you cant help but notice that a large proportion of gigs in events, arent being reported on.....in lookbacks and prior to the event...which begs the question....exactly how much interest is being shown in attendance?, we go on about how cluttered the calender is, but despite the casualties new gigs keep starting up in place of the failures.....is it a continuous clutching at straws, a couragous never say die attitude that proves to be more a constant misjudgement of the marketplace. i keep perusing in particular events in the west midlands where the line up of djs isnt even referenced other than the claim of a "top night"......so an empty room is being played to then?. i say to the silent ones on here....stand up and be counted...tell us all about your gig so we get a better understanding of whats on offer or dont bother confusing the issue.

I don't normally get involved in these sort of things but ..........

With several years of Soul Source under my belt I have to say that the change to the Events section has killed it for me.

There used to be a real buzz created around nights like Middleton, Kings Hall, New Century, Bidds etc. I agree some people used to abuse the system but you soon learnt who they were and you would skip over their posts or ignore their nights. By playing Big Brother and making that decision for us, all the spark and interest has gone and this is reflected in the number of posts per event.

It can't just be a few of us who think this as the posts on all threads for events are so low. I don't think the lack of interest in events is due to Face Book, for me it was a matter of moving to FB to try and find some interest in any nights. The downside to FB is not knowing about nights that you are not linked to, at least on SS the majority are there to find.

With the old system, if people I respected were talking about new nights I'd be sure to try it out. Now most don't even bother posting, me included. Is this why some nights are dying when in reality they should be amazing?

One last point, I don't know if it is a coincidence, but for me the lack of interest in Events on SS has compounded the general apathy out on the soul scene at the moment. Where is the spark and buzz we used to have?

Mike / Mods please bring back the old style of events.

Thanks

Doc

Edited February 26, 201312 yr by Dr Pickles

Well put Doc.

Doc

thanks for views

another day i would have argued about the big brother bit but if did it now feel it just take away from your views

believe it or not I would say the events inc comments is very busy right now

the old system was what 2+ years ago?

with the old system it meant all event related stuff was spread over 3 different features

you had to go to one place for event details , one place for flyer and one place for comments

to read comments you had to goto a forum and then search a listing for the event

now you click on events link

and any event can now be reached within 5-30 seconds

once reached you have all the info on one page

if just after catching up on comments, the latest ones are displayed promientlyin event guide (one click), on front page of site, on the forum index and on the vnc page

i disagree with your points about the actual guide , I would say its the other way around

all it and rest of the site does and will ever do is reflect things

nowadays some promoters do use the event guide to a very good effect, then on the other hand there are some who just post a link with min info and then seem to expect comments to flood in

the way handle events on here has always been custominised and tailored to try and work both best for members and the site

the actual events feature and such has and will carry on evolving

thanks for views again, constructive feedback as always is welcome and appreciated

mike

Edited February 25, 201312 yr by mike

I don't normally get involved in these sort of things but ..........

Ooooo, you really should do, 'tis much fun...Just set your alarm clock for really early in the morning so you can edit before anyone sees - Oh the 'Cyber shame' - It can be unbearable at times! .....But ya keep 'coming back for more' - "For more baby" (Just 'keeping it real' there)

Hope ya well mate.

Len

.....I'll now read the rest of your post

Edited February 25, 201312 yr by LEN

Hi Mike

I don't mean to be disrespectful but your view is just that - your view. Members are giving you their honest opinion of the way the events section is now and you don't seem to hear what they are saying. It really isn't better, in fact it is spoiling the enjoyment of the site for a good few as can be seen in members posts

The boxes you have now are so hard to read - is there no way you can go back to the list you had before, it was much more user friendly

Like I said, no disrespect meant. It has been weeks now and instead of getting used to it (which I have done in the past) it is still a pain in the proverbial and getting more so by the day

I don't normally get involved in these sort of things but ..........

With several years of Soul Source under my belt I have to say that the change to the Events section has killed it for me.

