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Poll
Question: Would you wish to attend an advisory  meeting in February 2019 / Coffee Shop, the way forward  (Voting closed: October 01, 2018, 09:39:21)
I would like to attend and a weekday / daytime would be good - 12 (17.9%)
I would like to attend and a weekday / evening would be good - 11 (16.4%)
I would like to attend and a Saturday would be good - 18 (26.9%)
I would like to attend and a Sunday would be good - 11 (16.4%)
I would like to attend and could we make it a multi day conference please - 0 (0%)
I would like to attend but am not available at any time next February - 1 (1.5%)
I trust the current team to produce a plan for the future, so would not attend - 6 (9%)
I am interested but probably not enough to attend - 4 (6%)
I don't want to be involved in the process - 1 (1.5%)
I can't afford the time / cost of travel to be involved - 2 (3%)
Something else - I will add a commment to the thread - 1 (1.5%)
Total Voters: 28

Linked Events
  • Coffee Shop Constitution: February 09, 2019
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Author Topic: The Coffee Shop - planning ahead  (Read 11483 times)
grahame
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« Reply #30 on: November 24, 2018, 18:24:22 »

Booked. Will be using public transport, bus or train depending on my mood on the day  Undecided Undecided

Good; sprinkling of early bookings already, and Saturday is always the quietest day here on the forum.  D1 stops outside; Trains a few yards round the corner.
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Adelante_CCT
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« Reply #31 on: November 24, 2018, 20:47:42 »

Booked. Will have to be by train for me.

The important question is do I go direct from Reading, or give a boost to the Transwilts numbers?  Wink
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Surrey 455
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« Reply #32 on: November 25, 2018, 14:20:15 »

Diarised then!

I went to add the event to my Google Calendar, but Eventbrite had done it for me. Did I miss that function in the booking process?

Google calendar sometimes takes booking info from your Gmail and places it into the calendar. It's a bit hit and miss. For example I booked 2 flights for outward and return travel a few months ago. From my separate confirmation Gmails, the Eurowings flight details were placed in the calendar automatically but the British Airways one was not.
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Adelante_CCT
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« Reply #33 on: December 01, 2018, 18:02:19 »

Advance Train Tickets now on sale for 9th Feb.


I've bagged two of them  Wink
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rogerpatenall
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« Reply #34 on: December 01, 2018, 19:08:44 »

Yup. £10.25 with a railcard from Paddington. But I will have to catch the 1503 back. Hope Management isn't saving the best for last.
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grahame
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« Reply #35 on: January 10, 2019, 15:42:42 »

Thanks for having me! This forum is such a great place to access the 'We-Hate-GWR (Great Western Railway)' Hive Mind...

It's more nuanced than that here. Honest. More of a love/hate relationship for some of us!  Wink


I saw that discussion above and thought "what an excellent hook to hang comment onto concerning the Coffee Shop and how it fits in" - rather more than just likeing both posts

When I started seeking a better service (in the widest meaning of 'service') for passengers and potential passengers, I was very much aware of blogs such as "Worst Great Western" and "First Late Western", and groups such as "More train, less strain" - see http://www.passenger.chat/1574 . And to this day you'll find similar activity - much of it on Facebook - with groups like the Association of British Commuters who have taken the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) to court, and Northern Resist who's relationship with their train operator is so poor they get blocked from the operator's facebook page. In our own region, "First Bus is not a public service - it's a disgrace" has recently joined that genre, though I'm delighed to see them renaming to "First Bus Bristol Have your say".  The Coffee shop was never intended - and never has - taken quite the same adversarial approach.

The Coffee Shop's approach - see http://www.passenger.chat/1761 - is to look to promote better, better know, better tailored, better tuned public transport provision across the Thames Valley, South West and South Wales.  At times, that will involve us being critical, cynical, candid with the specifiers and operators of those services, and to seek changes which enhance the product for the customer - but at the same time, so much of the real experise needed to make these enhancements is within the organisation with whom we are being candid/critical/cynical, and we can be really much more effective if we help ensure that goal are mutual goals, that partnership takes priority over protest where it can, and that we work together in an environment of mutual respect and trust.

It speaks for the enduring nature of our approach that the threads I've referred you to above are 10 years old and yet still pretty relevant. 

