Club Directory Recreation News

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  #1  
Old 06-05-2021, 09:53 AM
philoret philoret is offline
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Default Club Directory Recreation News

Beginning June 2021 the Recreation News published by The Villages and distributed at recreation centers and offices has stopped publishing the directory to clubs and groups meeting at recreation centers, apparently to save printing costs. They fail to do the obvious of publishing the directory separately printing only infrequently. The same information is in Talk of The Villages club section but without the subject classification, organization by topic, in the old Recreation News, so readers can find clubs by nature of activity. I think this termination by the Recreation News is a severe interference with villagers organizing groups as potential new members cannot find them. It would be a great help if Talk of the Villages could enhance the club info section with the same subject classification (like a subject index in a library catalog).
It was said The Villages now advises groups to create their own websites, but I don't see how that actually solves the search problem.
I may attempt to create such a subject catalog if no one else does but am first notifying as many involved people as possible with the problem they created.

The present club info section includes personal telephone contact numbers for groups, which may have been ok in the Recreation News distributed to village residents, but really needs to be replaced by email contacts or website addresses when online for the general public. TOTV does reference club websites when they exist.
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Old 06-07-2021, 08:23 AM
Bill14564 Bill14564 is online now
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I am looking at the online version of the June 3, 2021 "The Villages Recreation &Parks" publication. The Clubs section begins on page 41 and appears to have the same information it had in previous weeks. I see category groupings, names, phone numbers, email addresses, and in some cases websites.

Are you referring to some other publication? Does the printed copy not include the last five pages of the online version?

The section in the publication notes that this is not a complete list and directs you to a page on districtgov.org. The referenced document, updated on 5/24/21, is a 185 page, searchable pdf that also includes category (club), names, phone numbers, email addresses, and websites (where available). There might be a better format for online reference but I prefer downloading the information and a searchable pdf is ideal for that.
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  #3  
Old 06-07-2021, 09:01 AM
philoret philoret is offline
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Originally Posted by Bill14564 View Post
I am looking at the online version of the June 3, 2021 "The Villages Recreation &Parks" publication. The Clubs section begins on page 41 and appears to have the same information it had in previous weeks. I see category groupings, names, phone numbers, email addresses, and in some cases websites.

Are you referring to some other publication? Does the printed copy not include the last five pages of the online version?

The section in the publication notes that this is not a complete list and directs you to a page on districtgov.org. The referenced document, updated on 5/24/21, is a 185 page, searchable pdf that also includes category (club), names, phone numbers, email addresses, and websites (where available). There might be a better format for online reference but I prefer downloading the information and a searchable pdf is ideal for that.
Thanks for info. At the June 4 Philosophy Club meeting they reported how their meeting was not listed etc., and I later saw the June 3 News. That issue had the classified club directory but omitted the Philsophy Club, Study of Philosophy Group, Civil Discourse, Freethinkers, and Humanist clubs, very strange. I had missed the pdf reference you gave, very helpful. Below is a reply received from the Recreation Dept.

"Our department and staff appreciates the communication from our residents on the recent changes that have occurred with the Recreation & Parks publication. This recent round of changes is a vetting process that our department has been working on over the last several months.



We have revised this section's layout to streamline and categorize the listings, provide a consistent reading experience, make it convenient for residents to find the club or activity, and allow for more club listings and continued growth. We understand that each club has a unique description and meeting time. It can be challenging to fit that into the requirements previously set in our Clubs section. With these changes, each club that wishes to have their information published will have a listed website, social site, or email/phone contact in the event residents would like to find out more information. This allows residents to learn of changes, and get real-time data directly from you. All scheduled activities will continue to appear under the recreation center where it is being hosted, as well as being listed on our Districtgov.org website - www.DistrictGov.org/images/clubslisting.pdf.



Our team has also been researching how technology can play a positive role in providing recreation information from the convenience of your smart phone or computer. We are excited about what the future holds working on this project. Please allow us the opportunity to continue to vet through all the respective areas so the Recreation & Parks publication can continue to be a staple of our community today and in the future.



As far as your comments and suggestions, we will be printing them and reviewing them with the others we have been receiving.
Pam Henry, CPRP

Recreation Manager – Lifestyles, Parks & PR

984 Old Mill Run | The Villages, Florida 32162

Direct: 352.674.1800 | Fax: 352.674-1805

Pam.henry@DistrictGov.org | www.DistrictGov.org"
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Old 06-07-2021, 10:06 AM
HIgolfers HIgolfers is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill14564 View Post
I am looking at the online version of the June 3, 2021 "The Villages Recreation &Parks" publication. The Clubs section begins on page 41 and appears to have the same information it had in previous weeks. I see category groupings, names, phone numbers, email addresses, and in some cases websites.

Are you referring to some other publication? Does the printed copy not include the last five pages of the online version?

The section in the publication notes that this is not a complete list and directs you to a page on districtgov.org. The referenced document, updated on 5/24/21, is a 185 page, searchable pdf that also includes category (club), names, phone numbers, email addresses, and websites (where available). There might be a better format for online reference but I prefer downloading the information and a searchable pdf is ideal for that.
In my opinion the PDF remains the best way to find a new club, although I have found that one does not always get a response when contacting the phone number listed for a particular club/activity. Perhaps the POCs/phone numbers are not updated?
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Old 06-07-2021, 11:39 AM
philoret philoret is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HIgolfers View Post
In my opinion the PDF remains the best way to find a new club, although I have found that one does not always get a response when contacting the phone number listed for a particular club/activity. Perhaps the POCs/phone numbers are not updated?
The Recreation News references their website for complete club listing compared to the printed one, but the file is not classified by subject or type of activity, making it hard to discover groups such as Philosophy Club and other civic and educational clubs, Civil Discourse etc. https://www.districtgov.org/images/ClubsListing.pdf
An older copy of the News will show how to classify these.

