Radcliffe Thread
 

Hi all
Nice to have some football to talk about. Here's a bit of a preview/interview with Luke Joyce:

ASFC News Story > 4160

I'd also like as many people as possible to help out with a bit of a trial that I'm running tonight. If you aren't going to the game and want to be kept up to date then have a look here - livetext at about 715, then after the game either post on this thread or drop me an email with what you thought of the service.

Many thanks
Dan

Re: Radcliffe Thread
 

Here's my twopenneth :)

You could obviously have done with more action to report, probably unfair to judge on a one off paint drying exercise :D

Biggest gripe was that posting comments took an age to display. Do you have to ok them Dan ? Should people really be able to comment and turn it in to a free for all ? , that wouldn't make it any different to giving live updates on here or facebook/twitter.

I had to refresh it several times, not sure if that was the system or our broadband ( of which we have had some problems lately )

Re: Radcliffe Thread
 

my fifty p's worth (must have more brass than Dave)

I had a look via my phone halfway through the second half, and it was good to see a team sheet!

But I've gotta agree with Dave that is there really a need for it? Yes we all want somewhere to view/read/hear what is going on but unless there is a commercial aspect for it then here has as wide an audience as will see it and the speed is good enough.

Don't get me wrong, if there is a good enough reason to find a wider audience via other media then utilise it, but if there is no coin gain to be had then this place might as well be exploited until such time as the audience is big enough to use something else. Perhaps any advertising (fishy links) could push it here and at least you can see by members viewing, how many are actually interested enough?

Re: Radcliffe Thread
 

I can see the benefit of it if the service is meant to be non-interactive. I guess there is also the issue that if Dan wants it to be interactive it will be seen as more neutral for those who don't want to join up here or no longer want to post on here.

Possible it's also an easier service to provide ?

Re: Radcliffe Thread
 

The whole point of this is that it is a trial... Hence asking for the feedback.

Firstly, the point of interactivity - for a competitive league game I would expect it to be largely just a running text commentary on what is happening in the game rather than a string of comments from those viewing. However I think that it is good that viewers can comment, or ask questions as long as it doesn't take over. As Dave rightly says, a pre-season friendly is difficult to test this as there are so many questions about personnel etc. coming up all the time.

On the comments front, they have to be manually published, which is probably why it takes forever at your end?

On Macca's point of the wider audience I have to disagree. There were 250 viewers last night according to the stats, which is a considerable amount more than an average match thread on here I think I'm right in saying?

As for financial gain from the service, I'm on the record as saying I'd like to be able to find a sponsor for all the multimedia stuff (audio, video, text commentary etc.) that would provide a bit of income for the service. We've thought long and hard about a full subscription service with audio commentary etc. but unfortunately it's just not viable with the amount of money it will cost in equipment etc. compared to the size of audience. That's not to say that it isn't something that can still be looked at in the future. It's very possible.

As you all know I've got nothing against Accyweb at all, but from my point of view it is hard work to do a match thread on here compared to doing it in the method tried out last night. However, if the service provided last night wasn't worth bothering with that's a different matter. At the end of the day it's all about the end user i.e. you...

Any other thoughts?
Dan

Re: Radcliffe Thread
 

In that case Dan, Cart On!

You're probably right about things taking over like on here we end up having our own conversations, interrupted by match comments!

As I said, if there is enough gain to be had from alternative media then its fine, but if there wasn't/isn't then I wouldn't see the point in just having somewhere else to have to go for updates. Accyweb/Facebook/Twitter/3 radio stations et al.

250? That seems a lot, is that traffic through the website on that page alone and unique visitors? If so, then things are on the up!

tis all good, and great to have you back (and with a neater haircut!)

Re: Radcliffe Thread
 

Dan for my tuppennyworth, I enjoyed it last night. I will be unable to attend any evening games this year or away games so for me its a brilliant way of getting what I need without having to mentally correct everything the BC text service does!! Plus the way you post is similar to the way you (Dan) talk so you get a real sense of the action lke you do on a audio commentary. I like the opportunity to ask a questions, although when it comes to league games I very much doubt you'll have much time to answer any!!

Top and bottom for me is I liked it and I would use it every game thatg it is not possible for me to be there.

Re: Radcliffe Thread
 

I think it is a very good idea, Dan :)

• the text box automatically refreshes when there is a new entry, so you don't need to keep refreshing the thread in the forum to check for updates.
  
• there is a sound alert when there is a new entry, so again you don't need to keep refreshing the thread in the forum to check for updates.
  
• it is available via the fishy home page, so it will generate a much wider audience and that can only be a good thing.
  
• it is clearly not a substitute for attendance at a game, so whereas live radio commentary may have kept a few people away from home games, this will not.

In terms of the delay in viewers' comments being posted, I don't think that is important. People will follow this text service to read your summaries of the match action, not to read others opinions/questions (maybe questions can be emailed/texted to you and you summarise/respond to them similar to the test match commentaries on sportinglife.com). I know that we are all very curious about the trialists during the pre-season friendlies, but it will dilute the value of this service if it is a free-for-all once it is running fully.

The value of the text service will also depend on how often the match updates are made ;)