Thank you! I will reach out!
Hi, Is this Discord still a thing? I canāt seem to find it!
Itās definitely a thing 
Hereās a link to it. Youāll be brought to a welcome channel - go to the rules channel and agree (thumbs up), that will unlock the public channels.
Thank you so much! That worked perfectly
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Send me a message on Discord (this way I know who are on there), so I can verify you and get access to the Memberās Areas 
Alisha, I would like to suggest you, and the leadership look at and compare the amount of information being posted to Discord versus posted to this forum. At first I was excited to be able to use Discord, but I have found that it is being used more and more as this forum, which I donāt think was the intent when it was added as a service for our members.
The Ogham sections, the Explorations sections, art share, virtual garden and more all contain lots of information; wonderful information, which is unavailable to members not on the Discord server. Discord has some forum capabilities but was clearly intended to be used for live communication, chat, video calls etc.
Is it possible to somehow port over the information from discord and make it available here? It is difficult for me, and I am only 45, to keep up with all of the conversations on discord so I donāt miss any beautiful art, photos, or what ever else.
This is of course just my observation and opinion.
Thanks for being awesome!
Christopher Weilbacher
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It might take a lot to import the conversations, but we can definitely round up resources, links, etc that have been shared.
You bring up a valid point, and itās definitely something we should address. Weāll discuss it, and figure out the best way to do that.
The community has grown a lot since it launched in the summer, and it may take us some time to move things, but weāll get it
Is there a topic you would like see imported first?
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I wonder if importing it to the forum is where we want the info? Or do we want to create series of short articles or a resource page for the website? Just brainstorming hereā¦I do think thereās a lot on both Discord and the Forums that we can try to find more permanent homes forā¦
But the forums are a good start!
Other ideas?
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Iām not really sure, but I do believe some sort of searchable archive would be the best way to go. I think we have a couple of members who are librarians and even one archivist. Perhaps they would be the ones to talk to about properly storing the information so that itās accessible by everyone.
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Ideally stuff would end up in a resource area/archive on the website - which I have some thoughts on! Iāve been looking into some options to bring up 
. (I wanted to make sure I had well thought out suggestions, so I went and did some homework lol.)
In the meantime. I could start rounding items up - so having a specific place on the forums would be a good idea, and give everyone access to them while a more permanent home is being created
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Some things just donāt get traction here. I tried to get an ogham discussion going for months. If one starts a specific thread, it can gather some discussion, but I could not ask the right question to get a community discussion going, even the question āwould folks like to start a study groupā got very little action. But once we had the ogham sections (which I pushed/asked for three times, thank you Alisha and team who thought through that) there is actually a conversation of interest happening. I donāt know how to replicate that here, and I donāt know that the particular conversations on discord would have much value as an archive. I do agree that the forums are a better container for a discussion of ogham, but how to even engage a deep dive over here is not a conversation Iāve gotten any traction on, despite trying. Iām satisfied with at least having some ongoing lively chat someplace. The book references could easily be replicated over here. One would just need to start a thread on that topic. Other than that, I donāt see the value of replicating our daily chatter.
I also have a question about consent to archive over here things that people post over there. Shouldnāt we get consent from everyone who posts images or art before grabbing their images and moving them?
Iām sorry to hear you donāt find discord accessible. I agree regarding the strength of the forum format over the transitory-ness of discord, but if you like chatty, someplace where folks can chat daily is over there. Itās always been slower over here, and it seems to me like there are still fabulous topics under consideration here too. Part of the difference is that discord has lots of candidates getting their sea legs. Here, lots of folks are longer term members who donāt visit daily perhaps, and engage with a degree of thoughtfulness that the slower pace in the forums encourages.
I just think they are different and thatās ok.
Iām not sold on the idea that all of discord needs archiving. Maybe the people posting their art and photos should have a say.
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Discord is a big hit with folks new to the order, am I wrong in that observation? So a lot of that chat is about how to pick ones way through the first year material. There is a replication of support around art and daily life in both venues. What is a thread on the cycle of the natural year observation challenge here is a bunch of photos of sunrise and sunset over there.
