News Roundup

Hi everyone. We’re here with a round-up of the news you may have missed from the last couple of weeks. But first a note about getting help within the site.

Getting Help on Blipfoto

Some of you that had previously logged a support request in Blipfoto’s help area may have noticed today that we have closed a number of requests down. This is because we inherited around 20 pages of open support queries when we took over ownership of the site last month, some of which were up to a year old. As the site is now staffed by volunteers in their spare time it was impractical for us to try to plough through this volume of requests, many of which would be no longer relevant. Importantly we’re here to help, so please do re-raise your request if it is still relevant, and we’ll look into it.

The ability to log a request for help is in an area called Zen Desk, and is available from the “help” link on the site. From this link there are 3 options:

- Answers to many common questions can be found in the "Check our FAQs" link (we’re in the process of updating these for the new community ownership);
- Other users of the site could help you with a query in the "Visit Help Forums" link (this is also where details of Blipmeets are found);
- The "Ask Us" link will take you in to log a support query with us.

We’re more than happy to help you with any issues you may have. One small plea from us though: please bear in mind that the people that staff this help desk are volunteers doing it in their spare time, and Blippers just like you: a politeness of query goes a long way to making the job more satisfying…

Community Consultation on Membership

Despite only launching the membership consultation earlier this week, we’ve had a great response so far.  Thanks to everyone who has completed the survey already and to those of you still to do so, please make sure you make your opinion heard.  We have until 31st March to collect as many responses as possible.  We cannot emphasise how important this is to Blipfoto - your responses will influence how we make sure the site has a sustainable future.  We realise not everyone reads the Blip Central blog so it would be useful if you can please mention it in your own journals with a link to the survey, so we reach as many people as possible.

Recruitment of a new Blipfuture Director

Don’t forget we are recruiting for a new director to drive forward Blipfoto’s engagement with the community.  The deadline for applications is also the 31st March. We want to recruit from within the community, so please do get in touch.  More details are on the recent Blip Central post and we have produced a job description and person specification, so you can understand the role in more detail.  The Blip Central post also gives details on how to apply.

The Big Blipmeet Week

In celebration of the community takeover of Blipfoto, we’re encouraging people to meet others in the community in Blipmeets around the world. We’ve declared the week (and a bit) from today until 28th March a "Big Blipmeet" celebration. We know not everyone will be able to (or would want to) get out and meet other Blippers – but if you do, there are Blipmeets being arranged all over. Details of some can be found on the Blip Central post yesterday, and full details in the Blipmeets section in the forum. Thanks to everyone who has taken the step of arranging one - we hope you have some fun days.

To keep an eye on what’s been going on during this week, you can use the site’s search for #BigBlipmeet to see all of the blips of the meetings (you need to use the # sign in the search). We’ve really enjoyed seeing all those there so far!

Blackheath Blippers' Exhibition Update

A few of you have commented that it would have been lovely to travel to Blackheath, near Sydney, Australia to see the Blackheath Blippers’ gallery of pictures as detailed in this Blip Central post. Sadly, it’s a bit of a long way for many! Well, as a second best, they’ve kindly tagged all their blips with the exhibited pictures with #BBMarch16, so you can use Search to browse their pictures from the comfort of your own sofa.

Technical Updates

Finally, we have now completed the transition to www.blipfoto.com of the website and smart phone apps.  If anyone is having any issues, please check out the Apple App or Android App Feedback topics on the Help Centre.  If you still need help you can reach us via the “Ask Us” link in Help.

That’s it – have a great weekend.