Replies: 17

Wes Bucey, Quality Manager Posts: 1,336 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jan 28, 2008 8:11 PM > The "Ideas to Action" overview from September > 2007(http://asqgroups.asq.org/itag/) takes credit for > Discussion Board improvements as "low hanging fruit" > and being "undersay". > > Since I haven't noticed any improvements lately - I > thought I'd ask - so what does "Underway" mean? > > Thanks, > > Steve Prevette > Moderator of 3 boards here. Very droll. Instead of "underway," perhaps they mean this is an "undertaking" - you know, one of the mortuary sciences! All that remains is selecting the date and place of interment! -Wes Bucey, Quality Manager

Brad Masters Posts: 555 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jan 28, 2008 9:32 PM Hey! Totally off topic! Steve and Wes have exactly 1161 posts at this time, on the same thread, one right after another! Congrats, and thanks for your hard work. I didn't see a "Rewarding moderators for their hard work" forum, so I figured I would slide it in here!

Wes Bucey, Quality Manager Posts: 1,336 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jan 29, 2008 1:06 AM > Hey! Totally off topic! > > Steve and Wes have exactly 1161 posts at this time, > on the same thread, one right after another! > > Congrats, and thanks for your hard work. I didn't see > a "Rewarding moderators for their hard work" forum, > so I figured I would slide it in here! @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Although I moderate at the Elsmar Cove, I do NOT moderate here at the ASQ Forums. I do, however, comment from time to time on topics which interest me. The one topic which MOST interests me is seeing that ASQ members (the customers of our Society) get fair value for their money paid in dues, courses, and certification fees. When ASQ staffers look for the short-sighted profit of selling publications and "courses du jour" such as Six Sigma to the exclusion of the rank and file member laboring at the inspection bench, the result is a loss of identity with the Society and less incentive for that inspector to be a member. Accordingly, our member count has dipped far below 100,000, leading to a situation where each member is paying close to $4.00 per year just for the salary and perks of the top paid staffer. Comparing "apples to oranges" would give a salary of $1 billion USD to the US President and the Prime Minister of India about $4 billion USD. Seems like we REWARD failure to increase membership with an ever higher salary. Kind of like continuing to make nonconforming goods because "we can make it up in volume." - Wes Bucey, Quality Manager

QualityColorado Posts: 280 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jan 30, 2008 8:16 PM Wes, Good evening! Wow, I did not realize that ASQ's member count has dropped below 100,000 -- alarming. Best regards, QualityColorado

Wesley Richardson Posts: 1,258 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jul 9, 2008 1:02 PM Well, it appears that ASQ headquarters sees low member value in these Discussion Boards. The redesign of the ASQ web site, effective July 9, 2008 has removed the direct link to the Discussion Boards. Either that, or it was not apparent to me where the link is now located. Wes R.

Duke Okes Posts: 546 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jul 9, 2008 1:44 PM I thought it pretty funny too. So if members are frustrated with it just put it where they can't find it? Sort of reminds me of a tailor in South Korea. While working on a contract there in the mid-80's I decided to have a suit custom made for me. When I tried it on I noticed the shoulders had a droop in them, rather than being square. When I mentioned it to the tailor his reply was something along the lines of, "If you don't look at it it won't bother you."

Michael La Dolcetta Posts: 279 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jul 10, 2008 8:48 AM I was perturbed by this for a moment, but I found the link on the left side menu, several clicks down. Under the Knowledge Center heading, click on Tools and Resources>>Quality Resources. The Discussion Boards link is currently there. Mike

Geoffrey Withnell Posts: 815 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jul 10, 2008 9:22 AM So as Duke and Wes were saying, rather than being right out on the front page of the site, the Discussion Boards are buried several layers down. This is NOT going to improve traffic to the boards. I am still perturbed. Geoff Withnell

Steven McQuay Posts: 31 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jul 10, 2008 9:22 AM It appears that there is also a link in the dropdown in the upper right-hand corner of the Front Page as well. I found the link to the discussion boards in this "Quick Links" dropdown. It's nice to see these obscure, well thought out changes intended to make the web site so much more useful! It only took me about 10-mins to find this particular link. Way to "Lean" the Web Site folks! Efficiency at its best... Message was edited by: Steven McQuay

John Harrison Posts: 466 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jul 10, 2008 1:00 PM I think someone at ASQ needs to do a "flowchart" of how to get to the Discussion Boards. This is a valuable but underused asset of ASQ. This "move" has just made it much more difficult for members and potential members to find. Way to go Marketing Department!! John Harrison, ASQ-CMQ/OE Moderator, Healthcare Discussion Board

Wesley Richardson Posts: 1,258 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jul 12, 2008 9:04 PM Thank you for posting two methods to get to the Discussion Boards. Can I conclude that 1) People that know the Discussion Boards exist, will look for, and hopefully find the links? 2) The people that are not aware of the Discussion Boards will have a low probability of finding them? So it is up to individual members to promote the Discussion Boards, so people will be encouraged to visit this resource and member value. Wes R.

