Tent Space discussion

[Jamie Z]

Steve, that's pretty awesome. Very useful.

I think the next step for the tent space is an audit, if my own experience is any indication. Last year I took a three-week trip to the southwest, and about eight times I tried to contact people from the tentspace thread. I only got a response from two or three of those people. The other five or six never got back to me, ever.

The tentspace thread is getting old, and I suspect much of the data is stale. Though it would be a lot of work, I think our next effort should be to see which of those people shown on your map are still around and have space.

Awesome map. It'll come in handy, no matter what.

Jamie

[stevejonesmo]

Originally Posted by Jamie Z

I think the next step for the tent space is an audit... The tentspace thread is getting old, and I suspect much of the data is stale. Though it would be a lot of work, I think our next effort should be to see which of those people shown on your map are still around and have space.

I agree... something like dropping a PM to anyone with an entry that hasn't been modified in, say, the last 2 years. Over 800 of the current map entries fit that description. Some almost 6 years old.

I'd send them a note or two asking them to modify their post if it is still current. If they haven't done so in a couple of months, just delete their post from the signup list. That will cause it to drop from the map automatically with the next update.

I've built a list of all the posts in the signup thread, with the date created, last modified, Inmate name, etc. If anyone knows of a way to do something with it I'd pass it right along.

[Jamie Z]

Originally Posted by stevejonesmo

I've built a list of all the posts in the signup thread, with the date created, last modified, Inmate name, etc. If anyone knows of a way to do something with it I'd pass it right along.

I don't mean to hijack your thread. Your maps are awesome and could make the tentspace much more accessible.

The first way I can imagine working through the data is brute force. Perhaps a volunteer from each state, country, or region who emails each person on the tentspace list and asks if the information contained in their post is still current. An audit could be done on a yearly basis, or so. The first year would probably be a bitch, but after the no-shows are weeded out, the list would be much more manageable.

This should really be a topic all its own, as it's only partially related to the maps you've produced.

Jamie

[stevejonesmo]

Originally Posted by Jamie Z

The first way I can imagine working through the data is brute force. Perhaps a volunteer from each state, country, or region who emails each person on the tentspace list and asks if the information contained in their post is still current. An audit could be done on a yearly basis, or so.

I don't know much about the back end of Vbulletin. There may be cool tools that allow the mods to automate the PM process.

With the list I have it would be a pretty simple matter to construct a pre-filled PM with the relevant message. I could do it myself with a cut and paste and a click, once per message.

The real time consuming part would probably be dealing with those who respond with a reply PM - which would be discouraged.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

INMATE NAME, thanks for participating in the tent space list. The list has gotten huge -- a good thing -- but until now there wasn't a practical way to keep the data or the index current. Some users are reporting a very low response rate when trying to contact those who have offered space. So in the interest of making the list as useful as possible a clean-up process has been started.

Your entry, for YOUR TOWN, YOUR STATE OR COUNTRY, was last updated on MOSTRECENT DATE. It would help a lot if you could visit your entry by clicking HERE.

If you still offer the tent space, please just hit the "Save Changes" button near the bottom of the page. That will reset the edit date for your post and tells the system that your entry is still current. That's it! Of course this would also be a convenient opportunity for you to make any needed changes to your signup post. Please always make changes to your existing post rather than creating a new one.

If you no longer offer the tent space, just highlight the "Nuke It" radio button then click "Nuke This Message" button. Your entry will automatically be removed from the Tent Space Signup list thread, and from the next update of the Map.

If your entry is not nuked or updated as described above - after a while it will be assumed that you are no longer participating and your entry will eventually be removed from the Map. The only purpose for this is to keep the list as current and useful as possible.

Going forward, one of these messages will be sent periodically, whenever an entry reaches a certain age. Something like every year or two. Long enough that it shouldn't get too annoying.

Thanks for your help!

But I get the feeling the Mods are kind of burned out on the Tent Space list - can't say I blame them as manually keeping the index current is just not practical.

I don't want to shove anything down their throats... if anyone wants my help or advice I'm happy to provide it.

[Jamie Z]

Originally Posted by stevejonesmo

I don't know much about the back end of Vbulletin. There may be cool tools that allow the mods to automate the PM process.

With the list I have it would be a pretty simple matter to construct a pre-filled PM with the relevant message. I could do it myself with a cut and paste and a click, once per message.

The real time consuming part would probably be dealing with those who respond with a reply PM - which would be discouraged.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:


But I get the feeling the Mods are kind of burned out on the Tent Space list - can't say I blame them as manually keeping the index current is just not practical.

I don't want to shove anything down their throats... if anyone wants my help or advice I'm happy to provide it.

I wouldn't suggest a project like this be left to the mods, but rather another group of volunteers. I'd be willing to volunteer my time to help or coordinate the project.

I like your letter, though I had something shorter in mind, and I think a personal PM in reply should be encouraged, rather than discouraged. The tent space is supposed to be about getting riders together, and an automated PM seems contrary to that goal.

