How Can We Increase Participation and Traffic on RallyPoint?

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Fri, 08 May 2020 20:54:01 -0400

Looking for input, ideas, and feedback on what we can be done to increased member participation and traffic on RallyPoint, so we can provide input and feedback to CPT David Gowel CEO of RallyPoint!

We have about 1.8 million members and there is a tremendous number of current members that no longer participate or that haven't validated their service and the account is just collecting dust. What can be done to improve the website traffic and daily participation?

Provide some of your suggestions for the RallyPoint Leadership. This is a great forum and we need to provide constant feedback on how we can improve it for all of our veterans, service members and retirees.

Provide (3) things you like about RallyPoint?

Provide (3) things that need to be improved?

If you have more add them.

Thanks, COL (Ret) Mikel Burroughs

"Respect Always - Warriors for Life!"

Response by SrA Ronald Moore made May 8 at 2020 8:59 PM

SrA Ronald Moore — Fri, 08 May 2020 20:59:04 -0400

If no word from a participator in 90 days, put the account on the back burner, and one last attempt to reach them,

Response by Maj Marty Hogan made May 8 at 2020 9:16 PM

Maj Marty Hogan — Fri, 08 May 2020 21:16:45 -0400

Provide (3) things you like about RallyPoint? Networking, camaraderie, and the experience

Provide (3) things that need to be improved? Trolls, TAGs that are subjective, and someone responding on your post first and getting 100 points and not even voting you up for the effort.

First world problems I know.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made May 8 at 2020 9:20 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Fri, 08 May 2020 21:20:30 -0400

Put back the topic tag for "Coffee". I can't tell you how frustrating it is that they have "Bacon" and not "Coffee". I'm sure that has turned off many. On a less serious note, poll the owners of those "dusty" accounts. Asking us this question in a discussion thread will only elicit responses from those who participate on RP regularly. If "someone" has a list of email addresses for all who signed up for RP and can identify those with some minimal number of influence points, send them a poll. Find out what RP is missing, what would bring them back...

Response by Maj Marty Hogan made May 8 at 2020 9:35 PM

Maj Marty Hogan — Fri, 08 May 2020 21:35:17 -0400

I also feel like instead of tags you could have areas to visit. Humor, music, politics. Like the Command Post section. You would visit an area with your shared interests as opposed to where all see it. That might do it. I will tell you I have received two messages over the past few weeks from great participants that tired of harassment and belittling. The verification process was one thing each complained about. Older gents and they were frustrated with the process. I don't remember mine. I would also like to see themes. AF birthday, Army birthday, 4th celebrations. Maybe consider bonus points for submitting stories on a regular basis. Maybe not points but banners for every million or something. Just spit balling

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made May 8 at 2020 9:35 PM

Lt Col Charlie Brown — Fri, 08 May 2020 21:35:35 -0400

Perhaps the space for a private group/room?

Response by TSgt David L. made May 8 at 2020 9:57 PM

TSgt David L. — Fri, 08 May 2020 21:57:44 -0400

COL Mikel J. Burroughs - Is there a way to see when new folks sign up so they can be welcomed and engaged in discussions?
- Is there a "How to" thread or instructions to school the new folks on how RP discussions work, expectations (maybe voting up threads you answer) and how to tag people, etc?

Just throwing some thoughts out there.
Dave

Response by SGT Steve McFarland made May 8 at 2020 10:02 PM

SGT Steve McFarland — Fri, 08 May 2020 22:02:43 -0400

I think "influence" should be changed to "participation". We can quantify "participation", but "influence" is subjective.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made May 8 at 2020 10:09 PM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Fri, 08 May 2020 22:09:40 -0400

RallyPoint Members if you're reviewing and answering this question, here is a great link to the RallyPoint Support Center that provides a lot of great information on how to navigate RallyPoint (Much Improved). Take it for test drive, it's easy to work with - great improvement.

https://rallypoint.force.com/Support/s/

RallyPoint Support Center

Response by SFC Herve Abrams made May 8 at 2020 10:10 PM

SFC Herve Abrams — Fri, 08 May 2020 22:10:30 -0400

Three things I like: community, knowledge sharing, outreach and support

Improvements:
Create military unit pages to which members can subscribe. Alert subscribers to significant events such as a member joining their unit page or a planned unit event such as a reunion or award of new unit citations. Tags are okay, but I would prefer access to a page with an entire feed dedicated to my unit.

Do the same for military installations as for units.

Relax the point requirements for certain actions.

Response by SCPO Morris Ramsey made May 8 at 2020 10:18 PM

SCPO Morris Ramsey — Fri, 08 May 2020 22:18:00 -0400

Is there a way to re-engage what were very active members who seems to have dropped out of active participation. Has anyone ask those members why they are no longer active. SMSgt Minister Gerald A. "Doc" Thomas

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 8 at 2020 10:22 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Fri, 08 May 2020 22:22:05 -0400

Make scrolling less cumbersome. If you click on "discussion" one would have to start from the top to scroll down. It is very inefficient and a pain in the butt.