If News will not improve their listing PDF perhaps Talk of the Villages could improve theirs?
  #6  
Old 06-07-2021, 01:30 PM
Bill14564 Bill14564 is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philoret View Post
The Recreation News references their website for complete club listing compared to the printed one, but the file is not classified by subject or type of activity, making it hard to discover groups such as Philosophy Club and other civic and educational clubs, Civil Discourse etc. https://www.districtgov.org/images/ClubsListing.pdf
An older copy of the News will show how to classify these.

If News will not improve their listing PDF perhaps Talk of the Villages could improve theirs?
I went back to March in the Recreation news and could not find any listings for Philosophy.

I looked in the pdf and found two, listed in alphabetical order: Philosophy Club on page 129 and The Study of Philosophy on page 160. I would not have have listed the latter under "T" (for "The") but it is in there.

The listings are categorized. For example, to find Crafts scroll down until you get to the "Cr..." on page 54. There you will find Craft - Jewelry Making, Crafts - A Stitch in Time, Crafts - Basket Weaving, etc. The categories are not highlighted like in the Recreation publication, but they are there.

But by far the easiest way to find something you are looking for is the search function of the web browser or pdf viewer.
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Yakima, WA
Stevensville, MD
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  #7  
Old 06-08-2021, 12:15 PM
philoret philoret is offline
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Listing for a particular club in the print version might be missing in a particular week if the club is not meeting that week, as Philosophy Club meets once a month I think. In any event, the Recreation Dept. refers in print to their website complete listing of clubs, but the listing is not classified by subject, making it impractical to discover clubs of interest not in the print version. Some systems request search tag entries of subjects to attach to submissions so they can be found in searches, but this works only for certain types of data, and is more cumbersome than providing a simple conceptual classification by category as in the now reduced print version.

Absence of this tool for finding clubs of interest is denying Villager's access to amenities paid for, being unable to find them, and needs to be corrected.
The Recreation Dept. has shown no interest so far in correcting this problem, referring to text searching their listing as the means supplied, which will not work except for group names already known.
Perhaps I will have to create this listing myself and advertise it here to provide fellow Villagers with the needed service.
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Old 06-08-2021, 12:23 PM
Bill14564 Bill14564 is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by philoret View Post
Listing for a particular club in the print version might be missing in a particular week if the club is not meeting that week, as Philosophy Club meets once a month I think. In any event, the Recreation Dept. refers in print to their website complete listing of clubs, but the listing is not classified by subject, making it impractical to discover clubs of interest not in the print version. Some systems request search tag entries of subjects to attach to submissions so they can be found in searches, but this works only for certain types of data, and is more cumbersome than providing a simple conceptual classification by category as in the now reduced print version.

Absence of this tool for finding clubs of interest is denying Villager's access to amenities paid for, being unable to find them, and needs to be corrected.
The Recreation Dept. has shown no interest so far in correcting this problem, referring to text searching their listing as the means supplied, which will not work except for group names already known.
Perhaps I will have to create this listing myself and advertise it here to provide fellow Villagers with the needed service.
I'm not here to defend or argue, I'm just trying to help but apparently I don't understand the problem. What categories that you see in the reduced print version can you not find in the pdf? Seriously, name two so that I can get a better idea of what I am missing.
__________________
Why do people insist on making claims without looking them up first, do they really think no one will check? Proof by emphatic assertion rarely works.
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Randallstown, MD
Yakima, WA
Stevensville, MD
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  #9  
Old 06-11-2021, 03:32 PM
philoret philoret is offline
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To clarify, the Recreation Dept. and TOTV online directories to clubs are listings of all clubs alphabetically by name, without classification into categories as they are listed in the printed Recreation News. Any club can be found if you know its name, but no search for a subject such as "discussion" or "public affairs" can be made. I am particularly concerned with discovering such clubs as Philosophy Club (actually more public affairs, and drawing a hundred people to presentations), Study of Philosophy Club (educational), Civil Discourse, Freethinkers and the like, though I also notice FMIG (Financial Markets), Stock Talk, and SimplySafeDividends clubs are hard to find. Just my particular interestes so I do not know what else has been reduced.

The Recreation Dept. printed news lists the clubs under headings, such as sports or what not, so one can look through these headings. They have reduced the number of clubs shown in that printing instead of the longer listing by name only online.
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Old 06-20-2021, 06:03 PM
philoret philoret is offline
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I have created online a subject index to clubs improving the Recreation News at
Dropbox - Clubs.pdf - Simplify your life
Categories were added for Public Affairs, Discussion and Culture, and for Investments and Finance, to better cover those.

Last edited by philoret; 06-21-2021 at 08:23 AM. Reason: incorrect link
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Old 06-20-2021, 07:02 PM
Buckeyephan Buckeyephan is offline
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I miss the daily listing of club meetings that used to be in the paper. That way if you had a free day you could look at a rec center and see what is available there. I’m sure the amateur photographers enjoy seeing their photos, but I would prefer the listing of activities.
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Old 06-21-2021, 08:22 AM
philoret philoret is offline
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Correction: the link for the subject index to clubs must omit the common "www". Use
Dropbox - Clubs.pdf - Simplify your life
The forum does not display the link in the usual way: villagesclubsbyactivity.com.

Last edited by philoret; 06-21-2021 at 08:27 AM. Reason: link display
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