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Up Topic AWS.org / Forum News & Help / New AWS Member Network Coming Soon!
- - By Roque (AWS Digital Content Manager) Date 05-19-2016 13:22
The American Welding Society is working on a brand new online community exclusively for AWS members that will revolutionize the way you interact with other members.

It will allow you to:

· Connect with users who think and work like you

· Learn from the expertise of others in the community

· Share your expertise with other AWS members

We will have more information coming soon.
Parent - - By Superflux (****) Date 05-19-2016 14:49
Hmmmm.
A closed group like the OTB&G used to be?
Parent - By kcd616 (***) Date 05-19-2016 19:41
flux,
I see it coming
pay AWS  for a membership
then pay for membership to this new forum
just keep paying:mad::eek:
when it is the members who do all the thinking and work:yell:
I see Miami using us for their benefit:sad:
sincerely,
Kent
Parent - - By pipewelder_1999 (****) Date 05-22-2016 19:56
This is what has been going on in this forum for 15 years. Just the search results in this forum are incredible. What will be "new" about the next community. Will it take on the look of FB or Linkedin?
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 05-23-2016 13:44
I certainly hope it doesn't end up like LinkedIn, that started out pretty subtle, and now it loads ads and all sorts of crap every time I log on there....it's also a terrible site to navigate.

I agree Gerald, promises of new and improved forums have been in the works for years now, and what we have today has morphed into something that requires a search feature to find anything anymore(which does not work correctly). The sub-forum names in the current edition of this forum have changed over the years and do not necessarily represent the topics anymore making it difficult to look anything up quickly. And as a moderator, I cannot keep the spam under control due to not having enough rights to delete or lock out spammers in all forums. You will notice today that there is spam located within a form topic that no one has rights to edit or delete in. Requesting help from an admin is fruitless, no one ever responds anymore to any requests for help.
Parent - - By 46.00 (****) Date 05-23-2016 18:11
Maybe that was the original plan, take total control of this forum, Total change it with no input from it's thousands of members, make it that bad and full of spam  that no one wants to use it anymore. Then, like a phoenix from a fire, launch a brand new 'AWS Member only network' that only cost $30 per year and hey presto.
Parent - By kcd616 (***) Date 05-24-2016 05:53
Glyn,
agreed
sincerely,
Kent
P.S. Mr Wright, I will be around till I die, and everyone else
stay in touch
Parent - - By anieves (*) Date 06-22-2016 15:52
Good morning,

The new site will be much easier to navigate and have more powerful features that will be beneficial to you. I would love to include you as a Beta tester so that you can go in and navigate the site and provide us with your valuable feedback.

Alfred Nieves
Program Manager
AWS
Parent - By jwright650 (*****) Date 06-22-2016 18:27
Hi Alfred,
Yes, I would like to look over the new site for you.
Parent - - By pipewelder_1999 (****) Date 06-15-2016 11:27
Never did receive a response from the OP? Hmmmm . I was told at a recent District meeting that all of the content from this form would be available on the new one so we will see how it goes.
Parent - - By anieves (*) Date 06-22-2016 15:43
Good morning,

My name is Alfred Nieves and I am the Program Manager in charge of developing and implementing our new AWS Member Network. There will be no easy way to migrate the information in this current forum to the new site. What specific content would you like to see transferred to the new site? We would really welcome your input and suggestions. We are getting very close to opening up the site to a Beta group. Would you be interested in being part of that group so that you can go in and navigate the site and provide feedback? We would also like to have you be an "ambassador type" user on the AWS Member Network since you are a frequent user of the existing forum. I'm looking forward to hearing back from you.

Alfred
Parent - - By pipewelder_1999 (****) Date 06-22-2016 16:00
All of t he searchable forum content based on over 10 years of people asking and answering questions would be nice. Otherwise (In my opinion) leave the forum alone and have some people allowed to moderate the junk.

I am by no means as active as some of the other excellent participants but I do feel the content within the forum is extremely valuable. I doubt the software bloat associated with running scripts to a mysql database is not a big burden on ANY server.

I would love to help with the beta testing of any new online forum but again, you would be wasting a tremendous resource should you completely eliminate this forum or the data contained within it. The mysql data could be utilized by other scripts I am pretty sure.

I personally don't need the fluff associated with many social media formats. They are great for some things but exchanging technical information is not one of them.

Hopefully some others will chime in.
Parent - By Mwccwi (***) Date 06-23-2016 10:16
I agree, a loss of the past post in this forum would be tragic.
Parent - By TimGary (****) Date 06-22-2016 19:26
To reinforce what Gerald said, the searchable archive of this forum is a unique and valuable resource to the welding industry. It is filled with decades worth of topic specific input and experiences from professionals located world wide, many of whom are no longer with us.

