Central UK Summary - May/June 2016
Freegle UK Central: Summary of items of interest
May (346 posts) and June (197 posts) 2016
Volunteer Support role
There were two main items discussed in May and June. One was the creation of a temporary paid volunteer support role, subsequently redefined as ‘volunteer co-ordinator, to be financed by £10,000 (approx) of the Microsoft money. Some members expressed concern over the need for the role, and exactly how the incumbent would operate.
The job description for and specification of the role can be found here http://ilovefreegle.org/FreegleVolunteerSupport.pdf . It is hoped to find someone new to Freegle to take up the position; consequently it is being advertised in a number of ways, including via facebook. It is also intended to discuss with interested parties how they would deal with possible resistance to the role from existing volunteers.
Next Door
The other main item discussed was Next Door, which describes itself as ‘the private social network for your neighbourhood’ https://nextdoor.co.uk/ . It started in the US and hopes to expand into the UK. It is a bit like Streetlife – see message 58539 for a summary and possible benefits for Freegle.
They hope to launch fully in the UK in late summer and in the meantime are looking for volunteers to establish local groups. Some Freegle mods have already done so; if these early groups go well, and it looks like there are mutual benefits to be had, it may be possible to set up some kind of partnership and/or technical integration, but that is some way down the line.
Courier scam news
A lot of the old faithfuls turned up again in May and June – plasma TV, Phillips TV, embroidery machine, washing machine, electric bike, chainsaw. Some scam posts are now coming from trashnothing members, and not all are from new members either – so stay vigilant!
Freestock
A reminder that the annual Freestock gathering will take place over the weekend 15-18 July 2016 at the Hertford Camping and Caravanning Club Site at Hertford. You can find more information about it at message number 58482, or in the Freestock café group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FreeStock-Cafe/info
Taking members off moderation
There was some discussion about when to take members off moderation or even to have a totally un-moderated group – see message 58669, and following. Edward is intending that the new platform will have a much better approach to moderation, but initially it will continue to follow the yahoo groups’ model.
New platform – update
Edward has prepared a slideshow of the timeline for the development of the new platform. You can see it here http://www.slideshare.net/secret/eeisfJPdlCQcHb - ETA - Nov/Dec 2016. Thanks, Edward!
Group profile pictures
It is now possible to include a group profile picture and a tagline in emails and on the site. Christian has offered to create a freegle heart logo for individual groups (see message 58832) but groups could also use a picture specific to their town/location.
Publicity tools
A new page has been added to the wiki listing three publicity tools available to groups, namely the number of active posts, and weight and map stats – see here http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Publicity_tools
Working group reports
Tech
- April 2016 Freegle_Tech_Report_16-04-30
- May 2016 Freegle_Tech_Report_16-05-31
Development
- April 2016
Freegle Development Group Report 2016 04
- May 2016
Development_Group_Report_2016_05
Other reports
- Mentor Team
Freegle Board Minutes
- April 2016 Freegle_Board_Minutes_April_2016
- May 2016 Freegle_Board_Minutes_May_2016
Liz S
July 2016
