<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi Julie and Lorraine,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I can definitely set it up via the free trial, and we can test it ourselves briefly to make sure it works the way we need it to work. Then we could invite the folks that attended Briana and Danielle’s workshop. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The email invitation could include a brief paragraph about how this grew out of the conference workshop, thanking Briana and Danielle, and that it’s a ‘beta’ (test) for a new CCGA resource.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Are Briana and Danielle okay with the possibility of CCGA creating a member-wide resource that grows beyond their workshop participants?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Amy<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Apr 30, 2019, at 11:20 AM, Julie Samuels <<a href="mailto:jsamuels1966@gmail.com" class="">jsamuels1966@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">This does sound good and I also think we should try it out. Yes, also, for an introduction maybe saying the suggestion came out of the conference workshop by gardeners attending and maybe that it's a "trial" or experiment to see how it works?</div></div><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 11:58 AM Lorraine Kells <<a href="mailto:lxkells@gmail.com" class="">lxkells@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br class=""></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr" class="">Yes, I agree. Do you need more input ie. emails from the workshop registration to notify those folks of this forum? Do you need a an introductory piece? <div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Lorraine <br class=""></div></div><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 11:50 AM Amy Olson <<a href="mailto:akeo@me.com" target="_blank" class="">akeo@me.com</a>> wrote:<br class=""></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="">It looks like the 14 day free trial does not require a credit card.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It’s a highly rated company at first glance and I like that it’s hosted on Website Toolbox’s server and the maintenance is included in the monthly fee.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">As an idea, we could launch this as a ‘beta’ and when and if we decide to move forward with a formal CCGA membership program, this resource forum could become part of the package of benefits.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Amy<br class=""><div class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Apr 29, 2019, at 11:13 AM, Lorraine Kells <<a href="mailto:lxkells@gmail.com" target="_blank" class="">lxkells@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="gmail-m_-3082102816300390572gmail-m_3601297427720099332Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="auto" class="">This sounds exciting. Does the 14 day free require anything beyond that? Sometimes you just get the leader but have to then take at least a few months.<div dir="auto" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="auto" class="">This free trial would at least give us tome to go to coordinating committee and finance committee for approval.</div><div dir="auto" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="auto" class="">Lorraine</div></div><br class=""><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Apr 29, 2019, 10:59 AM Amy Olson <<a href="mailto:akeo@me.com" target="_blank" class="">akeo@me.com</a>> wrote:<br class=""></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="">Hi Lorraine, JW and Julie,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I did some research and found this ‘forum’ plug in for Word Press:</div><div class=""><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/website-toolbox-forums/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">https://wordpress.org/plugins/website-toolbox-forums/</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">This plug in would require participants to register on the CCGA website to participate.</div><div class="">It costs $15/month and would be hosted on the vendor’s server, not the CCGA hosting server.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I feel this product could be beneficial if the goal is to create a 'CCGA Gardeners’ Resource Forum' and promote it beyond what Briana and Danielle are asking for as an extension of their workshop.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It’s free for 14 days, should we test it?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Does anyone know of a free alternative for setting up a forum?</div><div class="">Perhaps a Google Group?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Amy</div><div class=""><br class=""><div class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Apr 23, 2019, at 6:08 PM, Lorraine Kells <<a href="mailto:lxkells@gmail.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank" class="">lxkells@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="gmail-m_-3082102816300390572gmail-m_3601297427720099332m_-46704187543776221Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class="">Hello,<div dir="auto" class=""></div>
<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I finally had a phone conversation with Briana Villarubia who with Danielle Russell led the workshop,<b class=""> Organizing Your Garden Team- Ideas and Tools for Change</b>. As you may recall the presenters stated they never got to the heart of their presentation because everyone had problems to discuss. The take away from the conference was that the folks in the workshop wanted a forum where they and other gardeners could continue networking and post issues and gardeners with helpful solutions could post their suggestions and fixes. Both Briana and Danielle have made this clear in recent phone calls and email. I believe we misinterpreted what was being sought because we had not had a detailed conversation with either of them. I can go over the email attachment they sent or forward it. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">To be clear, these gardeners at the workshop were not soliciting a meeting, a workshop or anyget-together with CCGA nor do they seek to be led by CCGA. They want to communicate with each other in discussions unbound by presenters. Obviously a forum would need an administrator that sees ensure people post respectfully. There would be a boiler plate about blocking a sender from future posts. This might be one of the website editors who gets an alert when posts are made or someone checks on it once a week. I don't really know how this gets set up but I hope we can try it out. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Please feel free to communicate with Briana or Danielle if you feel this needs more input from them. Anyone willing to take this to our website?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Lorraine</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></div>
</div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></div></blockquote></div>
</div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></div></blockquote></div>
</blockquote></div>
</div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>