John,

Thanks for your message and sharing your comments.

First off, please let me introduce myself.  My name is Jeff Thompson and I am the co-administrator for ADRhub.com.  I created this portal with the Werner Institute.  

In regards to your main issue, the link to the podcast mp3 files (for most of them) is here: http://www.adrhub.com/forum/categories/mp3-files-for-adrhubcom/listForCategory

I'm not sure if you were aware of this section of the site.

You have brought up some great points, specifically the lack of a "contact us" button and this is something we are working on right away.  Sometimes things get overlooked and honestly, we never had anyone raise that concern.  Of course that does not mean it's not an issue, just simple we were unaware of it.

I am also happy to hear that you enjoy the podcasts enough to download the file for listening at a time that is most convenient for you.

What did catch me off-guard is your delivery of your comments and issues.  I am not disagreeing with anything you said but honestly, it was fairly harsh.  I am sure you became frustrated with an endless search to contact us that took more time than you wanted to dedicate searching for it but again, the tone seemed strong especially coming from a conflict resolution professional.

To address some of the points you raise:

ADRhub is meant to be a portal for everyone in ADR- professionals, practitioners, students, volunteers, etc.  It is not meant to provide information solely in one direction of us to you but rather have it go in multiple directions.  This includes between people and us, as well as amongst the members.

Part of getting people to come together is by becoming a member.  We ask for your profession and title as it helps people get to know it each other.  Again, this site is intended for people to interact with one another and knowing what each other does (think of it as a virtual name tag perhaps) helps that process begin.

Directing people to check your profile at mediate.com (a great site btw) really doesn't help anyone get to know you.

Asking for someones date of birth is set up by NING, the hosting platform.  I believe part of this is to ensure that members are of age to participate, and also for other reasons.  One is to send out birthday messages to people (which is something ADRhub has opted not to do).

As far as mediation and conflict resolution having issues establishing itself as a true profession, I believe there are many contributing factors.  ADRhub not having a FAQ/contact us and no longer a link to download mp3 files, as important as they are, I really don't think contributes to this.  

Of course I say this with a smile on my face and given you listen to many of the podcasts that I host, I am sure you know of my approach to things.

I say smiling again I am sorry for the inadvertent frustrations we, and specifically I, have caused.

John, I would be happy to continue this conversation here, elsewhere online, or through any other means if you wish. My email is mediator.jeff[at]gmail.com.

Again, regardless, I appreciate you brining this to our attention and I thank you for listening to the podcasts.

Regards,

Jeff Thompson

ADRhub.com co-admin