Response by SPC Douglas Bolton made May 8 at 2020 11:01 PM

SPC Douglas Bolton — Fri, 08 May 2020 23:01:05 -0400

COL Mikel J. Burroughs I agree on the unverified veterans, Seems like over half are that way. Is there a way to separate all those members, and start sending them messages to get them to verify and get more involved.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 8 at 2020 11:01 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 08 May 2020 23:01:55 -0400

I am not sure what is happening that this rose to the top of someones agenda, but I will add some thoughts regarding how I see things from my perspective as I have only been a member for 15 months (+/- a few days)... First I will address the questions asked by Colonel Burroughs

Provide (3) things you like about RallyPoint?
1. The Camaraderie of the people I have met on RP
2. The Freedom to express one's ideas, thoughts, likes and dislikes
3. The true belief that we are part of a unique group of people who have served our Country... It is a common interest...
4. We are a compassionate group of people who aspire to serve our fellow comrades in arms regardless of prior rank or current station in life... Where else can you find that in today's society? In my view, you cannot...

Provide (3) things that need to be improved?
1) Change the Eagle Award structure... New people see how difficult it might be to get into the upper tier of members and bow out because the task to get there is too darn long...

2) Restructure the Topics! Why? Many are two mundane and fail to properly cover there content correctly... Example - The Topic of the Space Force Needs to be defined with appropriate sub-topics... and sub - subtopics. And that is only one instance... I am not saying delete any but redefine topics so that they are domain to our Country, our Military, by branch... and to Science, Psychology, Health, Medicine, Civilian life, Transitioning, etc.

3) At the top level, we have 230 or so people who fit into the category of 500,000 points or more. The top 20 have the bulk of the points... Why? Because they spend a great deal of time posting and responding... The majority do not see the value in doing that, get frustrated and leave...or fail to participate.

4) The Top tier of members should be broken into finite categories like:
1-million points, 5 million points, 10 million points, 15 million points 20 million points.... When one reaches, say 25 million points, the published accrual ceases and one falls into a major category like, say, Wisdom Members or some other such title... They still participate but their numbers only show if one achieves "Wisdom Status" or whatever it might be called...

5) Add Categories like Novice member, and grade upward until you reach the 1 million point level of Eagle's Nest... We need to entice the newer people to strive to exceed...

Other Comments:
1) Mandatory completion of a viable Profile within a certain period of time...
2) Improve the Profile into a more professional version of a Resume' so that civilian recruiters can (for a fee) peruse candidates that they feel would be beneficial for the companies they represent
3) There needs to be some form of "Profile" or "Resume" guidance for those transitioning from the Military to Civilian Life and jobs to facilitate item 2 directly above (in Other Comments)
4) For those with health related issues, there needs to be a referral mechanism for members to reach the right provider medical help...
5) For those with legal related stress issues, something similar to item 4 in the preceding #4...
That's it for now... Time to hit the sack, but I wanted to provide some ideas for consideration...
Thank,
Kerry F. Harkins
Commander, DAV Chapter 90
Norwood, MA 02062

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2020 12:24 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 09 May 2020 00:24:23 -0400

You need to better define what an influencer is and eliminate political topics.

Response by SPC Chris Bayner-Cwik made May 9 at 2020 1:40 AM

SPC Chris Bayner-Cwik — Sat, 09 May 2020 01:40:31 -0400

Three things I like.....consistent, great resource, people are friendly and welcoming.

Not sure I can come up with 3 dislikes.....I don't think this should be a political forum. ....

Possible suggestions.....have a welcome committee so to speak that stays in touch with the new people for 30 days helping them learn and understand the platform. You might be able to find out why they joined and what they are looking for.....
As many times as I have been to Great Lakes Navy Base, Commissary, Hospital or to a VSO office, I have never seen any mention of Rallypoint. Maybe some of those empty frames in the elevators could have a Rallypoint flyer in them?
Based on some of the comments, it seems that Rallypoint has alot of inactive members. Maybe they should be contacted personally asking them if they still want to be a member and what it is they need or looking for.

.....20% of the people do 80% of the work....

Response by SSG Michael Doolittle made May 9 at 2020 2:00 AM

SSG Michael Doolittle — Sat, 09 May 2020 02:00:33 -0400

1. I like being in contact with those who know what serving is.... 2. I like the engagement of thoughts and ideas, sharing ideas is how you work towards solving issues... 3. Respecting the contributions of those who came before us, respect for those who gave all in service to our Nation... I came to rally Point because a friend was a member, this was his only Veteran Centric Membership, he committed suicide March 6, 2019... Retire LtCmdr, Naval Academy Graduate, Navy Seal Chet Woolley...

