Banjo Lounge

Jody Hughes Workshop - Success!

2008-03-26T22:59:00.003-05:00

Jody made an excellent presentation this evening. We had a full house, so if you were not able to attend you can view the web version here: Getting the most from what you already know.

Enjoy!

-=Jim

Slow Banjo Workshop

2008-02-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

Who: Jim Pankey & John Boulding

What: Techniques and Tips for Slow Songs

When: Thu, Feb 28, 9pm – 10pm EST

Where: Right here, or www.banjochat.com

Join Jim and John (not the Hager Twins) for a workshop covering techniques and ideas for working out arrangements of SLOW tunes. You won't want to miss this! As usual, we're not charging admission, but if you get something from the workshop we hope you'll make a small donation to the Banjo Lounge.

Hope to see you there!!!

-=Jim

Coming Changes

2008-02-24T21:01:00.004-05:00

Over the past few days I've been mulling over some simple changes for the Lounge. Oh, don't fear, it's nothing horribly drastic, so don't go into panic mode just yet.

The first thing I've pondered (and reminded about again by Charis) was having something here for other instruments. Even if it's just a "Mando-Night" or "Dobro-Night" or whatever, we can put it on the schedule and just get folks invited. I think it would be fun, plus it would draw attention to the Lounge from more than just a couple of websites.

Second, and this will be the bigger of the changes; or perhaps a reversion to an older operating model for us. It is also effective immediately.

Those of you that were here when we were chatting via Yahoo!'s voice chat we all used our Yahoo! screen names. During that time I really don't recall any trouble, and it allowed folks some anonymity. So, I've turned off registration, and folks can enter with the screen name of their choice. From a moderator's perspective this might seem scary, but our previous history with that was positive. I think this change simplifies getting folks through the door. It also creates a better working situation for pay-per-workshops.

Strap in, and hang on tight... this could get crazy! Man, I love changes!!!

-=Jim

A question... actually two.

2008-02-18T22:15:00.004-05:00

Where has everyone been?

Without regular folks in the room, it's really lonely there. I look through the logs and I see where some of you drop in, sit for 30 seconds and leave. I understand it's not much fun to be there by yourself, but what you missed was those 3 other folks that did the same thing right after you left. Yeah, the times are exaggerated, but I think you get the idea.

Honestly, our influx of new people has been cut off, since we only get a few curious users from time to time. I've watched the registration go from 4-6 a day to about 3 a week. Most of our regular supply of new users are stopping off elsewhere before they get here.

Now, I'm at a loss as a plan to keep new folks wandering into the room. I suppose I could kick off the advertising campaign again, but I'm not sure that's really going to work. I never really saw a lot of difference in registration while I was advertising, and I figure that has to do with my advertising budget.

Finally, the Lounge is YOU. It's not the Jim Pankey/Wild Jimbo show. You're the ones that have generously funded the Lounge. But without you here, those that have donated, it's tough to keep any momentum.

A few months ago there was talk of merger/combination/whatever with the BHO regarding the chat, but you, the supporters, wanted to keep the Lounge separate. So I did.

So, for my second question... What do you, the supporters, want now?

Kicking the Capo Habit!

2008-02-05T17:16:00.001-05:00

In the Chat this Thursday!

Feb 7 10pm EST

Join John Boulding for a fun filled workshop and kick those capo blues! John will cover a handful of techniques and ideas to help you find your way around the neck without a capo.

Everyone is welcome to this event. John's not asking for money, but if you're feeling generous he suggests that you make a donation to the Banjo Lounge.

Don't miss it!

Upcoming Events

2008-01-23T18:48:00.001-05:00

Here's a handy calendar to help you keep track of upcoming events in the Banjo Lounge.

If you would like to subscribe to this calendar click the following link.

A Google Group out of Guilt

2008-01-19T00:03:00.000-05:00

Honestly, I felt a smidge guilty about nixing the AceBoard forum we had, but there was enough about it I didn't like that sealed its fate, so it's gone. A couple weeks ago I started playing with a Google Group. It looks like it might fit our needs nicely, and should give us a platform to get messages out to everyone that wants to sign up.

