Firstly, I take issue with Ron’s comment that “…the Reports of Recent Walks web-page is nothing more that a crude blog….”. I know he is referring to the technology involved. I am referring to the content. Contributors to the Weekly Reports have hitherto taken great care with their copy to ensure that it is readable, factual and informative, mindful that it constitutes the “shop window” of our Club. If this were not so, I know that the editor would, and has on occasion quite rightly edited the piece to make it presentable. The Weekly report is rather more refined than the Blog and I think we should keep it, and keep it so.
In contrast, a blog is full of personal opinions as well as facts, often written hurriedly and without the care and attention one would give a more important piece of writing. All bloggers know and accept this and it in no way detracts from the value of the Blog and the important role it plays. However, neither Club members nor members of the public will plough through all this stuff to find out what we did last week, or obtain a clear picture of what our Club does and stands for.
Let us use up to date technology to publish the weekly reports, but keep it under the control of an editor. If this task is too onerous for one person, we should appoint a small number of additional members to assist.
The Diary of course predates the Website by many years. Yes, it is a tradition. It is also a record of what the Club actually does, as opposed to what we intend to do (the programme). It is read every week, and information extracted by the Club archivist (task currently being performed by Gerry). The information assists those producing the programme, the weekly reports, the annual report, supports grant applications, and so on. Other media can present this information but there is no more immediate and accurate means of gathering it than the members who participated writing it down immediately after the walk.
I can understand that sometimes members may be too tired or too embarrassed to write something meaningful, poetical, philosophical, original, funny, scathing, intelligent, outrageous, or useful. Please don’t bother. Just ensure that you or someone in your party writes down the day and date, which hills you did, which routes you took, and whom you walked with. That will do thank you. If you didn’t do the walk on the programme, a reason why would be helpful. Or if it was just due to weather or conditions on the Hill, a description of these would be useful.
AndrewG
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2 comments:
That's a pretty reasoned piece Andrew, and as I commented earlier I'm sure the committee will come to the correct decision, which will hopefully ease Ron's workload at the same time. Thanks also for clarifying what is useful input into the diary - I've always been a bit confused !
I read with interest the arguments for and against the Blog, Reports of Recent Walks and the Diary.
Whilst mulling over these things I read Andrew's report of last week's walk to The Saddle. I was immediately struck by the fact that it contained all the information which might be needed by an archivist. Provided that all future reports followed that formula, the diary would be rendered obsolete.
I agree that the Blog is no substitute for the Reports of Recent Walks, but I think it could well be a substitute for the Newsletter.
Thus, some of the repetitious and overlapping procedures currently employed by the Club would be streamlined and simplified.
There was once a time when the word traditionalist carried connotations of excellence and correctness, but the world is moving on too fast for that to be any longer the case. Efficiency and progress leave little room for traditions which are cumbersome and pointless, however comfortable they are.
The only outstanding problem relates to those members without computers. Someone with a fast computer and a good printer could perhaps be persuaded to send them both a hard copy every quarter.
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