What I think needs to be improved... 1. Less about points and more about substance... 2. Action over Rhetoric, with 1.8 million members and I doubt 1,000 are actively participating... 3. Fundraising, charge at least 1 $ a year for membership, then you will find how many really care and maybe raise enough to do something meaningful... That would attract members who want to see something happen, want to be part of something worthwhile... Not just collecting points and 'thumbs up' approvals for mundane comments.... Share something from deeper inside, I really see very little of that... 1 $ from just half of 1.8 Million is 900K, you can do something great with that...

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made May 9 at 2020 6:13 AM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Sat, 09 May 2020 06:13:32 -0400

I really like the friendship, camaraderie, and the great material that everyone shares here, as to any thing needing improvement, I really don't see anything wrong, those that have let dust settle on their accounts are probably busy. Have a wonderful weekend COL Burroughs.

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made May 9 at 2020 7:15 AM

SP5 Mark Kuzinski — Sat, 09 May 2020 07:15:11 -0400

Please pass this on.

1SG Steven Imerman COL Mikel J. Burroughs Col Carl Whicker PO3 Lynn Spalding PO1 H Gene Lawrence SSG William Jones Maj William W. 'Bill' Price LTC Stephen F. ] Alan K. SGT John " Mac " McConnell ] Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SPC Douglas Bolton Lt Col Charlie Brown Sgt Randy Wilber MSgt John McGowan Cpl Private RallyPoint Member PO3 Bob McCord SPC Margaret Higgins Sgt Albert Castro

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2020 10:04 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 09 May 2020 10:04:28 -0400

Cap the Trailblazer points

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2020 11:19 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 09 May 2020 11:19:38 -0400

CPT David Gowel c/o COL Mikel J. Burroughs

What I like:
1) Military/veteran focused
2) Variety of topics (tags really need work!)
3) Possibility of building real world friendships

Improvement areas:
1) This whole "Influence Points" is horse shit - to put it bluntly. I see far too many posts with a dozen responses and no conversation. "Nice post!", "Me too!", "Good one!", etc. Instead of giving points for responding or mentioning a name or 100, each person should have a daily allotment of points that they can then give to someone that influenced them. Instead of a thumbs up (someone voted for your post) allow us to give influence points, like 0-5 points, where it makes sense to us. Take a look at https://todo.uservoice.com/forums/597175-feature-suggestions, sign in and play with the voting mechanism to get an idea of what I am suggesting here.

2) The home feed. Almost everyday I see the exact same posts at, or near, the top of my feed. I can hit refresh and the top items are just shuffled and do not reflect any of the new posts. I miss over 90% of posts here as there is no way to see what is NEW. And this ties into point #1 above. If I don't see it, how can it influence me.

3) Repeated postings. I can't tell you how many times I will post a link with comments just to see a dozen other people post the same link - and garner more responses. I don't have the following of several of these "million point members" so don't get the eyeballs on my post like they do. Again, goes to point #1 above. If the link has already been posted have the system say so and give the option to respond on that thread or post on their own - with the caveat that points are turned off for the duplicate post.

4) Politics! Politics needs it's own, opt in, section. I have spent time over the last 20 years writing code for, administrating and moderating several technical forums. Almost every single one either has a no politics/religion clause or offers a private, opt in section for emotionally charged topics.

5) Have a small, new members section *and* have an anonymous section for those that are posting anonymously. Once the profile is complete, open up the majority of the site for *posting*. Not saying they should not be able to read posts. But I certainly get tired of getting trolled by anonymous posters. Who is SGT (anonymous) or SSGT (anonymous)?

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Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made May 9 at 2020 11:23 AM

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen — Sat, 09 May 2020 11:23:49 -0400

Im late on getting into this train and most of my thoughts have already been mentioned, id add:
Like: a place to communicate with individuals who are like minded and experienced.
Improve: ability to go back and find a specific discussion

Response by Jenn Moynihan made May 9 at 2020 12:21 PM

Jenn Moynihan — Sat, 09 May 2020 12:21:53 -0400

COL Mikel J. Burroughs - speaking more on “notifications” - When you click the notification, and read it, when you go back to the notification list it does’t indicate that you’ve read the link. That would be extremely helpful and probably just a programming thing.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2020 1:17 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 09 May 2020 13:17:47 -0400

2012 = RP (Season 1)
2020 = RP (Season 9)

Will start by stating --->many interesting topics/categories/posts/friendly folks on RP. And for sure a lot of excellent content; however, a good bit gets lost in the clutter; but, that's the same w/virtually all social media w/the repercussion being many tire of separating the wheat from the chaff. Agree w/the more than three *like* and *improve* comments that others have already stated, i.e., improving how to easily find info on how to navigate/use RP w/o having to ask around/hunt and peck for old posts, influence/point scoring (sic), verified v. unverified, chat room, poll/questionnaire to dormant accounts, (better) welcome to new members, military unit pages, etc., etc.

