We had light rain overnight and woke to overcast skies and the promise of yet more rain today. I find myself in a somewhat subdued mood on such days and am much more inclined to be a bit lazy. I made reference in yesterday’s post to “monsoon season” but the idea applied better to today’s rain. Around 10:45 AM it started to drizzle but by 11 AM a great quantity of rain was coming straight down. It continued into the afternoon, though not as heavily, before finely quitting around 5 PM.
Linda made a run to the grocery store, but otherwise we stayed at home, worked at our desks, and read. I finally got caught up on uploading blog posts. My posts for the last few weeks have not included any photographs, so there is less work involved in uploading them to our WordPress website/weblog. After creating so many images as official photographers at the SKP Escapade rally last month I took a break and just enjoyed the GLAMARAMA14 rally this month. The thing about photography is that it is a serious hobby. I enjoy it, but I do not have to do it; I am no longer compulsive about it as perhaps I once was.
We had a nice salad for dinner and then settled in for the RVillage Ambassador Program orientation webinar. The webinar last week was an introduction for RVillage members who were interested in becoming RVillage Ambassadors. This evening’s webinar was for members who have made the decision to be RVillage Ambassadors. It was hosted by Curtis Coleman, CEO/Founder of RVillage, and Hillary Murray, a member of the RVillage core team and the lead staff member for the Ambassador Program.
The RVillage Ambassador Program was developed in response to members who were very enthusiastic about the site and wanted to help promote it and be of assistance to users without becoming paid staff members. RVillage programmers developed a special color balloon (pin) to serve as an easily recognizable ambassador “badge.” It appears on our profile page and on the EXPLORE map. Staff also created an RVillage “Ask An Ambassador” group where members can post questions. All RVillage ambassadors belong to this group and have been asked to keep an eye in it, and reply to questions if we know the answer.
Besides talking to our fellow RVers about RVillage as we travel and blog, and helping them with the use of the site, one of the things ambassadors are being asked to do is talk to RV park and campground owners about the benefits of “claiming” their park and helping them with the initial steps in that process. Although some RVers want solitude, many enjoy social engagement. RVillage wants to promote the idea to park owners that a “sociable park is a successful park.” Once a park owner/manager claims their park, they have control over the park home page the same way a member has control of their personal profile. They also gain the ability to send messages to any RVillage member who is “checked-in” to their park (in RVillage) and use the Get-Together feature to schedule social events at their park. And it’s all free for them.
To support the work of RVillage Ambassadors the RVillage staff has developed promotional and tutorial videos, handouts, and support documents. The handouts, support documents, and selected videos are available to RVillage Ambassadors for download so we can show them to people without having an Internet connection. In the near future staff is going to create a private/closed group to serve as a place where RVillage Ambassadors can interact out of public view. They also plan to create an area on rvfriendnetwork.com to serve as a repository for all of the resource materials. We are very excited about RVillage and the opportunity to contribute in some small way to its growth and success. From what we have already seen and experienced it is a unique resource for RVers that has the potential to reshape the RVing experience by creating real community among highly mobile people.
We capped the evening off with another episode of Doc Martin and turned in early as Linda is scheduled to be at the bakery all day tomorrow.