Last night's Regional Circuit event is a very bad sample to take because of the timing of the post. Generally, the aim is to have "Event Scenery" updates available for members to download at least 5 days before the date of an event. However, I hadn't been doing a good enough job of keeping Dan and the team informed about upcoming events and, as a result, the enhancement wasn't released early enough.
The result of this was that I woke up in the morning, looked at the page, and didn't see an update. You're talking posting an update less than 12 hours before an event and expecting everyone at the event to have that update? That's asking a LOT of people, especially if you're considering that they should make a habit of checking the page immediately before an event. What about someone who starts a flight in the morning? Does this mean they'd have to exit FSX to install the update?
I don't think there's much more than we can do right now, beyond mandating the updates and kicking people that don't have them from the session (which, as we've discussed, will almost certainly have a negative impact on members' experiences). At the moment, we have the following advertisements/notices:
A dedicated page of the website Several forum threads/posts A banner on each and every event page that informs users when event scenery updates are available (only viewable if an update is actually posted, so this banner was turned off for this week's Rc, and is currently off because updates don't apply for JFK/BOS) A banner on the "BVATC Events" page A statement about the event scenery as a major requirement flying online with BVA in the New Pilot Center A link to the Event Scenery page from the "Downloads" page A message in FSX's chat box every time there is scenery available at the beginning of any event
We have also: Mentioned Event Scenery in three Logan Informers Advertised the page in FlightDesk and on the home page of the website
I honestly don't think there's much more that can be done from a marketing perspective. All we can do is make this information (and the updates) as available and accessible as possible. Beyond that, it's up to individuals to download and enjoy the enhancements, unless we decide to start enforcing sanctions on people who choose not to. If updates aren't available online until a few hours before an event (again, this was an exception, not the norm, and was pretty much my fault), it's going to reduce the amount of members who have the update. Something else to consider from last night's event specifically was that we saw a lot of new members (flying online with BVA for the first time). As we all know, there are a number of downloads people need when they're first starting out.
In general, consider that it takes a fair bit of effort on the part of regular members to actually get these updates (of course, that's considerably less effort than it takes for the team to actually create them). We know that it takes 30 seconds to download and install an update. But you need to remember to check the page every single week (and, this week, if you checked it anytime before the afternoon before the event, you would have assumed there would be no update!). Then you have to remember to download and install the update with FSX closed (or subsequently restart FSX). This is a consistent effort that has to be applied every week for a simple hobby... and that's on top of all the other things that you have to remember in your daily life. A reminder would be a good idea--something that tells users when an update is posted. Unfortunately, we don't have that capability on the website.
The best solution to ensuring everyone has the updates is something that I've been asking Sam (sjom13) for, an automatic scenery updater. If designed right, all a user would need to do is download the program ONCE, and subsequent scenery add-ons could be installed automatically. I'm not sure what the progress on the program is (I'm sure Sam will be happy to update us). It appears Sam has made AQL a priority over this updater, but I hope that we can get something like that out in the future, because I'm sure we can all agree that would be a very valuable asset to have that would also AUTOMATICALLY ensure everyone has the appropriate updates.
I'm not so sure this would work. For starters, it takes a consistent effort to get 8-9 controllers present for a three-hour event every Tuesday. You're talking about adding another position on to this that would have to be online for three (or more hours). How would you handle 20 people asking the same question at once (consider that most people join the session in a giant wave near the beginning of the event)? Who would be responsible for this...would they want to give up a night of flying to be BVA's official greeter?
At the moment, we have a chat feature available through FlightDesk as well as FSX's chat box (in which I post messages every single event about ensuring the scenery has been downloaded). This chat feature is effective because it allows members to fly AND take on a bit of a leadership/greeter role.
David also brings up a good point:
Something that might be effective (this is also quite possible) would be to broadcast a repeating message through the session's briefing room that informs pilots that airport scenery is available. For example, when you first login to FSX and are setting up your aircraft, you receive an audible message: "Updated scenery for the Daytona Beach Airport is available from the "Event Scenery" page of BVA's website| please download this scenery before flying tonight!"
I really do think we're talking about an exception, not the general rule, and that we should spend our efforts analyzing the number of members who have downloaded an update when the update is released with a greater lead time.