At the end of the day RP = a business. Presume RP's goal still = to go public and the vehicle to accomplish that = to "add value" to Vets, AD, the extended family of supporters --and-- by extension, the advertisers and companies that want to reach that market. Clearly ---> the active user # = the report card on progress towards that end. That said, next questions = "what's in it for the user besides posting and commenting" and equally tricky, "how best to incorporate the many good comments others have already posted."

Also --> Lots of opportunity for RP to include easy-to-find *off ramps* that enable users to go to areas that *add value* above and beyond the enjoyable but still a rabbit hole of social media commenting.

The good news = even after the Fonz jumped, *HD* went on for a number of seasons and still = big in syndication. IMHO, RP has lots of potential, just needs a jolt of kinetic. And ---> a Happy Days Saturday to *All.*

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JumpingTheShark

Jumping the Shark - TV Tropes

Jumping the Shark is the moment when an established long-running series changes in a significant manner. This can range from something relatively small like the introduction of a new gimmick, all the way up to the magnitude of a full-on Genre …

Response by TSgt Joe C. made May 9 at 2020 5:02 PM

TSgt Joe C. — Sat, 09 May 2020 17:02:30 -0400

Apologies for the length of this response.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good: Networking with current service members and veterans/retirees! The ability to come and take part in what people post. Camaraderie!

Bad/needs improvement: Get rid of the trail blazer award--really don't see it as an award anymore! Open up more topics (i.e., 'coffee' etc)--not sure why it has to be generalized to food/chow etc. Make it a requirement for down voting that the individual must give a reason...not 'highly suggested. Get rid of the down vote altogether or the points that get taken off from down votes. Put a cap limit to how many posts people can create per day. Bring back the cap on upvotes counting for points. Lastly, give people the option of email alerts from those they wish to see something! Not 'you have 150+ notifications from Joe bag a donuts inn the same day. That fills up email accounts! Annoying and unnecessary. I have email notifications turned completely off; I can still see notifications when I click my account and go to my profile. +5 notification from Joe Cullinan. I right click and open in a new tab. New accounts: Force people to use a first and last name, not CPT R F or A1C J B (examples)

Folks should understand that not every story/song/video/photo/meme/quote needs an up-vote if said person mentions them. I don't up-vote everything either. As an example, if I am not interested in the post, I simply move on.

One final note an accounts: Is there a way a service member can vouch for people they have worked with that have unverified accounts? I know of a few people I could help get their accounts verified this way.

Response by CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 9 at 2020 5:14 PM

CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 09 May 2020 17:14:14 -0400

I think the positive aspects of RP have been covered in the responses. In regards to increasing member participation and traffic on RallyPoint. The reality is only a small percentage of the 1.8 million members participate on RP. Why is that?

- Not interested in discussing military topics both socially and professionally.
- Not interested in connecting with other members.
- Not interested or are unaware of tools that could enhance their career.
- Not aware of the benefits of building a professional network or don't require this aspect.

Perhaps RP could develop a monthly newsletter sent out to all registered users that captures the highlights and positive aspects of the RP community in an effort to generate interest.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made May 9 at 2020 10:16 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Sat, 09 May 2020 22:16:26 -0400

Well my friend COL Mikel J. Burroughs I saw this yesterday and waited until today.
1. Instead of querying us I would recommend querying those who have left RallyPoint to find out why they left. About 100 of my contacts have left over the years.
2. I curtailed my posts over the past couple of years since I was frustrated with some of the administrative rules on this network which made it challenging to post without having my post modified.
3. I understand why many active service members are not overly participating. They have duties which preclude active participation. Other members are busy with other matters including taking care of loved ones, increased workload and extended healthcare issues.
4. Years ago we had an option to let everybody aligned with a particular military service to see a discussion.
a. That was eliminated and replaced with a rank/military service tag.
b. Now there is an option to let all of RallyPoint have visibility of a post. I am not sure how effective that is.
c. In my feed all I see are posts from my contacts. Command post and Answers are limiting as well.

5. I would recommend improve searching capabilities to find discussions, groups, etc. [We have a number of topics that have multiple groups] I gave up on that process and have a spreadsheet with my discussions listed and hyperlinks to access [the ones that were not removed].

6. I would recommend improved sort capabilities for a post including last name, first name, rank of responders [we have that in topics already].

7. I would recommend a capability to search within a discussion for a word, phrase, name, etc.

FYI CPT David Gowel

I suggest querying the more active participants who left and asking them what would have encouraged them to participate more.
Thank you my friends SP5 Mark Kuzinski TSgt Joe C. Sgt Private RallyPoint Member and Maj Marty Hogan for mentioning me.