Go check it out here: Banjo Lounge Google Group

Feel free to sign up!

-=Jim

The Demystification of Stroke Style Banjo

2008-01-11T21:24:00.000-05:00

Prepare to attend a Question and Answer session with Marc "Stuck in the 1850's" Smith in order to facilitate the Demystification of Stroke Style Banjo.

Join the fun and frivolity at the Banjo Lounge Chat on Thursday, January 17th, 2008. Marc will be on hand with Banjo and funny hat for your listening and viewing pleasure beginning at 8:00pm Eastern (7 central).

If you're curious about Stroke Style or Minstrel Style banjo, this is a great opportunity to hear some good playing and spend time with an aficionado of the "Early Banjo."

Marc will be delighted that you came! Don't disappoint him!

-=Jim

Lights, Camera, Action...

2008-01-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

Ivocalize has added WebCam capabilities to the Version 5 chat. That means we get to see each other. If you're using version 4 you won't see or broadcast any video.

So, if you have a webcam, and want to share video while you pick, turn it on. Comb your hair, put on a shirt, and pick one!

Hope to see you soon on the Banjo Lounge!

-=Jim

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T19:08:00.000-05:00

I hope you had a great and safe Holiday! So, it's 2008... now what? Hopefully, for the lounge that just means another year of fun for everyone.

We have over 800 members! I don't have any real statistics to share, but over the past couple of months we've had 4 or 5 new registrants a day. Some visit, some just put their name on the roster. We've made a lot of new friends in 2007. I'm looking forward to more new friends in 2008.

I'll be seeing you in the chat.

-=Jim

Oh No! Not Again!

2007-12-28T08:16:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure why I wind up needing to post things like this; the bulk of our users are adults - at least by age. Never-the-less I feel compelled to wonder aloud, if you will, about the current conundrum presented to me via a post on the Banjo Hangout. Go ahead, read it.

You know, it started out fairly normal. It looked like a good opportunity for the discussion of the Hangout chat as well as the Banjo Lounge. Then it took a pretty ugly turn - obviously.

One, it's frustrating to have judgment passed on our membership based on a couple of posts, but some folks just can't help but piling on, I guess. It's one thing to have an opinion based on first hand experience, but it's troublesome when folks just make an opinion and state it like it's an obvious truth without having set their "cyber-foot" in either banjo chat. As worrisome as that can be, that's the least of my worries.

The problem is that some people have this notion that I'm supposed to police the text log. That's a mighty big task - and since there's an audio portion of the chat I only get the text. However, it's been suggested that I'm supposed to look at the text and make some sort of "ruling" when someone doesn't behave properly.

Folks, you are adults. I can't, and won't, come running every time one of you gets their feelings hurt. People are people, and whether it's online or "real life" folks are going to say things that wound your sensibilities. I don't operate this chat to rule over you and force all of you to be these cutesy little, well behaved, politically correct, compliant, teacher's pets. I operate the chat as a service, a tool for the exchange of information, a place to have fun.

Right now, I'm very frustrated. As much as I've refused to be drawn into peoples' personal problems there seems to be no end of them. One after another, over and over, I find that almost weekly I'm having to try and smooth over something for someone.

So, what's the fix? I have no clue. I can't sit in the chat 24/7 and be the power-abusive moderator that some of you think I should be. I don't have the time, nor the inclination. So until I change my whole personality makeup and how I deal with people you folks are stuck with learning to deal with each other without a mediator!

I do things the way I do them to the best of my abilities as my conscience dictates. I've made a lot of effort to accept each of you as you are - that includes your quirks and imperfections. It's these differences that make us each unique. I wish that you all would do the same.

What I'd love to yell is, "Grow up! Get over it! Deal with it and shut up!" The truth is, though, I'm left scratching my head wondering how it is I'll still accept, as odd as it may strike me, that some of you need a mediator to step in before you have to deal with problems on your own. I hope you find one.

