ART CHAT revisited/again

May be a2k should have a seperate page highlighted to see who are all available and corresponding time of their place to indicate a hookup.

Uh, this is highlighted! It's a featured Topic....

What I should do is re-post it in the subscribers forum, since you have to subscribe to be in the chat room, and I should repost it each Friday as a new post, to catch more notice. You're right, it isn't catching attention.

So how goes it Osso, is the Cyber Art Forum still on for Sundays? I have a computer now and can help in getting it started again if you like.

My time is limited as I am currently engaged in a very unartistic but creative endeavor. However, I now have a computer at home again and can get the invitations out.

As for time of day I can do anything since I am up at all hours these days studying and painting.

Can you believe it I am finally a busy person like the rest of you!

Glad to see you back, Joanne! dunno, I kind of pooped out on hanging around every sunday at 5:00 my time for a half hour or forty five minutes, with no visitors, except for the times there were and it was wonderful.

I think the whole thing of posting a theme and trying to get comments on it within the art chat and also having a thread to comment on worked only a couple of times, very slightly, and was a lot of work. I remember posting photo links etc., on an art chat related thread, for about two hours on Manet and Velasquez and Goya and having virtually no responses. Forget that.

I think art chat lends itself more to just "catching up, whatcha doing" between folks interested in art (at all, not just those who call themselves artists) and some of the fun I had was talking to some people who just clicked on the chat room willy-nilly, and not so much about art as just talking.

And to some extent we do that all the time on a2k anyway.
So, I'll check in if people decide on a time, but I am not interested in keeping it going weeks at a time by myself any more. And remember, people need to subscribe to A2K to connect to Chat Room, and we need to have Europeans be able to chat at a reasonable hour for them.

Well I guess that sounds like not but I am not sure. Would you like me to poll the Cyber Art Salon to see what the gang thinks?

I didn't say, or mean to say, we should not have art chat.

It is my impression though that having subject matter planned is problematic. Having it at what is a convenient time for only for the western US is problematic. Vivien, for example, one of the art forums most vibrant participants, lives in England, and Hebba in Denmark, would likely be asleep at 8 pm ny time, our old starting point. EhBeth used to try to participate but she lives in Eastern Canada and it was also around her winding down time.

We used to list an hour, 8 to 9 pm New York time. I would try to stay around for most of that hour in case anyone showed up and I won't do that any more. Sometimes I would get there five minutes late and miss a person. On the other hand, making everybody be there on the dot, say of 8 pm, is also unrealistic over the long run, since we all have lives.

To have the chat keep going within a time frame we need more than two or three people, because they can't always be there. I don't know if there are enough people to keep it going.

It is possible that just getting the Chat Room going at all is the worthy goal

Sure, see if people would be interested...

OK, will do. What do you think about a weekend day say Saturday early evening or late afternoon US time for the 1st new atempt that could cover Europe and Asia pretty well I think?

As the one who initially proposed a multi-disciplinary art chat on this site, I am sorry to see
it limited to subscribers only. My vision was for an informal art chat time, at a suitable time ....suggested 8pm Sunday evenings for those in North Americal or for another time zone as applicable to its inhabitants. The idea was for an informal discussion ( perhaps agreed upon by those in the chat room but not too circumscribed) frequented by many, both subscribers and drop ins
welcome for some fun and informative conversation......It seemed to work for a while?

Yes SP it was great but now we are sort of shut down. Maybe we can find another way I will contact Jes and CDK re our weekly chat and see what we can do.

And how are you, lots of shows I hope. BTW I just figured out what Hollywood North mean't a couple of weeks ago, hehehe.

The reason it was limited to subscribers only is that this site is expensive for one person to pay for. The person who started the site and has payed for it all along, with money and time, was brought to crunch time on keeping it going.
This person, Craven, was very very reluctant to accept donations, although he backed down on that eventually and is now somewhat sorry he did.

In an effort to keep the site free, which is part and parcel, as they say, to his vision of the site, there was an alternative, have subscriptions with some benefits.

Chat room was one thing that could be offered as a subscription benefit. It hasn't been promoted by any of us lately. I tried to keep it going but gave up. Once I was not able to get in, but many other times, over months, I did and found no one else there... which is what happens when the group isn't large enough - which is my point, do we have enough people.

I don't mean that in a negative way to others, that is the point, we all have lives and can't be there all the time, certainly not every week.

truth
I have, on an occasional Sunday afternoon, entered the chat room, but always finding no-one there. We do have to do scheduling. I don't think we have to structure topics-of-discussion too rigidly, of course. Perhaps just having a painting or two (or more) for discussion--as a stimulus--may be helpful. But if we depart, deciding to go in a different direction. That's good too. I see it as just a chance to visit.

