next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects Hi Chris, Comments throughout: >me to the belief that if we tried to up the cost for these to $400/annum >at least 4 of these would certainly opt out or move out (sports group; >student newspaper; research project & prof group). Finding $400 one-time >was a big enough shtick for them let alone $400 per annum. And/or they do not see a value in paying $400 annually. Where would these folks go? No one else that I know of offers VDN's for free. They would have to pay an annual/monthly fee for anything but a very small, advertising laden geocities site. $400/year represents a better value considering what we bundle with it. At some point in the future it would be nice to be well off and say: "Hey, IP, the best thing going is your own domain and we offer this for free." For now we need sustainable revenue. >VDN's. They've all put a VDN on a distant back burner since they feel the >_current_ (one time) price tag is still too steep for them. I guess I gotta say that that is too bad, but we simply can't give away our resources (time/energy) >Aside from the fact that I believe the proposed price tier doesn't reflect >the (primarily) one-time set up costs, in any immediately foreseeable My experience as a consumer of these sorts of things is that sure, a few keystrokes, a bit of email and poof, like magic I have a domain. However, there are a whole series of ongoing issues. Mail account setup/deletion. Questions about web space, directories, cgi-bin, etc etc etc. To say nothing of the overhead to support all this: telephone lines, office staff. (Since a VDN is not also paying an individual fee we are providing a phone line which costs us every month -- $3/month in the case of the 20:1 PPP ratio.) And then hardware and software upgrades ... Yikes. >future I can't envision VDN fees (of the kind proposed) from the >non-profit IP sector forming any substantive revenue source for the CCN. 50 IP's times $400 = $20,000/year >C) How about CSuite? I recall our business plan/forecasts the projected we >could make/build a substantial revenue for this in terms of technical >support and development once there was a sufficiently large installed base >of the technology. I think we have a real winner on our hands with this >technology. Where are we in terms of moving this technology? CSuite is dead in the water, to put it bluntly. I agree -- Great Technology. Currently CSuite is a Cooperative Inc. There is not sufficient energy/technical expertise to move it forward. the most optimistic biz plan would see it as a cash sink for a year, in any case. >D) How about finding sponsorships for CCN pages? We've discussed this To be pursued by Richard. >E) Using our in-house expertise in other contexts. This spring's Agreed. Effort required to write proposals substantial. Current focus: Urban CAP. >Health-Canada project, very expertly administered by David Murdoch, was > >F) Partnerships with other players in the infromation technology sector. Agreed >We've talked before about strategic alliances with others (Sympatico?) who >would be very interested in the user and IP base that we have. On my agenda. I am quite willing to have others pick-up here. For ex. we could create a jim dandy partnership with mpowered or andara. >G) Partnerships with sites for PATs, Urban CAPs, Volnet initiatives, etc. >The list goes on -- undoubtedly beyond my knowledge of the possibilities. Long term benefit. Some efforts being expended in this direction. >3) I don't know if the user trend (from 5,200 --> 4,800) is real or if it >indicates anything significant at this stage, however, we do know that we It is a crisis. >are in a highly competitive environment for users and I don't know (or But no one else offers what we do: a community of users, extremely low-cost, services to both high end and low end users, etc. >Here's a small illustration: Friday I was at the SNS Celtic Electric >concert. Sympatico personnel were there in force (probably 10+ people) >handing out and collecting sweepstakes form (+ exhibits, etc.) . They had >a draw after intermission and gave away $100 gift certificate plus 2 free >SNS tickets. Trivial cost. In return they got a thousand names, with their >addresses, EMail addresses, age brackets, demographics & some Internet >info. You want to guess how they'll use this information? ;-> I bet sympatico is having trouble breaking a profit on all this stuff. They have to be in the market because it is the future. >I constantly wonder how we can compete with such marketing initiatives Don't. Just do a damn fine job and let the good word get out. For our current users, this is what we do (a damn fine job). >paved by revenues that we can only dream of. Look at the Sympatico >marketing/demonstration sites at places like City Center Atlantic. >Beautifully designed, equipped with top-flight hardware, fully staffed by >people trained to market Sympatico in a sophisticated fashion (go in and >ask for an M-powered demonstration sometime ....). It beats me. I did. Buddy said he'd be better able to describe it when he saved enough money to buy a computer so he could have it installed on his own machine. >I share your view of CCN by 2000 and would like to see movement on all the >changes you propose. If I can underscore what I think is a key element >(and of course this does have cost repercussions ;->) it is to have more >technical and administrative staff positions/time. My goal is for Richard to generate $20,000 which we use to fund a half-time e4xec dir position whose role is to generate ... >I think in some areas we've reached the limit of what we can reasonably >expect of volunteers in terms or running, developing and administering Especially without getting new people involved. Every meeting i go to it is the same faces. >what is a very diverse and complicated system. Moreover, there are a whole >range of issues (administering/deciding/implementing/invoicing pricing >tiers being one of them ;->) that would be ever so much more efficiently >dealt with by a staff person (with input from the Board and appropriate >consultation) then by a decentralized group of volunteers such as we all >are. > >Just my $0.02. Always appreciated. Peter Morgan Chair, Chebucto Community Network http://www.chebucto.ns.ca CHEBUCTO STATS 4900+ active members almost 200 information providers 4.8 million page impressions/month 22,000 outbound email messages daily MISSION STATEMENT CCN is a volunteer organization which provides the technology, infrastructure and training that enables all people in the Greater Halifax Region to participate in an electronic public space. Us