ADMIN: Re: General Inquiry

[Eric Ray <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>]

R2 Innovations wrote:
> I hope Eric won't beat up on me for this post, as it doesn't concern
> Technical Writing, but it DOES concern Techwr-l.  I also thought all
> members would be interested in hearing the question and the response.
> 
> Eric, did you receive sufficient funding to maintain techwr-l into
> the future?  You obviously received enough to get it up and running, 
> I'm sure most of us are interested in it's longevity.

Good question! Well, there's no trust fund to sustain TECHWR-L
into its dotage, but we're in good shape anyway. Seriously, 
the donations were sufficient to cover the startup costs, and
the ongoing funding provided by sponsors (like Digipub and
Weisner and Associates, noted at the bottom of this message), by
those who purchase ads on the regular Announcement
posting, and by those who purchase ads on the TECHWR-L
site, shows every sign of being a sustainable source of
income to keep the list running well into the future.

We've had to upgrade the hardware once so far, and now that
we've gotten the software issues (double postings) resolved, we'll
be turning more attention to tuning the server for better
performance, to a likely additional hardware upgrade, 
and to adding more functionality for everyone. Oh, and we're
working with our network provider to get a direct T1 connection
to the 'Net....we're currently on a shared network segment
and we saturate that pipe a couple of times a day. 

We've also hired a contractor to provide some additional
topic summaries for the site, and will pursue some additional
avenues for adding more content. (If you're trying to break
into the business, a topic summary or two on the site would be
a wonderful way to get started...hint, hint, hint...)

Now that you mention it, one idea we're considering is 
creating a new list for free-for-all job postings, then requiring 
_all_ ads posted to the Jobs Posting to be paid ads. As it
stands, there are some inequities and judgement calls on what's
a free ad and what's paid, and this would simplify that issue. 
However, this possibility also has the potential of negatively 
affecting the financial stability and bottom line of the list, 
which would be bad. (That is, if anyone can post ads to that
list for free, would people continue to purchase ads on the
Announcement list?) Any comments or feedback on this would be 
welcome--offline, please. 

For that matter, if anyone has specific requests for sub-lists, 
site features, or other enhancements to the TECHWR-L offerings, 
please contact me or Deb offline. We'll certainly entertain any 
suggestions, but will need to temper our enthusiasiam and make 
sure that any additions are 1) not overly time or resource 
intensive and 2) that they don't have a negative effect on the 
TECHWR-L bottom line. That is, for example, adding another feature 
like the Calendar on the Web site is not a big deal and could happen
pretty quickly and easily. On the other hand, a 
let's-just-chat-about-anything list would require substantial 
extra resources (mostly server capacity and bandwidth) 
and time, so would need to have some kind of means to sustain 
itself (like a sponsor committment for 6 months or so). 

We've been asked a few times if we need additional donations or
if there's anything else that individuals can do to help...basically,
just patronize TECHWR-L sponsors and tell them that you found
them through their TECHWR-L ad. That is, if you're looking for
a Frame training seminar and you find two that meet your needs,
but only one advertises on TECHWR-L, then please consider that
in your decision (and let the providers both know what influenced
your choice). In short, people and companies who sponsor the list or 
purchase ads on the list or site are what will keep this list
and site available to you. 

Thanks,
Eric and Deborah