Over the next 2-3 months, we'll be making some changes to the ski tours, meets and events pages (including member-to-member tours) on our club website. These pages are "core business” for our club. We'll also be having a look at the safety messages we use for our club tours and for informal meet-ups generated through Facebook and WhatsApp.
Before we make some changes, we'd like to hear your thoughts and ideas on these webpages and the safety messages we use.
Possible changes to the website
We're not planning a major overhaul of these pages, but we are looking at:
- providing a better search function to help you to easily identify which tours have spaces available, where the tours are, etc, and to make the tables easier to use on mobile devices;
- making it easier for you to find the tour application form;
- simplifying and condensing the important content at the top and bottom of the tour and meets pages;
- whether to create a page offering advice on setting up member-led tours and meetups through forums, WhatsApp groups and Facebook private group;
- whether we should have a separate list/page for training events (they're currently listed under "club events").
Safety messages
For a ski touring club, safety is always very important. We need to keep our safety messages under regular review and improve them where necessary.
One reason for this is that we have a wide range of skills, experience and aspirations amongst our 1500 members.
We've also seen a big growth in informal ski touring meet-ups (driven mainly by new WhatsApp groups) - great, but do we have the right safety messages for these given that people might be meeting up for the first time? Any informal event or meetup arranged through the website or any other club media (such as WhatsApp and Facebook groups) with more than 24 hours notice is regarded as a "club event" in insurance terms.
Another issue is that the page for member-to-member tours looks "official" but the tours proposed aren’t sanctioned or approved by the club.
So, we'd like to hear your thoughts and ideas on:
- what safety messages are needed to guide members who might be meeting-up with other members, often for the first time, with different skills, experience, etc;
- how to improve the safety messages we use and how to make them more prominent;
- how to ensure that all club leaders, and members who wish to put forward a member-to-member tour or meet-up, have an up-to-date and reasonably full profile;
- how to make it easier for you (and leaders) to find key resources, such as the tour application form, examples of group kit lists, member profiles, leader subsidy form, guidance for leaders, tour grades, etc.
Please send us your thoughts and ideas
We'd like to hear from you about these issues and ideas. Please get back with your ideas and comments by the end of June at the latest. Please either comment on this forum topic or send your thoughts to comms@eagleskiclub.org.uk,
NickThorburn
A feature to show how many places are left on a tour would be handy. This could be set by the organiser and would give potential applicants a nudge if they see it filling up. Something similar could be done with waiting list places as well, so applicants can see how many others are in the queue.
A separate page for training events would be a good idea, I think.
As for safety messages why not have a click-through screen that comes up when you apply for a member-to-member tour? "I accept that etc etc"?
FreddySimpson
It would be great to be able to search tours by grading, eg ‘all s4 tours’ or ‘all e2 tours’
RichardDavison
Thanks to both Nick and Freddy for your comments. On the searching tours by grading, I like the idea of being able to do this but quite a few tours are graded as S3/4 or M1/2, so we either have to come up with a strong search system or ask tour leaders to keep to single grades (I'm not sure which of these is the more difficult ask!). We'll have a look at these suggestions as we go through the review.