Carpenters website + Keeping in touch w/fans

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

My only problem is that Richard has done a poor job at keeping in touch with the fan base on all things Carpenters. We know for him its all about the music but that worked in the past but now we are in a different age. It seems that we have to rely on the internet fan base to find out stuff. So many things he has done we received no word from him. He could have.posted on official site hey I'm on qvc or see me at the Hollywood bowl. The q/a were great on the site but that fell apart and even some of his answers are really abrupt like no way will myokom special ever be released instead of saying yeah that show we did some pretty good song...to show that he knows how we feel. I also wish we could have shared in his hurt process too cause we lost her too. I don't understand why there isn't a really nice memorial from him on the website or allow the fans to write words of encouragement to him to help heal process. So much could have been done. If he is retired he should tell the fans. Someone asked me what is RC doing these days. I couldn't even answer that and I am a fan still.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

It appears that he is not familiar or comfortable with websites. Even many people in their 40s want nothing to do with the internet, so RC's attitude toward it is not all that surprising, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't embrace it. He should hire a GOOD website designer, not a single person but a "company" and have a website such as a person of his stature deserves.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I hate to be harsh towards "The Webutante" because her heart was clearly in the right place but that website was and is awful. They deserve something far better. A single person (if they've got the right skill set) could do a great website. Let's just hope Richard is connected with that individual at some point.

Ed

 

[Martin ellsworth]

Another A&M artist Peter Frampton is 60 and yet he communicates personally with his fans via facebook. He posts comments daily, it's so impressive, he's even answered me directly on one occaision.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

A single person (if they've got the right skill set) could do a great website.

Ed - it's true that a single person can do a great website. What I meant was he needs to hire somebody who's really in the website-design business for keeps, and knows how to design a great site. The person who did the current site, nice as she (or he) might be, is NOT a professional site designer.

With a good site built to today's standards, RC could offer music downloads, sell CDs and videos, and have his fans-ask section too. Just think, all the stuff he knows wouldn't be profitable to release on CDs could be hosted on the site. There could be photo archives, media archives, video archives. It could be "fan heaven" if only he would make a couple of phone calls. (He should call Rudy!)

 

[richard_sloat]

It appears that he is not familiar or comfortable with websites. Even many people in their 40s want nothing to do with the internet, so RC's attitude toward it is not all that surprising, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't embrace it. He should hire a GOOD website designer, not a single person but a "company" and have a website such as a person of his stature deserves.

Well, he doesn't have to have a sit and deal with the website himself, right? So we doesn't have to rely on that kind of attitude of middle-aged people to give him an excuse.

 

[richard_sloat]

With a good site built to today's standards, RC could offer music downloads, sell CDs and videos, and have his fans-ask section too. Just think, all the stuff he knows wouldn't be profitable to release on CDs could be hosted on the site. There could be photo archives, media archives, video archives.

You know, something I would be totally interested in reading would be his reviews of some music he's been listening to nowadays!! Like "I got to listen this artist and he/she is quite talented, I recommend hearing this album and this song", etc.

 

[Geographer]

One would think that a good, interactive web-site would boost catalogue sales. For that reason alone, the expense of such a web-site would be negated. I mean "Rainy Days and Mondays' has over 4 million hits on YouTube. Why not capture some of that on his own site?

 

[Mike Blakesley]

MODERATOR NOTE: This post is actually from user Chris- An Ordinary Fool. It was posted to another thread which is in the process of being split into separate topics and (so far as I can tell) there's no way for me to "move" his post into another existing thread and keep it under his name. So, it'll appear under my name, but it's his post. (Sorry for the confusion Chris!)

I thought good music will always be good music no matter what era we're in.

No, not what I meant. lol What I meant to convey was that for Richard it's been about the music and that's great but he hasn't done a good job at connecting with the fan base on other levels personally. When the official website took shape and went online I was so excited that now we can have an avenue where he can keep in touch with the fanbase on a more personal level, keeping us up to date with all that's happening, bring us in to a new level of admiration of Carpenters, it started ok but then fell off the face of the earth. Like someone posted here, the site is has no glitz. and the home page is drab looking in colors.

Like: Hey Richard! Release more of Karen's recordings?

LOL, again that is not what I meant. The short memorial on the official site leaves much to be desired. I can only imagine all the items that were sent to the Carpenters family over the years after Karen passed, letters, pictures, crafted items that fans made for Carpenters family, cards, etc...what on earth happened to all that? There are just so many things he could have done with the site to remind us this was a huge event in history back in 1983. I'm not saying post up all the personal things but show us how the fans outpoured their love and support to him and his family during that time.

 

[A&M Retro]

I agree 100%. Richard could make an incredible website, but he doesn't seem to be motivated by such an endeavor. Too bad, considering the fans made him and Karen famous in the first place. Karen LOVED her fans, and went so far as to send them greeting cards on their birthdays!

 

[richard_sloat]

MODERATOR NOTE: This post is actually from user Chris- An Ordinary Fool. It was posted to another thread which is in the process of being split into separate topics and (so far as I can tell) there's no way for me to "move" his post into another existing thread and keep it under his name. So, it'll appear under my name, but it's his post. (Sorry for the confusion Chris!)

Why don't you just edit the post adding

on top and [/ quote] on bottom? That would clarify things for the readers.

 

[richard_sloat]

I sent Richard two rare 8x10 B&W photos in 1991 as a 'thank you' for all the great music. I received no reply, and then several years later both pictures appeared in the Coleman book. Oh, well, I guess he liked them!

Did you take the pictures yourself?? If you did, weren't they supposed to pay you royalties??

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Why don't you just edit the post adding

on top and [/ quote] on bottom? That would clarify things for the readers.

No, all that would do is put the whole thing in a quote box. It would still appear under my name.

 

[richard_sloat]

Yes but the quote box would be credited to Chris-An Ordinary Fool and it would make it clear the message was not written by you.

 

[whoners]

He really needs a professional website designer for the website. Some companies could offer a full package of designing and maintaining the website. Anyway, the website is quite good but some parts need good designers.