Down Under Disneyana Australian Disney Forum

Just wanted to get an indication of what people thought of moving this site to somewhere like Yahoo Groups.

Greg

My thought was that this group is hard to find. I found it through a yahoo group which led me to a website where there was a link. I'm a member of many yahoo groups, all disney of course, and they seem to be very successful because if people are looking for a Disney group that seems to be the place they search. The group seems to be very very quiet and I thought oving might make it better flowing sorta.
Vicki

Hi Vicki...wow what a fast reply!

I'll keep the poll up for a month and if the majority vote to move then I'll shut the site down. I have no idea how Yahoo Groups work so I may have to leave it up to someone else to set up. Are there many specifically Australian Disney groups?

Greg

I have never found an aussie disney group but i belong to plenty of American/world wide groups there.
I belong to
daps for disney magic
disneyland
disney talk
disney fans
disney
disney annual passholders
disney haven
disneyland park and attractions
disneyland fans
to name but a few...lol
setting up a group is easy, you just follow the links from 'start your own group'..and they tell you how to do it.
Vicki

I have to admit that I like the idea of having a bit more conversation around here, but phpBB is my preferred forum type. I think what is probably needed is a bit more promotion of our web address.

I also know that there are quite a few of our club members out there that read this forum but don't post (mainly my fellow Sydneysiders - you all know who you are...) - I guess a lot of us talk to each other frequently on the phone, at weekends and at our DUDisneyana club meetings, so there isn't much extra left to say It would be good if some of these members get online - as there is a lot of Disney experience amongst them.

I'll raise website promotion at the next meeting in May and see if anyone has some ideas.

Catchyas later.

One of the reasons that I created the site, and the forum in particular, is so members like me could have a means of accessing the Disney knowledge and discussion that we otherwise miss out on by not being able to attend the meetings.

If there are members who are just lurking on here then please join in the existing discussions and start new ones. By making this look like an active club and community it will attract new members who might otherwise pass by. I don't know if Wayne has gotten any new members from the site but I do know that the application form has been downloaded a few times.

C'mon people, there are Disney fans outside of Sydney...honest.

Greg

Just thought I would put in my 20 cents worth on this issue.

Firstly, I too found this site via a link from an American site. Having said that, I was actually looking for Australians I could chat to about Disney. I realize that I am relatively new to the club and forum, but the loss of the local flavour of the club would be really unfortunate. There are plenty of other groups out there (I am a member of several other US based groups) and they are informative and fun, but from a US perspective.

I'd be disappointed to see this forum - our forum - filled with spam. Some groups on Yahoo are unbelievably clogged with advertising too.

I love the idea that when I actually make it to Sydney for a meeting, I could put faces to the names I have met here. As a new member, I would LOVE to read your trip reports, and see your photos.

So (like the Avon ad says -) Lets Talk.....

- Lisa.

Well said Lisa - you have hit the nail on the head in relation to having too many spam messages, or messages we cannot relate to from our US friends. I read lots of US based Disney forums but rarely post there as I feel I have a distinctly different point of view (coming from Australia) when discussing the Parks.

For us to go to Disneyland for example, we have to set aside a couple of weeks annual leave, save a bunch of money, prepare for a 14 hour flight, plan what else in California we want to see etc etc. But when I read the US forums, you get messages like - "I'm heading to the park after work this evening to see if they have repainted the chipped woodwork I reported to Town Hall last week, I might hang around for the fireworks as well" - these are people with their SOCAL resident annual passes, where a trip to Disneyland is not always a special event.

Don't get me wrong (especially if you are reading this from Southern California!) the people on the US boards are great and really friendly, but the conversation I crave is from our (Australian) perspective. It took me 5 years of saving to get to Disneyland the first time last year - and it was a very special time. I hope our forum remains here with a mainly Australian audience.

(Bows to the audience and steps off soapbox...)

P.s. Lisa - I'm still writing my Hong Kong trip report - I will post it soon, I promise!

On the subject of spam, you may have noticed an increase in the number of members recently. The reason for this is a lot of "people" joining so that they can have their name and web site appear in the members list. Of course the web site is something unsavoury and it's just there to increase their search engine ranking. I check regularly and delete those web site references as soon as possible. There have been a couple of pointless posts from spammers but without the web site reference it really is a waste of time on their part.

I have deleted a couple of posts that were just obvious spam and I guess that's the benefit of having a real moderator.

Greg

i say leave the site here like it is. What kind of costs are involved in keeping this site up?

i say leave the site here like it is. What kind of costs are involved in keeping this site up?

All costs are absorbed by me with no expectation of making any money or even breaking even so that is not an issue in terms of keeping it here. I'm just doing it because I'm a nice guy...truly.

I started the site because I could and will keep it here as long as people keep visiting.

Greg

Ok, I'm a guilty lurker but this is my third post in five minutes so I should get points for that!!! Or maybe you want me to shut up!!!

The problem with Yahoo Groups is that the messages are not in threads like here but in lump group emails or masses of individual emails. I am in one group that generates 200 messages a day and thats just a headache!!! Alsomost successful Yahoo Groups have websites that stand alone from the Yahoo site which is limited.

In case you are interested I belong to:

Themouseforless
Disneyscrappers
Disneyscrappers2
Disneycruisers

I like being part of them and I enjoy meeting friends when I travel over to the US but this format is much easier to navigate.

Sandie

Hi Sandie, glad to have you on board and please don't shut up.

Do those groups you belong to mean that you're a "scrapper"? Maybe I should create a scrapper section for the forum.

Greg

An avid scrapper!!!!

In fact before the September meeting I believe there will be a scrapbooking activity.

I know Wayne and Jennifer scrap but I am not sure if anyone else does (YET!!!)

Thats a big 'YES PLEASE' to a scrapper section to this forum from me.

Hi Sandie. I'm one of those mad Scrappers too. Love to see some of your LO's. When I was teaching Scrapbooking I was always working on someone elses memories. Now I'm wading my way through my own TDL photos and enjoying it much more. Would LOVE to make it to the Sept meeting if time permits. Am meant to be going north on a work trip sometime in Sept - Hmm maybe I'll ask them if I can do a stop over in Sydney for the Weekend and meet them up there. ...

- Lisa.