- This topic has 43 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 20 years, 5 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Re: A Radical Thought
jeremy wrote:ok so if i understand this correctly the subs dont go towards the sites hosting costs?
Correct Jeremy.
Currently the subscriber’s fund pays for absolutely nothing, it’s just growing and it’s yours collectively to do as you wish, hence the request for ideas.
I personally agree with Ken, even though I was well up for it at the conception, I wish we hadn’t done it in many ways as (in my opinion) it upsets the equilibrium of the site as a whole…
Dave.
Re: A Radical Thought
ok so here is a suggestion the subs are used to finance the hosting of a rack server hosted in the uk so we dont have to put up with the site being unavailble or hideosuly slow, that way its managed directly, people visiting the site wont be put off by the slowness , repairs@ wont suffer etc etc etc
That’s not such a silly idea Jeremy. 😉
Of course there’s the cost of actually getting it done etc., but it is well worth thinking about IMO.
K.
Re: A Radical Thought
This is what I was trying to say about the subscriber’s section, you lot have more on your plates than ever before and the way things are going it will get worse for the moderators (my hero’s) I think you would be better off if you set a couple of members up not as moderators but to look into ideas and the feasibility of such which could then be offered to the Devine ones for consideration.
Richard Scanlon Snr 😀
Re: A Radical Thought
There are few subscribers. There won’t be many on line at this time of night, so answers will follow over the next day or so. Given that this is a proposal to spend some of the fund, we should discuss it over in Martins thread.
My immediate objection is the nub of the arguement. Why should we 30-40 odd pay for a server (we can’t – there’s nothing like that much put to one side) for the benefit of the other 550? They would effectively ride for free and as you have said Jeremy, you expect something in return for your investment.
Tricky, complicated and potentially very divisive in my opinion. If the 600 odd trade members were all Subscribers, we wouldn’t have a problem. The problem is that the other 550 are getting the full benefit of all of UKWs’ labours – the area available to “benefit” this small group is undefined and had got squeezed with the business activities of the site.
God knows I don’t want a UKW teeshirt with “subscriber” printed on it, just to make us special………
Chris.
Re: A Radical Thought
Then maybe certain aspects should be made subscription only ie repairs@ , but at the end of the day it would benefit everyone as i undestand it there is no purpose for the fund any way so why not make it work for the benefit of others as well as ourselves?
Re: A Radical Thought
Ha, very good. I have to say that there is only so far that my altruistic instincts will go. We spent a good year pushing it, with a small result. The repairs@ module started off having a proviso that you should be a subscriber to participate, that has now gone due to the need to expand rapidly for Project X coverage.
Quite seriously, what is left? We are trying (and probably succeeding) in being all things to all aspects of our industry – and it’s all in the forums for them to see for free. Have you twigged the breadth of people who read and post on the site? Sole traders, employers, manufacturers, company engineers, work providers, technical repairers, the public, mad inventors, Finns (but I try not to think about that), wholesalers, even their salesmen – they’re all here and getting it for free. What does this small group want or even need?
I am becoming forcefully reminded of another trade organisation which has become so small, that it has lost its way. Out particular group has never found its way. I stand by my opinion that we serve no purpose in the current affairs of UKW, beyond being a “feel good” group comprising largely the early members of the site.
I had hoped for more, but I really don’t see where we’re going or what this little group can achieve.
Richard (RS) said it was a depressing thread – I’m feeling depressed myself now, as the discussion has unfolded.
Chris.
Re: A Radical Thought
you come across as bitter penquin, what would you have do with the fund? you have made suggestions that are to elaborate because of law restrictions, what i proposed is acheivable and would benefit all, i dont disagree in whole with what you say but maybe you are being too blinkered to the whole picture.
Re: A Radical Thought
Bitter? Good God man, this site is the saving of the independent repair sector, and I have embraced it with open arms. I love what we are trying to do, and I probably spend more time than I should participating in our activities. I will freely admit that I have become frustrated with the Subscribers fund.
In many ways, I’m a good old fashioned socialist – I believe that the benefits should be there for all to share. However, there are things which we are not (for a variety of reasons) addressing; chief among them (IMO) is the Tech Info issue. It’s the very lifeblood of the repairer. Dammit, I actually found UKW by typing “Error Codes” into Google in a fit of pique. It changed everything about the way my business operates.
I want to see this site develop as a representative power block which will eventually have sufficient leverage that we can tell the manufacturers “Give us what we want and need, at a fair price”. It’s as simple as that really. I don’t care how we do it – using the Subscribers funds to develop a licensed library was an early idea which is impractical, it’s all moving forwards along different lines.
Anyway, it’s late, I’m knackered and I’ve already got 12 calls for tomorrow, so I’m going to pack it in. Please, let’s get some good ideas into Martins’ adjacent post and get that discussion moving. We should at least try.
Cheers,
Chris.Re: A Radical Thought
Actually a server doesn’t cost that much Chris. It’s the maintenance of it from IT bods that costs money, even the colocation costs arn’t that high these days starting from about £50 a month. When you add some engineer time that jumps to £200+ a month.
But to stop you feeling depressed about it all how abou this…
IF we went down this path then what I’d be looking to do is offer the subscribers only a UKW email address as well as the ability to have a bit of webspace as part of the subs package. That would only be available to subscribers for no cost. Obviously it would only be space and not managed as such, but it would allow you to have your own nice little website and dedicated email very easily.
There’s also no reason that I can see for me not finally knocking up a proper template for a site, just a “fill in the blanks” two or three pages to give you a presence
Just a couple of quick thoughts, but I’ll see if I can get costings.
Just FYI, Repairs@ was never to be subscribers only, IIRC it was mooted and I decided against it in advance of the debates to save alienating anyone or being seen as us trying to make out it. 😉
Calls from Repairs@ were always going to be “weighted” towards the subscribers, i.e. they’d get more than others, but the re-write with that feature I’m still awaiting. You also have to remember that Repairs@ was done on a shoestring as a favour for me, it pretty much still is as it’s not in the budget at all and we, like any business, have to budget sadly. We also have the people that wrote that module working on other projects which are a tad more pressing right about now.
The reason was pretty simple, we all saw where other organisations got with the whole “pay up and then we’ll tell you what we’ll do” thing and it doesn’t work, it never will.
We do not promote the subscribers section well enough, I know that. We don’t because we dont’ have to for the site to survive or to support any single initiative presently. I’m actually pretty sure there’s more than a few members on here that are pretty ignorant as to what it even is, but then I don’t want to bang on about it and bore people to death on the subject. So we pretty much leave it to people’s own devices to work it out and do what they feel is right for them.
That said, there has been a steady growth in people that do subscribe over the past few months. Primarily I think due to the advertising thread recently as that is a big plus to be involved in. Of course others will also benefit from that as well, but what the hey. Thing is that we’re all pretty much forward thinking enough to realise that if you want to save one company you have to save them all as a group and try to promote all in one swoop. We’re also bright enough to work out that things that are being and have been done are designed to do exactly that. The question is, should we as a group, penalise those that don’t get it?
K.
Because I’m not near it and there’s people far more experienced in such things, i.e. proffessionals. 😉
K.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.