Response by Cpl Tyler Therrien made May 10 at 2020 11:33 AM

Cpl Tyler Therrien — Sun, 10 May 2020 11:33:24 -0400

Make it simpler to navigate, connect, and gain friends/followers

Response by SFC Robert Walton made May 10 at 2020 12:01 PM

SFC Robert Walton — Sun, 10 May 2020 12:01:18 -0400

As Said before the profile system needs fixed. I know some of this is going to sound bad but i think in the long run it will make it better. 1. If you are Retired with only 9 years of service May be a little note of how you did that, Like Medically retired. Yes i am going to say it if your profile is messed up i feel it ruins your credibility. I also think you should not be able to ask or answer questions without at least 40% completion of Profile.
Verified Profile for answering a question.
Asking not so much.

We still need a report to admin. Button For that occasional i am going to disrespect every one type person so we can filter them out.
I suggest you set a team of people to review complaints. I have even had some admin's who cross the line onto disrespect and use that position to make themselves right.
Answers should 1st be sighting a opinion but backed with a Military regulation. If Are going to answer a question on Military leader ship and all the leadership training you have is a civilian degree from a civilian College you maybe should not answer a question about military leadership with out quoting a AR, DA PAM, and so on.
Giving advice and battling with people without having or reviewing all the information is not productive on and on so maybe before you fill out your profile you need a rules page that must be read. Redundancy is a problem Like "Should Warrant Officers Salute Lieutenants" This has been ask a dozen times and very few answers quote a Military regulation. Maybe when that question comes up it directs you to a former post or question on the subject.

Trolls we have people that ask questions that are clearly drummed up garbage. Yet you have the other Troll that takes every opportunity to not answer a question but to blast the President, or race, or a dozen other things that do not pertain to the subject.
Okay almost all of this is a recommendation to get a button or some thing so you can simply notify An admin to get it reviewed or the tread/comment remove again i find it counter productive.

Rally Point is an awesome site and is helpful to many people.
We have Millions of years experience on Rally Point so i find it fun sometimes to just read through a thread because i want to see what the answers are then move to something else with out comment or votes up or down, just reading to see what the best answer is.
I Could come up with a ton of stuff both positive and Negative. But i have taken enough time will go on to something else.
Thanks for reading.

Response by SSgt Max Gonzales made May 10 at 2020 12:22 PM

SSgt Max Gonzales — Sun, 10 May 2020 12:22:20 -0400

I know I have not been on for a while, but I do read the posts. Lately, I've been dealing with the covid19. I realized participation seemed low. In my opinion , the best solution would be new greetings and maybe a few more pictures of activities.

Response by Brad Miller made May 10 at 2020 1:33 PM

Brad Miller — Sun, 10 May 2020 13:33:31 -0400

Maybe ... a once-a-week notification of how many things you looked at?

Response by CWO2 William Stephenson made May 10 at 2020 4:47 PM

CWO2 William Stephenson — Sun, 10 May 2020 16:47:02 -0400

Get more active duty folks involved.

Response by CPL Sean Grogan made May 10 at 2020 6:08 PM

CPL Sean Grogan — Sun, 10 May 2020 18:08:42 -0400

Hello to All!

3 Likes:
• The ability to connect with Vets from across all eras to share experiences and learn/support one another.
• It is a decent repository of helpful information to share with new vets or those that are looking to join the service. (Not well organized though IMO).
• Great Location to find tidbits of Military History from those that have lived it or from those that have linked reliable sources.

3+ Improvements Please:
• The system is set up to roll units up by their current active configuration. Would be better for vets to put items together based on their time in. (As an example: I was with B 2/30 FA ’88 – ’91. Our unit patch was for 2/20th FA as a part of the 42nd FA Brigade in Germany, was the 42nd FA Brigade patch. Today, this unit is with 75th Fires Brigade and the unit patch is for 1st Cav). Would just love to see the drill downs more specific to when veterans were in a unit. It brings a better connection to the site and between vets.
• When the app gives me a push notice on my phone, and I click it, it never takes me to the article the push notification was touting! Instead it lands me on my feed page.
• Allow for a clear way to adjust the feed page by individual to tailor their RP experience.
• Fix the page to be a tad wider so that there is not so much white space in the side margins.
• Allow MS Word Editor access to the page formatting for posts!
• Add some hard links on the resources support page in two categories:
o TOP FAQs
o Most Valuable links to Veteran Support Groups/Sites

Response by 1LT Peter Duston made May 10 at 2020 8:19 PM

1LT Peter Duston — Sun, 10 May 2020 20:19:48 -0400

There seems to be a pretty small circle of faithful who respond to COL Mikel's motivational suggestions of the day. With all due respect, scriptural responses are a bit too "heavy" for some and have likely scared some away. There are lots of discussion topics that are interesting or appropriate to people of particular military status, ie: initial entry, old fart vet, retiree, active duty, etc. and it looks people do respond. I'm an old guy with limited tech experience so I wonder if the site could be made a bit more user friendly? I just don't know when I'm supposed to vote somebody up and how to really navigate the site. Camaraderie and sharing service history is the best. It gets me thinking about topics for the book that I'm writing. I get points and awards that I don't understand? So I have been basically using the Colonel's Motivational Daily messages to prompt me to consider way to live a happier more progressive life and I appreciate that.

