BootsnAll Travel Community

I use this and another board. This one seems more like a community, but it's all in the internet. I know few people in my area who can relate to our experiences.

Why doesn't bna offer a search field that will tell us who lives in our areas? Wouldn't it be nice to grab a beer with someone else who can appreciate your stories? I have seen that Oregon's crowd has done it a few times, but I live in Florida.

If you agree, say so instead of just lurking.

Kendrick

The way most of us do it is post a "Meet Up" thread in chit-chat. That's how most of the meetups have happened

This has been brought up before and I'd like to see some nifty feature too.

Annie's right though, hit everybody up in the chit chat forum. There are some FL booties.

I would too! I'm more or less in a different city every night, so it just isn't worth a whole thread to determine who else is around.

You could start a "where is carrie" thread, similar to Capt. Steve. He got quite a few meet ups that way

ANniebanannie,

That might be so, but not everyone reads all the forums, so wouldn't know you wanted to meet up in a particular place.

By having a search engine, you could send a pm to only those who are local and say: Hi, Want to meet up with other booties in Central Florida? Go to "chit Chat" to read the tread and share your thoughts. NOW, they would have a better understanding of what's going on and could show themselves if interested.

I don't remember the last time I looked on chit chat and am sure that others have never done so.

For that matter,
I wonder how many people never even come to this forum to see this issue and voice their opinion. That is why you moderators should discuss the issue with powers that be regardless of the number of respondents.

I was offering you an easy solution. You can also use the search function to read about meet-ups. Perhaps they will make this engine, but in the interim, you could easily poke in the chit-chat once in a while, or start a thread.

I guess I am opposite from you, in that I wouldn't use such a search engine. To each their own, but there are ways you can circumvent this until they create something.

First of all, I have no doubt the moderators will discuss the issue and push for it to be a reality, they have in the past. However, its not the moderators decision, at all. Its up to the 'powers that be' to make it priority enough that the program gets developed. They've explained that the way things are now, they do not have the capability to do what you're asking. It has been on the wish list for awhile. I'm glad you've brought it up again and hopefully, one of the powers that is will give you an update.

As for sending everyone near place X a PM, well, I'd rather you didn't. I don't want to get spammed with a PM everytime someone comes through OR. I go to plenty of meet ups in the area and I enjoy doing so but I also enjoy not getting emails unless the sender has more reason than "you live in place X" for sending them. Otherwise, your idea sounds great.

I understand what you're advocating for but would be surprised if it came about instantly. Until then your fellow community members welcome you to the chit chat forum. There may be alot of crap in there but there's lots of good stuff too. Like meetups and the camaraderie that one enjoys from meetups. You might actually like it, or at least find some people to meet up with in FL.

quote:

You could start a "where is carrie" thread, similar to Capt. Steve. He got quite a few meet ups that waySmile

Thanks, anniebannanie! I've never seen Capt. Steve's, no wonder we never meet up .

quote:

Originally posted by carriel313:

quote:

You could start a "where is carrie" thread, similar to Capt. Steve. He got quite a few meet ups that waySmile

Thanks, anniebannanie! I've never seen Capt. Steve's, no wonder we never meet up .

you have my phone number and email address -- I think it's simple avoidance.

Maybe I'll use my upcoming adventure that starts Thursday to (finally, take two) revive my (in)famous thread.

That's it Capt Steve, I rescind my Bali invitation. Oh wait, you invited yourself...

I'm going to be the party pooper and say: I wouldn't want to have to put my city.

I have met individual booties in different cities and have had good experiences. Generally these were people who I knew at least somewhat from the boards, not total strangers.

But especially when I was one of maybe two or three bootsnall members living in Bratislava or Sarajevo, I would not have wanted to get pm's from a bunch of random people passing through because they had done a search on Bootsnall. I'm totally not opposed to getting pm's asking about a location I've lived in or traveled to because I posted about it, but I would not really want for someone to contact me because they'd searched on bootsnall for a list of people living in a certain city.

I know not everyone would use it for this - but I agree with the others who have pointed out that there are ways to organize meetups already.

I have to agree with Katie.

I think it's important to respect the privacy of people who do not want to meet up in person, nor receive unsolicited invitations to meetups. Some members are here simply to read, write, and share travel info and stories online.

I think the current system works. People post up Meet-up ideas (proposed locations, dates, etc) in the Chit-Chat thread and people who are interested will read it and respond. I like the current system and don't see a need to change it.

Just to clarify so I don't sound like a total jerk: I don't mind people who have read my posts asking me to meet if we are in the same city...I don't think meetup invitations are anything terrible...but there are a ton of people who come and make one post, or just to plan one trip and don't even join. And that's cool - bootsnall can be used in many different ways - it is just that for me personally the cons of such a search system outweigh the pros.

there is no privacy issue here...if you don't feel comfortable releasing the information in a new field that tells people where you live make it up...but i agree i am trying to get an NYC meet up...instead of making a post in chit chat and hoping people check it i could possibly send pms to all the people i searched for that live in the NYC area...

I think this is a really good idea

There are ways to do this and still maintain privacy - if everyone had to choose a location just at the country level, that's not a privacy issue (unless you live in San Marino or Monaco), and then there could be an open field where users could put more specific information only if they wanted to. In that more specific box, there could be a search feature making it so Viaggero could search just for "Florida" and see what comes up. It wouldn't be every member in Florida, but it would be the members who want it known that they're in Florida.

Of course, I'm saying this as someone who has no earthly idea how to program what I just explained...

I agree with Kate & Steve.

Those who are active in the boards and/or want to meet people will find the meet up notices. They are often posted in either Chit Chat or Member's Forum. I know if I saw that, and I wanted to attend, I would. If I didn't, then I suddenly was getting PMs...it wouldn't make me very happy.

If no one responds to a meet up thread...well, perhaps the interest isn't there at the moment. (and, if it is getting pushed down... bump it back up)

I agree with the others, at least I think I do, in that it seems fine how it is, and if people need/want to find others in their area to meet, there's ways to chose to do that.
I'm not sure what prompted the query, other than maybe just curiousity or a "why not" interest.


Is there a demand for something more/better/more specific?

If not, is it ok to leave it as is? (if it's not broken, and nobody's demanding more, then the need is what?)

Viaggero, when I was heading to Edmonton last year I used the search function to look for members who had 'Edmonton' somewhere in their profile - whether they had travelled there or it was listed as their 'location'. This is a somewhat time-consuming way to find other Booties who actually lived in a particular town, but it worked well enough for me. I was just looking for some local tips as opposed to a meet-up, but you can see how it could be used for the same purpose.