New Members!!

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
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TigerChris
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Re: New Members!!

Post by TigerChris »

JustinM wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:53 am I am new to the forum and felt compelled to reply. Perhaps I should introduce myself first... Hi my name is Justin and I like watches... The thing with Christopher Ward as a brand is that what bought me into the brand was it’s accessibility. I discovered CW through targeted advertising on social media (no doubt related to other watch brands I follow). Upon discovering the brand I was offered a free magazine, some content to research the brand and I even shared some messages with the social media marketing team. Overall a great experience with the Company. However, I find the Community much less accessible. I’ve been reading the odd forum post for a few weeks but hadn’t felt the need to contribute before, until now. The point I am trying to make is that a closed community, in my opinion, hurts the very thing you are joining together to share and enjoy, the brand. Adding hurdles like a sign up, compulsory posting in certain threads etc, just makes the community less accessible and this reflects on the brand. The Facebook groups are the same- you have to wait to be approved and the sale group seems especially selective. If you allow people to access the brand and community then CW will undoubtedly sell more watches and be more successful.
No different to any other forum, group etc... either on the internet or in real life. It’s standard practice that you have to sign up to anything, whether that’s a social club down the road or an Internet forum group. So are you saying that you should, basically, be able to walk into anywhere and express your views and be accepted without so much as a ‘hello’? You’re living in cloud cuckoo land pal. Oh, and I’ll ignore the sarcastic ‘Hi my name is Justin and I like watches’ part.
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Re: New Members!!

Post by Mikkei4 »

JustinM wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:53 am I am new to the forum and felt compelled to reply. Perhaps I should introduce myself first... Hi my name is Justin and I like watches... The thing with Christopher Ward as a brand is that what bought me into the brand was it’s accessibility. I discovered CW through targeted advertising on social media (no doubt related to other watch brands I follow). Upon discovering the brand I was offered a free magazine, some content to research the brand and I even shared some messages with the social media marketing team. Overall a great experience with the Company. However, I find the Community much less accessible. I’ve been reading the odd forum post for a few weeks but hadn’t felt the need to contribute before, until now. The point I am trying to make is that a closed community, in my opinion, hurts the very thing you are joining together to share and enjoy, the brand. Adding hurdles like a sign up, compulsory posting in certain threads etc, just makes the community less accessible and this reflects on the brand. The Facebook groups are the same- you have to wait to be approved and the sale group seems especially selective. If you allow people to access the brand and community then CW will undoubtedly sell more watches and be more successful.
Justin,
Thanks for contributing and I noticed it's your 1st post.
Nobody on here is "Adding hurdles like a sign up, compulsory posting in certain threads etc," that "just makes the community less accessible and this reflects on the brand."

In life it's courteous to introduce yourself to new people, build a relationship, work to understand each other's sense of humour. Would you go into a meeting for the first time and start off by denigrating any subject that is enjoyed by the people you are meeting for the first time? I would hope not.

Same here - Forums reflect life. It might be on a smaller scale but that magnifies the affect of what you say especially if you've never introduced yourself first. I don't agree with your comment that this Forum makes compulsory posting - but we do like the courtesy of an introduction. Whether you do it or not is down to the individual person but if somebody doesn't do that and then steams in on their 1st or 2nd post with basically a moan, as in previous posts, then they shouldn't expect much sympathy or respect.
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Re: New Members!!

Post by sproughton »

Personally I couldn't care less if someone doesn't introduce themselves before posting.

When it's a moan for moan's sake I just ignore it. If it's constructive and they're asking for help that's fine. I think some people probably think they may get a direct response from CW which is why they post
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Re: New Members!!

Post by H0rati0 »

JustinM wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:53 am I am new to the forum and felt compelled to reply. Perhaps I should introduce myself first... Hi my name is Justin and I like watches... The thing with Christopher Ward as a brand is that what bought me into the brand was it’s accessibility. I discovered CW through targeted advertising on social media (no doubt related to other watch brands I follow). Upon discovering the brand I was offered a free magazine, some content to research the brand and I even shared some messages with the social media marketing team. Overall a great experience with the Company. However, I find the Community much less accessible. I’ve been reading the odd forum post for a few weeks but hadn’t felt the need to contribute before, until now. The point I am trying to make is that a closed community, in my opinion, hurts the very thing you are joining together to share and enjoy, the brand. Adding hurdles like a sign up, compulsory posting in certain threads etc, just makes the community less accessible and this reflects on the brand. The Facebook groups are the same- you have to wait to be approved and the sale group seems especially selective. If you allow people to access the brand and community then CW will undoubtedly sell more watches and be more successful.
I get the impression that you see the forum as an extension of CW's social marketing efforts. It is not. The forum started independently and is still operated independently though now with support from the company. We are a bunch of individuals who share experience and knowledge, mostly but far from exclusively wrt CW and with the emphasis on sharing. While we do extend a welcome to anybody else who wants to share with us, sharing is a two way street - nobody is forcing but one tends to receive in direct proportion to what one gives.
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Re: New Members!!

