Hi,
When I posed my original question about recent forum activity I made this more as a child like flyaway remark but I have since thought better of my question and now see that some investigation into the metrics that lie behind this question are required in order to take stock about the future direction that this forum and other forms of virtual communication might take.
For example, Guild membership numbers have now fallen considerably from their lofty peak of 2000+ and I confess to being one of those who got to a point where I choose not to renew my membership. The reasons for this decline need to be known and understood if the fortunes of the Guild and its long term survival are to be assured. I conveyed my concerns and suggestions to the executive and I am pleased to report that they listened, heard and acted upon what I had to say.
The average age of members is, I would now guess, considerably older than when the Guild was founded back in the mid eighties and some of the founders must now be at or past retirement age (65?). Richard Casselmaine is a prime example of someone who has spent a lifetime amassing knowledge and has recently used this forum to good effect in sharing this with budding timber framers.
We have in the past 5 years seen the rise of Twitter, Facebook, the blogosphere and the move away from the desk based pc to the hand held phone / Ipod / Blackberry type devices.
Many of the early Guild members (including me) have studiously researched, analysed and sythethised the craft of timber framed building and possibly are approaching saturation point but still hanker after that next hard to come by fix.
There has been a resurgence of interest in formal apprenticeship based learning rather than the previous approach of self discovery which was undoubtedly the very driver needed to promote the close cooperation and sharing required to rediscover and revive this "forgotten craft".
D L Bahler has recently drawn our attention to the almost total absence of individuals from countries other than England, Canada and the USA. I now find myself communicating directly with colleagues in Australia and Europe who are only now beginning to use an email based approach to undertaking wider building technology research and appear to be unaware of the Guild. What about the rest of the world - don't they exist ? - have they nothing to offer ?
We have seen the recent move by the Guild away from the exclusive use of a paper based approach to formal communications now embracing and adoptng a digital based approach to generating income by recognising customer based market segmentation and discrimination now resulting in different types of membership categories which hopefully might in the short term afford economies (postage, printing, paper stuffers, etc.) and in the longer term generate opportunities for the growth of membership (publication subscriptions, etc.).
One thing is for sure - it will never again be like it was before.
Regards
Ken Hume
Last edited by Ken Hume; 01/03/11 10:41 AM.
