[jhb] Re: PCI Breaking News
- From: "bones" <bones@xxxxxxx>
- To: <jhb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 15:52:07 +0100
I do wonder how much they sell. Their prices are good but it's a tough
market. OTOH there are probably many members now that join for the bargains
and never touch the online system - it's only a minor part of PCI's
operation these days. Which brings me to another point...
The response last night was fairly dismal with less than a handful of pilots
online. This either means you are all too busy to fly or the sessions are
not as interesting as they once were. Either way the result is the same in
that PCI becomes a lower priority than it once was and users are drifting
away from the sessions.
In some ways this is inevitable as the learning curve is mastered and the
challenge diminishes. In the early days everything was new and the idea of
flying in a "live" environment was somewhat daunting. As experience grew and
familiarity kicked in we became comfortable with the system - but the
challenge (and spark of interest) slows down.
We can restore the challenge in several ways but this may not be the answer.
We could move abroad or find more tricky airports to fly into but it doesn't
change the basics of the system and may not be enough to fire up enthusiasm
again. I would be interested to hear any ideas or suggestions that might
give existing pilots enough of a push to join in again.
I say existing pilots because the second option is to replace the declining
numbers with new faces. We haven't seen a lot of newcomers to PCI so I don't
think the system itself will ever generate a lot of interest - something I
had hoped it would. If PCI can't attract more interest then the other option
is to draw people into this world by opening up JHB recruitment.
JHB has been, to some extent, a closed system in recent years. With my
withdrawal from most forums the JHB name has had less coverage than it used
to and this has had an impact on new members. It's not just enough to have a
web page - you have to make the VA known in FS circles to attract further
curiosity. Almost all of you came from the UKScenery forum when this was
still an FS driven list but when Magrathea shut its doors this list also
changed - it ceased to be in the forefront of FS development.
If I am to attract new pilots then my target would be those pilots who have
never been online before but who are too daunted by VATSIM to take that big
step. PCI is ideal training ground for newcomers and this should be seen as
a strength rather than a weakness. If I were to do this the JHB web pages
would need an overhaul in that I would consider stripping out the old Pilot
Assignment pages and making the VA a totally online operation. This is
nothing new really as the current pilot base has migrated in this direction
anyway.
After revamping the next step would be to entice newcomers to the fold. It's
not an easy task but I have a few ideas up my sleeve. Now, should we attract
new pilots there would be some guidance needed. We all know what it was like
when we first plugged in - we had no idea how the system worked and we were
terrified of using the radio for fear of making a pig's ear of ourselves.
Newcomers need respect rather than impatience and a lot of help from the
rest of us. The second channel on PCI is ideal for this as we can use this
to explain matters or generally calm a newcomer down - we end up with one
formal channel and one informal channel and this works well.
Before I set this in motion could I ask if everyone is happy with the idea?
First step is a JHB web site rewrite, second stage is to make it an online
service only. Third is to get some new blood in. Fourth is your co-operation
in helping the newcomers.
If we can swell the ranks of the users in PCI then it can only be a more
rewarding experience for all of us.
bones
-----Original Message-----
From: jhb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jhb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Gerry Winskill
Sent: 10 May 2007 13:54
To: jhb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [jhb] PCI Breaking News
Oh that the news was we could use FSX, rather than what we can now buy! If
this goes on I fear I'll be marking their postings as Spam.
Gerry Winskill
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