Your Profile =>> LOCATION!!

[TheLiquorBaron]

I am seeing too many people register and not fill in their location on their profile...Not a problem unless you start asking - "Oh, where do I get that particular bottle from, I haven't seen that here "

Do us all a favour and at least put in your country!!
Cheers...

[les taylor]

Well Bar Items. I agree with you I think its good to link a place with a person. As its a world wide club you can put what time of day it is as well when people post.

P.s good day for monty. His Five for. in his ashes debut.

[TheLiquorBaron]

Yes Les my sentiments exactly!

- Les I have never really liked watching the cricket but this year I started to get into it more and tonight I watched the last hour or so...
Bloody English bastards may just get one match.... (LOL)(added 16/12 3:40pm AEST...HA HA HA - They didn't get it )
Let's see what tomorrows' and the following days' play brings us
Cheers mate!

[les taylor]

Bar Items I'll talk to you tomorrow.

[Deactivated Member]

I agree it is a good idea to include your location in your profile. If you don't want to be very specific, that's okay; country will do, although state or province for the US and Canada are useful, since the laws and availability vary so much. Besides, it's just fun to know where people are from, and what accent we should be hearing in our heads!

Of course, if you feel you have a reason not to do this, that is your business. But I hope most will extend the courtesy.

Jan, maybe a word about this in the FAQ's?

[Jan]

Jan, maybe a word about this in the FAQ's?

Good idea, I have added a bit about this. (But I don't think very many actually goes there.)


Bar Items, I agree and I think that both city and country it preferable. Often one does not know in which country a specfic city is...

I have updated my own profile...

[TheLiquorBaron]

G'day Jan & Mr.T...

I hope my 'suggestion' didn't come across too instructive
But as has been pointed out along with my points to my suggestion, there are many advantages to having your location on your profile.

A good point Mr. T raises is...

state or province for the US and Canada are useful, since the laws and availability vary so much.

Besides, it's just fun to know where people are from, and what accent we should be hearing in our heads!

True!!

Cheers!!

[Jan]

G'day Jan & Mr.T...

I hope my 'suggestion' didn't come across too instructive

Not at all - I quite agree. It actually annoys me, when somebody becomes member to ask about where to buy/find something and does not tell us where they live

Wonder if Matt could (& should) make the location field mandatory? Any opinions?

[TheLiquorBaron]

Wonder if Matt could (& should) make the location field mandatory? Any opinions?

I think at least the country of residence should be mandatory...
What do others think??

[Di Blasi]

Being from the States, (and still a bit paranoid and afraid of my own shadow too), I would guess most of the people not mentioning where they're from could be from there. Yes, I agree, it's neat to know where you're all from, come on!!!

[Deactivated Member]

I think everyone should do it, but I don't think everyone should be required to do it. Of course one could always put "Neverland" or such in the field (then we'd know it was Michael Jackson). But I think making the field mandatory could possibly make someone uncomfortable. "Why do they want to know that?" A lot of people have to work up their nerve to join in as it is. A strong and friendly suggestion on the registration page would be as far as I would take it.

[vitara7]

that information shouldnt be mandatory, no information should be mandatory for display to the public and is actually against UK data protection act, so making in mandatory would be breaking the law in the uk.
i for one have put my location on here but nothing else, its like everywhere else on the faceless net, you dont know who your dealing with or what they could do with even the smallest peice of information they have of you.

[Lawrence]

V7 your info in perfect, it tells us exactly where your are (for our needs in our conversation. I agree taht it shouldn't be mandatory but it sure helps, especially when people ask questions about where to buy as others have noted.

[vitara7]

i know my info is fine, i was responding to the comment made that information should be mandatory, and that matt should make it mandatory for others to put certain information about themselfs in veiw for anyone who wants to read it.
i was pointing out that them actually doing so would be ilegal in the uk due to the data protection act, should users liek myself deiced of their own free will to put certain info on their profile then that is a personall choice, not one that should or even could be forced upon them.

[Deactivated Member]

I agree with you, v7, but in defense, making the field mandatory doesn't mean that anyone has to put any specific meaningful info in it. But I agree it can feel coercive, and shouldn't be a mandatory field.

I have another bit of advice for new registrees--pick a distinctive handle, something personal to yourself. All the "scotchlovers", "ardbeggars", "whiskyhounds", and "Islay Fiends" tend to run together in the mind.

[Mustardhead]

Vitara7, making the completion of the field would not be in contravention of the Data Protection Act in the UK. If you or I or Whisky Magazine published our own databases of such information we could be in contravention of the act.