Frustrated.

-=Jim

Happy Holidays

2007-12-23T15:48:00.000-05:00

Another year has flown by, and now it's that time where our lives become busy with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. It's been a good year for us here at the Lounge, and I'm glad to have spent a good portion of it here with you, and look forward to the new year and the time we can spend here!

I hope Santa brings you those banjos you're dreaming of and you and your family have a great holiday season, a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

See you in the Banjo Lounge.

-=Jim

Avatars & BBCode

2007-10-16T23:27:00.000-05:00

I know you all love the Lounge. Me too. I've been lazy about the avatar stuff, and thought I'd make amends by sticking them somewhere that you can have access to them. So I did. I also went ahead and made the BBCode that you can use to post these in your posts on the various web-forums.

You can find the avatars and the bbcode by clicking this link.

"But Jim, I'm not good at this stuff, how would I use one if I wanted to?" It's simple. Just scroll down the page and find an avatar you like. The string of text beside it is the bbcode. Just select and copy that code. You can then paste it wherever you might want!

Seriously - Use Your Real Name

2007-09-30T20:41:00.000-05:00

We don't have a long list of rules here. Fact is, we don't have a list of anything. We just ask folks to be nice, polite, and pretend that they are, in fact, dealing with real people. That's not so hard, because we are real people here.

The main thing I've asked is that you use a REAL name when you register. It even requests that on the login page. I'm fairly serious about it too. I've been over this and over this with our moderators and we agree that it seems to cut down on the foolishness that can come from folks hiding behind a pseudonym or handle. Furthermore, we're going to find out your name sooner or later and we'll likely call you by it, instead of your "handle." Do folks really call you perrywinkle44? I didn't think so.

When you sign up I'll get an email notice, and I'll look at your username. I'll personally decide whether or not your mother and father hung the moniker perrywinkle44 or whatever other silliness on you. Then I'll send you a form letter requesting you to re-register with your real name.

I think you'll find us all a very friendly lot. We'll get to know you, and you'll get to know us. Let's start off with a proper introduction. Everything from there on is quite open.

So in closing let me quote from the login page, "Please use a real name instead of a handle. We feel like it adds to the experience if we're not dealing with anonymous chatters."

Thanks,

-=Jim

Saving the Whiteboard - A tutorial for Windows Users

2007-09-30T19:33:00.000-05:00

Many of our users have discovered the "Record Presentation" (Alt-R) feature and use that from time to time when they're learning a tune from someone or perhaps they just want to go back and listen to someone again.

However, that feature - Alt-R - does more than just record the audio. It records the chat, websites that are posted in the browser, and the whiteboard. I'd like to show you a simple way to capture the whiteboard.

It starts by simply hitting the Alt-R keys. That will bring up a dialog that allows you to select where you'd like to save the "presentation." I usually just save mine to the Desktop.

You'll see that it creates a directory name like: BanjoLoungeChat_200709300841

Now just hit "Alt-R" again. That will stop the recording process.

Now go to your desktop and look for the folder you just created. Remember, it's that one with the long name - BanjoLoungeChat_200709300841

Open that directory and you should see some files and a folder. The folder is named "img" - open it.

In there you should see whatever happened to be on the whiteboard during the time that you were recording, but the main file you're interested in is the one with the .png extension.

You should be able just to doubleclick that file to open it, print it, or whatever. It's the whiteboard.

Now, that may be a lot of steps, but it's the current solution to save the whiteboard. Hopefully, in future versions of the Chat we'll be able to just point and click to save it. Until then I hope you find this useful.

-=Jim

Chat Feature - Public Log

2007-08-13T15:49:00.000-05:00

Ever wander into the lounge and wonder what people were talking about? Ever felt uncomfortable asking? Guess what. There's a feature of the chat that you may have over looked. It's a text log of the past 24 hours or so of what's happened in the lounge!

