Probably because I was reasonably prominent on the old ANZSTAT list, I've been contacted by four folk (plus one case where an inquiry was passed on) to ask what happened to the old email list. I found the attempt to check whether I was myself subscribed not quite straightforward. The following details issues with the web pages:
It does help to find the https://statsoc.org.au/Discussion-forum web page, and use that, and the video, as a starting point. Myself, I'd already logged on, and did not find that page till later. Instead, I went to my member profile page, missed the Email subscriptions” link near the top, scrolled down to the bottom, and was puzzled that none of the specialist "forum topics" listed there looked like a replacement for the old list.
Finding the profile page is not totally straightforward. If already logged in and depending on where one starts from, it may be necessary to click on "Member login", and then look to the left to find one's name in very small letters, and click on it. This is easy to miss. Immediately below one sees "Join now", and below that a large "Join us" text box in blue, suggesting that entry into the ranks of those that the web gremlins recognize as members is still to be negotiated.
The "Email subscriptions" page might be read as mentioning the existence of lists other than the three to which it has links. Under “Forum subscriptions”, there is a note that states: "You can subscribe for updates in a particular forum or forum topic. Go to forum/topic page to subscribe.” Now that I have had a little more exposure to the general topics list, I am now guessing that the intended reference was to topics on the "General topics" list, not to the specialist topics lists.
It appears that I must already, when I started on this recent adventure, have been already subscribed to “Forum General Topics”, and that this has only just now become minimally active as a replacement for the “old” ANZSTAT list.
An additional point is that there is nothing under "Social media community guidelines” that might hint at what forums exist, other than Facebook or Twitter (which many of us regard as the Deep Dark side),
I do hope that whatever process is in place will make the procedure clearer and (preferably) simpler. Certainly, the web pages require tidying up so that, if one starts at a “wrong" (but plausibly likely) place, one is redirected.
John Maindonald email: john@statsresearch.co.nz
@StatSocAus
