Hi John (and everyone else!) Sorry for not writing earlier, I'm in Brazil in the field so haven't had the time to respond with a well thought out response and plan of attack for increasing the societies visibility and involvement from members (as well as attracting new ones!).
First off don't be put off by one person's off hand (and hurtful) remark. I (and I believe the membership at large) appreciate anyone who is taking an interest in the society and willing to actually do things to further it (such as yourself!) I completely agree that we need to increase our online presences, both in terms of a static site/blog and our Facebook page. The Facebook page has already gotten over 100 'likes' since we started it in mid-November with our peek 'reach' running at 240 people! I would say that is not so bad and shows a real interest in our society and the information on the Facebook page. This can only get better, especially if more people become involved in posting items, ideas, field trips, cool insects, etc. Our last meeting/talk was one of the best attended in a while and it would be great to see that kind of turn out consistently. Social media can only help that to happen. Please, anyone who is interested in contributing to the FB page please let me know and I will add you as an admin so you can post as the society. It would be great to have other Entomology related events posted on the website (i.e. entomological talks happening at the universities, things happening in related groups etc.) We could easily add a blog to the website (or change the website to a blog) using Wordpress or a similar blog site. This is very easy to setup and provides a more static presence as we can create static pages associated with it detailing the purpose of the society, contacts etc. This also serves as a more traditional style medium for written reports, and interesting topical articles if members are inclined to write them (and I hope that some will be!) I know that our society has a wide range of backgrounds, interests and ages, and I believe this is one of our strengths. However the only way that the society will continue to exist is if we continue to attract and inform new (typically younger) members, and the way this happens these days is by maintaining an online presence. We have a culture that is dedicated to reductionism and societies like ours are doing our best to counteract that by sharing our love of whole organisms, their interactions with each other and how the whole picture fits together. Let's do anything we can to help make that message heard and embrace any mode (be it electronic, paper, fireworks or zeppelins) we can of helping other to see our passion and appreciate our six-legged (and sometimes 8- or more-legged) friends. Best wishes Chris PS I forgot to mention that of course the listserv is an important component to keeping people involved, without it we wouldn't be having this discussion! Dr. Chris Borkent Postdoctoral Researcher Plant Pest Diagnostics Center California Department of Food and Agriculture 3294 Meadowview Road Sacramento, CA 95832, USA email: chris.bork...@mail.mcgill.ca<mailto:chris.bork...@mail.mcgill.ca> phone: (916) 262-1152 fax: (916) 262-1190 http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/ppd/staff/cborkent.html From: pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto:pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Dooley, John W - APHIS Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 5:59 PM To: Kipling (Kip) Will (kipw...@berkeley.edu) Cc: PCES@lists.berkeley.edu; T.C. MacRae (ted.c.mac...@monsanto.com) Subject: Re: [PCES] RESENT: PCES I have a better idea for those that hate blather. Perhaps you should remove me from the chairperson position. I do not have time for people that push my way or the highway and contribute nothing. Obviously, trying to discuss and get ideas in a general setting appears to be upsetting to some. Guess that is democracy (anti political correctness. It has been a week and have gotten only one response (totally negative-removed the name for obvious reasons). Obviously doing something wrong. John William Dooley MS Organismal Biology, SJSU USDA, APHIS, PPQ 389 Oyster Point Blvd, Suite 2A South San Francisco, Ca 94080 650-8769093 (office) 650-8760915 (fax) 650-3338426 (cell) Personal email: padraicsiob...@hotmail.com<mailto:padraicsiob...@hotmail.com> Subject: RE: RESENT: PCES how did we ever get into all this blather. i have been a member of the pacific coast ent soc sind 1956. i get much much more work done without all this social media blather. remove me from you list and i may not renew in the future. nor support the student scholarship much longer. cheers! ________________________________ From: pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu<mailto:pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu> [pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] on behalf of Dooley, John W - APHIS [john.w.doo...@aphis.usda.gov] Sent: Monday, March 18, 2013 11:15 PM To: Kipling (Kip) Will (kipw...@berkeley.edu<mailto:kipw...@berkeley.edu>) Cc: PCES@lists.berkeley.edu<mailto:PCES@lists.berkeley.edu>; T.C. MacRae (ted.c.mac...@monsanto.com<mailto:ted.c.mac...@monsanto.com>) Subject: [PCES] RESENT: PCES Guess you cannot send 'PCES@lists.berkeley.edu' as a bcc John William Dooley MS Organismal Biology, SJSU USDA, APHIS, PPQ 389 Oyster Point Blvd, Suite 2A South San Francisco, Ca 94080 650-8769093 (office) 650-8760915 (fax) 650-3338426 (cell) Personal email: padraicsiob...@hotmail.com<mailto:padraicsiob...@hotmail.com> From: Dooley, John W - APHIS Sent: Monday, March 18, 2013 1:36 PM To: Kipling (Kip) Will (kipw...@berkeley.edu<mailto:kipw...@berkeley.edu>) Cc: T.C. MacRae (ted.c.mac...@monsanto.com<mailto:ted.c.mac...@monsanto.com>) Subject: PCES Kip, Ted, Frederique and others interested, I know that some are opposed to FaceBook and other social media. However, I believe we should take advantage of Facebook, Listserv, and the website. Facebook would be more important in bring in the students and younger professionals and we have one already available. I like the idea that Ted raised using a blog on FaceBook and what about (is it feasible) having a blog section on the website as well? Need to get this going but I feel like the blind in the lead. What about these ideas: 1. Contact the biology departments at the universities and colleges to see if any of the entomology clubs would be interested in joining/accessing the FB and Website? 