On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:32:27 -0800, charlieb
wrote:

As the new webmaster of the Silicon Valley Woodturners club
I'd like to know what you look for on a woodturning club website?

Personally, I don't know that I look for anything in particular in a
club's website, but then again, the only club I'm in is a
blacksmithing one that I've been too busy to attend in some time.

Are you willing to download a 3 or 4 meg PDF newsletter?

3 or 4 megs seems reasonable to me, with the prevelence of high speed
connections- but your dial up members might not care for that.

Though as personal preference, and I may easily be alone in this, I'd
avoid PDFs. Two reasons for that- first, I've got an older computer,
and PDFs load each page much more slowly than I can read them, and the
second is that a PDF doesn't allow you to cut and paste text. While
that might be be good when you're trying to prevent the file from
being altered by the reader, it makes links much less useful, IMO.

There is some nice technology out there for web-based newsletters,
though. I think if I were to make one, I'd use flash for content that
can be used to view it on the site, and just include a button that
would link to a print version for those who want a hard copy. You do
run into the fact that the end user needs the flash plugin, but that's
not a huge obsticle, and I've rarely seen anything that loads faster
and generates smaller files than flash (though the new photoshop gives
it a run for it's money.) That also makes it possible for you to
include demo videos and animated stuff if you want.

Do you look for How To stuff or prefer to peruse plenty of photos
of other folks work?

I like looking at pictures of other people's work- if it's not as good
as mine, sometimes I can offer some assistance, and if it's better
than mine, it's something to aspire to. I can't really see how much
"how-to" stuff a guy could include regarding turning, but I don't
suppose it would hurt to have a few plans for jigs, longsworth chucks,
segemented turning, etc.

What about reviews of stuff - turning videos/DVDs, turning tools
and accessories, lathes etc.?

I think there may be too much of that already, but that's just my
opinion on it. The problem is that when you get every amateur on
Earth reviewing the one example of something they've used, it dilutes
the value of reviews generally. Of course, I think we've all done it
from time to time- I'm certainly guilty of it, but it might be doing a
disservice to those who are reading the reviews. After a certain
point, the reviews become almost meaningless.

Would like to make svwoodturners.org a resource for other turners.
You're input would be much appreciated.

You know something that might be kind of neat, if you want to be a
resource for the larger turning community, is to have a section on
math, geometry and artistic proportions on there. A lot of what the
average turner does is more or less instinctual, but there are some
projects where it would be a benefit to someone to have an easy
reference page to use when doing something like laying out and cutting
segmented ring pieces or trying to figure out what people mean when
they mention a "fair" curve or the golden ratio.

It wouldn't have to be very intensive, and is probably better if it is
not- I know that from my own experience that trying to track down
something you don't know regarding a math (or chemestry) problem is
often a frustrating task at any level. A few of the basics for those
who aren't very well-versed in the subject might be valuable, and it's
not something that I've seen on many sites. Judging from some of your
projects you've linked to here in the past, I think you might be the
right guy for that particular job.