This 1000, “I put it on SMS” is not communication but an Email / Mail Drop / WROs is depending on your locality
The events page doesn’t but the Dashboard does and this is my bible, shows if it’s available to my Cadets in Cadet Portal and if we have completed the Travel Declaration.
Again valid points and it was 99% it wouldn’t be a problem.
I want the cadets to have access to the events, it’s frustrating for the team (andthe cadets) if that doesn’t happen.
Yes technology papers over the cracks. But it does give a quick fix for the cadets.
Asking Sqns why they don’t share is a good idea.
From reading these replies, a simple suggestion seems to be to just give the adj and training officer the ability to publish events to cadet portal; not just the OC?
They do!
Oh, wasn’t aware. Can’t see what a lot of these issues about OCs not publishing are then? Seems like a squadron functioning badly…
I’ve not been an OC/adj/training off since cadet portal was released so wasn’t aware that they could also publish the events!
So any SMS Account (that all CFAVs should have) that has the event permissions can share these events into cadet portal.
We do seem to love to bucket people into a set role and say, your not the Adj/TO/SNCO/OC so you get access to nothing.
Part of the issue for being overlooked might be because it gets lost in the dross.
Every time I log into SMS that little red notification icon tells me that I’ve been invited to another half dozen events that don’t really affect me.
A tweak in the design might help. Certainly the drop down only showing three events at a time isn’t ideal and scrolling within that box jumps for more than 3 items. I don’t know how many items does it scroll… Is it 3.5? Is it 4.7? Who knows? But I suppose it might be possible to scroll right over something without seeing it at all.
It could be easier to navigate certainly. Some form of traffic light system could also help to show if an event’s been added to CP or not.
I’m not in front of SMS right now but I think you have to go into the event itself or use the MyEvents page to see if it is listed, so maybe part of the answer is better ‘at a glance’ visibility to OCs.
I think we have to be careful there though… It can be overdone. Put too much info on there and the notification area could end up just being a replica of the My Events page (where you can see all that at a glance) and then there’s no point in having the notification pane at all.
There is already a traffic light system with a CP ‘light’ on the SMS front page. Green if it’s shared, red if it’s not.
Ah ok
Probably why I’m not a pilot then!
On the dashboard for the events module you get this:
You then get this on the main events list:
What we are not currently doing brilliantly is letting the units know when the main event details have been changed in some way and that they need to update the listing in Cadet Portal as required. The original logic for this is that Units should be big and grown up enough to know if an event has changed (because someone will be in charge of arranging the units participation) and then the update their bespoke/tailored event notice to their cadets as required.
Think about it in a slightly different context where you know the event has changed, but you tell the cadets that on final parade so they know. Same concept here; you know the event has changed but you don’t update CP to tell them.
I agree that it is lazy to just push past the unit cdrs and that action should be taken on an exception basis with those who we know are not being cooperative. It is a small minority from my understanding.
If I was to make a sweeping generalisation, there are people that take the ATC seriously, do a good job and take pride in their volunteer work - and there are those who do not.
Training, awareness and policy enforcement is the answer. If you don’t train your people properly on how to use these systems (at the local unit and higher levels), feel empowered to constructively challenge instructions from above that lack a sensible approach, challenge poor performance - this is is when we get into a mess.
The usual route is to just blame the system for being poor - but I don’t think that is the case and the logic in SMS and Cadet Portal very much supports the local level and encourages those at a higher level to lead units in their AOR and challenge where things are not being done.
Anyway, here endith the lecture.
Classic example of this if another unit has invited you to their event - we push out to cadet portal and once or twice the day before I have noticed, by chance, that there is a comment saying “updated link!” so have to then change our own cadet portal… But only by chance have I seen that. Sounds like you know already it would be great if stuff like that could be flagged.
It is all in the development backlog. But buried below higher priority tasks like building Volunteer Portal so you guys can continue to claim VA after Universe is shut down 
There will be some really exciting information coming out soon and we are into Wing/Region conference season and the VSDT has had 16 requests for update briefings already (all OC Wgs have been offered such a service).
I was thinking of the notifications at the top but I appreciate that is already a bit busy and only shows 3 events at a time.
Being able to push out updates would be very helpful. Links needing to be updated, additional minibus pick up locations, catering all that good stuff
How that would work without over writing the Sqn’s own info and description I’m not sure. Maybe an ‘updated info’ box?
surely that’s what an email is for?
Hmm
Any response on that would have to be over a beer in the Mess, or I’d get myself in proper trouble.
But wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to send an email as well.
If a change to the start time of an event could generate an email to the Sqns which says something like:
“Flt Lt Bloggs has updated the event ‘Middleshire Wing Spot The Ball Competition’ as follows:
Start - changed from Thursday 11 Feb 11:47 to Friday 12 Feb 19:00.
Please click the link to be taken to the event in SMS”
One less job for those of us coordinating events. Especially when it’s a widely published event but where a blanket email wouldn’t be appropriate (since blanket emails following up an event very rarely are appropriate).
Some Wings frown heavily on all-units emails and expect everything to go in the Wing Maildrop. (Which is read to varying degrees depending on who you are.
Email is fine when you have 1 or 2 units coming but when you have the whole wing invited and who is and isn’t is still up in the air it’s a ball ache.
Whenever I am running a big event the first thing I do is set up an email contact list for it so that from then on I don’t have to manually enter the addresses of a dozen different OCs, plus their adjutants, plus the SNCO, or Training, or personal accounts of the DofE officer (or whoever is the appropriate contact for the event) whenever I want to contact them.
Given that 90% of the communications are basic updates which I have to make to the SMS event anyway it would be great to have that step done for me.
It might also be handy (but wishful thinking) if the SMS event could generate a mailto: link so that I could click a button and have Outlook open a new email with all the participants already listed.
EDIT
Or, to be fair, just a message box where I type my message and have SMS deliver it to the participants internally without the need to open a new email in Outlook.
The issue at the moment is that everything is very disjointed. We often find ourselves having to do something in SMS, and something in Sharepoint, and we have to send a email…