You can find it listed at the top under "browser" just select "Show Text Log". Or you can simply do an Alt+Shift+B. I use it almost every time I come into the chat as a quick way of catching up with the current topic of discussion.

Also, keep in mind that anything you say in the main window of the lounge will be there for others to see. So, if it's something you'd not normally discuss openly, you might want to take it private. I'd hate for you to embarrass yourself and not even know it!

Finally, while this feature is pretty nifty, don't spend all your time searching through it - don' t be a snoop. :)

-=Jim

Technical Difficulties

2007-08-11T10:25:00.000-05:00

We had some technical difficulties this morning but all seems fine now. There was a DNS change at iVocalize that caused us to be "off the air" for a little while. They got the issue resolved and we're back up and running.

Looks like there's also a new release of the chat software. That puts us at version 5.0.0.26. I'm not seeing any major changes, but it's nice to know that iVocalize is making an effort to improve their software.

-=Jim

Chat Etiquette

2007-08-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

I never imagined that I would have to post the following...

However, over the past couple of months there hasn't been many days gone by that someone hasn't approached me regarding what someone said either to them or someone else in the chat, and how they were not happy with it.

Look, I know I'm the head knocker around here seeing as I'm the one that pays the rent (with YOUR contributions), but this is YOUR chat folks.

We're a small group. We all know each other. We've spent a lot of time playing, talking, kidding, and sharing about ourselves, families, lives and everything else. Many of you I've come to consider close friends - enough so that I'd open my home to you.

We started this chat based on friendship, and I'll not be dealing with the bickering or the gossip. If you have a problem with another member, then talk to that person. We're people here - real live people. Treat each other like you would if you were at a festival, workshop, or any other social gathering.

Now... for some Chat Etiquette that's as old as the internet itself. I've modified it a bit to fit our situation, but I honestly never imagined I'd be asking - telling - my friends how they ought to interact with each other...

--sigh--

Common Courtesy

There are common courtesies to follow when in our chat or any other for that matter. Following them will put you, in other chatters' eyes, as being cordial, polite, and a nice person. Some of those courtesies are as follows:

Don't type all in CAPS. That's considered shouting.
Be kind to chat room newcomers. These people usually are not sure of what to do and will be a bit unsure of what to say. Be friendly and welcome them into the chat room.
Be respectful of other chatters and try not to express your own views or opinions too strenuously. You are as responsible for making the others' chat experience as pleasant as they are yours. It often pays to listen more than chat.
Don't be bossy or monopolize the chat. Don't try to pressure the other chatters to stick to a particular topic or dictate what the others can do or say in the chat.
Do not abuse your power if you are a chat room moderator or a very well known regular. Just because you may know more than the others in the chat, it gives you no right to lord your intelligence or popularity over everyone else’s heads.
Don't be a snoop. In other words, avoid pouring through the logs. You were not there when it was said so you didn't hear it. Yes, the logs are there for you to refer to; to help you get an idea of the topic of conversation at hand, but unless you're investigating some serious crime, just try to forget that it's there.
Don't be a tattle-tale. Just because you think that someone was offended, hurt, or whatever doesn't mean you have to run tell a moderator. The offender and offendee, should be able to work it out without intervention.

Offense and Defense

It is often very easy to misunderstand and to be misunderstood in chat. In text there are no vocal or visual clues to lend context to what is said. Without these clues, many things that are said innocently or as teasing can be taken as offensive. Your best defense in chat is to make sure you always include a smile or some other way to indicate that you are not being sharp or short or angry. By the same token, it never pays to be overly sensitive in chat. If in doubt, always assume the other person is being friendly and/or teasing (at least until you KNOW better).

On occasion you will come across a chatter who will be irate with you for something you said or who is just flat-out in a rotten mood. Usually this will be the result of a disagreement on a particular subject or even something said that was perceived as being derogatory. However, there is a growing number of chatters who just go into rooms to annoy the heck out of other chatters. These people will just pick someone out of the crowd and start insulting them for no apparent reason, other than to make themselves look cool or as if they know everything. Sometimes, it's just to see if they can get kicked or banned (trolling). Whether you purposefully or inadvertently make some chatter angry, you will need to know how to defend yourself or your views against such people.

