Kynn's Issues

My take on these subjects:

        >* W3C
        >
        >  I think membership in the World Wide Web Consortium is a
        >  long overdue step we need to take; I feel we've finally
        >  reached the point at which we can do this.  This is in
        >  line with both our charter and our purpose; I really think
        >  we need to pursue this vigorously.

The W3C sounds like a good cause. They are trying to create HTML use
standards, doing a lot of research and have some great "name" roots. I
think that by joining the consortium, the Guild is essentially making a
monetary "donation" to support the W3C causes. I personally support the
idea, but I'd like to see an opportunity for membership to vote on this. It
is a lot of money. BTW, how does the W3C display the names of its financial
supporters?

Excerpts from the W3C site...
http://www.w3.org/Press/Backgrounder.html

"W3C provides a vendor-neutral forum for its Members to address Web-related
issues. Working together with its staff and the global Web community, the
Consortium aims to produce free, interoperable specifications and sample
code. Funding from Membership dues, public research funds, and external
contracts underwrite these efforts."

" Its mission is to realize the full potential of the Web: as an elegant
machine-to-machine system, as a compelling human-to-computer interface, and
as an efficient human-human communications medium."

"In order to achieve these goals, W3C's Team of experts works with its
Members to advance the state of the art in each of the three Domains: User
Interface, Technology & Society, and Architecture. Each Domain is
responsible for investigating and leading development in several Activity
Areas which are critical to the Web's global evolution and
interoperability. "


        >* Classes
        >
        >  The Guild's mission is primarily one of education; there
        >  are proposals in the works to get online classes going, and
        >  I want to see this come about.  This may be the biggest
        >  and most important thing the Guild will do this year.

This is very important to me and critical to the Guild's mission.
I see actual on-line courses as being offered as either a free service for
paid memberships or as a fee-based service available to all levels of
membership.

These on-line courses can be marketed in many ways, thus increasing the
visibility of and potentially active membership in the Guild. It can be
very hard for some people to interact on a listserve. I strongly believe
that on-line classes can provide another forum for members. Meeting through
an on-line class environment can be less intimidating, for some people,
than joining a listserve. Usually, when someone has a good experience with
a group, they are inclined to do more for that group. In our case, it may
spark participation and/or contributions in other areas.

I have some experience in setting up on-line courses and attend conferences
and seminars on this subject. As a Guild member, I can and will contribute
to this cause. As a part of the GB I can offer planning and organizational
insight that may be of value to achiving these goals.


        >* Expansion beyond Mailing Lists
        >
        >  For a long while, a superficial view of the Guild has been
        >  "a collection of mailing lists."  Mailing lists, while good,
        >  are not the be-all and end-all of web communication, and I would
        >  like to see us expand our offerings into other areas, such
        >  as chat rooms, web boards, and other online media.

I like expanding the discussion areas into chat rooms, etc. I also think
that participation should be fostered some ways other than "talking".
Consider having an initial "Call for Ideas: "What services would you like
to see offered?"

        >* The First Elections
        >
        >  The Guild's elections are scheduled for February 19, 1998;
        >  this will mark the first time in which the membership has
        >  been granted the right to vote regarding the direction the
        >  Guild will take.

I like this idea, obviously, although I'm sad to see such a small group
interested so far. I think the format of the elections is great because it
allows interested members to literally interview the candidates and
therefore make a more informed decision.

I'd like to see voting opened up to other issues, too, beyond who is a
member of the GB. If there were more publicized opportunities for members
to cast a vote on issues, I think that may encourage more participation and
a better awareness of where the membership, as a larger group, stands on
certain issues faced by the Guild. We'd gain a better awareness of
ourselves as a Guild. As the GB, we'd gain a clear picture of where the
Guild wants to go and, in turn, be able to better direct that.

        >* Increased Visibility
        >
        >  So far, we have not had any concerted advertising/marketing
        >  plans, nor even a concerted effort at managing our public
        >  image.  I want to see the Guild taking steps to establish
        >  itself as a leading resource for web designers and web users
        >  in the mind of the public; I would like to see coverage of
        >  the Guild in major online and offline media as well as
        >  some advertising efforts.

