the Thursday chat. The open format of the Tuesday chat seems to work surprisingly well, with people always welcome to bring up topics if they have them.[/ul]

Last but not least: right now I’m the host of the Tuesday Slack chat, but that may not be something I’ll be able to continue, so I would very much like to get a “second” in place who can host it when I’m not available. Hosting duties mostly just involve announcing the chat’s start and asking people to go over last week’s progress, and a few minutes before the end of the hour, asking people what they plan to commit for next week. Depending on what happens with my schedule, I may end up needing a new “lead” host and will drop back to second myself, or even will need both a new lead and second. (We haven’t had official seconds before, but I think it would be an excellent idea.)

#2

A part of me does have the feeling that some of the reason for the decline in the Thursday Chats has indeed been the impending death of the shoutbox. The Tuesday chats were never as busy in the shoutbox as they are on the Slack chat now (except for near the beginning, maybe) so it might be worthwhile to keep the Thursday one and simply move it to the Slack chat, with the same format the the Tuesday one has now (no real topic).

There’s always bound to be someone in the chat that knows the format well enough to be able to faux-run the chat if there’s no one available. Between all the former hosts, we’ve missed our fair share of chats on accident, and they seemed to run themselves just fine.

#3

If the Thursday or Tuesday chat moved one hour in either direction, it would make either of them easier to attend for me. Sadly this is just a timezone issue, though I do know personally I’ve just kind of stopped doing the old Shoutbox as popping in and trying to scroll back on what’s going on is not easy.

#4

I acknowledge that I’ve never been a strong attendee and probably never will be, so my opinion should rightfully carry a low weight. But I don’t do social media of any kind-- never saw the attraction. If something’s held on Slack, I won’t ever be there.

#5

Ditto for Thursday; for me it would either be the end of the working day or just after I get home. For Tuesdays, if it could be an hour earlier I might manage to stay up for it!

Personally I like the shoutbox, as it’s easier for me to hop on at work. A more general plus side is that people who only come to the forum for the coffeehouse chat may take the opportunity to catch up on the forums.

#6

Since I work M-F, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings would work best for me.

#7

Just had an idea, it doesn’t add much to the shout box, but has anyone thought about doing a Google Hangout/ Skype meeting? I sometimes find the chats hard to follow since it can be hard to put your two cents without it being pushed up with everyone else trying to get a word in. There have been times I couldn’t say anything cause of what was happening in the chat. Plus it could open it up to talk about certain stories over general topics of writing. Even easier to share with people who want to read them. How does that sound?

#8

I’m a huge fan of google hangouts, but I do think there’s a limit to how many people can be on. I think it’s ten, but don’t quote me.
Would be fun to do, however, just not sure there’d be room for all.