Stories and ideas

nicd1981

Morning guys ,
I've travelled to sunny Farnburough last night , a gruelling 5 and a half hour drive for my Public speaking conference today !
Anyway , the whole way here I couldn't stop thinking about a conversation I had with a couple of members regarding this very forum .
It made me ask : Is the forum dead?
This made me incredibly sad , if you search by my name you can see how I joined the forum knowing literally nothing . Asking painful question after question , then gaining great support by students , members , tutors and of course aat .
This forum guided me , and helped me to get qualified .
Even after qualification I've jumped on and asked a question or given guidance when required although I'll guiltily admit that I could be around more now.
Since doing #aatstories , I often get messages from students or members wanting to start their own business and asking how ?. This is amazing , but let's make this forum great again and get asking more questions here .Or people like me may never get to qualified status .

AAT would love more interaction from students and members here , so let's make it easier
For them by posting our ideas for Forum future

-Post below your success stories
-encourage new students to join the forum -what are your ideas to raise the forums profile ?
-shall we start a Facebook page , instagram, twitter to share the forums posts and add all the members run by us the members and students ?
-what do you want to see on the forum ?
-topic of the day , for the members , like our own journals on things like capital gains , crypto , etc

The more we comment , chat and Connect, the more we grow and learn .

Anyway I'm off to speak to a room of 150 people about how AAT changed my life ..... how did it change yours ?

N xxx

Mike Webster

I've noticed a massive drop in forum use since a number of Facebook support groups started up a few years ago.
Perhaps this is the reason for this?
I agree that it is a sad state of affairs - when I was an AAT student, I found these forums an invaluable source of information and, more importantly, support.
Anyway, maybe your plea will elicit responses.

AAT_Team

The forum is certainly not dead.

Compared to this time last year, more users are signing-up, posting and using the search function. There's plenty of student activity for sure but we could definitely do with more professional members contributing here.

I have actively tried to recruit more professional members from our main Facebook pages and will continue to do so.

Recently I've changed categories around for professional members too, based on feedback from you guys and have started to share AAT Comment posts here which was also requested. Consistency is key I feel. If we stay active and keep posting then things will only get better.

On the subject of success stories:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO6eJUE6Gj0&list=PLstiFxFu9E4W167LzkhWWHRkWllTprqwF&index=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3sAJ10A5Tw&list=PLstiFxFu9E4W167LzkhWWHRkWllTprqwF&index=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iECXEAXEWIo&list=PLstiFxFu9E4W167LzkhWWHRkWllTprqwF&index=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyz6JIPv1sI&list=PLstiFxFu9E4W167LzkhWWHRkWllTprqwF&index=4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3SFB-R0WGY&index=5&list=PLstiFxFu9E4W167LzkhWWHRkWllTprqwF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5b8jS8NiZU&list=PLstiFxFu9E4W167LzkhWWHRkWllTprqwF&index=6

MarieNoelle

Hi @nicd1981

There have been a number of threads to discuss the new forum layout and how things could be improved to try and encourage more users to come on here. These two threads are a good example:

https://forums.aat.org.uk/Forum/discussion/446340/forum-feedback/p1

https://forums.aat.org.uk/Forum/discussion/444831/update-recent-forum-changes-and-new-user-titles/p2

I am all for trying new ideas to attract more users - I would personally keep the forum separate to FB/Instagram etc... I think the format of the forum is ideal for more technical / client related questions and allows you to retain some anonymity if you so require. From my perspective as a sole practitioner the forum has been great to bounce off ideas with like minded accountants- be it on technical matters, choice of software, client issues - or sometimes just to let off steam.

To be fair to @AAT_Team they have taken on board our comments - maybe this thread will elicit more ideas, but if we have the same members participating over and over the conversation becomes a bit stale.

reader

On life support but making a slow but steady recovery

AAT_Team

How about if you guys provide me with some quotes about why professional members should sign-up, and then I can work them into visuals to promote the forum on social media. Similar to the below:

nicd1981

Fab , I'm glad you all feel that way . So encouraging engagement needs to be a way forward . I've an idea , I'll run it by a few people and get back to you guys xx

nicd1981

This is the post i have put on the AAT pages on Facebook (student run )

I've also contacted a few of the page owners to get them to start spending time here.
Xxx


Morning everyone, I've been speaking to AAT and since the growth of the numerous Facebook pages the use of the AAT forum has dropped.

Facebook is great for instant advice and answers etc but the forum is invaluable as the questions and answers remain there for future students . Just search my name for example, find questions as far back as 2008 when I first started.

Anyway , I'm trying to get people using the forum again, posting questions and sharing the success stories.

Please find the time to pop over there today and register xxx

Thanks in advance

https://forums.aat.org.uk/Forum

David Ballantyne

Hi,

Slightly off topic response, but something that has put me off is some occasional lapses in professional behaviour on the forum. Fortunately, the worst culprit was recently banned. I would like to encourage AAT Team, students and professional members to monitor the forum closely to ensure that all members act professionally when posting. If you feel someone has acted unprofessionally, please report it immediately.

MarieNoelle

Question to @nicd1981 or @AAT_Team
How many Facebook pages does AAT have? I follow the "official" one but @nicd1981 seemed to suggest that there are other student run pages? Thanks for clarifying!

nicd1981

There are loads Marie, AAT students Indepent page has around 12,800 members , Accounting student network has about 26,000 members .
The lots of smaller ones , from 500 - 2,800 members . These pages aren't run by aat but students have set them up , and Accounting student network is run by premier training x

MarieNoelle

Thanks Nicola. They seem to be private groups so can't access them. Let us know how you get on with your post and if you get people interested