Members Ideas & Suggestions

[The Team]

 Members chance to participate.

 

Help us, to help you the Membership, to improve the site.

This is your chance and opportunity to tell us your ideas to improve the site experience for all.

We're looking for NEW ideas that you think may improve the forums.

 

What new ideas do you want to see in the forums ?

What suggestions or new ideas do you have to improve the forum's ?

 

Please be sensible with your answers ?

The thread will be monitored by The Team.

Regards

The Team

[Paul Needham]

I albeit regrettably think advertising should be considered to make the forum free to all as I do not think paying £10 will work as clearly there appears a lot of resistance so if less are on here and then less posts and then more costs etc in a vicious circle , 

PS if you don't agree I wont be going on a strop, chucking Edward out of the cot etc, I realise advice and suggestions don't have to be taken

[Eddie Kelly]

10 hours ago, Paul Needham said:

I albeit regrettably think advertising should be considered to make the forum free to all as I do not think paying £10 will work as clearly there appears a lot of resistance so if less are on here and then less posts and then more costs etc in a vicious circle , 

PS if you don't agree I wont be going on a strop, chucking Edward out of the cot etc, I realise advice and suggestions don't have to be taken

Why do want to 'chuck' me about? You know I'm an old man!

 

[Peter van der Knaap]

The coming events part of this site. If one f.e. wants to see what fairs are running on the 15th. july, there are two places to look at. One the week ending and another the "fixed dates" fairs. That's a little bit strange. A couple of sites in Europe have the possibility of putting in a date and get a list of all registered fairs which take place on that date. And if one than adds postal codes or even if possible GPS information, it will get a lot easier to us fans to get there.

[Simon Deery]

A point which has popped into my head today is the sites mission statement that was implmented some time ago. Does this still exist? It was along the lines of "To promote the industry and foster good relations between enthusiasts and showmen". Is it a good time to revisit this and add in anything to set out a clear direction that we wish to take the forum going forwards? 

When I read a comment on one thread about getting the forum back to its heyday this was something I feel is a great ambition and I believe can be done. I feel the site just needs a clear strategy going forward on how we retain the great pool of members already here and indeed attract newcomers including the next generation of enthusiasts. 

As I have mentioned previously not all of us are into Facebook and I believe this site has a lot to offer which is unique. It would be great to get the traffic of contributors back to where it once was including of course those in the fairground business. Whilst people may wish to use Facebook we need to ensure that they don't put all their eggs in one basket.

[Gary Witcomb]

11 hours ago, Peter van der Knaap said:

The coming events part of this site. If one f.e. wants to see what fairs are running on the 15th. july, there are two places to look at. One the week ending and another the "fixed dates" fairs. That's a little bit strange. A couple of sites in Europe have the possibility of putting in a date and get a list of all registered fairs which take place on that date. And if one than adds postal codes or even if possible GPS information, it will get a lot easier to us fans to get there.

 

You are a new members so you don't know the history to our coming events Listings, so i give you a potted history , we once had a second to none coming events Section maintained by our very own Mike Willis, he did it for many years and did an excellent job, spending many hours compiling the information with dates, location, Postcodes the lot, and was fully searchable but its not an easy task, members with a good knowledge of the UK Fairground Industry  know things change very quickly here,  dates / location / last minute postponements / even Cancellations etc, take place, so any list of coming events cant be 100 % accurate and some of our membership were very Critical if it was wrong, no one ever said its was fantastic they just moaned when it was not right and over the year of this thankless task its toll and Mike Stood Down, I then took over for 2 further years and let me tell you and any other members that its a mammoth task to collate all the information from so many sources, After 2 years of thankless work i also stepped down, we then decided that the membership would add to the list and make it a membership lead, this did not work as our membership just did not support it, then Bill Edwards took over for a period but its a mammoth task and its bigger than one person job, so we went for what we have know which is /was our last ditch go at having a coming event list, its is totally 100% done by the Membership  they input any event they are aware of but this has failed, as its not supported by the membership, sorry for this being long winded but i thought you needed to know the back ground to this Topic

 

Since the New Team have taken over we have spoke about this, as we know just how important it is to our Members and appreciate that the dates and location of fairs is a major part of any enthusiasts hobby  so rest assured we will be looking to improve the current situation as quickly as we can 

[The Team]

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions, we are monitoring them and discussing them, so please keep them coming in.