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2020 9:40 PM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 10 May 2020 21:40:30 -0400

Col Burroughs,
Great information on how our RallyPoint members can :
1) Participate in good healthy and quality conversation with each other.
2) Have someone who knows about RallyPoint and it’s desired mission to explain what are objective, goals and agendas.
3) Have the availability to link members within their branch of services if they so desired too.
4) One of the many things that I like about RallyPoint is the camaraderie of our members, learning new things that we are not always aware of, and especially your RallyPoint Motivational Forum.
5) If you don’t have a place for members like myself to go to see what’s available and going on I wouldn’t know.
6) One suggestion would be to highlight the members accomplishments during their pre-Service time and post service time.
7) Another would to highlight a plan of the day, week, and month of how RallyPoint is doing as far as memberships.
8) The other thing I like about RallyPoint point is that if you show respect, compassion, and communicate well so folks will understand is a big plus.
9) Sometimes we get carried away with what the social media say or what the news media say, but never addressing our problems with each other’s background, lively hood and just good round table discussion.
10) A place where everyone can see The Who’s Who on RallyPoint. We have a fantastic forum for sharing, connecting and enjoying other members knowledge, thoughts and encouragement.
Don’t stop doing this. I also send some folks who on other Veterans websites such as TWS, LinkedIn.
I’m not a Twitter or facebook guy.
Hopefully some of these things will be of great help to us all.

Semper Fidelis COL Burroughs
Respectfully yours

Response by PO1 Jerome Newland made May 11 at 2020 10:29 AM

PO1 Jerome Newland — Mon, 11 May 2020 10:29:47 -0400

Sometimes I have hundreds of notifications in my mailbox a day. Somebody mentioning me or commenting on something I commented on. It's redundant and an overload of sorts for people who have lives or want to. The only way to deal with it is to block, ignore or disengage. Keep doing that, soon there are only newbies who are eager at first then cool off. Like Christians.

Response by SSgt Max Gonzales made May 11 at 2020 11:47 AM

SSgt Max Gonzales — Mon, 11 May 2020 11:47:34 -0400

My 3would be,1, the support we give each other.,2, useful information.3, inclusiveness, nobody left out.

Response by PO2 Gerry Tandberg made May 11 at 2020 11:49 AM

PO2 Gerry Tandberg — Mon, 11 May 2020 11:49:08 -0400

COL Burroughs, I have found myself less involved with the discussion on RallyPoint due primary to the lack of participation by its membership.

I’m politically conservative and a member of the “faith-based” community. My reading is more focused on secular and Biblical history. However, my interests at RP is more focused on what goes on in the military with understanding that the “faith-based” element plays an important role in nearly all organizations, but is not the focus on RP. Many in the RP community may not be as interested in comments and articles of a “faith-based” nature. All to say I think RP should focus on all things military as their primary objective and address/respond to questions and concern of the military community first, then as appropriate provide a “faith-based” response.

I’ve been a member of RallyPoint for about 8-10 years and participated in many discussions submitted by service members. I love the humorous responses as well the well-thought-out responses. However, I’m seeing less of that over the past couple of years.

In 2017 I was invited to submit an article to Command Post, and as a result RP published “What I Learned About Post Traumatic Stress” in October 2017. I’m not sure RP members are aware of the many articles available in Command Post and bringing attention to that awareness might be helpful.

I served in the USN and USNR from 1962 fulfilling my obligation in 1968 when I was honorable discharge. I look back at those years in the military as educational and productive as well as rewarding. It was a period when this boy became a man. I did a lot of stupid stuff in those years, but still have many fond memories. I considered make the military my career since I love my MOS as both an Aviation Electrician and Flight Crewman. But, decided not enough to stay-in. I’m also a member of Task & Purpose as well as Military.com.

My comments are not meant to be critical, but they are my observations, and hopefully will contribute to addressing your concerns at RP.

Response by 1SG Joseph Dartey made May 11 at 2020 12:32 PM

1SG Joseph Dartey — Mon, 11 May 2020 12:32:39 -0400

Gm RP Brothers, Sisters and Friends. A chilly 45 degrees here in Ashland Kentucky.

As a new participant and still learning to navigate through RP, I enjoy everything about it. Not only does it give the three things CPT Marty Hogan mentioned, but it gives a reconnection to old friends and you make new ones at the same time. To me RP is very informative.