There used to be a real buzz created around nights like Middleton, Kings Hall, New Century, Bidds etc. I agree some people used to abuse the system but you soon learnt who they were and you would skip over their posts or ignore their nights. By playing Big Brother and making that decision for us, all the spark and interest has gone and this is reflected in the number of posts per event.

It can't just be a few of us who think this as the posts on all threads for events are so low. I don't think the lack of interest in events is due to Face Book, for me it was a matter of moving to FB to try and find some interest in any nights. The downside to FB is not knowing about nights that you are not linked to, at least on SS the majority are there to find.

With the old system, if people i respected were talking about new nights I'd be sure to try it out. Now most don't even bother posting, me included. Is this why some nights are dying when in reality they should be amazing?

One last point, I don't know if it is a coincedence, but for me the lack of interest in Events on SS has compounded the general apathy out on the soul scene at the moment. Where is the spark and buzz we used to have?

Mike / Mods please bring back the old style of events.

Thanks

Doc

...and a very good read it was to - Well done

"With the old system, if people i respected were talking about new nights I'd be sure to try it out" - That's a very good point, it gave a venue a 'seal of approval' and was worth over a ton of the b*llshit put on threads by some - I also take notice as you have described, but never actualy achknowledged that fact until you did just that (if that makes sense)

Ref your 'last point' - Yes, it's the effect of 'over kill'.....but 'a level' will be found just as soon as the folk that do it for the wrong reasons (glory / 'The lights and the applause') don't get that 'fix' and get bored - as the realisation sets, that the 'real' Soul Scene 'don't get fooled'........It's not long now my friend.....

All the best,

Len

Edited February 25, 201312 yr by LEN

Hi Mike

I don't mean to be disrespectful but your view is just that - your view. Members are giving you their honest opinion of the way the events section is now and you don't seem to hear what they are saying. It really isn't better, in fact it is spoiling the enjoyment of the site for a good few as can be seen in members posts

The boxes you have now are so hard to read - is there no way you can go back to the list you had before, it was much more user friendly

Like I said, no disrespect meant. It has been weeks now and instead of getting used to it (which I have done in the past) it is still a pain in the proverbial and getting more so by the day

Joan

your said you don't use the events feature but use the view new content

that's meant to be a catch up, it always has been and will never shown event details in full

I am talking about the event feature here

however as i said previously am looking at the list option in response to your requests

and am currently working on improving the mobile events version, once that is done then all being well can offer the list option

cheers

mike

Joan

your said you don't use the events feature but use the view new content

that's meant to be a catch up, it always has been and will never shown event details in full

I am talking about the event feature here

however as i said previously am looking at the list option in response to your requests

and am currently working on improving the mobile events version, once that is done then all being well can offer the list option

cheers

mike

Yes but the event feature is still those boxes isn't it?

They are an absolute nightmare Mike

thanks for views again, constructive feedback as always is welcome and appreciated

mike

Genuine consensus - It's now sh*t Mike - Change it back

...and for the benefit of this strange two dimensional world - That was me being facetious for the sake of it. I do hope you have a sense of humour in there somewhere Mike....I await my second warning....

All the best,

Len

Edited February 25, 201312 yr by LEN

I actually can't put my finger on why the new system is worse (It's not sh*t Mike) But for some reason you now only visit the events threads you know about anyway, whereas the old system, somehow 'drew you in' to events that you were unaware of. Maybe it was to do with what 'Doc' touched apon, that if say on the front page Mr / Mrs 'Someone I knew / heard of / respected' had quoted something, I would automaticaly want to read what it was, thus making you aware of a venue.

Len

Yes but the event feature is still those boxes isn't it?

