Anybody ever use the Calendar?

[TicoGrande 0]

Every month, we get a lot of folks visiting our Forums. (Many thousands!)

 

We offer a Calendar so users can see what's going on in Costa Rica, but we have no idea if our members or our Readers think this service is of value or actually USE the information posted there.

 

So tell us what you think! Do you like the Calendar, want it changed? Is it helpful? Hate it? Love it? Never knew it existed?

 

You get the idea. Oh... and if you really DIDN'T know we had a Calendar, you can check it our by clicking on the word "Calendar" in the upper right hand corner of this screen.

 

I need answers... so participate please???

 

TicoGrande

[abd5741 0]

Don't yet reside in CR, so only check it occasionally to see how many postings to determine if this will be a good future source to gain knowledge about events/meetings.

 

Ted

[TicoGrande 0]

Thanks Pep... and from the early results of the Poll, you are not the only one.

 

This is a problem as we spend a lot of time adding new stuff to the Calendar each month.

 

We also encourage all Forum Members to add their own topics of interest, but that has been less than successful... possible becauseapparently not too many folks know it exists.

 

I will come up with some way to fix that!

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

 

TG

[Isabel 0]

Hi,

 

 

I could not find a form to use so I am guessing we answer this way.

 

 

I have looked at the calender and do look periodically. As our departure date approaches I will check it often as part of preparing for the trip. But as we don't currently live there I use it only to glean a little insight about life there.

 

 

Thanks,

Isabel

[Isabel 0]

OOPS Sorry!

 

 

I just found the form and voted.

 

 

It seems to me that I saw an article in The Tico Times years ago about a bead society. I have looked at your calender to see if they are on it ever ( that is if they

exist or not ! ).

 

 

Which brings me to the next question do you know if there is a bead society there?

 

 

Thanks for all your good work. I look forward tomeeting you in Costa Rica.

 

 

Isabel

[TicoGrande 0]

There IS a bead group here. I know that I read it somewhere.. but I have NO idea where it is.

 

Try a Post to the Living in Costa Rica Forum. Someone may know.

[Isabel 0]

Hi Tico Grande,

 

 

Well at least I know that I am not imagining things!

 

Thanks, I will post in the suggested category.

 

 

Isabel

[TicoGrande 0]

Clearly you are not

 

I guess am going to have do a mass mailing to all Members of the Forums to get the word out!

 

TG

[Epicatt2 0]

Hola TicoGrande,

 

Those poll figures on 'calendar awareness' are interesting. And, like you, I am not at all surprised that there are so many ARCReños who don't/didn't know about it. I didn't either before quite recently as I never noticed the small link that is always there on the right side near the top of the forums page when it is open...

 

The calendar is helpful -within reason- that is to say, for what it provides. I think it can handle more, but everyone's likes and needs are diferent, so until you get more feedback, who knows for sure what other things would be most welcome/useful on it.

 

In my case I would like to see announcements for things like the little local orchid shows that pop up almost unannounced unless one combs thru all the newspapers every day. There is about one, small, regional orchid show mounted every month somewhere in Costa Rica, plus the huge National Orchd Exposition in San Jose each March. Other similar items could be announced, like bromeliad shows, tropical plant shows, etcetera.

 

Certainly you would soon know from the feedback you would get whether the Forum readers liked or disliked the imput on the calendar.

 

Also, if one of us finds some interesting show or activity, say the Little Theatre's next production dates*, or various music concerts*, and would like to announce it on the calendar, how do we do that? Or must we submit it to Forums Administration for them to insert?

 

* Even though items such as these may be announced in papers like the TicoTimes or La Nacion, not everyone reads them so putting this info in the calendar had a useful immediacy for anyone who is in the process of planning an upcoming trip to Ticolandia...

 

Well, that's my imput. Hope it is useful for you.

 

Cheers!

 

Paul

[todavia atrampado a Tampa]

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[TicoGrande 0]

Hiya Paul,

 

Thanks for the input.

 

I agree with everything you wrote. The Calendar could be more useful than it is now if it were maintained. The problem is time and apathy.

 

Time? I already spend perhaps 5-6 hours monthly on Forum business. This includes replies, posts, maintenance, updates, mods, and the 50-60 emails I get monthly about the Forums. When I get time, I look at some of the newspapers and add new events I think might be of interest. The problem is I don;t know everything (ike the orchids for example) or what interest people. So I add the big stuff.

 

Apathy? People who run these events seemingly don't care. I have written at least 40 emails to various garden clubs, womens groups, mens clubs, political organizations, newcomers groups, etc. inviting them to add their events to the Calendar. ALL of them write back and tell me how great that is and thank you and they appreciate the interest, and yadda yadda, and only ONE has ever posted a single event in over a year. This to a web site that receives many thousands of new visitors every month. Go figure.

 

I was actually hoping that some one of our Members (you Paul????) would step up and take ownership of this. Any Member can add Events, erase them or modify them. It does not take an administrator. So it would be pretty simple to just do as you mentioned... read the Tico Times, AM Costa Rica, La Nacion, and some of the new groups, etc, and add events for everything they see whether they have a personal interest or not.. The calendar allows for repeating events, so for those events that repeat, only one entry is needed.

 

SO Paul... if you or any Member reads this and would like to help out the Forums, please either email me... or just start doing it. Like everything else with the Forum, it is an unpaid job, but every one in a while somebody sends you a nice email thanking you for your efforts. You do not have to live in Costa Rica to do this...

 

TG

 

PS... You must be a registered member to Post to the Calendar, but that is FREE

[Epicatt2 0]

Well, TG...

 

I am not averse to putting info onto the calendar occasionally. Let's see what evolves. As to assuming the calendar on a full-time basis, I could consider that seriously for later on after I am down there permanently. But for now I am moderating one of the other more active BBs about Costa Rica and that -as you can appreciate- does eat up some time.

 

Still, if I find anything interesting and can figure out the mechanics of posting to the calendar I'll add it on...

 

Cheers!

 

Paul

[still stuck in Tampa]

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Edited October 24, 2004 by Epicatt2

[TicoGrande 0]

Great.... I wasn't trying to put the entire burden on you... but since you seem to know a lot about CR and the goings on... I figured it might be fun for you and very helpful to us.

 

Thanks!

 

TG

 

If anybody else wants to add their event(s), please feel free to do so!

[Epicatt2 0]

Not a problem, TG, but... pardon me while I stir the cauldron a little more:

 

Is there some way to get a sense of what people might want to see on the calendar -or NOT want to see, even? That way it might help to avoid listing those things that are of little or no interest to the Forums Members.

 

Is there a way to poll them as to what general topics they would like to be apprised of? Of course some are thinking about moving here, some are planning a trip (soon) to CRica, and others are already living here, so I realize interests will be varied. Still, some sort of 'barometer' would be useful for helping know what to post.

 

¡Puras Fechas!

 

Paul M.

[in again temperate Tampa today]

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Edited November 19, 2008 by Epicatt2

[TicoGrande 0]

Our users range from folks visiting CR to people who intent to retire here, work here, or just plan for extended stays.

 

Thus just about anything is fair game. Additionally, folks sometimes don't KNOW what they want until they see it is there... a good example might be the Little Theatre thing or Orchids. I never knew about the orchids and I would go if I did!

 

You get the point....

 

TG

[Epicatt2 0]

Our users range from folks visiting CR to people who intent to retire here, work here, or just plan for extended stays. ... folks sometimes don't KNOW what they want until they see it is there...

TG,

 

Thanx for your prompt reply. [ wink! ]

 

I'll try to put some orchid info up when I know about it.

 

Paul

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