Response by SGT Robert Pryor made May 11 at 2020 12:48 PM

SGT Robert Pryor — Mon, 11 May 2020 12:48:41 -0400

I can't stand the policy on partial nudity, but not for any reason you might think. It totally ignores the fact that many of our members served in areas of Africa or Asia where partial nudity was exactly how they dressed. My wife's absolute favorite picture of me from Viet Nam is one with me standing next to a local village woman who put on her best formal outfit for the picture. She is nude from the waste up, just as all the other women from my AO, but RP somehow treats that significant part of our military history like it's something dirty. My wife had a blow up of that picture framed and is on display in our formal living room. Get your minds out of the gutter, Rally Point!

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 11 at 2020 12:54 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 11 May 2020 12:54:36 -0400

My account was collecting dust until I started reading the Colonels quotes of the day. As an AIT instructor I can't order students to download RP, but I have made them aware of it and I tell them what I have gotten from it.

Response by CPL Linda B. made May 11 at 2020 1:17 PM

CPL Linda B. — Mon, 11 May 2020 13:17:49 -0400

I like the grandma jokes
Maybe there should be Grandpa jokes
I enjoy the music videos
I also enjoy updates on veterans legal issues and updates on our rights..

Response by SGT Herbert Bollum made May 11 at 2020 4:26 PM

SGT Herbert Bollum — Mon, 11 May 2020 16:26:43 -0400

It would help if when I finish an article and hit refresh or the back button to have it go back to where I was, not start over at the first article again, which I probably read a hour ago. Any feature that would help along that line would be appreciated.

Response by MSgt Neil Greenfield made May 11 at 2020 5:15 PM

MSgt Neil Greenfield — Mon, 11 May 2020 17:15:51 -0400

Three things I like:
1. Interesting discussions
2. A way to connect to my past experiences.
3. Seeing how other branches think and work.

Improvement areas:
1. Veterans want to connect with people from prior units they served with. Three of the units I served with have been deactivated. It would be great if there were groups or tags to identify these units that no longer exist. In my case, Berlin Brigade is an example. There are thousands of veterans that served with the Berlin Brigade, but there’s no way for them to connect with their brethren.
2. Tagging could be a lot easier to use. I’ve seen duplicate tags. It’s also too hard to get new tags created.
3. The phone app could be improved a bit. Also, how about a tablet app?

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 11 at 2020 5:35 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 11 May 2020 17:35:20 -0400

I have been a member since 2014. I check in now and then, and have been participating a little more than I used have for years lately. What would make me use the site, would be eliminating tags, and replacing them with actual forums. Also, moderate threads, merge, and delete. It's simply not worth my time to Wade through all the spam posts ansinks on subjects I have no interest in simply because they were tagged, "NCO" or "leadership". In short, it's almost impossible to find quality content on the site any more. RP is a worse version of FB at this point.

3 ups. Veterans, military news, and....
3 downs. Posts aren't filtered or sorted efficiently. Feed is filled with 5 year old posts. Quality content is buried immediately.

Response by LTC Laura Wickett made May 11 at 2020 9:06 PM

LTC Laura Wickett — Mon, 11 May 2020 21:06:34 -0400

I can not think of 3 bad things. I do find it difficult to navigate the website if I want to post a topic of discussion.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made May 12 at 2020 1:11 AM

LTC Jason Mackay — Tue, 12 May 2020 01:11:49 -0400

Three things I like:
1. members who provide good, researched advice
2. Friendly admins. They are out there pulling the sled every day. LTC Kevin B. and SFC James J. Palmer IV aka "JP4"
3. A chance to pass on my experience while learning from others

Things I don't like:
1. trolls
2. Search engine. I can't even readily find discussions I have participated in, so I can provide links to those asking the same exact question (for the 100th time). I've typed in a known member's EXACT name and the search engine does not bring them up. I often have to google the discussion and my name to find it. The search engine needs a thermite on the comsec. Blow it in place and walk away whistling.
3. Same answer fatigue. I seem to answer the same questions over and over and over. Where the heck is your Sergeant?.
4. "Thanks for the share" and other non-helpful responses so people can jump the claim on influence points. It's not about the points, they bring nothing to the discussion.
5. Posting Wikipedia as content.
6. Unit tags have gone down hill in a shopping cart since I joined RP. I think the struggle is 'old' vs 'new' vs deactivated units. It makes it too hard for older vets that are on here looking to connect, not explain to Joe why he is flagged.
7. RP is partnered with the VA....what does that do on a day that ends in y? There are tons of posts on here where people are in pitched battles getting what they are owed, people in desperate need. What is the VA doing to take action on RP member issues?
8. Tags are incredibly hit or miss, and like the search engine, it will not find a tag I have used maybe hours earlier (same question fatigue)
9. Fake names/Anonymous members. The Admins do what they can, but they come faster than they can be vetted. If you can't come clean with who you are because of what you say....maybe shouldn't say it.

The Marketing Dilema
Your 1.8 million members are not a homogenous demographic. They come on for different reasons. The professional transition assistance potential is unrealized. Corporate recruiter activity has tapered off. I think some work needs to happen to better understand and striate the membership. RP can't be everywhere at once and be all things to all people, but maybe they could be ten things to most of the members.

