Suggestion to use WhatsApp

From: Brett Davis To: info@shoalhavenbushwalkers.com Subject: Suggestion to use WhatsApp Date sent: Feb 4, 2025

Hi SBW committee, I sent the email below to the IT team a few days ago and only realized today that I should have sent it to the whole committee. I'd like to suggest that SBW use WhatsApp to get its news to its members. I recently had some email correspondence with Andy about members not reading the News page, and about email limits and the difficulties they cause. I mentioned that WhatsApp could be used to overcome the problem. The thoughts I expressed in my email are as follows - "I later suggested setting up a WhatsApp group for all bushwalkers. If a member can access email, they can access WhatsApp. The current WhatsApp group size limit is 1,024 users, so it would easily accommodate all SBW members. One post would go to all members instantly; they could receive notifications of the message coming in in real time; and they could look at the message on their phones immediately. Non-committee members of Shoalhaven Bushwalkers in the group would only be allowed to receive messages - replying to messages or sending messages of their own would not be allowed, and breaches would result in them being removed from the group straight away. Simple. Effective. Instant. Free. And even Encrypted end-to-end!" I have since done a bit more research and found that it is possible to set up a WhatsApp group where members can only receive messages and cannot send or reply, with messages only being able to be sent by selected admins, so unauthorised messages from members would not be possible - see below. Restricting messaging in a group (for group admins only): Open WhatsApp and go to the group chat. Tap the group name at the top. Tap Group settings. Tap Send messages. Select Only admins. Cheers, Brett TOP

This page shows one of the 35 suggestions to improve the club and its procedures sent by the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers webmaster to the SBW committee in 2025. The Shoalhaven Bushwalkers webmaster would have his membership cancelled for sending in these suggestions, although the real reason was probably because of two disputes he raised with the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers committee which they seemingly did not want to deal with. The cancellation of the webmaster's membership was arguably illegal under NSW law and could lead to the club being taken to court.