diff --git a/fjerkroa_bot/ai_responder.py b/fjerkroa_bot/ai_responder.py
index 479f9be..1c28f25 100644
--- a/fjerkroa_bot/ai_responder.py
+++ b/fjerkroa_bot/ai_responder.py
@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@ class AIMessageBase(object):
 
 
 class AIMessage(AIMessageBase):
-    def __init__(self, user: str, message: str) -> None:
+    def __init__(self, user: str, message: str, channel: str = "chat") -> None:
         self.user = user
         self.message = message
+        self.channel = channel
 
 
 class AIResponse(AIMessageBase):
diff --git a/fjerkroa_bot/discord_bot.py b/fjerkroa_bot/discord_bot.py
index 3c918a0..fba2fcc 100644
--- a/fjerkroa_bot/discord_bot.py
+++ b/fjerkroa_bot/discord_bot.py
@@ -40,10 +40,12 @@ class FjerkroaBot(commands.Bot):
 
     @classmethod
     def load_config(self, config_file: str = "config.toml"):
+        logging.info(f"config file {config_file} changed, reloading.")
         with open(config_file, encoding='utf-8') as file:
             return toml.load(file)
 
     def on_config_file_modified(self, event):
+        logging.info(f"file {event.src_path} modified")
         if event.src_path == self.config_file:
             self.config = self.load_config(self.config_file)
             self.airesponder.config = self.config
@@ -60,19 +62,22 @@ class FjerkroaBot(commands.Bot):
 
     async def on_member_join(self, member):
         logging.info(f"User {member.name} joined")
-        msg = AIMessage(member.name, self.config['join-message'].replace('{name}', member.name))
         if self.welcome_channel is not None:
+            msg = AIMessage(member.name, self.config['join-message'].replace('{name}', member.name), str(self.welcome_channel.name))
             await self.respond(msg, self.welcome_channel)
 
     async def on_message(self, message: Message) -> None:
         if self.user is not None and message.author.id == self.user.id:
             return
-        msg = AIMessage(message.author.name, str(message.content).strip())
+        message_content = str(message.content).strip()
+        if len(message_content) < 1:
+            return
+        msg = AIMessage(message.author.name, message_content, str(message.channel.name))
         await self.respond(msg, message.channel)
 
     async def respond(self, message: AIMessage, channel: TextChannel) -> None:
         try:
-            channel_name = channel.name
+            channel_name = str(channel.name)
         except Exception:
             channel_name = str(channel.id)
         logging.info(f"handle message {str(message)} for channel {channel_name}")
diff --git a/tests/test_main.py b/tests/test_main.py
index 53a4cb0..cfeca1a 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.py
+++ b/tests/test_main.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class TestBotBase(unittest.IsolatedAsyncioTestCase):
              patch.object(FjerkroaBot, 'user', new_callable=PropertyMock) as mock_user:
             mock_user.return_value = MagicMock(spec=User)
             mock_user.return_value.id = 12
-            self.bot = FjerkroaBot('config.json')
+            self.bot = FjerkroaBot('config.toml')
             self.bot.staff_channel = AsyncMock(spec=TextChannel)
             self.bot.staff_channel.send = AsyncMock()
             self.bot.welcome_channel = AsyncMock(spec=TextChannel)
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class TestFunctionality(TestBotBase):
 
     def test_load_config(self) -> None:
         with patch('builtins.open', mock_open(read_data=toml.dumps(self.config_data))):
-            result = FjerkroaBot.load_config('config.json')
+            result = FjerkroaBot.load_config('config.toml')
         self.assertEqual(result, self.config_data)
 
     async def test_on_message_event(self) -> None: