What the Different INA Internet Services are Intended For

General
1

There’s enough turnover in the INA membership that it’s useful to revisit at regular intervals what the various INA services on the internet are designated for. (This was last widely publicized in the Winter 2022 Update. The following link looks funny, but should get interested members to that issue: International Nonsuch Association - Authorization required .)

So, answers to a few FAQs…

Why can’t I just post whatever I want, wherever I want? In the same spirit as having radio channels for designated purposes, the INA decided sometime back that we wanted to: (1) keep it simple for members with different interests to know where to go; and, (2) simplify the lives of our limited volunteer pool by not requiring them to do everything everywhere all at once.

So, just what is designated for what uses, and why? In short, here we’ve got four open and one dead channel:

  1. Nonsuch Community Forum on Discourse (https://nonsuch.discourse.group).
    This is intended primarily for more technical discussions. These include projects, repairs, sailing skills, boat performance, instrumentation, weather services, sailing apps, etc.
  2. Nonsuch Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/104618380180923).
    This is intended primarily for, as someone who likes it said to me, “… social connections with like-minded people the text and … to help build relationships and connections.”
  3. Nonsuch on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nonsuch_sailing/)
    Got great pictures you want to share? Want to look at great pictures? Want to talk about 'em? Go here.
  4. The INA website itself (www.Nonsuch.org).
    This is intended to be the hub: a repository for information of long-term interest, links to the other services, and information that is potentially of interest to members regardless of their social media preferences. (The latter, for example, is why you’ll find the INA Marketplace for buying and selling stuff there.)
  5. Nonsuch on Twitter, now X ( NonsuchSailing (@NonsuchSailing) / X )
    We established this in January 2021. The last “tweet” posted was January 19th of that year. In other words, it exists but isn’t active. If we had more volunteers, we’d probably ask one of them to go to the trouble of killing it.

So, why didn’t someone tell me that before? Well, we try to. But, time flies – as it turns out, whether you’re having fun or not. With turnover in both membership and volunteers, we don’t always get to things as fast, or as well, or as often as might happen in a perfect world.

Well, I’ve seen stuff on one or another of these sites that isn’t consistent with what you just said. What gives? Well, not everything you hear on marine radio follows the intended protocols either. Plus, we try to cut reasonable slack. Plus, as previously mentioned, we don’t have all that many volunteers, and thus they can’t be everywhere doing everything all at once.

-- Bob

Nonsuch sailors & enthusiasts (Facebook Group)