This is an excellent idea! I can't speak highly enough about The Base Camp! Entering a new room can be a bit intimidating, especially when it appears to be a small number of people who've known each other for a while, and are the senior members on the site-no reference to age intended! This invitation is a great way to let people know that there's no clique here, just a group of friends who share a love of the outdoors, enjoy getting to know each other, and want everyone to feel comfortable on the site.
Last June, when I wasn't sure if certain questions would fit here, I dropped in and pinged the one person whose name I knew, and immediately was responded to by four people! I'm shy, have some physical handicaps, and have never done many of the exciting things that are popular at TGO. My new friends made it clear that my questions and I are more than welcome, which gave me the courage to participate, and now I love it here!
I live in Massachusetts, USA, in Eastern Standard Time, which is 4 hours earlier than UTC. My husband works nights. He leaves around 4 pm, so I do most of my chatting, if any, in the late afternoon and early evening-occasionally later if I'm feeling energetic! I'm around during the day too, just not as frequently. I should be making more of an effort to chat while the folks from the UK are there, but I keep up by reading the transcripts. We leave notes back and forth too, although I'm not as good at responding as I should be! I'm all for attracting people from new time zones, to increase participation, and to hang out with in real-time!
Definitely check out The Base Camp! It's a fun family formed from a community of strangers, which is a rare and awesome thing!
