morganacademyfp

[morganfp]

If you have reached this part of the MAFPA site you are obviously interested in life, past and present, at Morgan Academy and want to become involved online.
The purpose of the forum is wide ranging. We want FPs to share experiences of their time at Morgan, but also to foster friendships outwith the normal peer group.
It would appear that many FPs have been put off from posting on the Forum, because of the informality and sometimes over familiarity of the posts.
How do we address the situation?
The FPs who presently post on the Forum want to hear from other FPs.

[sandra muir]

Thelma, do you have hard evidence that that is why "many" FPs are not participating in the Forum? How many?

[Kate]

I hope those of us who post regularly don't give the impression of being some kind of private clique which doesn't welcome newcomers! After all, a lot of us have never met, but we have something in common - and we'd love to hear from many other FPs.

So come on in - the water's lovely!

[ronald mackay]

Thanks, Kate, for reviving this question What do FPs want from the forum?I had not seen it, but apprerciate that the question was posed as far back as 2007. It would be really useful if this question were addressed. Finding out what people want could be the first step towards raising the popularity of the site and having it serve a far greater number of FPs.

[morganfp]

Sandra, I put the message on as a response to a recent post. If FPs feel intimidated about the supposed cliqueishness of the posters I haven't heard.
We have a Facebook page, but it doesn't seem to have had much effect.

Ronald, I posed the question, as I have done over the last few years. If you have any ideas as to how how we can enthuse other MAFPs, please tell us. It's not just the Forum. Membership is dwindling - most members are in the retired age range.

[ken_a]

Sandra, you want evidence of who is or not posting. Check out on the membership lists who have posted in the last month or two or three or twelve months. Many have registered but have never posted. That is a lot of bodies. Sorry for using engineering terms.

[morganfp]

We want to know why FPs register, but don't post. There has to be a reason, but if they don't tell us we can't do anything about it.

[ronald mackay]

[quote]What do FPs want from this site?[/quote]
I’m warning you now that this is longer than a single sentence! So give up now or read on …. It’s up to you! If we just rely on our own introspection, we could come up with an answer to this question. We habitual users are probably representative of the entire range of Morgan FPs out there who may want and have the leisure to re-connect with their old school, classmates and friends. Reflecting on and sharing our own personal “wants” is simple and gets round the impossibility of a broader survey. So I invite you to share your reflections. If I do my own reflecting, first and foremost I want a site that makes it easy for me first to zero in on a Forum and then within that Forum, to zero in on a particular topic that interests me or that attracts my attention. The current three categories of forum do that rather well. I would re-word them slightly in the following ways and add another:
Association Matters Committee businessMorgan Matters
School related topics past (and present?)[/b]
[b]Informal Chat Light-hearted exchanges
Ideas [b][b]Weightier matters of general interest[/b][/b] (Ignore the highlighting, I could not undo it!)
Adding the additional category would allow informal and light-hearted exchanges to continue (we all want some of that) while permitting more significant topics to evolve and develop. This additional category might also attract contributions from those who are still working, full or part time or who are now double-dipping, and would like to share their intellectual challenges and interests with peers who are not necessarily in the same professional field. I’ve seen the seeds of such topics in earlier exchanges and they have great potential for development and would be of great interest to many of us. (e.g. the disappointments and satisfactions of teaching; the challenges to moving from the public sector to open a private business; the dangers inherent in working with a business partner; the fact that banks are growing in size and foreign banks are buying up British banks; the weaknesses in a national health service; the advantages of having stayed in the same community for the greater part of one’s life; the joys of the single life after an unsatisfactory married life; getting it (marriage) right the second time; how to survive grand children; etc. etc.).
These are some of my reflections to try to get more FPs active on this site.

[morganfp]

Hmmm! Food for thought.
I know what I want from the forum - more posters from 15 - 90 year olds interacting with fellow FPs, sharing stories of their lives at Morgan and beyond.
I have been part of the forum since the early days and have made many new friends as a result. I have been fortunate enough to meet some of them in the flesh, others I will probably never meet. We share a common bond, Morgan Academy.

[David]

Dare I suggest that the issue of "What we want from the Forum?" is part of a wider concern/problem facing the FP Association in that there seems to be a reluctance on the part of younger FPs to become involved or perhaps even interest themselves in the FP Association and its activities. So we not only need ideas about the Forum but also about increasing interest generally in the Association.

David

[Ian Mahady]

I think we all want different things from the Forum and we fall into two groups.
Those who are abroad (including England) and those who are still local i.e not just Dundee but Scotland.
For me it was like a dream come true when I found the Morgan had a website because i was alone in China. I was actually looking for a picture of the old school to put on my study wall and Googled Morgan - thus found the Forum. I really dont care what form it takes because I enjoy all the posts and have re-established contact with many old friends.
However I can understand those who are closer to home and especially those who established the Association and have worked tremendously hard to keep it going.
Making rules will not make it better so please dont try to guilt-trip those who have joined but not contributed much- or even nothing.They had a reason for joining even if it was just to see what and who were on the Forum. Some people are very inhibited about talking about themselves. Not everyone are ego-trippers like myself, Ron, Laird ,Ken etc.
Perhaps the younger FPs think we are all sentimental idiots and they want to be on facebook and twittering or cooing or whatever the new-fangled stuff is but I think our Forum is excellent and serves anyone who cares about Morgan Academy. Let's face it we are lucky the internet exists. If we all had to write letters to each other i would be surprised if our contact lasted more than a month!!!! Keep it going Thelma. we all love you

[morganfp]

This is actually part of Laird's post , from another unrelated thread!

"Haven`t posted anything for a little time so this rambling will reverse the trend although I have followed the discussion on how to entice more FPs to use the Forum. Ian`s contribution summed up nicely how I feel although I disagree with nobody and all views are logical. Nothing like being a bleeding liberal and sitting on the fence. One question for Ronald .............. why did it take you so long before you started to post on the Forum?"

[ken_a]

Thelma, don't go too heavy please, Ron was converted, accept that, he has come into the fold and let's be grateful for that. He's maybe a slow starter, but he has got there.

[morganfp]

Ken, it wisnae me! I did a cut and paste job from another of Laird''s posts. (I can't believe that you thought I would be so . . . ! )

[ken_a]

Sorry, I got it wrong. Eh wisnae pae'in attention.