A sample PM would look something like this:

Hi ADVRIDER,

Just doing a periodic check of the tent space list to keep the data accurate. Could you check your posting at the link below to make sure it's still accurate? You can edit your post to make any corrections or delete the post by selecting "Nuke" if you're no longer interested in participating.

Please reply by PM to let me know that you've checked your listing.

LINK

Jamie Z

Failure to reply to the listing might garner a followup PM and then finally removing the post. I do like your idea to ask the participant to click on Save Changes to update the post, but one thing I've learned is that people don't follow directions very well. If you have to ask them to do something specific, there will be a lot of errors or misunderstanding. I think that sort of stuff should be left to experienced or trained volunteers.

I don't know how many posts are on the tentspace list (Steve, you'd probably have that information), but spread among 20 or 30 volunteers, I think we could work through an update without too much trouble.

Anyway, before we soil your great map thread any more, I suggest we ask that these posts be pruned and added to an entirely new thread.

Jamie

[thomas.tc.young]

I think having an inmate from each state pm their states list is a good idea. There has to be at least one fanatic in each state ill volunteer for ny if we go that route. I think pm and email combo would be best and a short text like jamie z put up.

[stevejonesmo]

Originally Posted by Jamie Z

I'd be willing to volunteer my time to help or coordinate the project.

I second that motion!

All in favor? :)

Originally Posted by Jamie Z

I don't know how many posts are on the tentspace list (Steve, you'd probably have that information), but spread among 20 or 30 volunteers, I think we could work through an update without too much trouble.

I show 1,193 current valid entries. There are another 400 hundred or so posts that are just discussion or cancelled (but not deleted) offers.

I like your ideas... but there might be the need for more than one volunteer in some states if it was broken down that way:

Entries by State:

California 98
Texas 58
Colorado 49
Washington 48
Virginia 45
Pennsylvania 37
North Carolina 35
New York 32
Florida 32
Georgia 31
Ohio 30
Arizona 28
Oregon 25
Tennessee 25
Illinois 24
Wisconsin 23
Missouri 21
New Mexico 21
Massachusetts 21
Michigan 21
Louisiana 16
Indiana 15
Kansas 15
Montana 14
Oklahoma 13
Alabama 13
New Hampshire 13
Minnesota 12
Maryland 12
Alaska 11
Vermont 11
New Jersey 11
Arkansas 10
Utah 10
Connecticut 10
Idaho 10
Iowa 10
Mississippi 10
Kentucky 9
Nevada 9
West Virginia 8
Nebraska 7
South Carolina 7
Wyoming 6
Maine 5
North Dakota 4
Deleware 2
South Dakota 1
Rhode Island 1


Entries by Country:
Canada 114 (could break that down further by province)
Australia 21
Great Britain 11
Mexico 9
Germany 8
New Zealand 7
Denmark 4
China 3
Switzerland 3
Scotland 3
Belgium 2
India 2
Brazil 2
Croatia 2
Netherlands 2
Portugal 2
Costa Rica 1
Chile 1
France 1
Thailand 1
Bulgaria 1
Bolivia 1
Colombia 1
Czech Republic 1
Estonia 1
Turkey 1
Ireland 1
Kuwait 1
Russia 1
Neapal 1
Nicaragua 1
Pakistan 1
Peru 1
Poland 1
Ecuador 1

Originally Posted by Jamie Z

Anyway, before we soil your great map thread any more, I suggest we ask that these posts be pruned and added to an entirely new thread.

Works for me, but I don't know who to ask. I've PM'd all the mods for the Trip Planning forum and never gotten a response.

[MitchG]

If you need a hand just ask. I'll take on all of Canada.

[GISdood]

Originally Posted by MitchG

If you need a hand just ask. I'll take on all of Canada.

I'd be willing to share that workload, Mitch...

And as my handle implies, I can certainly help out with the mapping side of things as well.

[MitchG]

Nice to hear from you. We'll see what develops on this issue. Looked at some of your trip reports. Sure miss fishing in the small lakes! Just big water fishing in this neck of the woods. Grayling will be running this week or next in the creeks so that should hold me for a while. Later.......

[GISdood]

Originally Posted by MitchG

Nice to hear from you. We'll see what develops on this issue. Looked at some of your trip reports. Sure miss fishing in the small lakes! Just big water fishing in this neck of the woods. Grayling will be running this week or next in the creeks so that should hold me for a while. Later.......

Mmmm.... grayling... yum.


Caught a few on the Finlay River north of the Williston reservoir...

[Primal Haj]

Good idea, I'd be willing to do Montana.

Craig

[wheatwhacker]

How about taking the tentspace idea to a separate site. eg http://tentspace.com/
Each member will fill in an application with info such kind of space, tools, safe parking, shower, etc.
Build the site with a map, click on country, state, or click on city and each member registered will be in the system by zip code.

So, for example, I want to stay in San Francisco.
I got to the site, click on CA or simply type in "san francisco"
Every member in the SF zip code will pop up.
You then send a mass email to each member and wait for responses.
If there are members who never respond, a polite email to remind them they are on the site and if they are not interested in hosting people, buzz off.

This is not the only motorcycle forum on the net, so the independent site could be used by multiple biker sites.

Opinions....