It speaks for the nature of our approach that we're on excellent terms (for the most part) with GWR, the DfT, local councils, etc. 

It speaks for the nature of our approach that even in the days when forums have somewhat given way to other social media, we still have strong support

And it speaks to the nature of our approach that we have takan a significant and noticable role in certain improvements and in certain informing of people.
--->
Just how much of this is down to the forum, to the forum members, and general good development is hypothetical - but experience is certainly such that what we has been achieved in many areas has been what we have been looking towards, and that much of our work in informing people has helped those individuals too.

Where is this leading me?   To saying "welcome" to new members, saying "please join - it's free and we only need you to register in case we need to contact you, for an audit train, and to protect the forum against unregistered spam" and to say "our members make our forum - please help us this year as we head towards our constitution meeting in a month's time

details here - Westbury, 9th February 2019 - Sign up via EventBrite

Edit to correct typo
« Last Edit: January 10, 2019, 17:12:33 by grahame » Logged

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grahame
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« Reply #36 on: January 20, 2019, 15:58:25 »

Three weeks to go ... 10:30 on 9th February at the Railway Inn, Station Approach Westbury

If you have not yet signed up, please do so via
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/great-western-coffee-shop-forum-constitution-and-planning-tickets-52974243388

The Coffee Shop is very much about working alongside industry organisations - private and public sector - these days, and I have invited representatives of a handful of such organisations to come along on 9th should they wish to do so - for inclusion and confirmation of a desire to work alongside them.   Each is welcome to a short (10 minute) slot if they wish - to update us in how / where they see customer / passenger involvement and working with us going forward - i.e. telling us what doors are open.  As we are a geographically wide forum, these invites are only to organisations covering a wide area. There will (of course) be lots of frequent posters there with more local interest.

Over the last few days, much of my time has been taken up with personal issues and last week was a busy meeting one too. We have also been incredibly busy "behind the counter" on moderation issues. After next Wednesday, I have a hiatus and hope to have much more detail for an agenda by the end of January.  A Wednesday meeting will also help give me other inputs for next month.

This meeting in Westbury is open to all Frequent Posters - please sign up so that I have a rough idea of how many to expect. There is plenty of capacity - I really don't see this being as popular as Bath Rugby or a royal wedding ... though I personally will probably find it far more interesting!
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martyjon
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« Reply #37 on: January 20, 2019, 16:32:37 »

Cant commit myself to attend as I have a family function on an as yet unknown Saturday in February, will it be ok if I attend without giving notice until later, even up the day before ?
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« Reply #38 on: January 20, 2019, 16:34:15 »

Cant commit myself to attend as I have a family function on an as yet unknown Saturday in February, will it be ok if I attend without giving notice until later, even up the day before ?

Yes, that's utterly fine.
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eightonedee
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« Reply #39 on: January 20, 2019, 17:12:25 »

Quote
Cant commit myself to attend as I have a family function on an as yet unknown Saturday in February, will it be ok if I attend without giving notice until later, even up the day before ?

Yes, that's utterly fine.

Thanks - that's useful to know as I am in a similar situation
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ChrisB
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« Reply #40 on: January 20, 2019, 18:23:45 »

....and me!
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grahame
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« Reply #41 on: January 21, 2019, 08:42:25 »

To clarify ... sign-up is to give an idea of numbers expected - if it's "probable" you can make it, please grab a ticket. Tickets are free, cost me / Coffee Shop nothing either and give me an ability to easily see numbers and to circulate a final agenda.  No problem with last minute changes; I'm somewhat ruggedised to the knowledge that they will happen!
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rogerpatenall
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« Reply #42 on: January 21, 2019, 11:08:05 »

Further agenda item for the day:
What does 'ruggedised' mean?
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grahame
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« Reply #43 on: January 21, 2019, 11:13:48 »

Further agenda item for the day:
What does 'ruggedised' mean?


It means that I'm planning for "x" people at the meeting, but well able and prepared if 0.85 * x or 1.15 * x turn up.  The meeting set up is rugged enough for it to work well even if numbers are a bit out!
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rogerpatenall
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« Reply #44 on: January 21, 2019, 16:48:53 »

I realised what you meant, really - but that is a great explanation and an etymological marvel. Hope you are flattered that I intend to plagiarise that one for future use. Thank you.
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Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
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