Post by Thermexman »

TigerChris wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:46 am but to quote what my Dad always told me; ‘No point going via Manchester to get to London’.
Unless, of course, you live in Blackburn and are picking a mate up on the way! :thumbup:
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Re: New Members!!

Post by TigerChris »

Thermexman wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:43 pm
TigerChris wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:46 am but to quote what my Dad always told me; ‘No point going via Manchester to get to London’.
Unless, of course, you live in Blackburn and are picking a mate up on the way! :thumbup:
Ahh, but the chances of me ever living that side of the Pennines are slim to naff all Steve :lol:
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Re: New Members!!

Post by johnnysharp2 »

Just avoid the M60 it's a nightmare, but pop by for a cuppa here on the Fylde Coast. :D
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Re: New Members!!

Post by TigerChris »

johnnysharp2 wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 1:08 pm Just avoid the M60 it's a nightmare, but pop by for a cuppa here on the Fylde Coast. :D
Gotta be cheaper than the services next time I’m off up to the Lakes :thumbup:
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Re: New Members!!

Post by Thermexman »

TigerChris wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 1:06 pm
Thermexman wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:43 pm
TigerChris wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:46 am but to quote what my Dad always told me; ‘No point going via Manchester to get to London’.
Unless, of course, you live in Blackburn and are picking a mate up on the way! :thumbup:
Ahh, but the chances of me ever living that side of the Pennines are slim to naff all Steve :lol:
I know exactly where tha’s coming from, with that statement Chris! :wink:

White roses rule, eh? :lol:
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Re: New Members!!

Post by nauf »

In that case, is there any way to impose restrictions to all new members to introduce themselves in the Introduction thread before their comments or posts are visible?
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Amor Vincit Omnia
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Re: New Members!!

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Interesting thread - it can be good to air views.

Perhaps it's about time for a little input from the admin side. This is purely a personal view as we haven't discussed it at all, so I take responsibility for it and it should not necessarily be seen as representing the views of the team...

On a personal level I would love to see members' initial postings be by way of an introduction and getting to know folk.

As you know we are required to approve the first five posts of any new member. Disapprovals are usually for speedposting, spam, posting in old threads, advertising etc. If I see a "complaint" as a first post I do tend to growl a bit inwardly, but we don't actually have a rule against it.

With my moderator's hat on...if we were to create such a rule would we not (again) be setting ourselves up for more comments about overly zealous moderation - something that several contributors to this thread have been quick to criticise us for? Would there not also be more comments about "unnecessary" rules? You either want a lighter touch or you don't.

Yes, I would love to see new members introducing themselves as a matter of course, but I have to accept that not everyone observes the social niceties; I also think new members need a voice if they have a legitimate and realistic grouse. Perhaps a few also need to realise that we are not the CW complaints department.

Chris and others, I understand and to some extent uphold your feelings, but I do think it would be difficult to implement rules in this matter. You can always choose to mark a thread as "read" if it doesn't interest you.
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Re: New Members!!

Post by Phil0886 »

I can see what you’re saying but surely the only person who would know that their moaning first post had been disapproved (apart from the mods) would be the moaner, so no issues with anyone else complaining of overzealous moderation?


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Re: New Members!!

Post by nbg »

- 69 new members have joined the forum in February. The majority still have a post count of zero.
- 9 new members have started a thread in the “member introduction” this month.
- the majority of new members do not post in the “member introduction” sub forum.
- different people join for different reasons. I do think some view the forum as an extension of CW the watch company; an easy mistake to make.
- some join to be a member of the community and over time build up online connections to other members.
- some join to read opinion about all things CW. Others to read and contribute.
- making someone do an introductory post, just to be able to join or post would likely be counterproductive to the purpose of the forum.
- when I joined I did do an introductory post, as my first post.
- my purpose of joining at the time was to find out more about CW watches, although by the time I made my first post I had already bought a few.
- over time my reason for being here changed to wanting to be part of the community and to interact and occasionally meet other watch nuts.
- however if folk join for other reasons, including to provide feedback (a moan as far as some are concerned) on their CW experience, well live and let live I say.

Oh just had a thought. Did all those who have contributed to this thread do a “member introduction” post as their first post, or in any subsequent post? :)

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Re: New Members!!

Post by TheBeatles »

nbg wrote: Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:20 pm
Oh just had a thought. Did all those who have contributed to this thread do a “member introduction” post as their first post, or in any subsequent post? :)

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Re: New Members!!

Post by H0rati0 »

Yep, first post. Rude not to.
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