They are an absolute nightmare Mike

the idea with them is to give more info, and make better use of space in all the different variations of viewers browsers

in the event feature it self, they are larger

they display more info

give a thumbnail of the latest flyer, last comment name and time, how many comments, if there is map info, country, town, shows the no of rsvps and colour coded to show what type of event

there are a actual list

just instead of 1 event on a row, 2 or 3 shows (depending on your sceen width) per row

yep more work needs to be done, am not happy and can understand some of the criticisms, but as always its aongoing thing

Genuine consensus - It's now sh*t Mike - Change it back

...and for the benefit of this strange two dimensional world - That was me being facetious for the sake of it. I do hope you have a sense of humour in there somewhere Mike....I await my second warning....

All the best,

Len

loads of humour here Len, though don't bother showing it much as usually ends up been took the wrong way

That's the thing Mike, it doesn't matter how few there are in the row they are not easy to read - in fact they are the exact opposite!

I give up

loads of humour here Len, though don't bother showing it much as usually ends up been took the wrong way

I'm 'well' aware....but I'm getting to enjoy that fact - It must be a 'pleasure / pain' kinda thang .....'tis a dangerious game mind, especially when one is playing with someone that is 'dead from the neck up'....which has happened on occasion

....By the time you read this...etc....

All the best,

Len

Edited February 25, 201312 yr by LEN

That's the thing Mike, it doesn't matter how few there are in the row they are not easy to read - in fact they are the exact opposite!

I give up

.....So just to be clear Joan - Do you like the new system or not?

All the best,

Len

.....So just to be clear Joan - Do you like the new system or not?

All the best,

Len

I know I always moan when there's an upgrade but I mean it this time

I actually can't put my finger on why the new system is worse (It's not sh*t Mike) But for some reason you now only visit the events threads you know about anyway, whereas the old system, somehow 'drew you in' to events that you were unaware of. Maybe it was to do with what 'Doc' touched apon, that if say on the front page Mr / Mrs 'Someone I knew / heard of / respected' had quoted something, I would automaticaly want to read what it was, thus making you aware of a venue.

Len

still works like that to a certain degree len

if say Doc posted a event comment

within a minute it will show in 3 promient places

that are all outside the event guide

cheers

mike

That's the thing Mike, it doesn't matter how few there are in the row they are not easy to read - in fact they are the exact opposite!

I give up

yep more work needs to be done, am not happy and can understand some of the criticisms, but as always its aongoing thing

can't really say more than that Joan

display/layout is a pain nowadays with amount of browsers/tablets etc

main effort nowadays is instead of giving one basic view to all is to try and give the best view to each setup

which is not a easy thing

thanks again for feedback

mike

still works like that to a certain degree len

if say Doc posted a event comment

within a minute it will show in 3 promient places

that are all outside the event guide

cheers

mike

Not so sure about 'Doc' - As I said, I would automaticaly read posts made by people I respect........

....You know I'm joking mate!

Len

A huge part of promotion of an event is not only how good it's going to be, but also how good it was.

Look at the Leeds Central, it was started up again 2 years ago amongst many doubters and 'it will never be the same'ers', but now it's

heaving at every one with folk travelling from all over the country.

It's a must for any promoter to do at the very least the basics which include before AND after reports.

Edited February 25, 201312 yr by Northern Soul UK

can't really say more than that Joan

display/layout is a pain nowadays with amount of browsers/tablets etc

main effort nowadays is instead of giving one basic view to all is to try and give the best view to each setup

which is not a easy thing

thanks again for feedback

mike

.......Or

Night night

Len

Edited February 25, 201312 yr by LEN

It's a must for any promoter to do at the very least the basics which include before AND after reports.

Yes, one of many 'musts' that make a successful promotion....and if the 'product' is good, the customer base will grow because of repeat business.......I'm getting a bit carried away there - But it's true.

There are so many minor factions that equate to a good promotion, not all are nessersary but no one knows which ones 'have an effect', so all must be done, and the 'before and after' reports are such obvious ones to do.

All the best,

Len

I am enjoying the events area , took me a while to get used to the change , but I would have to say its much improved . I think its a great move that up and coming events are now seen in date order , rather than the latest posted comment. It used to annoy me very much when events lets say three months in the future were getting more into the headlines than a current event ?

