I guess I had my head in the clouds thinking that lots of folks would be interested in "educating the public" about the role of toolmakers in society and gathering voices to raise in the effort to better the cause of manufacturing in the USA.

Few in here have joined the effort, and those not in the trade I spoke with just couldn't care less about even trying to understand it.

So I changed tack and just offered free advertising on the site and asked for content contributors.. Still almost nothing.

I'm just not one to do the Don Quixote thing, so unless someone in here can give me a better idea, AAMSO is about to join the forgotten.

I think it is a great idea
how about posting the site info on machinist or manufacturing sites
mms online / thomas register etc

It's a numbers game.

With all the activity and members in here, only 17 (including you) have joined, and no one has submitted content.

It may be a great idea, but it seems not enough folks think so and want to participate.

If that's all the interest I can generate in here, why bother to list in those other places? I'm better off taking a nap or working on my products instead..

RJ, for those of us living under a rock............what are you talking about?

RJ,

I did just register now (ProFormMachine). I don't think this is an idea you should give up on. First of all...it needs exposure. The link is http://www.aamso.org/

I don't contribute here at Practical Machinist much, but I DO read and follow a lot of topics here, especially in the Shop Managers and Owners Forum. I think for the most part, the ball just has to start rolling, and people will follow. You, as the site manager may have to put the first articles of interest there, to get us sheep to follow. Then..tell people here you have something of interest there...and put in a link.

I think another thing you may need to do is on the home page tell what the site is all about. What this organizations goals are. It needs some direction, or at least a start. I know you can list your shops information there, but what is the organization aimed at?

Pat

Here is a little of the beginnings of AAMSO.

AAMSO.. A new organization for us

And all this time I just thought you were covered by snow, not a rock..

Check out EMT's link, and you'll see.

www.aamso.org

AAMSO.. A new organization for us

RJ,

What can I do to help ??? PM me or send me an e-mail. I'll do what I can. I definitely don't want you to give up the idea, just not sure where to go from here ???





Frank

RJ,

I also would hate to see such a good idea fall by the wayside. I feel your pain at what an uphill battle it is getting people, even in the trade, mobilized. When I mentioned the organization to a couple of my buddies at work..... crickets.

But I'm with rockfish, not ready to throw in the towel just yet. I'd like to do what I can as well. Want me to see about networking on some of the other machining forums? Get some bumper stickers printed or something? Or just post something on the website? PM or email me too and let me know.

Regards,

John

I would say don't give up either. I am a newbie to this site and for the most part forums in this field, just haven't got into them till lately.

I think like others have said, you need some exposure.

Do you place links or start threads on other forums/sites other than this one. I know where I work, no one reads or knows what any of these forums are. Some people just don't care.

I recently started a "LinkedIn" account, which I learned from here, and there are many different groups. You could start a group on there and start Networking with peoples you know and also invite others to join your group.

I recently just started that "MastercamForum" website, it's been a couple months and only have about 50 members. Things take time. While that site is very specific, I think if you got the word out you could make a go at it.

Mike in MN

http://www.cncbasics.com
http://www.cncbasicsforum.com
http://www.mastercamforum.com
http://www.mastercamblog.com

As I said in an earlier post... It's a numbers game. I'll give you a few.

There are over 45,000 members in here. A small percentage of them are active, but all those who are active *should* care about the issues discussed.. Only a very small percentage of those active members have joined or expressed an interest. I look at this as "market research" in essence. If I were to take a product to my primary customer prospects and got so little positive results, I would not invest heavily in that product. Same here. Would you? Take it and run. I'll give over the website to you.

More numbers... I just turned 75 last week. At the current rate of growth, how old would I be before gaining a significant membership, if ever?

One thing I learned as an inventor, don't invent something people don't want.

Is it just us Scorpios who live in their workshop?- (I turned 36 last week- happy birthday RJ).

I don't know if I would use the current response on this site as a barometer. A lot passes through the radar of folks around here; seems that a lot of members have their favorite subfora and just hand out there oblivious to the rest. I check in here at least 20 times a day and had no idea AAMSO existed.

Thank you fellow Scorpio. Happy birthday to you too. I'm more than twice your age, and my wife is younger than you... How lucky can a guy be?

She spent 3 months in Canton Aargau in '97. I'd like to visit there some day.

I also look at those who have joined, but not given asked-for content. I don't have that much time left to tilt at windmills....

Here is the copy I just put on the AAMSO first page..

websites are a tough thing to get going. it really takes time to generate interest from a wide variety of people. if you really want to get things going you need some incentive. maybe try and get a hold of some tooling manufacturers and get discounts for aamso members. also a files section would be good. i couldn't find a link to the file i sent you about how to calculate an actual shop rate. if there were suggestions that needed to be made i would gladly make them and then you can post it.

i do think its a good idea but in reality, just not given enough time to develop.

Time to develop is just the point.. I just turned 75. How much time do I have left?

That's why I offered to turn it over to anyone else who would like to have it.....

I also think it's too good an idea to let drop. It just seems like too little time has passed to abandon ship for lack of interest. I read this forum regularly, but when I saw this thread I thought, "Oh, yeah, that looks kind of familiar. . ." People often need to see something repeatedly before it really registers with them.

Cool... Would you like to take it over? No charge, and the domain is registered for 2 years...