There once was an effort to get Service key leaders to come on. The Live discussions have been a bust from my perspective. Timing usually is horrible. If anything, I wish the senior leaders would realize the gap (real or imagined) between junior soldiers and junior leaders. You can tell just from the questions posted to the community. There is a fundamental lack of understanding on how the Army works. It's not personal, it's just regulation.

I've posted this before. What does RP want to be? Is it a professional forum? Social Media banality? Is it a job hunting/recruiting tool? Ask Jeeves for RE Codes and Flags?

1.8 million members. I see the same dozen or so contributors. I also see the same 10 thanks for the shares. I think CPT Jack Durish has the right idea, ask the low participation crowd why they don't participate. Only problem is they are not known for participating....

PS- please update the mobile apps to add an EDIT function. People add to the post by posting to the post and it becomes disaggregated and wastes a lot of time trying to decipher their issue.

Response by SPC Michael Terrell made May 12 at 2020 1:15 AM

SPC Michael Terrell — Tue, 12 May 2020 01:15:25 -0400

I have been unable to validate. I can't get a usable photo of my VA card. All I get is a lot of glare, or poorly focused. I will have to dig out an old computer that will work with my flatbed scanner.

Response by SFC Richard Williamson made May 12 at 2020 11:59 AM

SFC Richard Williamson — Tue, 12 May 2020 11:59:58 -0400

Good morning Rally Point Family and COL Mikel J Burroughs. I can't say enough good about Rally Point and Warriors For Life @ Victory for Veterans. This is exactly what I've been looking for these past 7 to 10 years. I just read these Helpful Tips for Rally Point and it has created yet another question: Is there a "Helpful Tips for Dummies"? I'm more confused now than I was earlier this morning.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made May 12 at 2020 6:57 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 12 May 2020 18:57:40 -0400

3 Likes: amount of knowledge, ability to network, quality responses. Perhaps we could improve the tagging system - sort of auto populating a question to those who volunteer/are SMEs in that regard - such as @SFC Jason Boyd for retention questions, myself for SORB/CA/PSYOP/SF recruiting questions - this could help bypass improper/out of date information being posted
3 dislikes: people not searching for an answer before asking a question (#1 issue easily, need the pop-up mini search and you have to confirm to put up your post or see those similar, current system you don't see similar until AFTER hitting post), exceedingly subjective and/or political/religious questions (responses are one thing- but the opening question is different), too many spouses/family asking the stereotypical questions that either 1: an answer would violate opsec or 2: the answer is laughable/easily google-able
We shouldn't allow people to be "Anonymous" or not have a picture either - this is a safe place and a professional place.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made May 16 at 2020 1:19 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 16 May 2020 13:19:23 -0400

Perhaps take a page or partner with togetherweserved.com in terms of profile building. It allows the showing of awards and badges etc...

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 17 at 2020 11:59 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 17 May 2020 11:59:06 -0400

This goes towards what I am talking about with so called influence points.

45ish days ago I posted - 1 up vote since then
https://www.rallypoint.com/shared-links/visualizing-the-history-of-pandemics--2

Today I see posted with 9 upvotes already:
https://www.rallypoint.com/shared-links/history-s-most-deadly-pandemics-from-the-antonine-plague-to-covid-19

When I posted mine there was no COVID19 tag.

Rally Point - the I love me wall of the internet. Unfortunately, going the route of Facebook, something I dumped 4 years ago. I've already started the slow debate with self to see if I will stick it out or dump it (it being RP).

And the few years I've been here now I have not seen any changes. Not by the users, not by the admins, not by the staff/owners.

And sure, I could game the system. I have 30 or 40 names I can paste into every response I make. And I will tell you this - when I do I get a couple thumbs ups, a couple of "great article" - and NO ENGAGEMENT.

So, why do people leave? When was the last time you and I had a conversation? When was the last time you engaged with me on any topic where I mentioned you? Start answering those questions and you might start getting a general sense of what is "broken" here on RP. The only engagement I see happening is the Left vs Right attacks...

Visualizing the History of Pandemics | RallyPoint

While being slightly worse (so far) than SARS and MERS, here is an infographic that compares a lot of pandemics through history. The only thing missing is a "per capita" comparison. Admittedly, we are more populous today on planet Earth than at *any* point in history.Admins: Why have a "add a new topic" if it NEVER works?

Response by SSgt Daniel d'Errico made Jun 29 at 2020 1:48 AM

SSgt Daniel d'Errico — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 01:48:12 -0400

Maybe stop the double and triple reposting of some stories. Example, How do I handle a smart mouth E2. Also, see if senior members still on active duty can maybe advertise in the local base/post paper. Word of mouth is good but the printed word goes farther, hopefully.