I have been offered the opportunity to add a new feature to the website, and would like your feedback. I am considering it because I will not have to be involved in any of the technical matters, which are way beyond my expertise. Every so often, when there is a special event to discuss, such as the Caregiver Cruise, an important article, a drug trial, a news event, or just because you may think it would be fun to connect with other members, I am now able to set up a conference call at a specific time and day for anyone who wishes to participate. I will also send out e-mails of inquiry. If no one is interested, I will not pursue it. You can post comments here, as well as e-mail me.
Joan-I don't have long line service and only limited cell phone time so it wouldn't work for me. If it is a call coming in on my home phone it would work. With folks living in so many time zones setting a time would be tricky.
I don't think I'm interested. It's just too difficult for me to know ahead of time when I'm available. And talking on the phone is not high on my priority list.
Most of the spouses here are retired or have had to quit their jobs to take care of their spouses. There are a few of us who do work, and I couldn't participate from 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. and once I get home from work, I really don't have time. I can get on here and read and respond during breaks at work for a few minutes at a time, and late at night before I go to bed. It is not conducive for me to being able to participate in any calls. I'm sorry I won't be available.
I don't think it would be too useful. The good thing about the site is that we can consider what we're going to say and then type it out, revise it, edit it.. I've worked with conference calls for a couple of different orgs, and think they're really only good when you have a short, specific thing to discuss and maybe vote on. We meander too much!
Joan I have been on tons of conference calls, and often times, it is too difficult to follow who is talking and who is not.... I would suggest you add a chat room on your site, so that we could all jump in at our convenience and not be tied to a phone line... I think it is easy to set up and costs very little,,, My son added one to my daughter's website.... no one is ever on it, but someday they might be...
I actually agree with all of you. I was not crazy about the idea, but it was offered to me, and I agreed to ask everyone's opinion.
As for chat rooms, they have to be monitored constantly. Except for when she is sleeping, my message board monitor is on the job all of the time. There is no way she is going to be able to monitor a chat room. There may be the possibility of setting up a chat room on only certain days and times, if I can find someone to monitor it properly. If anyone is interested in participating in a chat room, let me know.
I find chat rooms confusing. Different people type at the same time about different topics. By the time I respond to something that thread of the discussion is often long gone. I like what we have here just as it is.
My input is: I think what we have is just fine. Works for me anyway, as I can read and respond when I have the time and when DH isn't looking over my shoulder.
I agree about chat rooms also. I never use them. But if enough people wanted one, and it was possible for it to be monitored, I might consider it. I much prefer the message boards.
I also love the message boards... but there are occasions when you would like to chat with members to keep the discussion a bit more private and less boring to the other members.. But most chatrooms seem to have people only saying hello to each other....too much small talk and nothing meaningful..
I tried a chat room one time. The problem with me typing with one finger is not conducive to talking with a group on line. After I type hello I am lost as far as the conversation goes.
I hate the --bing-- GOGO has joined the group. --bing-- Hello GOGO (repeated 40 times) -- bing -- BRIEGULL has left the group -- bing -- Goodbye BRIEGULL (repeated 39 times)
You can easily "chat" with people on FB, and I think enough of use belong that if we really want to we can use that feature there. Not even considering the alzspouse group. Just the general setup.
I could not easily participate in either conference calls or chat sessions due to time differences. I agree with others above that the great thing about the boards is that you can get on in those few moments that you can find every day, or once in a while, (here I am at 11:30 and should be going to bed), think about whether to respond and how, edit the post, etc. I like it just fine as it is, but all power to new initiatives, if others are interested.
I like the idea of a chat room at set times, these could vary for different time zone, we could even add a topic of the week. I wouldn't have the time for a conference call. Too many people talking at once :o)
I don't care for chat rooms. The way this site works is great. You can read what you want when you want and talk about what you want when you want. Wow! What a sentence!
Joan. can you add a feature where we could email our spouses to each other so we can get some respite? Or email them all to the same person so they can do adult daycare??
I agree with conference calls. I once belonged to a MLK and the time difference was always a problem. If you wanted to set it up using the internet or phone, that might work for a weekly or monthly 'seminar' type meeting where people can ask questions. We didn't have a mic for our computer but could listen to the 'speech' then the questions afterwards. For those who couldn't be there live, the recorded meeting is available to listen to at will. That would be the best option I can think of.
I'll add my 2 cents worth, Joan. I never go to chat rooms for reasons others have already noted. I, too, prefer this message board format ... this allows me to check postings at my convenience. A number of times I have directly/privately emailed people who have posted comments ... and others haved emailed me ... and that has worked well.
The problem I see with a chat room is that once it is closed all information provided in the chat room is lost. The way it is done now all information is always ready to read when you are able to sign on the site. Nothing is lost. I think a lot more is accomplished here in this format than would be accomplished by using a chatroom.
I have a different opinion--I think a conference call for the purpose of educating us would be a good thing. If, for example, there was a speaker on a specific topic, it would be a good way to learn without leaving the house. Our Alz Assn chapter does a series of these called Connected Conversations--they are educational and help people learn the basics. By the way, there are no sign on or sign off greetings--they just start at the appointed time, the speaker talks, and there's Q&A at the end.
Joan--a topic that comes to mind is Medicaid eligibility. It's of wide interest, it's complicated, and there has been lots of discussion of it here and it always keeps coming up. It wouldn't take the place of individuals consulting an elderlaw attorney, but would help them begin to understand the process. Some support groups have elderlaw attorneys come in and speak on the topic, but not all members here attend a support group. I think it would add value to the website.
I like your idea - last year I had a Medicaid expert who was going to write articles for the website, but she never came through. I am pursuing it again, but I will definitely give some thought to an educational conference call. I think they're called Webinar's now. (As in web seminar).
Patrick's friend is a web expert, and can set up anything. I'm going to RI on family business, then DC on Alzheimer business. When I return, I will check into all of this.