Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi guys! It was a very good and, I hope, productive meeting 🙂 I met with Joe, his boss Graeme and their boss Owen (who started with them just a couple of months ago). All are very pleased with the way the forum has been running. We discussed the rebranding of DUK first, and although many people seem to think it is a costly and pointless exercise, I think I have to agree with it. Their research has shown that people aren't familiar with the current logo, don't understand what the charity does or has to offer - and this is amongst all groups, diabetic or not. This led on to a discussion of people's perception of DUK both here and the wider population, and they accepted that it is sometimes negative since most people encounter the charity when reading the media reports on obesity etc. and don't realise the good work they do. I suggested it would be a good idea if we could perhaps keep people updated with research projects and campaigns that DUK are involved in and this was thought to be a good idea. They also said that a proper process would be put in place so that, if needed, we would have access to their Careline staff who are more qualified than us to answer some questions.
After rebranding, we discussed all the suggestions for software enhancements, not in detail, but the bottom line is that we should get an upgrade to vbulletin which will then hopefully allow us to implement some of the enhancements being requested. It is likely that some alterations will be made to the current appearance of the forum (the ?supported by? graphic will have to change, plus a colour change from pink to blue) before the upgrade to the new version.
The current structure works well, so no sections will be added or removed - no splitting into different types etc., although I am still thinking about where the DUK updates and news about research projects they are involved in might best be placed, so that might get a section in the Information part of the forum, with pointers posted in the General Message board when new updates come in. We also discussed improving ease of use and access to the forum from mobile devices, Another good idea from your suggestions was the facility to ?tweet? or share a post or thread directly to Twitter or Facebook.
Promotion of the forum was very high on the agenda. We discussed posters for surgeries and clinics, and I was interested to learn that a lot of these places are provided with such things by commercial companies under contract, which is why the doctors and nurses often won?t put up the posters when you take them in. The idea of ?business cards?, however, was thought to be a good one, as a number of these could be given to DSNs etc. to just hand to patients rather than taking up display space on notice boards. It was agreed that the forum should be given at least equal billing on the DUK website as other social media sites so people are aware that it is an alternative route for support, so anywhere other sites are mentioned, the forum will be too.
Balance was discussed in some detail, and the idea of a column in each issue giving a ?flavour? of what the forum has to offer was well-received. We should also get a more prominent billing in each issue, and another suggestion was that, in the letters section, some of the ?letters? might actually be posts from the forum with a footnote indicating the source (as in ?via email?, we would get ?from the forum?). I also suggested that a prominent advert might be placed in the ?Beginner?s Guides? that DUK produce for Type 1 and Type 2, and it was agreed this was a good idea and worked well with the rebranding exercise since publications will be changing gradually as old stock with the old branding gets used up and replaced with the new branding,
I am sure there were many more things discussed, but my mind has just gone blank! Hopefully, if I have missed anything major Joe?s notes will remind me. The good news for all of us is that DUK are very enthusiastic about continuing its support for the forum and want to help it grow and reach many more people. This does not come at the expense of everyone?s freedom to express their views about the charity, good or otherwise, they need to know how people feel about them so that they can look for ways to improve.
After the meeting, Joe took me down to his part of the office where I met his team, who are a great bunch of people! I think we managed to achieve a lot in just under two hours!
🙂
After rebranding, we discussed all the suggestions for software enhancements, not in detail, but the bottom line is that we should get an upgrade to vbulletin which will then hopefully allow us to implement some of the enhancements being requested. It is likely that some alterations will be made to the current appearance of the forum (the ?supported by? graphic will have to change, plus a colour change from pink to blue) before the upgrade to the new version.
The current structure works well, so no sections will be added or removed - no splitting into different types etc., although I am still thinking about where the DUK updates and news about research projects they are involved in might best be placed, so that might get a section in the Information part of the forum, with pointers posted in the General Message board when new updates come in. We also discussed improving ease of use and access to the forum from mobile devices, Another good idea from your suggestions was the facility to ?tweet? or share a post or thread directly to Twitter or Facebook.
Promotion of the forum was very high on the agenda. We discussed posters for surgeries and clinics, and I was interested to learn that a lot of these places are provided with such things by commercial companies under contract, which is why the doctors and nurses often won?t put up the posters when you take them in. The idea of ?business cards?, however, was thought to be a good one, as a number of these could be given to DSNs etc. to just hand to patients rather than taking up display space on notice boards. It was agreed that the forum should be given at least equal billing on the DUK website as other social media sites so people are aware that it is an alternative route for support, so anywhere other sites are mentioned, the forum will be too.
Balance was discussed in some detail, and the idea of a column in each issue giving a ?flavour? of what the forum has to offer was well-received. We should also get a more prominent billing in each issue, and another suggestion was that, in the letters section, some of the ?letters? might actually be posts from the forum with a footnote indicating the source (as in ?via email?, we would get ?from the forum?). I also suggested that a prominent advert might be placed in the ?Beginner?s Guides? that DUK produce for Type 1 and Type 2, and it was agreed this was a good idea and worked well with the rebranding exercise since publications will be changing gradually as old stock with the old branding gets used up and replaced with the new branding,
I am sure there were many more things discussed, but my mind has just gone blank! Hopefully, if I have missed anything major Joe?s notes will remind me. The good news for all of us is that DUK are very enthusiastic about continuing its support for the forum and want to help it grow and reach many more people. This does not come at the expense of everyone?s freedom to express their views about the charity, good or otherwise, they need to know how people feel about them so that they can look for ways to improve.
After the meeting, Joe took me down to his part of the office where I met his team, who are a great bunch of people! I think we managed to achieve a lot in just under two hours!
🙂
