local Gransnet

I live in Oxfordshire, but rarely look on the local site. I prefer the variety of the main forum.

I live on the border of several counties and have, now and again, looked up Berkshire , Reading, Oxfordshire, Oxford, Hampshire and Surrey local sites.I rarely find anything of interest on them, and postings do not seem to be answered so I am wondering, what is the point ?

As a local editor, I can't get people to register, which is why people can't/won't respond to the forums, but people do claim to really enjoy the information particularly local stuff that isn't widely publicised. It's early days yet!

I also live on the border of 3 counties and periodically check on them all - nothing happens!

I wonder if Gransnetters in general like to be in touch on the website with virtual friends, but have a different set of friends and activities in their real life so do not tend to meet the GNetters face to face.

I think from experience with Saga when they tried , the meet ups became popular as some would travel from further afield.
As it was nationally would a meet up section work on the main Gransnet site.
The Meet ups at first also created a mystery putting usernames to faces in reality, mind you Saga did let you put a photo up in your profile.
Mick

I love the meet-ups and really enjoy face-to-face contact. In the Reading area we now have them about once every two months. Sometimes there are only two of us ;sometimes more .We have a good old natter and a laugh. The next one is due in October so watch this space ! We always advertise them on the main site and anyone from further afield is of course most welcome

I don't think we can force the issue of meetups. If people want to use GN Local to meet others then the facility is there.
The local forums can also be used to discuss the local by-election or to reminisce about the loss of High Street shops, something that would not be interesting to many on a national forum.
I like to add a listing and review places I have been all over the country on the relevant GN local page - a bit like trip advisor. I have also added things like my hairdresser, window cleaner and plumber with a review. Then others can see who fellow local GNers recommend. If every member added a couple of recommendations the local sites would be given a big boost.

I've been to one in Birmingham and one in Edinburough. We've had two GN meetings in Bristol. A few friends meet occasionally.
It's good.

West Sussex seems to be a lost cause! A couple of us meet up every couple of months, but there's been very little interest from other GNs. I wondered if choice of venue may be an issue - parking/near station etc - but it doesn't seem to have made any difference.

Where I am there are a lot of local facebook pages. Most people tend to communicate on local issues on facebook. Its somewhat more instant and easier to comment on FB than on here. There are no notifications that someone has responded to threads so unless you constantly check back on site, threads tend to just fade out.

I do agree with Pittcity that the local site can be an excellent resource for visitors to other areas to look on and it would be nice if other gransnetters could list and review a few local businesses that they recommend. As an editor I'm a bit reluctant to list businesses if I haven't used them myself, I could be recommending a business that isn't that good. Much better to come straight from the horses mouth as it were.

Local independent businesses are really struggling to keep their head above water with extortionate business rates and declining footfall. If you want to keep a good local business they need every recommendation they can get. In my experience facebook pages that cover a local area tend to have far more people making negative comments and throwing around unnecessary criticism rather than ever having anything positive to say. A local site such as Gransnet local could pick up where facebook fails.

minimouse there is a meet up in Chichester in October if you are interested - see the Meetups Forum for info!

jam I think the meeting in October is on hold for the moment gaga is busy on the day we chose. Will p.m. you with alternative dates.

I am interested in the fact that, with a couple of notable exceptions, any local editor who posts is someone I have never seen on the forums before, so obviously I don't "know" them as I "know" most of you. I know you don't have to post to be on GN, (The competitions show how many there are who don't) but the forums seem to me to be the first step in being part of it. IMHO!

We have had a few meet ups down here in Devon, and they were quite good, I think. (Being modest because I organised a couple) it's not difficult to do.

I really am not sure about the role of a local editor, although, as I say, it works well with the notable exceptions I have mentioned. Who, incidentally, are people with whom I am familiar from the forums.

I entirely agree with you Ariadne and most of the meetings in my local area I have arranged. Not difficult as you say except for finding a date that suits everyone!

One problem is that originally it was suggested that we use another name on the local forums (I am known as Finch ).I think this complicates matters and I don't know how easy it is to change back but it may partly explain why we don't hear from the local editors on the main forums: perhaps they are using a different name. I have often wondered if purpledaffodil is purple the local Oxford editor.

Yes, I agree with you, too. We are urged to post on local Gransnet, and I have done a few times, but when I go back days or week later, there's only me and the local editor who have posted. Perhaps if the local editors were urged to post on here so we could all get to know them, there would be more of a response.

Also, there are rather too many local Gransnet's in the north-west, all of which I feel could be the right ones for me as they are within easy reach. I have a choice between Manchester, Bolton, Stockport, Wigan, Rochdale, Chester, Warrington and North Wales, all of which are between 5 minutes and an hour away from where I live.

greenfinch You did not have to give up your original username when you took a second one as local editor, so you could post as whichever you choose, letting everyone know that you are the local editor as well as a "normal" member.

I took a second name while I was previously a local editor, but I stopped using it at all as it instantly made me a stranger instead of myself. I think the reason for it being made possible was so that you were not so exposed in your home town, but I reckoned that if I was editing a local page and organising meetups I needed to be visible. How else can people relate to you?

Elegran I am not the local editor. Sorry if I gave that impression but I still don't see how to post with my usual name when the box for messages says Finch

It depends how you have logged in, Greenfinch If you logged in as Finch, that is how you post, on either the local or the general site. If you log in by your other name, you post as that.

I tried to "salt the mine" at one point by posting on the local site both as myself and as my new name - it got very confusing logging in and out under different names.

Thanks Elegran.I am permanently logged in so I am Greenfinch on the main site and Finch on the local. Very confusing !

Yes, very confusing! If I were you I would contact GNHQ and ask them to kill one of your personas (personae?) Painlessly and with anaesthetic, of course.

I am local editor for the Colchester and Harwich area, North Essex. I try to join in on both National and local forums - we are not restricted and can add to any discussion in any area we wish. We can use multiple locals if we like and join in any meet up we fancy.
I agree that having multiple personalities is very confusing and I use Pittcity as my handle on the whole interweb.
If your area has a local editor then they should have a little bio on the local site and a contact button which emails them direct.