Consolidation. Advancement.
April 18th, 2007 Posted in Members, TechI’m sitting here in Houston, Texas next to a little lake at a resort having spent the last few days being bombarded by information about technology advancement and the ideas and goals behind consolidation in the IT world. All that talk got me to thinking about the current state of e53.org and to be honest it’s pretty sad. I think that my attempt to move us to a new publishing system put a huge damper on the participation of members which is a most unfortunate thing, however, not completely unexpected.
Change is always a risk and sometimes when technical guys like myself implements a change for one reason I don’t always see the reasons that will ultimately affect the end user, the members, the people who really make e53.org interesting. So, one of the biggest things that has had an effect on my way of thinking in the last few days is the idea of making huge advancements with a smaller footprint. This seems to be the best way to achieve the objectives that I have in mind which are simplistic management and quality end user experience.
So what is it that e53.org is really meant to be? I have billed it over the years as a place for the (my) group of friends to expel their thoughts. It has been, over the last few years, been built as a community with blogs for each different member on which they would post articles and had the opportunity to customize the look and feel. It has always been a bit of a challenge to get folks to be extremely consistent with updates which is completely understandable as everyone is obviously very busy and posting to some internet blog isn’t, and for the most part, shouldn’t be the first thing on your mind. But even with that lack of true consistency there was enough to keep it interesting. The other thing was the whole “customize your own site” option/feature. The huge problem with that option was that it is a support nightmare. I honestly do not have time to customize every blog on e53 no matter how much I would like to.
So, the two main problems with e53.org right now are a lack of consistency and painful management. What about the folks who haven’t rejoined after the new system was installed? Good question and the answer to that is… painful management. Those who haven’t rejoined are the less technical folks and again I did not have time to assist them.
I started by talking about Consolidation and Advancement and I’m sure people reading this are wondering where I am going. I believe that e53.org, in its current state, is a flawed design. Billing ourselves as a “blog community” is somewhat of a misstatement as a “community” should really consist of a group of people working towards a common goal. So what’s with all the separate blogs? Consolidation. I believe that we need to have one blog one e53.org. This is a community for the e53 group to have group conversations, plan events, and discuss things in a public forum.
I’ll end with a question: What do YOU think?
11 Responses to “Consolidation. Advancement.”
By joshua on Apr 18, 2007
Is this a suggestion to eliminate the individual ‘member blogs’ in lieu of a singular ‘community-blog’ on which all members are to post? I’d love to have a better idea as to how I might go about posting on the main page (something I am as yet unsure of) however the majority of postings I leave are not necessarily pertinent to all members. I shudder to think that I might be forcing my incoherence down the throats of all-interested AND otherwise.
By zach on Apr 18, 2007
Yes, this is a discussion to consolidate all of the personal blogs down into one main blog.
I’m convinced it will be a good thing. It will be easier for everyone to participate, it will be easier to find the new posts from everyone, and it will be easier for me to manage.
By Torin on Apr 18, 2007
hey there. I know this site is a total nightmare for you to keep up dude. I know that if needed you may one day need to just shut down and that would be your decision and heck you are the dude paying so I would really have no room to bitch. The nice thing about having the individual blogs though is that they are “our’s”. That is to say that when one of us shares our opinions the rest of us can talk about it and bitch. It is also nice to be seperate though, so that your signature does not always need to be part of it. I really like the site the way it is now. When there is somthing important to the whole of the group it is posted, but if for some reason I want to go on some rant about the rights of pigmie mine workers in Uganda, it is under my name and noone else would be connected by it. Basically in a nut shell I love what we have, and I like the option to not agree all the time. That is just my take though. In the end you will do what you want and I won’t bitch either way.
By Gatsby on Apr 18, 2007
Personally, I prefer the individuality my own blog affords me. I agree with what Joshua & Torin have said.
I’ve always appreciated the help you’ve given me with maintaining my blog, and I understand the issues for you. Thank you for that.
By Shedemon on Apr 19, 2007
I like having my own blog since I tend to just post random things that I feel like saying that definitely don’t need to be on the main page. I don’t think I would feel comfortable doing that on just one page because most of the things I say aren’t important enough to go there.
Here’s a suggestion since there are several who aren’t as technilogically advanced why not have a support team. You don’t always have to do it all (although we do love you for it). I managed to do most of the stuff on my site by myself I can help anybody in the nearby area with theirs if they want help.
By stevil on Apr 19, 2007
Well I am looking at getting web ready with the new cs3 expansion. I may be able to assist in the future as far as blog customization and such. I know I have been slow at getting up and running but I need to set up at least two websites for myself and I know you know your shit. I personally wouldn’t mind working with you on some of this stuff because I know I would pick up a thing or two, plus help add to what we’ve got going on here. Just food for thought. I’m just not really sure if everyone has settled back into the new site Zach. Seems like everybody is pretty transitional right now, I’m sure it will get back together.
By zach on Apr 19, 2007
Well it seems as though everyone (or at least a quorum) has submitted their opinions/comments.
I’ll set aside my thoughts on consolidating down to one main blog. What I do want to do is really change the main page. It will become more static with a secondary blog something like e53.org/blog.
I’ll post some concepts at a later date.
By BoBo on Apr 19, 2007
Yeah. I like having my own space. I like others to have their own space too. Because if I want to read what one person has to say, I don’t want to have to scroll through everyone elses stuff to get to it. Not that I don’t read everyone’s page, but on my side it’s an organizational nightmare for browsing. But I do like having the “community blog” too for issues that need group attention/discussion. But like everyone else has said, I appreciate all that you have done and continue to do Zach, and this place would not be here if not for you so thank you. And ultimately the decision is yours.
And yeah, I’ll have my page back shortly. I just moved and just got internet connection back after a three or four month absence from the digital world. So just give me a tad bit longer, cause I have a hell of alot to talk about once I get back up and running:P
BoBo
By sis on Apr 24, 2007
I am glad to be added into the mix but miss my personalizable features for blogging
By stevil on Apr 25, 2007
I owe you a logo. I know this. My mac knows this, and I do as the mac commands because it talks in ‘people’ and not in crazy windows speak.
“It’s people! It’s made out of people!”
By Old Man on May 3, 2007
My apologies for not responding earlier, but I can go either way on this. Since I’m technologically challenged, I can’t begin to fathom the complexities involved with running this beloved site. I like the idea of everyone having his or her own page (maintaining the individuality of each person in the group), but I can see Zach’s point of the ease of running and maintaining the site.