The best defense is to ignore the offending chatter. Sometimes, this will prompt them to continue to try harder to get you to fight back and you will need to have lots of self-control. But believe me, it is the most effective way of dealing with insulting people.

If you are just dealing with someone who is in disagreement over a comment of yours, you can remedy the situation very cleanly by being polite and asking them why they disagree. Now, if you are in the wrong over your comment, then be cordial and quick to apologize about what was said. These are two ways to effectively diffuse a potential “flame war” between you and other chatters over something very trivial.

Sometimes, when dealing with the perpetrator or perpetrators, it's a good thing to have a quick and reflexive wit or a very good humorous mind. Spur of the moment humorous comments will sometimes shut people up and at other times it will just aggravate them, making the whole situation even worse than before. Don't sink to their level if they use a lot of profanity, or vulgar references. By matching what they are typing, you're saying to everyone else in the chat room that you are just as rude, crude, and vile as they are and don't have much of an imagination.

Thanks for reading...

-=Jim

Clawhammer Q&A

2007-07-29T13:40:00.000-05:00

Over the past several months I've noticed an increase in folks that have expressed an interest in Clawhammer Banjo. I figured it was time to just have an open forum to discuss style, techniques and how I generally approach the banjo from a clawhammer perspective.

Hopefully through this session you will have the opportunity to get some answers to any sort of clawhammer question you might have - provided I might know the answers.

If you're interested in learning clawhammer, curious, or just thinking about learning the style be sure to tell your friends, tell your neighbors, and tell your family that you'll be attending this open question and answer forum.

Date: August 5, 2007
Time: 3:PM EST
(I'll continue until you run out of questions, I run out of answers, or until I pass out...)

See you there.

-=Jim

Still Independent!

2007-07-04T08:47:00.000-05:00

Exactly one year ago today we struck out on our own. Found an affordable solution for the voice chat and freed ourselves from those that would attempt to control our activities at their whim, or shut us down because they just felt like it.

As many of you know we started out on Yahoo's voice chat. It worked, but it was a rather exclusive bit of software and it prevented Mac and Linux users and a great number of Windows users from visiting us. When Yahoo never made any effort to upgrade their software it was frustrating. When I discovered they were eliminating that service I went scrambling for another solution.

Ray Sharpe happened across World Wide Bluegrass' voice chat and tracked down what they were using. We spoke with the person that was hosting their chat and he agreed to set us up a room as well. That arrangement didn't last a month. I'm glad it didn't; because that's when we all pulled together to pay for the facility we now have. As a matter of fact World Wide Bluegrass uses the same software as we are now - Ivocalize.

A lot of things have changed in the software over the past year, especially with the Version 5 upgrade, but the thing that hasn't changed is the helpful and fun spirit of the folks here at the Banjo Lounge.

We're obviously a unique lot. Those of you that visit regularly know this, but for those that haven't visited us yet, allow me to encourage you to do so. I think you'll find everyone helpful, friendly, and just "plain folks". I just can't say enough good things about all of our members, no, not members - friends. It's an honor to count each of you as a personal friend.

Now, get in there and pick! See you again next year with another mushy message. ;)

-=Jim

Fifty Three Percent

2007-06-18T20:49:00.000-05:00

53.22%, that's where we leveled out. I'm okay with that. The $958 raised will carry us a while before I come begging again.

I'd like to thank those who donated. You know who you are, and you're appreciated! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

With that said, I'll hush up about the donations and the fund raising for a while. See you in the chat!

-=Jim

Problems with Version 5?

2007-06-10T11:37:00.000-05:00

Over the past few days folks have had issues connecting using Version 5 of iVocalize. I've mentioned this to support@ivocalize.com, but they don't really recognize it as a problem...

Anyway, here's what they sent as a response:

Many people are currently online with version 5, and we are unaware of any problems on our end.

