We are a community of friends!
That is the idea in a nutshell. It is the central premise around which this whole group was created.
We started as a fairly small email group. Many of us had been members of other email groups and some groups went dormant. We wanted to get together again and, as chance would have it, Google started their free groups. This became the roots of Our Quilting Beehive.
As an aside, why did we pick “Our Quilting Beehive?”
Well, “Our” because it was all of us that we wanted to include; “Quilting” because,
after all, that was the central focus of our getting together; and “Beehive”
because ... well ... I (Bill) chose that because I have been in a room with a couple
of dozen of these folks at once and that’s what it sounds like!
But, really, we wanted to evoke the idea of the old “Quilting Bee” where the ladies (and maybe the men, I don’t know) gathered around and worked their crafts and, presumably, discussed the events of the day.
Our discussion list (group) on Google Groups, listed below, have that flavor. You will find, mostly, discussions relating to quilting and other needle crafts; but you will also find a large dose of life outside of that. We are friends and friends discuss what´s on their minds.
We do, however, strongly discourage discussions which have, historically, only been contentious. They are not strictly forbidden but will be carefully monitored to ensure that the discussion does not get out of hand.
These subjects include, but not limited to, Poltics, Religion, Sexual Orientation, the Existence of Life on Mars, and Andy Rooney (I made the last two up to see if you were paying attention!) Gentle warnings will be issued if topics stray from polite and general interest.
I hope I still have your interest!
We have several ways that you can enjoy the Beehive. I think I have them covered below.
The Google Group
This is the primary focus of the group. We have a Google group. We used to have three but the one that got all the traffic was “The Buzz” so we dropped the other two. There is no cost to belong to the group but registration with Google is required. We have had no problems with people receiving spam or other unsolicited email with Google groups. That having been said, it is up to you whether you wish to sign up for a Google groups account; we do reccommend it, however!
- The Buzz (the active discussion group) This group is a MUST to join. It is where the activity and discussions of the community take place. You may find two to twenty or more message a day here, posted by our most involved members. Subscription options are:
- Individual Emails - (good for someone who wishes to be active in the discussions,)
- Digest - (for a daily, or more often, compendium of the latest posts) ... Note that it is more difficult to reply to individual posts from the Digest.
- Abridged Email - Similar to a digest, it contains a daily summery of the day’s activities. Links to each full message are included for easy browsing.
We Get Together
Although we are widely dispersed geographically, we do try to get together about once a year. The gatherings, which we call Swarms, are usually held in the Fall somewhere around North America. We try to vary the location so that people have a chance to attend that wouldn’t normally travel long distances. We also get to meet with a varying group of people and see new parts of the country and, of course, get to see new quilt shops!
Swarm 2008
The Swarm for 2008 is being held in San Jose. You can read more about the planning on the Swarm 2008 page.
The Swarm for 2007
The Swarm for 2007 was in Shipshewana, Indiana. You can read more about the planning on the Swarm 2007 page.
Swarm 2006
The Swarm for 2006, covered entensively on the Swarm 2006 page, was held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to coincide with the Pennsylvania National Quilt Show.
Swarm 2005
We had a wonderful Swarm in 2005 in and around Seattle, Washington.
We are a Global community
We have a map on Frappr!
Frappr! is a cool new tool to bring a community of friends closer together. The best feature, in my humble opinion, is the maps. Each member can place themselves on the QuiltingBeehive map and see who in the group is close to where they are.
If someone is travelling then you can also see where other members are that are close to your destinations.
One other feature of Frappr! that we might find fun is the automatic chat room. When you go to the Quilting Beehive map you will see our own "private" chat room. In that chat room you will see who is online now and whatever you type into the chat will be seen by all the other people that are online at that time. Great fun! And if you click Bigger Chat Box! either here or there you will get a separate chat box which will let us all chat together. Cool huh?
