International Representation

[Matthew Schenker]

Make sure your country is represented!

 

[VictorL]

What do you mean? Country of birth of country of residence?

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Pick the country you want to represent!

 

[Tezzer]

You forgot to include Tasmania ???

 

[Matthew Schenker]

You forgot to include Tasmania ???

Oh man, that's gonna throw off my finely planned alphabetical list!!!

Before I add Tasmania, could I see a show of hands --  how many Tasmanians do we have here?

Matthew

 

[Groggy]

You forgot to include Tasmania ???

Before I add Tasmania, could I see a show of hands --  how many Tasmanians do we have here?

Tasmania is part of Australia, but if you want to count them, a hand count is more accurate than a head count (in joke).

 

[FFlowboy]

Groggy,
I had a post deleted in Aus for using that kind of "in joke" - For shame

 

[ROb McGilp]

Well Tezzer, you'd have to include W.A. then, they seriously think they're another country!!

Albert

 

[Groggy]

Groggy,
I had a post deleted in Aus for using that kind of "in joke" - For shame

FF, I was referring to Taswegians having two heads (on their shoulders) nothing else.

 

[FFlowboy]

So was I Groggy, so was I.

 

[phill-k]

YES :'( the first kiwi

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Everyone,
It's time to re-emphasize the International Representation poll.

The majority of members continue to come from the US, but I have watched the number of people registering from Europe, Australia, Latin America, and Asia grow steadily in recent months.  Based on IP stats coming in from my Web host, there are many more members from around the world than are reflected in the poll numbers.  At this posting, only 215 people have voted in the poll.  That's only about 6% of our members!

Why am I bringing this up now?  Well, so far, Festool USA has carried the entire burden of answering member questions, even when those members are from outside the US.  I want to put some friendly pressure on European, Australian, Asian, and Latin American Festool branches to have more of a presence here, as members from those regions come to the forum asking good questions and seeking help. 

It would help justify the need for more international support if we showed international representation through higher poll numbers.

So, if you have not voted in the International Representation poll, please do so now!

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[mhch]

  Can't you display the total number of members near the number of voters,
 
  Of course, it would be best if that information is automatically extracted by a shell
  script running regularly on the server (or a similar idea). Automation is the only
  sure way of getting information

 

[Ned]

It's been a while since I registered, so please forgive me if it already works this way.

As part of the process when someone registers, automatically send a Private Message to them with a link to the Int'l Rep poll.

I'm talking PM, not the confirmation email.

'Course, they could ignore it.

Ned

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Everyone,
Current status:

• There are 3763 members.
• 230 members have voted in this poll.

That's only about 6%!  If you haven't voted, please do it now.  We need to know...

Matthew

 

[jonny round boy]

Matthew,

I'd guess that of that 3763 members, an awful lot of them don't check the site regularly. Why don't you send out an e-mail to all members, reminding them that the FOG is here, and asking them to complete the poll. I doubt very much that the 230 of us who've completed it would mind getting a reminder for something we've already done!

You could also add a banner near the top of the page asking people the same (If memory serves, I think you had one for a while before you changed the look of the site).

You might at the same time want to ask members to fill out their profile information more fully.

Also, you have England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as options, but not Northern Ireland (which anyone from NI or the RoI will tell you is quite different!!!).

 

[mhch]

  Would it be a bad idea to group England, Ireland, Scotland, etc ... into the UK ?

 

[mhch]

There are only about 300 members with more than 10 posts (roughly),
so comparing 230 to 3763 might be a bit pessimistic.

 

[dirtydeeds]

mathew.  there is a very simple reason why uk members ask questions here ................... its Festool UK themselves

they dont answer emails

IF festool uk do answer questions............ its done unofficialy and  "off the record"

if a regional manager contacts you know you are going to get an answer.... WRONG.... not in the case of festool uk

it took festool uk 3 weeks to give me a rubbish answer, festool usa's ceo christian o pm'd me directly and got me THE answer within a few days

festool uks website is dire, it has no tips or information like the usa site

it is more difficult to navigate than it should be and the poor search facility makes it even more difficult

it took nearly 3 years before festool uk had a uk website

AND festool uks website................ its done in germany and they dont keep it up to date

the http addresses on the festool uk site are in german, and as of this afternoon the list of exhibitions and shows is two months out of date. the domino has been in the shops nearly 4 weeks before it appeared on the uk website

all the usa members know the kappex is comming and have known it for months, festool uk were slightly different

they denied it existed

there is also an element of uk culture involved here. it is not just festool uk that have a problem with customer relations

the majority of uk companies pay only lip service to it AND it is part of the national culture to keep things secret

why are english newspapers so intrusive? because they know full well that denial is a way of life for politians, companies and civil servants

 

[nickao]

dirtydeeds I sympathize, Festool is lucky you even purchase their tools with that kind of service.

Nickao