Iām not sure what weāre supposed to be archiving. There are some questions that come up repeatedly, those could be worked up in a faqās type format or short essays for sure, but people donāt necessarily read them or find them. We will still be answering all the same introductory questions as long as people are entering the order and advancing their studies. How may sop threads are currently active over here? At least two. So even tho we say become familiar with the info on the forums, people still just start new posts on older topics, and thatās fine because itās the way itās going to be. Discord is just one more extension of that. And the new forum threads on old topics are generally more lively than the older threads on the same topic, and thatās an important quality also, which I think is why letting those new threads run is good, which we do.
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There has also been an issue since Iāve been here with people not being granted proper permissions. Our members only areas and candidate areas in the forums are rarely used. I realize we are supposed to ask or something, but maybe the system isnāt as smooth as it could be? Idk. If no one sees a post in the forums, because itās in a gated area, then they arenāt going to reply.
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Permission is definitely a thing weāre considering, and taking seriously! Iām not sure we could grab art and photos - that definitely requires permission, but resources would probably be acceptable. A lot of public domain books, helpful websites, booklists, suggested books etc have been discussed, those I see no reason why they couldnāt be rounded up, and shared.
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You made a great deal of good points about the differences between the discord server and the forum. I was never suggesting nor was it my intent that the discord server be done away with. I actually agree with you it is a very good resource for the younger members who grew up with this level of constant communication. JMG wrote of receiving a lot of small bits of information from many different sources which were all very valuable during his reconstruction of AODA. Had the people that presented him with that information not saved it our organization would not exist today. I now think that your input has slightly changed the way that I am perceiving the issue of record keeping. In my Bardic studies, I have learned a great deal about self-expression and art. But one of the things I am also learning is part of a Bards responsibility was to pass along stories and information about what was going on around the community through various mediums. I guess what I was trying to say actually concerns our ability to preserve valuable information in such a manner as to make it possible for future generations to access all of the conversations, ideas, art, poetry, including just our thoughts and conversations so they can better appreciate the struggles we are facing during our time here.
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Hello, I am new to both the forum and the discord server (so new I have not yet been granted accessāknowing this takes time, I am doing my best to be excitedly patient 
[sweaty nervous laughter emoji]), so still learning my way around.
In my other communities, I try to help increase the inclusivity, accessibility, and sense of belonging in those spaces, so it will be hard for me not to contribute what I can on that front here as well. I hope that will be okay. To be honest, it is my perception that this is a similar aim of the AODA (because it seems to be centered in your mission) that drew me to you.
So, in that vein, I wanted to add a thoughtāone that I know is already touched upon, and so this is merely another spināwhich is that different minds find different things useful, easier, more accessible. I think itās more about neurodiversity, in the universal sense. Every brain is different, some more different from the cultural standard than others, but our unique setups are what can make the world so wonderful, right?
Iām 51, and have been a computer geek since the Commodore 64 came out (solidly GenX baby here!). I am used to using Discord for other things (and I was on Zoom well before the pandemic). My dad, who just turned 80, sends me videos heās edited of himself playing piano. Heās even figured out how to split the screen and record a conversation with himself! I get my techie genes from him. Meanwhile, I get calls from mom needing assistance with figuring out how to log back into her Facebook account (and even my husband needs encouragement to allow his Google account to link to other thingsācyber-safety concerns notwithstanding). And so, while these personal examples may illustrate that oneās generation is not necessarily a determining factor of how well one can navigate a skill or platform, I want to stress that oneās generation is not necessarily a determining factor of how well one can navigate a skill or platform. Yes, I did say the same thing twice 
[winking emoji], just to suggest that thereās more than one way that sentence could be interpreted. Even though Millennialsāand youngerāmay be āborn-digital,ā the struggles weāve seen children have with the remote learning model (and also the advantages) show that different minds often need different modes of access to do well.
And I say the following as an observation, NOT a judgment: even the electronic format of the forum may be a barrier for some people, but it goes without saying that an online presence is an incredibly helpful facilitator for this type of geographically-distanced community. Yetāas I said Iām new, so I donāt know all the functionality of the platformāfor example, are there alt-texts on images for folx using screen readers to assist visual limitations?
