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The 50 Shades WhatsApp Community

Some of you might know that since January 2024 I have been issue a periodic newsletter.

I was conscious that I had not issued one for a while, but did not realise until logging in to Mailchimp at the weekend that it had been three months since the last one. Evidently I am struggling to find the time so have decided to call time on that.

To be fair, when I had been issuing them of late, they had become little more than summaries of the podcast descriptions so they were not really what I had in mind when I started them. If you are subscribed to this blog and to the 50 Shades podcast then you will not miss anything I publish on these platforms.

One of the aims of the newsletter was to bring people together and, as well as sharing news of the blog and podcast, I hoped that it could act as a noticeboard for anybody wanting to share things of possible interest. I think that I can achieve those aims, and perhaps even achieve more, with a WhatsApp Community .

The spur was being asked on LinkedIn on Friday why the comments on the 50 Shades posts are turned off. The bits and pieces that I share via the Shades accounts (there is one with a handful of followers on Bluesky) are on a ‘FYI’ (‘you might find this of interest…) basis for two reasons.

First, though I editorialise to a degree with the extracts that I share (so you have an indication of what I might find of most interest…), and I have neither the time nor the inclination to get into debates on there.

Second, whilst not a planning expert, I may have an aptitude for marketing because anybody that does want to provoke a debate about something is forced to repost, thus subtly still raising awareness of the podcast...

The question though did highlight that perhaps there is interest in a debate from time to time with other planners about the bits and pieces that I share. Everything then I do share on LinkedIn I will also include in the General WhatsApp chat. I hope that it can also be used, for those that opt to join it, for sharing news, insights, reports, etc, or asking for help or advice on anything that somebody else might have experience of.

Within the Community I have also included a 50 Shades Premier League group, which is for bringing together other groundhoppers and FPL enthusiasts within the profession.

You will also find Manchester, London and Birmingham groups for anybody interested in preparing the monthly catch-up style podcast episodes. If anybody is interested in making those episodes elsewhere please let me know.

I am able to contact everybody within the Community via the Announcements channel so feel free to send me anything that might be of interest to the whole ensemble. Webinars, surveys, and so on.

Perhaps in time we might be able to create ‘task and finish’-style groups for specialists in particular areas. We could bring together, for example, people with an interest in viability, waste water, urban design, local plans, and so on.

Let's see how we get on, but any and all input and ideas will be welcome.





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