 

@Simon Deery  The Mission statement should show at the bottom of each forum Index page

Edited May 7, 2018 by The Team

[John Medway]

If I'm right, Years ago atfotf used to sell polo shirts and caps with there logo on. Maybe you could do this again and spread to a wider range. Mugs, badges, windscreen stickers . Just a thought.

[Peter van der Knaap]

19 hours ago, Gary Witcomb said:

 

You are a new members so you don't know the history to our coming events Listings, so i give you a potted history , we once had a second to none coming events Section maintained by our very own Mike Willis, he did it for many years and did an excellent job, spending many hours compiling the information with dates, location, Postcodes the lot, and was fully searchable but its not an easy task, members with a good knowledge of the UK Fairground Industry  know things change very quickly here,  dates / location / last minute postponements / even Cancellations etc, take place, so any list of coming events cant be 100 % accurate and some of our membership were very Critical if it was wrong, no one ever said its was fantastic they just moaned when it was not right and over the year of this thankless task its toll and Mike Stood Down, I then took over for 2 further years and let me tell you and any other members that its a mammoth task to collate all the information from so many sources, After 2 years of thankless work i also stepped down, we then decided that the membership would add to the list and make it a membership lead, this did not work as our membership just did not support it, then Bill Edwards took over for a period but its a mammoth task and its bigger than one person job, so we went for what we have know which is /was our last ditch go at having a coming event list, its is totally 100% done by the Membership  they input any event they are aware of but this has failed, as its not supported by the membership, sorry for this being long winded but i thought you needed to know the back ground to this Topic

 

Since the New Team have taken over we have spoke about this, as we know just how important it is to our Members and appreciate that the dates and location of fairs is a major part of any enthusiasts hobby  so rest assured we will be looking to improve the current situation as quickly as we can 

 

I know that it's a whole lot of work, since I tend to gather all Noord-Holland funfairs for the Themepark.nl organizer. That's about 100 and that's with fixed dates. I also know that in the UK, fixed dates aren't as usual as they are here on the continent.

And take your time. Don't rush things. It's usually better to think things over than to do something and than later say: "no, that wasn't a very good decision at all"...

[Bill Edwards]

1 hour ago, John Medway said:

If I'm right, Years ago atfotf used to sell polo shirts and caps with there logo on. Maybe you could do this again and spread to a wider range. Mugs, badges, windscreen stickers . Just a thought.

 

You are right. The difficulty we had was that buying small amounts made the merchandise expensive and there simply wasn't the capital available to buy in bulk. It's a great thought and if there was sufficient interest and if someone could assist with a supplier, we could possibly convince the team?

[Mike Willis]

1 hour ago, Peter van der Knaap said:

 

I know that it's a whole lot of work, since I tend to gather all Noord-Holland funfairs for the Themepark.nl organizer. That's about 100 and that's with fixed dates. I also know that in the UK, fixed dates aren't as usual as they are here on the continent.

And take your time. Don't rush things. It's usually better to think things over than to do something and than later say: "no, that wasn't a very good decision at all"...

 

Last year I logged 2676 UK fairs.  So far this year I'm aware of 1244.  These were found using fixed dates, adverts and reports in 'World's Fair' newspaper and posters found on the internet.  If I can find them then anyone else can except most can't be bothered and expect somebody else to do the work for them

[Simon Deery]

7 minutes ago, Mike Willis said:

 

Last year I logged 2676 UK fairs.  So far this year I'm aware of 1244.  These were found using fixed dates, adverts and reports in 'World's Fair' newspaper and posters found on the internet.  If I can find them then anyone else can except most can't be bothered and expect somebody else to do the work for them

It is very disappointing when those such as yourself have put in the many hours of work to produce what was a fantastic resource of coming events. Please rest assured Mike that we weren't all ungrateful and for me over the last few years your list got me to broaden my horizen with the hobby and have some fantastic times away seeing other fairs.