Any attempted improvement or development of this forum that would result in a loss of the archive would be a monumental travesty.

Tim Gary
Parent - By welderbrent (*****) Date 06-22-2016 22:41
Alfred,

A thought if I might,  when the new site is started, can this site remain as a research tool but locked down for access as far as starting anything new?

I believe Gerald hit the nail on the head as far as ability to transfer info to a new site but if that is too complicated or involved then is there another avenue to keep all of this resource available.  It would truly be a shame to lose it.

Brent
Parent - By Superflux (****) Date 06-23-2016 04:28 Edited 06-23-2016 04:36
Alfred,

I've been using this site for coming up on 15 years.
Half of what I know came from my participation and lurking in here.
Within the voluminous pages of this Forum is a body of knowledge unparalleled in the welding industry. To lose it would be analogous to the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.
Could this be closed and archived for future reference rather than trying to morph into another site?

You asked; "What specific content would you like to see transferred to the new site?"
I reply; (short answer) ALL OF IT!!
Long answer...
Back in the 90's, I was separated and going through a divorce. I needed my Welding truck and tools from the shop/now the ex's house so I could earn a living and have the ability to pay the inevitable child  support/and or alimony. Lawyer asked; " Well, give me list of exactly what tools you need."
My Reply; ALL OF THEM.

Not being the brightest bulb in the chandelier and of limited memory (I actually do have an excellent memory. It's just really Short!), I reference this often.
The members have become a second family so to speak. Some are not with us anymore.

So in closing, I implore the AWS to Please don't "Fix it until it's broke".
- - By Dreizehn (*) Date 06-23-2016 12:20
As someone who got thrusted into a Quality Control lead position which subsequently meant I had a need to start studying everything let alone for the CWI test, this board has been an essential tool for me. There's  been numerous times I've searched something and the question has already been asked. I can only speak for myself, but it would be a huge blow to lose the information here.
Parent - By jwright650 (*****) Date 06-23-2016 12:54
Dreizehn,
Me too...same situation for me years ago led me to this forum. I was easing into inspection and was training under another CWI/Level III who had health problems(sugar diabetes), and soon after I took the CWI exam, he passed away suddenly while on the dialysis machine.

If it wasn't for Chet Guildford, Al, Joe Kane, Gerald Austin, thirdeye, Gerald, Lawrence and others that I'm sure I've missed; I would have been in a world of misery trying to figure all of this inspection out on my own.

Chet gave me probably the best advice when I was struggling getting the shop whipped into shape and getting quality back to the top of the list of priority. He said that it takes a lot of ocean to get a huge oceanliner turned back around after it has gone off course for awhile. I had become frustrated and felt I was beating my head against the wall for nothing, but that little shop turned things around over time and could pass the muster of any quality audit that was thrown at it.
- - By anieves (*) Date 06-23-2016 12:48
GM guys,

I totally appreciate your feedback. We will definitely figure out a way to keep all of the valuable information that has been built over time in these forums accessible to you.

Alfred
Parent - By Superflux (****) Date 06-23-2016 13:06
Thank You
- - By anieves (*) Date 06-23-2016 13:40
I've tried to reach out to the most active users either individually or in a thread. I appreciate all of you who have agreed to be part of the Beta group. If I've not reached out directly to someone who is interested in being part of the Beta group, please let me know. I need you to send me your email address either in a private message or directly to anieves@aws.org.
Parent - By Lawrence (*****) Date 06-23-2016 15:19
Very much appreciate your willingness to listen to the guys and do what it takes to keep the archive of posts here available.

If you were to do a survey of online welding Q&A forums,,, Miller, Lincoln, etc, and compare the depth of quality and detailed research that go into the responses from the posters here.  You will see right away that this AWS Welding Forum is something special.

Having been posting here for almost 16 years (nearly 6,000 posts)  I can affirm what the others have said...  If not for this forum and the networking, mentoring and friendships that came from it.  I would not be in the professional position I am today..   No doubts about it.

Please count me in on the Beta stuff.
Parent - - By kcd616 (***) Date 06-24-2016 17:42
sent you the info
waiting on Mr. Al Moore, to see if he joins the party
sincerely,
Kent
Parent - - By anieves (*) Date 06-27-2016 13:57
Mr. Moore did join the party
Parent - - By 60John (*) Date 06-27-2016 19:21
I would suggest set it up like the code book D1.1, D1.2, etc with subsections on Design, Prequalified, Qualification, Fabrication and Inspection etc. This way all the as an example D1.1 Fabrication questions and answers will be in that section under D1.1
Parent - By pipewelder_1999 (****) Date 06-27-2016 20:38
That could really be deep. I could see the individual codes but going deeper than that could become difficult to manage.
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