The Enid Blyton Society

Maybe yours should be "Master of the society", Tony .

Good idea Wolfgang.

Wow I have learnt a whole ton of things here that I never even knew existed! There's too many posts to quote but I've read them all and will try to answer the questions I've seen. First up, I did not realise that being signed up on here doesn't automatically make you a member. I thought it did and the reason I haven't got the blue signature you all have and some of the links won't let me view them was because my post count hasn't reached a certain limit yet. I'm only used to forums where post counts are what give you access to things, this is the first and only 'fan site' for someone I've used as there's no-one else I'm enough of a fan of to want to join a site dedicated to them! As for a journal, yes I've seen/read mentions on some threads but again thought it was something between long standing members only and didn't like to butt in as I'm still new here compared to everyone else and I don't know anyone the way most of you seem to know each other. If I can though I would love to join and subscribe, however I haven't got any money spare now until the end of the month, can I pay then? Or is there a set date?

IceMaiden wrote: If I can though I would love to join and subscribe, however I haven't got any money spare now until the end of the month, can I pay then? Or is there a set date?

You can pay any time, and your year's subscription will start from that date. The Society was much older than the website of course and so many of us were members before the website was set up. We've met each other at Society 'Days' which used to be held but now sadly no longer are, although there are some 'meet-ups' from time to time (which I've never managed to get to).

The Journal is very much worth the price of being a member.

I think you can pay for membership on this site, using paypal if you would rather, or send a cheque to Tony.

I can't do any 'meet ups' unfortunately, I can't drive and I'm nowhere near any locations (unless theres an EB day in Barmouth or somewhere nearby ) so I can't contribute much that way, but I will most certainly join the membership subscription for the website as soon as I can .

I travelled 500 miles for a meet up a few years ago... and Lenoir flew from South Africa to be there too

IceMaiden wrote:Wow I have learnt a whole ton of things here that I never even knew existed! There's too many posts to quote but I've read them all and will try to answer the questions I've seen. First up, I did not realise that being signed up on here doesn't automatically make you a member. I thought it did and the reason I haven't got the blue signature you all have and some of the links won't let me view them was because my post count hasn't reached a certain limit yet. I'm only used to forums where post counts are what give you access to things, this is the first and only 'fan site' for someone I've used as there's no-one else I'm enough of a fan of to want to join a site dedicated to them! As for a journal, yes I've seen/read mentions on some threads but again thought it was something between long standing members only and didn't like to butt in as I'm still new here compared to everyone else and I don't know anyone the way most of you seem to know each other. If I can though I would love to join and subscribe, however I haven't got any money spare now until the end of the month, can I pay then? Or is there a set date?

This was me in 2006. I had the exact same assumptions regarding Journals back then. I thought the Journals were only for British members or small circle of members!

Fiona1986 wrote:I travelled 500 miles for a meet up a few years ago... and Lenoir flew from South Africa to be there too

Blimey, now that's dedication!!

sixret wrote:This was me in 2006. I had the exact same assumptions regarding Journals back then. I thought the Journals were only for British members or small circle of members!

It's sort of a natural thing to assume really though isn't it? You don't expect as a new or even fairly new poster to have the same access or options as more long standing members. You expect to work your way up to the same level and on a forum it makes sense that it would be through your post count. At least that would be my way of thinking anyway .

IceMaiden wrote: It's sort of a natural thing to assume really though isn't it? You don't expect as a new or even fairly new poster to have the same access or options as more long standing members. You expect to work your way up to the same level and on a forum it makes sense that it would be through your post count. At least that would be my way of thinking anyway .

Yes, but the Journal, and being a member of The Enid Blyton Society has nothing whatsoever to do with the website! The website is a way of promoting the Society, but the Society was around for years before the website. The fact that some things can't be accessed on the website unless you're a Society Member is supposed to encourage people to join and become members. You don't 'earn' anything extra by being a long term contributor to the forums, etc.

The Enid Blyton Society would still exist (and indeed, did exist!) without the website.

That idea would never have occurred to me. I used to get the Journal long before I started looking at the website and eventually taking the plunge over 10 years ago. Even then I only posted rarely for several years. I suppose it depends a bit where your interest lies. My early posts were mainly on the Books thread.

Plenty of society members don't post on the forums. I joined the society immediately after registering on the forums. I seem to remember that Tony once mentioned the proportion of members who post on here, it was quite low I think.

Of the people who received Journal 62, about 5 - 10% are registered forum users but some of these are infrequent posters. To put it another way 90 - 95% are not registered on the forums!

In other words the Journal would be massively in the red should it only be available to people who had posted over a certain number of times!

IceMaiden wrote:You don't expect as a new or even fairly new poster to have the same access or options as more long standing members. You expect to work your way up to the same level and on a forum it makes sense that it would be through your post count. At least that would be my way of thinking anyway .

Actually I wouldn't make the number of posts the criterion then, but the number of qualified posts. How do you want to evaluate that?
If just the number was the criterion, the forum would be flooded with spam posts just to increase the post count. That's always something that put me off forums - when people posted just to have posted, distracting people from the important posts and stealing their time this way.

Wolfgang wrote: If just the number was the criterion, the forum would be flooded with spam posts just to increase the post count. That's always something that put me off forums - when people posted just to have posted, distracting people from the important posts and stealing their time this way.

I believe that used to happen here with some of the younger members a few years ago!