It seemed so unfair when the comments were lets say a private conversation between a party of people or a weekly post on where or who had tickets to sell ? One felt it was very much being abused and I am not whiter than white I have bumped up a thread before now too.

Basically its good to see a flyer and a full description of the music policy and what the venue has to offer type of floor , drink prices , also any near by hotels or eateries .

With regard to posting the fact you are going , well there is no need really for an individual post ... just enter I am going to attend in the feet on floor area.

A view of how it went is useful , perhaps a posted numbers attended as a follow up post could be a requirement as a true reflection of how it went ?

This would avoid the brown nosing by mates label as a true statistic can't be questioned

Just a thought on this, without entering the debate on the lay out of the SC website, what if the promoters quote the attendance numbers from their last event in each new post? Some may submit bogus figures I know but, armed with that information and a look at the DJ sets in the "events : playlists" section would give you a better idea of what to expect or what went on at a particular event?

I'm with Joan, hate the new events system ( I can usually get used to new things )

When we started the Attic in 2006 the events section on here was brilliant for us in creating interest in it,

Now If I were going to start up a new venue in say 3 months how could I make people aware of it on here? No one's gonna just stumble across it in the depths of the future events list are they?

Hi Mike

There isn't usually this much dissent among the ranks after an upgrade so that must tell you something

Events are what the soul scene is about for a lot of us and for those (like me) who don't go on facebook it really is a big deal (that may appear sad to some but hey ho)

Edited February 26, 201312 yr by jumpinjoan

I'm with Joan, hate the new events system ( I can usually get used to new things )

When we started the Attic in 2006 the events section on here was brilliant for us in creating interest in it,

Now If I were going to start up a new venue in say 3 months how could I make people aware of it on here? No one's gonna just stumble across it in the depths of the future events list are they?

do you mean "new" as in the now almost 2 year setup

before reading this i just 'stumbled' on and watched a video promoting an event 10 months away posted as a comment

the post was/is currently showing on 3 main parts of the site and in a promient position on the events guide

which is above and beyond what the "old" system did with any comment

people are using it to good effect right at this very moment and doing exactly what you are asking about

Something (not sure what) is stopping me click on any events that I don't know about, whereas on the old system I was often reading events threads that I had never heard of.

I suggest your next poll question to be 'Do you think the old 'Events' system was -

a) Better

b) Worse

c) Just as good.

I feel for you on this one Mike because I know at 'your end' it's working fine, but for me and it seems many others, it's not - and I still can't put my finger on why either!

Just a suggestion.

All the best,

Len

Edited February 26, 201312 yr by LEN

do you mean "new" as in the now almost 2 year setup

before reading this i just 'stumbled' on and watched a video promoting an event 10 months away posted as a comment

the post was/is currently showing on 3 main parts of the site and in a promient position on the events guide

which is above and beyond what the "old" system did with any comment

people are using it to good effect right at this very moment and doing exactly what you are asking about

So if I'm wondering if there's any new events on that I might like to attend, I've got to wade through a massive list of future events just in case there's one I fancy?

The bit about it being 2 years old is irrelevant, I havent liked it since day 1, I just haven't said anything before cos its a waste of time.

You're obviously going to defend it cos its your baby and you've put a lot of work into it, I'm just telling you that from the point of view of someone who's used this site for 10 years or so, I just cant get on with it ( there's others who feel the same way who've posted and my guess from talking to others who haven't posted that theres alot more who do)

Why not have poll on it?

poll on what?

go back to a basic calendar and a forum ?

still have the calendar

already a forum for lookback type posts via the playlists

a forum for upcoming event discussion?

how would that resolve any of the issues people have raised or how would it cope with problems had in past ?

I don't use the events section so I don't know what it is that you're all disagreeing on, so I just went in and tried it, clicked on latest events, loads of boxes with events inside, clicked on one and read about it. Cool. Then I clicked on comments, I presume the top left box has the most recent comment, so clicked on that, read it, cool.