I must agree that yes, if you can find the events then surely any of us can but it always for me comes back to the time to sit down and do some research. 

I for one though would like to put forward a thank you for the priceless information you have previously provided.

[Paul Needham]

that we try adverts as a way of keeping the forum free ,as I do not believe numbers of members will go anywhere but down if we charge for use of the site, £5 for rides list excepted, posts are down already down the years, I feel to charge for what most people see as free ( surfing net, isp fee excepted) 

[Martin]

I would like to add to Paul's comments about advertising. When I first was a member of the forum, Bill had the sponsorship of the Manning family for the forum. He had a banner on the welcoming page standing proud. Would there any amusement business operators on the forum with deep pockets who are willing to contribute and sponsor the forum to subsidise some of the expenditure in return of an advert?

[The Team]

Proof that we DO listen to you, Hope you Enjoy the read

 

[The Team]

We still want to hear your ideas and suggestions on how we can improve the site for you.

 

We're getting close to finalising things, but it's not too late for you to participate.

[Trojanhorse11]

On the main page, I have always felt like the Current Fair Reports should be underneath Coming Events. This is because the two are closely linked: One tells you what fairs will be coming soon, the other tells you what fairs are actually on now.

 

I'm going to sound really lazy now, but I always feel as though I have to scroll too far down the page to get to Current Fair Reports 

 

Edited May 26, 2018 by Trojanhorse11

[Simon Deery]

In the fairground modelling forum there is a rides list where members can list their models much like the real rides list. The list only covers certain ride types, would it be possible to have all machine types included the same as the real rides list? Hopefully this will encourage more of the modellers amongst us to list the rides they have.

Thanks

[harry m]

If any modeller would like to tell us what type of machine they want adding to that list, I'm sure we could oblige. It would seem unnecessary listing every type of ride when its unlikely they will all get used though.

[Simon Deery]

Thanks Harry. That's a fair comment I never thought of it like that, would be easier to add them as the rides as needed.

[harry m]

@Simon Deery  ☺️

 

 

[Graham Vaughan]

On ‎07‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 18:45, Bill Edwards said:

 

You are right. The difficulty we had was that buying small amounts made the merchandise expensive and there simply wasn't the capital available to buy in bulk. It's a great thought and if there was sufficient interest and if someone could assist with a supplier, we could possibly convince the team?

What about a computer designed ATFOTF logo of the type which could be bought and ironed onto members own polo shirts.

[Adam Bradford]

Ok. This one may be a stupid idea but how about a list of rides with their corresponding max permitted weight/chest sizes?   It may be useful for the bigger riders, allowing them to avoid the Walk of Shame. 🙂

 

As a 19 stone lad, I recently couldnt get on to Jamie Clarks freak out 🤣🤣.  But on a plus,. It has prompted me to join a local lose weight group.    🤣🤣

 

[Wood1]

How about a section  dedicated to non guild Showmen ,where ever you go except for Carters  their is very little mention of Non guild operators, they occasionally get a mention  but few and far between. Some like  Bonds I believe who operate a Victorian style fair around surrey area  almost never get a mention or Stanley Freeman ,both operate some great looking transport as well .

Just a idea ,and I wont copy write it either ! Some sad people out their .

[Gary Witcomb]

48 minutes ago, Wood1 said:

How about a section  dedicated to non guild Showmen ,where ever you go except for Carters  their is very little mention of Non guild operators, they occasionally get a mention  but few and far between. Some like  Bonds I believe who operate a Victorian style fair around surrey area  almost never get a mention or Stanley Freeman ,both operate some great looking transport as well .

Just a idea ,and I wont copy write it either ! Some sad people out their .

 

i don't believe having a separate section would help, the problem is that we don't get to here were Non Guild members operate, if we did more people would visit those fairs and we would see more on the Forum