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Index of Subjects I would duly request that this discussion cease until we can see the message that caused this response. Otherwise we are talking in circles. I just returned from CCN Lists and could not find the original because there is no access there to the archives for ccn-comm and ccn-board. I suspect the message originated from one of them. Bob Adams IP Training Mark Rushton wrote: > > Okay, Sue -- you started it, so here's my $0.02 worth... > > Apologies in advance for Toes Stepped Upon, Noses Placed > Out-Of-Joint, and Egos Bruised. This is all coming from the > perspective of an active member / IP / IPE. > > I've been involved with the Comms Cttee, the IP Cttee, and currently > am editor for Community Support & Development (just to > contextualize). I've done internet training for NGOs in Halifax, > Cuba, and have seen from near and afar how the larger ISPs are taking > "business" away from CCN, other Community Nets and even Web Networks > (the Canadian NGO "community net"). > > Some time ago I sent out a note asking about the origins of the > Phoenix WWW-based email service, looking for the rationale, the > decision-making process etc. No reply. (it went out to: Michael , > David M., Andrew W., ccn-comm, and ccn-tech). > > This dovetails into other questions for which answers don't seem to > be available. I've just attempted to check out the Board's > Minutes.... Am I the only one interested in reading them? The last > Board Minutes linked are for September 17 / 98, and the link still > doesn't work (I've reported this numerous times...). - ah, actually, > it's all links from Sept. - onward. Has there been a board meeting > in 1999 yet? > > Page: http://chebucto.ns.ca/Chebucto/FinAdmin/Board-Minutes/index.html > > FYI, the broken link is a missing quotation mark on the HREF link for > Sept.17th (Why does the link text say Sept. 2nd?) > > I also see that the "Current Action Plan" is "under construction". > What is CCN's Action Plan? > > What is the vision for CCN's future? > > PPP access -- great idea, if the technical requirements don't > adversely affect system performance. As an IP I am very interested > in obtaining this service for the benefit of my organization. > > VDNs - A wonderful service, if we can be clear on the $$$$. > $400/year for IPs? Ridiculous! It would make more sense to me if > "IP" were replaced with "Business" for the IP w/VDN, IP w/ basic > Package and IP w/ Network Package categories. But does anyone on the > board seriously think that the IPs we currently have can afford that > cost? I'm _trying_ to convince the executive of the IP I represent > to contribute the $200 fee for just being an IP. It's not an easy > task when organizations that serve the community have programming or > other things on which to spend their dwindling $$$. While the VDN > would be a great boost to our accessibility (I would love to hand out > www.nscuba.org rather than the current URL!), there's no way we can > cover that cost. > > If it's a money-maker, it has to be for commercial clients, because > Community Orgs dont' have that kind of cash. Have we surveyed our > IPs to see what they feel they'd be able to pay? Again - what is the > rationale? A one-time setup fee of $400 to cover the technical / > time costs of creating a VDN I can grasp - but after the setup, what > costs does CCN incur? A $400 setup, and $70/annual to InterNic seems > much more logical and realistic, from _my_ perspective. > > And, might I add, the perspective of the IP Committee, which is most > certainly NOT inactive, despite the inference of some.... > > I see CCN as facilitating the provision of Community-org information > online. That is what (hopefully) attracts visitors to our site: our > _content_. As much as we must fulfil the mandate of being an access > resource for low-tech, low-income communty members/organizations, we > must also be a destination of choice, developed via the provision of > content. I see that as an action item: generating content, boosting > membership / IPs, and forgoeing some of the bells and whistles (see > next item). > > WWW-based email - Again, I'm hoping to see some rationale on this > one. I can't imagine why anyone would want it from CCN, when > Hotmail, Canada.com, and a billion other sites are offering this (and > where Hotmail has such a huge mental presence already). I would > suggest (again, without knowing how the decision to go this route was > reached) that our great tech / design people could put their efforts > into something a bit more relevant to CCN's survival. > > As Sue's notes from other Community Nets have shown, PPP access at > low/no-cost from commercial ISPs are threatening the viability of > organizations like ours. It would seem to me that a priority that > has lagged in recent years is the focus on generating community > content, helping CCN be the online "mirror" of the community it > serves. > > As an IPE, I feel frustrated at Chebucto's almost nonexistent public > image. What P.R. tools do we have? Brochures? Pamphlets? What's > our method for reaching out to the community that sees Sympatico as > the only onramp worth looking at? > > Lastly, to beat the sun-bleached bones of a dead horse, what is > happening with the years-old issue of redesigning CCN's web-presence? > That home page has been talked about since I returned to Canada in > 1996 - Three years on, not much has changed. I see from the Board > Minutes in September that a "new" or "revamped" CCN logo was > approved. Has anyone seen it? > > Enough bloody talk. It's time for action. Let's move forward to > revitalize Chebucto as a presence in the community and online. > What, do we need a Glee Club or something? > > I'm full of questions, I have some suggestions, but I'll hold those > back until all of you have weighed in on this. > > Respectfully, > Mark Rushton. > ________________________________________________________________ > Mark Rushton, Editor, Community Support & Development, Chebucto > Community Network > Mark@chebucto.ns.ca or via WWW: http://chebucto.ns.ca/~Mark/index.html > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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