IBAUK web presence/communications

saphena

IBAUK Webmaster
Staff member
Premier Member
IBA Member
#1
A handy guide to the various ways in which we communicate with ourselves, the wider IBA, potential recruits and the wider public.

The main website ironbutt.co.uk is the starting point for accessing information, including this forum, about IBAUK, its membership, activities, regulations, etc. Its home page gives a brief introduction to us and includes links to rally entry forms, ride rules and regs, our merchandise shop, this forum, rally results and so on. When dealing with anyone outside of IBAUK that's the only address you should use. Except :-

We are also active on social media, especially FaceBook and Twitter. We participate in the MCN FB group #ride5000miles and many of us have individual Twitter feeds as well as the official IBAUK feed @IBA_UK. The FB group Iron Butt UK is a closed group, accessible only to members of that group as is the closed group Jorvic Rally 2018. There may well be other groups unknown to me; anyone can open and control an FB group and set the visibility & membership criteria.

This forum, forum.ironbutt.org, is a specialised tool provided and maintained by IBA USA. It provides discussion, collaboration and private messenging facilities for use by IBA members and others around the world, much the same usage as the FB group but with a wider and less private audience. To some extent which 'forum' you use is a matter of personal preference. Not everyone's on FB but for many FB users it's the natural place to do things. One thing to bear in mind when using this forum is that its content is not private, ALL content is accessible to anyone with a web browser, anywhere. Let's make sure we present a positive image rather than a negative one.:cool:

RTEs: One of the items directly accessible from the main website is the events page which provides a calendar of events including RTEs. In addition to being a one-stop list of events, it forms part of the positive face we try to present outside the group. I do my best to ensure that the list of RTEs is as accurate, complete and timely as possible and I watch the forum, FB and elsewhere to compile the list. As soon as I become aware of a potential RTE with an actual date, time and location I include it in the published list. Not everyone, no names, no pack drill but if your name begins with a J you might want to have a word with yourself, makes this a simple, easy, task for me. RTE callers might even consider sending an email to [email protected] just in case the webmaster fails to spot some of the more subtle calls.

Our entire web presence, including this, is a never-ending work-in-progress. Please consider ways in which things could be improved and rerun that exercise every now and then; things change, life changes, what we do and the way we think need updating once in a while.