So it looks like something that's working perfectly well for me, except I am obviously missing something that's getting you all upset.

Looks fine to me though...

I don't use the events section so I don't know what it is that you're all disagreeing on, so I just went in and tried it, clicked on latest events, loads of boxes with events inside, clicked on one and read about it. Cool. Then I clicked on comments, I presume the top left box has the most recent comment, so clicked on that, read it, cool.

So it looks like something that's working perfectly well for me, except I am obviously missing something that's getting you all upset.

Looks fine to me though...

That's the 'thing' - It is working well, but for me I only look at events I know about. Before 'something' made me click on events I wasn't aware of.

Mike, the poll would be to see what percentage of members have an issue with it, but yes you're right in sayng that if it went back to the old system we would have old issues back, such as 'bumping' threads - I didn't like that particular problem, but maybe it was just that 'problem' that drew my attention to other events.

In hindsight - Yes 'Bumping' threads did go on, but that was to compete with the events that didn't need 'Bumping', and those events are the ones I used to get drawn to because people were commenting on them, so were highlighted.

All the best,

Len

Edited February 26, 201312 yr by LEN

I only started using the site for event information and like most people, I would have thought, I want to see what's on nationwide and the new version allows me to do that just fine.

If I want to look up a particular event its easy enough to just go on that type of event, e.g. upcoming / allnighters" and narrow down the search.....isn't it?

I only started using the site for event information and like most people, I would have thought, I want to see what's on nationwide and the new version allows me to do that just fine.

If I want to look up a particular event its easy enough to just go on that type of event, e.g. upcoming / allnighters" and narrow down the search.....isn't it?

a even quicker way is to use the live search

events in say wolverhampton

type in 'wol' in live search box wait 2 secs

all upcoming events listed with wol in title or town listed without leaving page, pressing buttons or visiting a forum

Suggestion - Events. All nighters,soul nights etc with seperate tabs.Click the tab,up comes a long list of venues in date order.With option to post up.Pretty much as it was before.Pin all events by date to prevent bumping.

Events in long lists are more user friendly in my opinion.I dont want to go "hunting" for events,i'd like a quick over-all view.

Can you go through the colour coding again Mike.?

Suggestion - Events. All nighters,soul nights etc with seperate tabs.Click the tab,up comes a long list of venues in date order.With option to post up.Pretty much as it was before.Pin all events by date to prevent bumping.

already there Kev

the links do offer this - maybe a need to be empasied - more so tab like

Events in long lists are more user friendly in my opinion.I dont want to go "hunting" for events,i'd like a quick over-all view.

can and will offer a trad list view if demand

Can you go through the colour coding again Mike.?

do need to revisit colour choice on next update due to concerns posted so makes sense to wait till finished as may change

thanks for that kev

mike

a even quicker way is to use the live search

events in say wolverhampton

type in 'wol' in live search box wait 2 secs

all upcoming events listed with wol in title or town listed without leaving page, pressing buttons or visiting a forum

Just tried "what's on in Wolverhampton"...........and it said........"F*ck all"

...................sorry to digress

Edited February 26, 201312 yr by back street blue

a even quicker way is to use the live search

events in say wolverhampton

type in 'wol' in live search box wait 2 secs

all upcoming events listed with wol in title or town listed without leaving page, pressing buttons or visiting a forum

I found that the other day , got all Manchester events dead easy very handy if you are on a limited petrol budget you can pick and choose from within your own area.

Edited February 26, 201312 yr by Anais nin

I found that the other day , got all Manchester events dead easy very handy if you are on a limited petrol budget you can pick and choose from within your own area.

I put a search in for Midlands events this morning - i'm still wading through them now.!!!

I'm a little puzzled. Are we all looking at the same screen no matter what we're online on? I've just battered around The events Forum and can't see what people are talking about. On my screen the boxes show up fine, the events are clearly laid out in a calender and I even posted a coment on an event in order to ensure it worked as it should.

