[Dixielandjazz] To All DJML Members

Jim O'Briant jobriant at garlic.com
Thu Jan 9 14:40:51 PST 2014


Steve Voce wrote:
> A lot of us wouldn't join Facebook at any price.
> I think it would be a foolish move.

Bill Haesler added:

> So do I.
> You would lose me immediately. 

===================

I find it ironic that we go on and on and on about how we need to court
younger audiences for Traditional Jazz -- yet when someone suggests that we
make our information and discussions available on a social media site where
our potential younger fans do most of their communicating, we get all huffy
and threaten to take our toys and go home.

First of all, the way I've read the message in this thread, the suggestion
was to create a DJML Facebook page as a supplement to -- NOT a replacement
for -- the DJML mailing list. 

I agree that island.net isn't meeting our needs, especially when it comes to
user support for technical issues (such as rejecting all messages from
EarthLink addresses). There are several other options for housing mailing
lists. My own recommendation would be Yahoo Groups. It's far from perfect,
but it works. I personally own about ten Yahoo Groups for various purposes,
and I subscribe to about 80 more, mostly music-related or RV-related groups.
99% of the time, if the list owner is conscientious, these work just fine.

I also agree that a DJML Group on Facebook would be a superb idea. It gives
the many musicians and bands who are already on Facebook another way to
network, and it gives us an entry into a place where we will find MANY more
young fans. As an example, we recently created a SBTJS (South Bay
Traditional Jazz Society) Facebook Group; about half the members are
long-time San Francisco Bay Area musicians and jazz fans, and about half are
20-somethings who are primarily interested in dancing -- and who are now
attending our monthly sessions because we have the music they love to dance
to.)

If the "powers that be" at DJML decide to do both -- find a new home for the
list and also create a Facebook Group -- it will be a win-win for all of us,
and also a win for the new young fans who will find us that way.

Those who choose not to join Facebook would still have the mailing list,
just as they have now, and those of us who are willing to change with the
times to reach new audiences will benefit from the dual approach.

That's my two cents worth, and it may cost you even less than two cents....

Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA
Tuba & Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers






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