I think this is a MUST. If the Guild were only capable of focusing its
attention on one new project for the next year, I think this would be the
project. There are TONS of magazines and on-line publications that feature
sites, for free, that we should be seen in. There are a lot of "Best of the
Web" type contests, free, that we can submit to. There are a lot of cheap,
ad specialty things we can distribute (pens, tee shirts, diskettes??) that
would help with name recognition. The logo program is on the right track!
We NEED to work on PR and marketing to encourage new, paying memberships
and thus enable ourselves to receive more revenue and to move forward on
our other goals.

        >* Increased Paid Membership
        >
        >  Thus far, we have not had a concerted "membership drive" to
        >  encourage current "basic" members to upgrade to "value" or
        >  "plus" membership.  I think that it's important for us to
        >  emphasize the value of the Guild, even at "basic" levels, and
        >  encourage anyone who has found value in our offerings to join
        >  at a paid level as a way of supporting the HWG.

I've mentioned my ideas and stance on this in other posts. I belive this is
important so we may have revenue to help in our operations.

        >* Reliable Income
        >
        >  The Guild needs to become self-sufficent, and to do this, we
        >  need to be able to provide for our expenses.  The primary
        >  ways I see for doing this include:  donations from large
        >  internet/computer corporations; business ventures such as
        >  publishing a series of books under the auspices of the
        >  Guild; and selling advertising "banner ad" space on the
        >  HWG's website.

Donations are good. The W3C is receiving them from organizations, such as
the Guild, simply because those organizations support the W3C's cause and
want to be involved. I think it is possible to have corporate support
without "selling-out". I worked on planning a conference in which we
solicited support from corporations and stated that we did _not_ want to
display their names & logos prominently anywhere in our materials. Basicly,
we just wanted their financial support. We made it clear that they would
have their name listed only  in two places: a sponsors page on our website
and a sponsors page in our conference shedule. Crazy? Well, we got the
following to donate a total of over $25,000: BellSouth, Bell Atlantic NYNEX
Mobile, The Charlotte Observer, Duke Energy Corporation, NationsBank,
TimeWarner Cable and the North Carolina Arts Council. It can be done.

The book publishing seems really tough. I'd have to get more info.

Selling ad space is working for a lot of sites. I might be OK with it if it
were controlled (for example, all ads appear on one page, nowhere else in
the site). That's just an idea. I'd be hesitant to do this with out a vote
from the membership and a "Call for Alternatives".

        >* Fair Compensation for Essential Staff
        >
        >  Our reliance upon purely volunteer labor needs to be end;
        >  we need to be able to hire reliable part-time staff who are
        >  charged with the responsibility of providing some of the
        >  services essential to the Guild's operation.  No one will
        >  be getting rich from this, but at the same time, we can't
        >  reasonably expect the Guild to survive based on unreasonable
        >  sacrifices by our volunteers.

Boy, this is a toughie. Most non-profits have a core, paid, administrative
staff that helps keep critical operations functioning. Most non-profits
also rely HEAVILY on volunteer staff. The Charlotte's Web
(http://www.charweb.org/) is a good example and is run almost entirely by
volunteers. It has grown over the past years into a huge local non-profit
organization & even offers free web-related classes downtown. These
classes, BTW, are all taught by volunteers. Charlotte's Web, as other
non-profits, struggles, at times, but gets the majority of its support from
corporate donations and volunteers. Like the Guild, the Charlotte's Web
volunteers range from, oh, professional bankers who are hobbyists to the
high school kid who can program the pants off any pro. I'm exaggerating my
point: they are all types and all people want to make a difference. I think
volunteers are core to the Guild because that is their way of being
involved.

        >* Delivery of Promised Services
        >
        >  A number of programs from the Guild have been announced, but
        >  not yet fully implemented, including the Mentor program, the
        >  Vendor program, and the Jobs/Contracts programs.  These must
        >  be delivered as soon as we are able to do so in a complete
        >  and high-quality way.

Agreed. I had some comments about project plans in an earlier post. Those
comments detail my position & ideas for implementing.

Thanks for reading,
Tanya Spain

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