I suppose it may well be a case of "ýou get out of it, what you put in' in terms of promoters. There does seem to be a few lazy promoters that think simply shoving a post up is all they're required to dó.

It all looks great from where I'm sat, so maybe it's an OS or other issue?

Regards,

Dave

I'm no tecno nerd i've had no problem getting around events site

It's all fine by me no need to change anything Mike imo

C Ya Kev

I think I should just explain my thinking.

It's not if the system works or not, it clearly does. My point was that by changing the system all the excitment and build up to an an event has been lost. Is this just general apathy or has the new system caused this? By trying to stop "bumping", genuine posters seem to have stopped posting.

Take Kings hall this saturday, there are just 9 posts (at the time of writing) and three of those by the promotor. There used to be pages of interest in these sort of nights, why has that stopped?

For me the new layout has caused this. With no interest in these nights being shown, is this also having a knock on effect at the nights themselves.

I would state that KH is not suffering from attendance so maybe my argument does not work and people just can't be bothered to post.

Just some of my thoughts from a regular user of 9 years.

Doc

Edited February 26, 201312 yr by Dr Pickles

It's the box thing that I have a real problem with - what's that all about? It's so hard to read I really can't be bothered with it which is sad

If the main forum had that layout I'm sure there would be a few things said about it!

Take Kings hall this saturday, there are just 9 posts (at the time of writing) and three of those by the promotor. There used to be pages of interest in these sort of nights, why has that stopped?

Probably because people don't want to read 50 posts saying "can't wait for saturday"?

Probably because people don't want to read 50 posts saying "can't wait for saturday"?

Pete

That would explain why people don't read the thread but not why people don't post.

Doc

Pete

That would explain why people don't read the thread but not why people don't post.

Doc

True..

It's the box thing that I have a real problem with - what's that all about? It's so hard to read I really can't be bothered with it which is sad

If the main forum had that layout I'm sure there would be a few things said about it!

When you click on the main forums,you get a list down the left hand side.At a glance you can see,posts,views,dates,guest dj's in some instances almost immediately.

With the new box tabs,sometimes there's 2 or 3 boxes for the same event,when folks have posted up in quick succession.So,getting to the last post is confusing.

As for people not posting,maybe there's a migration to FB. Although i dont go on FB,from what i here there's a shift to it for advertising events.

Can promoter confirm / deny, that FB is more useful than SS?.

After all SS is a specialist site,but if there's more reaction to events on FB,maybe that's why not many seem bothered about commenting on the layout here.

Mike,this is not a criticism of SS generally. .

as a promoter...where facebook wins is that you can become 'friends' with your potential punters and also add them to your group so when you do an event you invite all your friends/group members...and everytime you post a message or reminder of the forthcoming gig they get a notification of it rather than posting an event an hoping people go on the event section and see it...

if your group/page is open all of their friends can see it too if they post comments...seems to be a lot more posting of possible plays from you tube etc and previous photos all acessable on the same page

we get between 20 and 50 confirmed 'guests' when we do an event and get an average crowd of 100....dont think weve ever had more than 6 confirmed on ss

will still continue to use it though!

dean

When you click on the main forums,you get a list down the left hand side.At a glance you can see,posts,views,dates,guest dj's in some instances almost immediately.

With the new box tabs,sometimes there's 2 or 3 boxes for the same event,when folks have posted up in quick succession.So,getting to the last post is confusing.

I agree totally, list view is so much easier to read and use

Just a thought on this, without entering the debate on the lay out of the SC website, what if the promoters quote the attendance numbers from their last event in each new post? Some may submit bogus figures I know but, armed with that information and a look at the DJ sets in the "events : playlists" section would give you a better idea of what to expect or what went on at a particular event?

The numbers thing is , possibly, a good point.

But who is going to be honest enough to give a true figure ???

And again, had 150 in may look good-- but not if its the size of an aircraft hanger.

Playlists from previous and knowing who DJ'ed should tell you more about if it's your cuppa or not, to be sure.