So, my aim is to acknowledge the varieties of preferred, and necessary, interaction formats. I love reading ink on paper, and have found it a slow adjustment to be comfortable reading ebooks, but then I appreciate the convenience of being able to highlight sections and jot notes thatās will then stay intimately connected to what provoked the thought.
Anyway, Iām going on waaaay longer than I intended. 
[blushing emoji]. I really like the idea of a centralized location for important references gleaned from either platform. As a totally green participant here I am still finding my way around. Probably things will become clearer once I have more access, but knowing thereās a centralized location for any of the key reference materials that spawn on the forums or on Discord, and which might be linked from and to either, might be a good way to go. Meaning, if posts get pinnedāor starred or flagged or whateverāin either location, there could be a link in the membersā section of the website that would take us to them (provided one are signed up for the platform; just signed up; activity optional). Then maybe people who use the other platform as their primary can easily see what important stuff is happening āover there.ā I havenāt thought through all the details and maybe some of this isnāt workable or feasible, but is still perhaps worth tossing up as a thought.
Please forgive me if this all is too much, too soon! I just couldnāt help thinking about this, so I thought I would share.
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All very interesting and I like the ideas. I love that you just throw it out there ā¦ I wish I was more like you in that way. Also, I got my start on a Commodore Vic 20 typing in hours of code to play simple games lol I also remember typing it in wrong and having to go all the way back through to make corrections in order to get the games to play. Those were the days lol Welcome
@HeatherMac, hi! oh, yes, the Vic20ā¦ I had one of those too! Those were the daysā¦ of ādraftingā a floor plan of a dream house but with command code such that I left the computer on for days because I had no way to save the drawing and couldnāt bear to part with it. Haha!
And l, as for throwing it all out thereā¦ heh, I have discovered lately that I lack a bit of a filter (I think that I am finally overcoming some deep anxieties and damages to self-confidence Iāve developed over the yearsāor Iām learning to un-mask my ADHD 
[upside-down grin])ā¦ I honestly used to say I was a shy personā¦ and still feel that way. But itās even possible that putting stuff out there is a coping mechanismā¦ if I introduce myself and get the combo going then folks arenāt strangers anymore and I can relax. Convoluted but, whatever works!
Thanks for the welcome!
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Hi! Welcome, and thanks for posting 
Iām one of the Admin for the Discord server. When you join our server - you end up in our welcome channel, and it asks you to fill out a form. Fill that out (much or as little as you like), and you will be able to access all the public channels. If youāre an AODA member - I contact you to verify your membership, and then you gain access to the Memberās areas.
Iām not sure if our alt-text is set up for screen readers, but itās something I can bring up.
In terms of flexibility the AODA has recently updated itās curriculum. We have a lot of people with a wide range of of challenges (myself included). The curriculum allows people to adapt things how they need, or want to. We do have electronic sources, but we have physical books for the curriculum as well. We also have a mentor program, quarterly calls, and a few publications that come out such as the Trilithon, and The Druidās Book of Ceremonies Prayers and Songs.
One of the projects Iāve been working on is building a resource center for members. Iām currently collecting memberās booklists that were approved during their Candidate studies. We hope to have a variety of content available, but itās going to take us time since weāre all volunteers lol.
Iām not sure I got everything, but welcome again - I enjoy the enthusiasm!
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This all sounds awesome, and thank you for the welcome @lilwolf! I love that youāre compiling the resources! Part of my work is as a database manager, so Iām all about capturing information and keeping it handy for people to retrieve. Believe me I know itās a lot of work, and takes a ton of time to organize. Thank you for doing all of that heavy lifting. So please know that my comments were given with a collaborative spiritāand call me on it (gently 
any time it comes across any other way.
Hmmā¦ Iām wondering if my application did not come through for Discord. I submitted it yesterday, or thought I did, but figured it would take some time to get reviewed and processed. I can resubmit if necessary (will try to remember all that I wroteāor maybe itās better if I have to rewrite to condense it a bitāeek!).
Thanks again!
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