Try the following:

close all browsers
open your control panel, and then open the java control panel applet
Under Temporary Internet Files, click Settings
click Delete Files
exit from Java applet and control panel
open a browser and attempt to login

Regards,

iVocalize Support

So, give that a try. If there are other problems, feel free to shoot them an email.

-=Jim

iVocalize Version 5

2007-05-23T22:23:00.000-05:00

Version 5 of iVocalize is now available.

This version improves:

-Windows Vista support
-Mac OS X support
-PowerPoint and Internet Explorer 7 compatibility
-Connection reliability
-Overall operation and stability

I encourage you to confirm that your systems satisfy the minimum requirements of version 5 by visiting: http://www.ivocalize.com/version5/test/ .

You can log into the room using version 5 by visiting: ttp://banjolounge.ivocalize.net/login5.asp

Version 4 is still available at the normal login page: http://banjolounge.ivocalize.net/

On June 11, support for version 4 will end, and the login page will use version 5 by default. Please verify your system requirements (http://www.ivocalize.com/version5/test/) and login to your room using version 5 well in advance of this date.

Experience the many benefits of version 5 by logging in today!

First Annual Banjo Lounge Fund Drive

2007-05-19T10:46:00.000-05:00

We've been here almost a year, and we've done it with your support. I'd like to thank everyone that contributed their time and money to making the Banjo Lounge the most exciting place on the internet for banjo players!

We still need your help, so it's time to drag out the KFC Buckets and take up a "Love Offering" for the Banjo Lounge. :)

I've set a goal of $1800 for this drive. That may sound like a lot to some of you, and to others it might just be a drop in the bucket, but for the Banjo Lounge that means we keep the doors open for a year!

Our overhead is roughly $150 a month. We're growing! I seen new people almost everyday, and I'm excited about what we can do in another year's time! I hope you are too.

I know that we have a lot of generous members that want to see the Banjo Lounge grow and prosper, but the Lounge needs your support. Support, yes, that's money - cash - greenbacks. I know I can count on you to help.

So, don't wait. Click the "Make a Donation" button right now.

You can also mail in your donation if you prefer. Just send it to:

Banjo Lounge
c/o Jim Pankey
501 South 5th Avenue
Chatsworth, Georgia 30705

Thanks in advance for your support!

-=Jim

Puddin' n' Tain...

2007-05-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

...ask me again, I'll tell you the same.

For over a year now we've held to the policy of using real names here instead of handles or nicknames, and it seems to have served us pretty well. There's certainly less trouble than a lot of places where anonymity is the standard. I'm also not so foolish as to think that someone could just sign up and say his name was John Smith. I'm also not totally ignorant to the security of being anonymous. I do, however, have to maintain some level of sanity for the chat, and the real name policy has served us pretty well. Heck, most of us were calling each other by our real names anyway...

Here's where the dilemma begins. On the login page it clearly states: Please use a real name instead of a handle. We feel like it adds to the experience if we're not dealing with anonymous chatters. However, since turning on the registration feature there hasn't been a day that's gone by that I've not had to email a new user asking them to use their real name, or catch them in the chat and have them re-register using their name. It's a daily thing folks.

I've tried to be fairly lenient regarding nick names, and cute spellings, or abbreviations of names as long as I feel like the person isn't here just to cause trouble. So what?

Well, if you are a user that has complied willingly with the policy, and you use your real name, or at least something so doggone close we all still know who you are, how do you feel when others just don't want to do the same?

I know some of you don't care, but I know some of you would feel hurt - especially if you were asked to change from your clever handle to your real name and had done that. I'm just trying to figure out the right thing to do.

Let's face it, we don't have any other written down, hard fast rules... I never wanted any. The name policy/rule came about when we were using space that was donated to us from another party and that was his rule. When we declared independence we just kept that rule; it seemed like a good idea.

Thoughts? Ideas? Comments? Concerns? Find me in the chat, we'll talk!

-=Jim