2. Can we put in links to the website to online identification keys (e.g. Insecta Mundi, Zootaxa-free ones, bugGuide, USDA-SEL-ARS (scalenet, APHIDS, and Aleyrodid info) 3. Link to the different collections that would be helpful (e.g. CASC, CSAC, PPQ, Essig Museum) Any other ideas? What should we do first? John William Dooley MS Organismal Biology, SJSU USDA, APHIS, PPQ 389 Oyster Point Blvd, Suite 2A South San Francisco, Ca 94080 650-8769093 (office) 650-8760915 (fax) 650-3338426 (cell) Personal email: padraicsiob...@hotmail.com<mailto:padraicsiob...@hotmail.com> -----Original Message----- Hi John, I probably have as much blogging and Facebook experience as any of us, so I'll offer my thoughts now as an early contribution to the conversation. There are a couple of ways to "blog" using FaceBook. The first would be to simply treat FB like a blog - status updates and photo uploads can be used as periodic posts. The other way is to develop a true blog on some other hosting service (I use WordPress for my own blog) and have blog posts automatically fed to the FB page. Either way is fairly easy (once you become familiar with the platform) but face an uphill climb in terms of gaining audience - a FB page must be "Like" in order for it to show up in somebody's news feed, and a blog must either be subscribed to or otherwise bookmarked for somebody to receive notification whenever new content is posted. In my opinion, how to blog is not so much the problem versus who will blog. We have FB pages both for the Society and for the journal. So far, I've been using the PPE FB page to post status of PPE issues and occasional links to articles of general interest to editors, reviewers or authors. I do also occasionally blog on behalf of PPE on my own blog - usually longer, more informative posts with figures or multiple components that don't fit nicely on FB. I'm not sure that anyone else has ever posted on the page, although I have given administrative access to all members of the PPE Editorial Board (at least those that are on FB that I am aware of). Chris Borkent is managing the PCES FB page (I've added him to this email thread), but I believe so far only Kip and I have been given content creator privileges on that page. Perhaps an even more basic question we should ask is "what to blog" - if everyone has a clear understanding of what message we want to send out and with what frequency, perhaps it will be easier to enlist the help of others in doing it. However we decide to proceed, please count on my assistance. Best regards, Ted Best regards, Ted ************************************* Ted C. MacRae | Senior Research Entomologist & Project Lead Monsanto Company | 700 Chesterfield Parkway West | Chesterfield, MO 63017 | U.S.A. office 636.737.6793 | cell 314.323.1497 | fax 636.737.6988 | email ted.c.mac...@monsanto.com<mailto:ted.c.mac...@monsanto.com> Managing Editor | The Pan-Pacific Entomologist (Journal of the Pacific Coast Entomological Society) Newsletter Editor | Nature Notes (Journal of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society) Layout Editor | Cicindela (A Quarterly Journal Devoted to Cicindelidae) Website | http://beetlesinthebush.wordpress.com/ (Experiences and reflections of a Missouri Entomologist) -----Original Message----- From: pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu<mailto:pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu> [mailto:pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Frederique Lavoipierre Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 2:07 PM To: D. Christopher Rogers; RLA Cc: PCES@lists.berkeley.edu<mailto:PCES@lists.berkeley.edu> Subject: Re: Social media Although I understand that many people do not use Facebook, many others find it a convenient way to keep up with news about interest groups. It is widely used by students! Facebook is a great way to connect on a regular basis with like-minded people; and useful when you have an organization with far-flung members. It could be especially convenient as a last-minute forum to connect with group members for outings (Eg: Who would like to join me at Fairfield Osborn Preserve tomorrow and collect aquatic invertebrates? Send me a message for details.), including those who are not in the Bay Area. Also a fun place to share photos. It takes very little time to maintain a Facebook page; I rarely post more than 2 or 3 items/week (In my experience, pages that post too often become an annoyance.) I currently administrate pages for the SSU Nature Preserves, Insecta-Palooza, and Garden Classroom. You can have multiple administrators to track the page; I think that Facebook is an easily managed 'extra' for those who like to use it, and does not take away from other communication efforts in which you are engaged. Frederique -----Original Message----- From: pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu<mailto:pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu> [mailto:pces-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Brad Kelley Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 3:05 PM To: PCES@lists.berkeley.edu<mailto:PCES@lists.berkeley.edu> Subject: RE: PCES SMO Outreach I have some suggestions regarding this listserv. I recently joined after hearing that PCES had opened up a listserv. Several Bay Area insect enthusiasts and I have been discussing how we could ask identification questions, discuss new finds and arrange field trips. This listserv might meet those needs but I'm unsure what the policies will be. I suggest opening up the listserv to nonmembers as well as members. This will allow enthusiasts to get involved in the Society, get updates and announcements and presumably then become dues paying members. There seems to be plenty of interest in insects in our area but there is not an easy online forum for sharing those interests. I doubt there will be much of a problem with spam and trolls, and I am willing to assist with moderation of the listserv. A couple of examples of successful open forums are Entomo-L and Sam Droege's Beemonitoring Yahoo Group: https://listserv.uoguelph.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A0=ENTOMO-L http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/beemonitoring/ Thanks for considering my suggestions. Brad Kelley Fairfax John William Dooley MS Organismal Biology, SJSU USDA, APHIS, PPQ 389 Oyster Point Blvd, Suite 2A South San Francisco, Ca 94080 650-8769093 (office) 650-8760915 (fax) 650-3338426 (cell) Personal email: padraicsiob...@hotmail.com<mailto:padraicsiob...@hotmail.com> This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.