I am mixed, as I especially enjoyed talking with joanne and shepaints and jln and farmerman and, I think twice, but maybe it was just once, hebba....
and colorific talked with us a few times, I miss him.

but I think the place for any pearls of wisdom is on the regular forum sortofchat threads, where what we say can be answered and the answer not disappear in fifteen minutes, or much less, as you have to click back to check something...
and when things are going well several people talk at once.

What is the point exactly? (I say this as an enthusiast, I like talking on chat)

To talk about Hoffman or Manet at exactly 5 pm? This is not a lasting arrangement.

The point is some of us have learned to like talking spontaneously even though it was the first time several of us had ventured into anything like a chat room.
But I don't think we have the numbers to bring it off weekly.
Joanne and Shepaints, go ahead and try. You both should probably be there, whatever you arrange, each time, so people have someone to talk with. I'll be there too, but no promises for always 5 o'clock, or whatever time you work out.

We could try for a once a month chatroom, that might make more sense. Especially if it was a first saturday, first sunday, whatever, at a time mutually obtainable for europe and uscanadamexico and south. Actually I don't mean to leave out africa, we just haven't had a post from there yet.

Well one thing for sure not all of us can be accomodated all of the time. I would think it is impossible to meet at times when every member of our forum can be on line.

Perhaps we could chat each Sunday but at different times. We would have to get the input of our group, like say hebba. Would he be willing to be in the chat room at a convienant time for his neck of the woods. And same for our Aussie and Asian friends.

Tell you what I will try to work out a message to be sent to the forum and send to you, Osso, JLN, and shepaints for corrections and additions and then send it to the whole forum. How does that sound?

truth
That sounds good, Joanne. And let me ask: would it not be possible for us to have a thread that can serve as a "communications board," on which individuals can announce that they will check into the chat room on a certain day at a certain time? Then anyone who would like to can visit with that individual and CAN find the time to do so might do so. They may also want to respond that they will be there. I haven't thought this through yet, so I would like to hear from the more clear headed what the problems might be.

JLN marvalous idea we could use this thread for that. For instance any of us could log on at any time or day and say that we would be available to chat at a later time or day and whoever was interested could join us.

Having subjects was a good idea even though we strayed from the topic (personally I enjoyed the research on the topic). Having a topic did give us more focus and was a conversation opener. And as in all conversations we digressed which is normal I think.

My personal favorite digression was when we were talking about sex (art), drugs (how the use of drugs influenced art), and rock & roll (how music affects art) when a moderator just happened to pop in to chat. The best part was that particular moderator was able to join right in the discussion.

It is too difficult to please all of the people
all of the time. As I see it, the chat room is open
24/7. For me,(selfishly) after dinner on Sunday night, at about 8pm. in North America is the best time to chat). I am not sure what the rules are
re the moderators but surely, on a rotating basis,
one host/moderator could be available once
a month to host the chat.

The word "chat" to me is key.....a place to converse, not for a lecture....Fun
and informative...

I have faith that others in their particular time
zones could post on a pertinent site to notify us of chat times that we can drop into....

I hate to think that any particular person would have to cover the costs of this website.
My suggestion would be to ask for both annual donations and subscriber's fees.....perhaps even a fee to access to the website.....

Correction.....there should be various options
to keep this site going financially....

e.g.

subscribers
one time donators
annual givers...

well...I am not a finance person........someone....
jump in!

By the way, several of us have been online
friends for many years now. I am most appreciative
of our many conversation........and mutual support....

Me too, Shepaints.

Craven has been supporting the site all along, primarily by himself.
Options have been discussed at length on A2K.
For various good reasons he is not enthused about having had to resort to donations, is not comfortable with it.
Many people did donate last year.
This is all discussed elsewhere on the site. I'll give a link when I find it.

The A2k Link to Amazon.com is some help, if people order books and other items through Amazon (see Home) and so is the A2K Wear effort, though that doesn't really bring in all that much money per bit of clothing. I think the ads help a little bit. I gather the Portal, which is growing, may bring some income. Subscriptions (see Premium Services at the bottom of the page) are a help too, and the chat room is one of the featured services, so that people get something by subscribing.

The site as a whole is free though; that is very important to Craven to keep it available to people regardless of money in their pockets.

Oh, I forgot, re the Moderators. The Moderators are very busy as it is and are volunteering their time.