Encouraging people to put something meaningful in the field is a good idea. Then we can all feel free to be as helpful as we like whan someone asks "where can I get a bottle of....."

[vitara7]

mustard, what i said was being forced to and making the complition of personal details etc compulsary would be breaking the data protection act, the words being forced and compulsary. as was the point made by another member that it should be.
us doing it of our own free will is fine. youve missed the point i was making....

[TheLiquorBaron]

People...we are talking about entering your location only...Not your name, Not your address, Not even your sex...
If people feel if this is too much information then fine...but understand this, you get your annonominity by the user name you chose when registering.

making the completion of the field(location...) would not be in contravention of the Data Protection Act

Indeed this is correct. It would only contravene the Act if specifics are published, even then there are sub-sections of the Act that allow for this.

All I have suggested is new and current members enter their location...nothing else! It also shows a sense of community spirit...If you enter a room and expect to converse with others, do you not at least provide your name?? Or when introduced to people do you not give the same respect others do when they introduce themselves as..."xxx"

[vitara7]

[quote="Bar Items"

I think at least the country of residence should be mandatory...[/quote]

[Jan]

Ok guys - it was just a thought - and as it seems to make people uncomfortable, let's just drop it.

Should we ask Matt to include a suggestion then ?

[Matt2]

Hi,

Any information you enter into your 'public' profile can be displayed online without breaching data protection, however if we added extra info from our sales or subscription database we would be in trouble.

We can also automatically display the country from where you are connecting from using a GeoIP database without breaching data protection.

The registation forms will be changing soon to include some private information and you will be given the choice as to what is displayed to other members.

We will try and encourage people to give their country or location. The field may even be automatically filled in from the GeoIP database and members would have to blank it out if they didn't want it known.

I think it would be a great benefit to the forum if everyone gave their country, but I don't think forcing people to would be the answer.

[dram_time]

Hey, come on.

It’s not about sex, age, religion, colour, politics or the country you come from. There are some very intelligent and open minded people on this forum, intelligent enough to see past any of the above.

What does it matter to enter your location, even if it’s only your country???

And it helps everyone else when answering your questions.

Everybody should at least enter their country of residence.

Dt.

[vitara7]

if someone is selling a bottle of whisky then of course it helps if they have their own location in so you know if you can nip down and collect it or have it sent via a three month sea journey

[Deactivated Member]

Why does this seem to have turned into a pointless argument? We all agree it would be nice if everyone put his or her location in the profile. I think we mostly agree that there's no need to make it mandatory. Can we stop throwing apples and oranges at each other? We've had our say, let's leave it to the powers that be to do whatever they want to about it, or not. This isn't exactly an earth-shaking matter. And I have no doubt that, two years hence, we'll still be asking newbies where they live.

[si_peacock]

Hi all

I'd love to have a few stats on location etc but i'm a real stato freak i'm afraid. I'm the one who counts every ball in cricket, who loves http://www.football365.co.uk, who uses excel to death and who keeps a log of everything. Sad huh?!

I love the info you get on Friends of Laphroaig site which shows who your neighbours are and where they are from.

Ideally Matt could produce a few stats for us x% from Europe, x% from Canada etc but i suspect that would only keep odd-bods like me amused and isn't worth the time it'd take.

The other problem is standardisation of course. I've put in London, but could easily have put England, UK, GB etc.

Boring bit over... another poll... Who here likes whisky?! Thought so!

[les taylor]

si_peacock wrote:-


Boring bit over... another poll... Who here likes whisky?! Thought so!


I Guess unanimously everyone except the spammers.

[si_peacock]

And thank gawd for that!

The more the merrier!

[Muskrat Portage]

Bar items:
Yeah, good point, so I've amended my profile to include "Ontario". Not that it really matters as, Mr. Tattieheid and others can attest, it takes three bl dy days to drive across the province.

And to be quite honest, once you've passed Orillia on the first day, the scenery really doesn't change or improve until you hit 40 minutes into Manitoba. Once you've seen one rockcut and one pine tree, you've seen 'em all.
Muskrat

[Deactivated Member]

Don't need two days' drive to see it, either--just hit the AGO and check out Tommy & the G7. (Obscure references decipherable only to canucks.)

[TheLiquorBaron]

Thought I should bump this thread due to the fact that a lot of people are registering on whiskymag and still not at least putting in their country of residence...especially when someone asks...Where do I find that product, I haven't seen it here. Well no one can help you if no one knows where you are located

At least put in your country of residence...PLEASE!!

[les taylor]

Hi Troy did you ever send that sample. I only ask not to put you on the spot. But you might have sent it and thought me rude because I did not respond. I haven't received it and hope your okay.


Les.