Nothing lasts forever, I guess.

When the Wondercafe first launched in 2006 (I think?) I honestly didn't think it would last forever. And not because of lack of interest, it's just the way social media is.

A social medium seems to last about 7 years, and then it's replaced by something else. However, I don't see many other suitable alternatives.

My life is Facebook free and I love it that way, especially when I've seen so much bullying on Facebook and careers ruined because of Facebook. So I don't get involved in Facebook, even though the United Church has Facebook pages. (And "Rock the Bible" was through Facebook.) I was sorry to miss that.

Twitter is fantastic for work (It's great getting tweets from co-workers about traffic jams to avoid on the way to work, or tweets about a gas station in town offering a substantially lower fill-up.) And it's been great to get municipal political tweets, like tweets reminding me when Xmas tree curbside pick-up is. But I don't think Twitter works well for discussion, especially something more philisophical and abstract and personal like religion.

Pinterest is great for groups of people working on similar projects, like home repairs or redecorating or planning an unusual birthday party. But Pinterest isn't good for discussion.

Wondercafe really needs a chatroom format, and a supervised, administered chatroom at that. And a supervised chatroom is too expensive and impratical to maintain. Perhaps Wondercafe could switch to a chatroom format used by businesses: after all, dating sites and weightwatching sites all use chatrooms, and users pay for a subscription to the chatroom.

But to answer your original question, I do find myself using Wondercafe more often than I usually do this time of year. I'm taking advantage of it while it's there.

I'm posting more than I usually do in the winter.

Beloved and Go, I am still ticked off. I think the initiative (Forget the darn name) that WonderCafe.ca was a part of was a huge disaster.(imo) The only part that was a success is WonderCafe. So why would you not add to it to make it better, add some money, Take away the things that don't work as well and continue on. It seems to me(again my personal opinion) the United Church jumps from one idea to another and if some don't like it the head honchos get rid of it. I will miss WonderCafe and the people here but there is nothing the grass roots can do. We ae not a grass roots church and if I hear that again , I will boo.Just by pass my post. Most know my feelings. They haven't changed.

Yes, there is no doubt there's a lot of politics involved in the decision to pull the plug on the Wondercafe.

But I'm from the camp that says let's make the most of our time here.

We could spend the six months posting threads that complain about the canning of the Wondercafe.

Or we could spend the six months having productive discussions about the things that matter to us, and discuss them while we can.

Ross Bartlett, one of the moderator nominees in the last GC, said he wanted to declare a moratorium on despair. I really admire that attitude.

So in this last 6 months, I'm declaring a moratorium on despair (for me, anyway) and i will use the Wondercafe and post and make the most of the time I have left here.

Thank you Go for the advice. I will try as well.

An excellent question, Beloved. 

We seem to be winding down. The site has been relatively quiet recently but I think this is a trend that has been playing itself out slowly - - even before the announcement was made. 

P3, would you suspect that the slowdown is related to lack of Marketing for WonderCafe. Advertising is virtually nil.

Yes, that is exactly what I suspect, Crazyheart.

Hoping for a virtual Wonderparty before it all wraps up! 

And hoping we will say our goodbyes in a meaningful way. 

I would like to see UCC throw us a wonderparty where we can all have an opportunity to express our gratitude and affection for all who've contributed here by administrating, posting or lurking...

I suggest Toronto - as more seem to live in Ontario.

It would also be a nice gesture if the UCC were to instruct their churches to fund the fare to Toronto of their Wondercafe church members -if there is a need to do so.

(Don't go into a tizz UCC moderator - I'll pay my own fare from Oz!)

Now, wouldn't that be a nice Christian thing to do? 

Nice idea, Pilgrims. 

But I think a virtual party will do the trick :)

Well I think we have all been privy to a very fine "school" that has taught us many lessons. In June we will all "graduate" and hopefully we will take the knowledge we have acquired and share it with "the world". We can't stay in school forever now can we? It's time to share.

I have learned so much, thankyou WC.

:)

I'm grateful to have been a part of the WC exercise. And it still has some time to run.

What happened to the tech discussion (sorry I have nothing to contribute to that)? I imagine by April, with a couple of months to go, those threads will be as active as ever.

It's been really quiet here the last couple of days. The season? The weather (I hope those coping with it are okay)?

I'll just carry on, posting a little to a lot depending on how I feel and how much time I have, until it wraps up or we get something else going. I will miss this place (the people) if it stops completely, but I will keep on keepin' on!

I'll miss the social aspect.  I don't post much but have been following Carter's progress with Chasen posts, 

I think the season might have something to do with a slowdown. 

I think regular posters will spend more time in the months ahead on Wondercafe trying to get all in that they can.

It might, Beloved, but I don't remember a slowdown like this in other years. 

I see many folk posting on FaceBook and they are not here.

I suspect that the holidays, the weather, and the announcement that WC will end all are factors that contribute to a perceived drop in WC activity.

There is no doubt that within the next 6 mos SOMETHING could be done technically, either to continue operating WC or transferring to a new platform.  BTW, I am not tech savvy, but I do understand finance - and it would not cost all that much to keep WC operating as it is, and I suspect that the cost to do so has nothing to do with stripping it down.  Also, in one of the pre-Christmas hot threads about WC shutting down, I seem to recall that Aaron mentioned that about four hours of paid admin work is applied to WC - that also seems to be a managable cost.

AND UCCan did grow out of a grassroots movement - how else would Congregationalists, Methodists and Presbyterians unite???

Ironically, even a grassroots movement requires a F/T + leader, and that would be the only roadblock in an effort to keep WC as is or create a new platform.  Someone has to be completely dedicated to make it work.  Historically, not many stand up to that kind of challenge.  Great ideas from many emerge, but the momentum to realise such vision(s) requires real time effort and coordination - and someone has to be the coordinator. 

IF someone accepts the responsibility, WC will survive and flourish. 

Radical, eh?  ;)

We could all go to facebook and talk there? Facebook is free.

Many have expressed that Facebook wouldn't be the same.  I for one would not be interested in Facebook.

Nothing will be the same. Its a better alternative thhen losing our friendships.

One of the life lessons I have learned in the last years is nothing stays the same. Another is that nothing works out exactlly the way you want it to. You have to make compromises sometimes or be out in the cold.

I'm willing to look at other alternatives. Facebook was just a suggestion.

We've been discussing alternate forum platforms and funding models.

http://www.wondercafe.ca/discussion/social/technical-discussion-about-mi...

http://www.wondercafe.ca/discussion/social/potential-model-wc

http://www.wondercafe.ca/discussion/social/important-message-wondercafe-...

Right now, we're in a holding pattern, waiting for a response from the UCCan about their willingness to let us have the archived posts, and use of the domain name.

The thought from the techies like Pinga, Mendalla and myself who have offered to put the time in, is that once we have those answers, we can move forward. If we can have the archive (and it is the property of WC to do with as they want), then we'll know if the ability to import from the (Drupal 6) format here is an important consideration for forum software. I hope they agree.

Edit: Thanks for reminding me. I've followed up with Dan Benson with the UCCan again.

Thanks. Pinga has been reminding me to. I'll see if I can get the answers you are looking for, and, if things move forward, a timeline.