Pieter Botman Posts: 11 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jul 15, 2008 11:20 PM Wes: Just checked the Software Division main page. At least there we have a link to the Discussion Boards. Pieter

Brad Masters Posts: 555 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jan 29, 2008 11:07 AM > The "Ideas to Action" overview from September > 2007(http://asqgroups.asq.org/itag/) takes credit for > Discussion Board improvements as "low hanging fruit" > and being "underway". > > Since I haven't noticed any improvements lately - I > thought I'd ask - so what does "Underway" mean? > > Thanks, > > Steve Prevette > Moderator of 3 boards here. OK, so it's low lying fruit. I would be willing to take some crumbs, and see some improvements. There have been enough improvements outlined on repeated occasions that at least a few of them could be acted upon.

Wes Bucey, Quality Manager Posts: 1,336 Re: Discussion Board Improvements Underway? Posted: Jan 29, 2008 12:17 PM > > OK, so it's low lying fruit. I would be willing to > take some crumbs, and see some improvements. There > have been enough improvements outlined on repeated > occasions that at least a few of them could be acted > upon. - Brad Masters @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Please don't hold your breath, Brad. You don't look good when you're blue! - Wes Bucey, Quality Manager

Pieter Botman Posts: 11 Re: Discussion Board fixes / accountability / staff Posted: Jul 15, 2008 11:29 PM Hey Wes In another thread, I posed a question about the RSS "feeds", which don't seem to me to be working (login required, no cookie system or token system is there to allow us to read the RSS feed when not actually logged in to the ASQ web site... But the request for improvement / fix was not responded to. So... I asked: who should requests for fixes/improvements go to? No body is posted or designated as responsible, that I can see on the Discussion Boards main page!!! So I am on the "accountability" trail, hunting down everything I can find to see where I can direct my requesst. Interstingly, it seems as though "Moderator" duties for these fora are supposed to be *shared between volunteers and staff!* I would love to know which staff cover each specific forum, the biggie of course being the one for basic Board Suggestions, Requests and Fixes for the boards themselves! Anyway here is a quote from the "moderators" page. It clearly implies that there should be staff monitoring each forum, and also states that the ASQ staffer should take action within 24 hours on matters of ASQ "operations". What do you think... is this enough wording to hold someone accountable??? Pieter ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "ASQ Discussion Boards Moderators Objective: The member leader/staff partnership provides a valuable link with the participants of the ASQ Discussion Boards. Moderators, both member and staff, play a critical role, serving as the eyes and ears of the members who participate in the ASQ Discussion Boards. The moderators facilitate open communications and build trust among the participants; ensuring members are able to participate in meaningful exchanges. Criteria: To ensure the goals of the ASQ Discussion Boards are met (robust discussion, open communications, positive exchanges by all who wish to participate), the moderators will meet the following criteria: Roles/Responsibilities: ... (for ASQ Staff) ... * Reply within 2 business days (24 hours for staff if post is related to ASQ operations) to specific questions that have not received a response. "

Wesley Richardson Posts: 1,258 Re: Discussion Board fixes / accountability / staff Posted: Jul 16, 2008 9:29 AM As of July 16, 2008 the link to the Discussion Boards has been restored to the ASQ home page. It is now listed in the "My ASQ Communities" with a link to "View My Discussion Boards." That link goes to a page where there is a link to "All ASQ Discussion Boards." At least now members have a chance of finding the Discussion Boards. To Pieter, You may wish to contact ASQ directly either by phone or by sending an e-mail to help@asq.org and asking the question about RSS feeds. Wes R.

Max Breizh Posts: 90 Re: Discussion Board fixes / accountability / staff Posted: Jul 17, 2008 9:25 AM From the ASQ.org home page, if you go to the "Search" field on the left and type "Discussion Boards", it takes you right there to the correct website. Good deal -