CASTING CALLS - IS THERE A WAY TO GET NOTIFIED?

[Cheryl Whitney]

The original title and description of this thread was

HOW TO RECEIVE CASTING CALLS IN YOUR INBOX
We'll use this thread for info on how to receive and/or post casting calls.

At the time it was first posted, we were kicking the tires of NING and deciding if it would be the best platform for our soon to be displaced MSN Group. What we've discovered since is that NING relies on RSS feeds when alerting members to new posts in the forum. We are still looking for new ways and "work arounds" to this issue. If you have any suggestions please post them here.

[Cheryl Whitney]

NING Technical Support has responded to our query concerning this issue, below is their response; below that, my query.
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[The Ning Team - 11/15/2008 09:21 AM]
Hi there! Thanks for your message! Currently there isn't a way to receive an email when each new discussion and reply is made. This is an interesting feature request and I am going to file this along with your comments to be considered for implementation. It sounds as though you are aware of the other forum subscription options currently available. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask! Cheers!Susan

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[Reporter - 11/13/2008 01:07 AM]
Hi, So sorry to pester you again, but we're in the kicking the tires mode for a large group (1800+) who will be moving over from MSN Groups. A main concern is that they're loosing a feature, specifically, they like having the option of having message board messages delivered to their emails. I believe they would compromise if they could at least be notified of any and all new message posts. However, it appears that this may not be an option available. It appears that in their Settings | Email selections they can opt to receive alerts only on discussions they created or replied to. Can you clarify or offer a solution (besides RSS). (Most members either don't know or want to learn what that is.)

[Steven Wash]

Should we all send a simular request to NING and show them how important the posting e-mail part is to our group?
The squeeky wheel thing may help when it comes to IT Pros. They tend to be happy with what they've created and see
no reason to change their babies for your needs.
Just a question,
Steve

[Havilah Davis]

Has there been any more info on this topic from the Tech Support folks? Could we do anything else to encourage their slightly faster response time?

[Todd Bradley]

I'm skeptical that anything's ever going to be done about this. Now that I've been using NING for a while, it's obvious that they didn't design it around an email push model. Sure we can ask for it, but it's probably not in their strategic plan and I'd be surprised if it's any more likely to happen than getting Microsoft to add a feature to Excel to brew coffee.

That's my 2 cents.

[Cheryl Whitney]

NING responded that this was an interesting idea and would be added to their "wish list" but I've heard nothing more from them since then (about 2 weeks ago).

I've notice that the filmmakers are being creative and posting casting calls in the forum and also as Events and even personal blogs. Whenever I see a blog with casting or jobs mentioned I try to feature them so they show up on the main page.

What I do to get around this issue is add CASA to my browser tabs so the site opens automatically when I open my browser. This works with both my Internet Explorer 7 and my Firefox browsers. My tab is open to CASAs Main page, but actors could set up a browser tab that opens to the CASTING CALL & JOBS Forum. This way you can take an occassional peek without having to log in and out constantly. BTW, checking the activities at the bottom of the Main Page is a quick way to scan what's happening.

Another thing I've done is to set up an iGoogle portal page and add a Google RSS Feed as one of the components. This way I can watch for activity on the CASA site. It's not the answer we want as either way - we're still talking about getting online with a browser to keep an eye on the boards. One perk to the RSS version is that it sure takes up a lot less space than the old MSN messages. It also takes a couple of secs to scan through hundreds of activities on the site and pick out new discussions and replies.

[keith landon]

nOT SURE WHAT THIS MEANS. iF YOU WANT INTERESTED PARTIES TO SIGN UP, I'M INTERESTED
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