Topic: Does anyone use Colony

[leonmc0708]

Taken over (forced into) the Secretary's role on the committee for our site and shocked and stunned at the "back of a beer mat" way the site is run currently.

Have moved to centralize all info and use spreadsheets etc to keep it up to date. I have looked at writing a basic Access database sytem to use but its a ball ache at the best of times.

Looking into colony and wonder if anyone here has used it, uses it, got any feeback.

Thanks in advance

[kGarden]

Not heard of it, looks interesting, here's a link for anyone else who might need it

https://www.mycolony.co.uk/

[andyswarbs]

Nope, we use a google spreadsheet (to manage our 150 person/plot space) and that does everything we need.  Oh, and there is no cost, either initially or ongoing.

[Tee Gee]

In my opinion it's a sad day for the allotment fraternity that such procedures are necessary.

For the last thirty odd year we have managed to manage our 26 plot site without this sort of administration.

I don't know if your site is privately owned ( ours is council owned) and basically all we need is a site secretary as per the councils regulations.

The post is basically the councils need to have someone to laise with, a gofor if you like.

We have had our ups and downs over the thirty plus years I have been a plot holder and we are now in need of my fith secretary, the last one has left for health reasons.

The only time we had trouble was with the secretary before last who went 'power crazy' after he was elected.
 
Before his election we found him to be a decent chap hence him getting voted on,  little knowing what  he was going to turn  into and the trouble he was to cause.

Generally the plot holders do not want too much administration and rules, they get enough of that on a daily basis, and the plots are somewhere to switch off

So my advice to you Leon would be to  keep rules and regulations to a minimum.

If my experience is anything to go by all that plot holders want is a contact (gofor)where they can get an answer to anything that is troubling them.

I hope you take  this post as it was intended and that is based on personal experience, I just wanted to point out potential problems that can occur if you become over officious.

Other than that I wish you the best of luck with your new position!

....and no I i have not used Colony!

Now that I have looked at it I personally would be a bit dubious of it simply because it means fetching a third party into the proceedings when all the plot holders want is  to fend for themselves.

I would just run a spread sheet /filing system as you suggest more for your own peace of mind so that you have got all the knowledge at YOUR finger tips in the event that you might be called upon at some time to explain yourself.

What ever you do, do not make a rod for your own back because there is " nout funnier than folk" particularly if they think they are being led by things they do not understand!

That my tuppence worth in reply to your query!....Tg

[BarriedaleNick]

I've not tried it and now I am not secretary anymore I don't need to get involved.
Being an IT guy by trade I love this sort of thing and I would definitely sign up for a free trial just to see if it is worth the costs.

However I have to agree with Tee Gee to an extent.  For one - we never do anything that costs money, that we can't do for free.
Our treasurer does the accounts (spreadsheet), Letting sec looks after the plots (email and spreadsheet)and the sec does communications, minutes etc (email and docs).  Everyone is one email and I setup a mail group to make committee stuff easier and when I was sec I took emails or you could post a note in the site hut letterbox if you were one of our snail mail types. 

Even though I love online stuff I think I might struggle to justify even a minimal costs to our members (we are an association and directly accountable) - They even complained about the cost of biscuits on site day so they would have a field day with this.

Go for the free trial - nothing to loose.

[kGarden]

(I build internet database systems for a living)

I come across this sort of thing in a number of walks of life - I presume Allotments are no different.  For example the sports team's club that Mrs K plays for, and other similar "pseudo voluntary" organisations.  All down to the good auspices of a few folk that take on the mantle, some better than others as is to be expected, most of them finding it a chore that intrudes significantly into their private lives.

Mrs K is sometimes called on to inform players of the next match. At the previous match people were asked who was available, others are contacted during the week, you get the picture.  A proportion of them are hopeless in terms of making life easy for the organisers, and have to be contacted repeatedly and so on.

An online internet system which organises the admin has saved the few brave souls who do the organisation a huge amount of running-around time.  I appreciate that arranging a match every Saturday uses up a lot more shoe-leather then sending out annual subs reminders for allotments :) but I think there are some other parallels

A good administrator may well be using back-of-fag packet, or a home-grown Spreadsheet, very effectively but neither of those systems has any transferability to new-hands in the event that the Admin falls ill, or steps down, or goes on holiday.  By contrast an online system has all that, multiple people can be aware of how to use it, effortlessly take over / share the responsibility, and nothing falling through the cracks.

I've very aware of the "feeding the beast" effort that such systems can require, and that is clearly to be avoided, but IME small "clubs" run by volunteers benefit hugely from this type of thing because the routine Admin tasks are made quick and easy and more importantly "consistent" so no "chasm" that reminders / subs etc. can fall into during a handover to new Admins, and the time saved enables Admins to get on with more useful things - either tending their plots :) or being seen to provide  a cracking service to the club's members.

I dread to think how long it takes to collect subs "manually" (and I suspect that people who don't have to actually do it are not aware how long it actually takes) compared to a system that emails / texts / snail-mails people, allows them to pay by, e.g. PayPal, and then automatically hassles anyone that is tardy - leaving the Admin to just deal with a few hardship cases and folk that fail to get on with coughing up!

[andyswarbs]

One critical facet of allotment life is that it has a large group of retired people for whom the Internet is forever a foreign land, and this can include committee members.  (In contrast sports teams a usually populated with the younger "facebook" generation.) 

So right now as a prerequisite of any new officers one cannot assume they will have access to the web, and therefore internet databases, including mycolony.  In another 10 or 20 years a different approach may be the case, possibly when we all have ipads etc wired directly into our brains. 

In our existing committee we have one person who has a computer with an email but refuses to use it, ever.  Another couple of people use the Internet from their phone, and that's that.   For such a group, myself excepted, mycolony of any other internet database would be a huge human challenge.

My approach is to have a shared spreadsheet that others can access live and comment on if they wish.  Otherwise at meetings I print out bits and bobs to share so they get to know what the summary view is.  For instance only 60% of our plotholders have access to the web.

In summary we are in an era when pragmatism means there is still legwork to be done delivering newsletters by hand and, yes, chasing rent is tardy and arduous.

[BarriedaleNick]

My issue with it is that for us it would cost around £150 a year (perhaps more) or around 10% of our annual income.  I think that money would be better off spent elsewhere - on gardening perhaps!  I just can't see £150 worth of benefit from it - plenty of free internet services out there that can help voluntary organisations.   

[pumkinlover]

kgarden we decided to. add a surcharge if people do not pay with in a month of the AGM.
Not had to implement it yet!

[Digeroo]

I think that the software in question is aimed at local authorities, the average user has 1500 plots.
There are only 65.

http://www.mcpcsystems.co.uk/colonyenterprise.html

I well designed spreadsheet should be easy for someone else to pick up.

Certainly do not think you should have to chase rent.  Do you have a waiting list?  No pay no plot simple.   

[leonmc0708]

I appreciate you all taking time to help with the responses and take all comments on board.

Being a manager for the last 20 yrs myself I am maybe a little anal on MIS and being able to view things instantly on the move.

In all honesty the plots currently have no system (or rather back of a beer mat system) at all and I am working on putting a spreadsheet together, then using mail merge to print a sheet for each individual plot so that these could be used by the older/less computer literate of our committee.

Please do add any further hints tips help or advice I am glad to take the lot.