Wow, two sanction proposals in the same day...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 15:31:50 -0500
From: "Hoftiezer, James" <JHoftiezer@advanceamerica.net>
To: "'erik@thekrib.com'" <erik@thekrib.com>
Cc: "'jameshoftiezer@charter.net'" <jameshoftiezer@charter.net>
Subject: AGA Forums
Erik (erik@thekrib.com),
Thanks for all the work you did at AGA. I wondered many times if you had
enough time to enjoy it for yourself.
At the conference I mentioned starting a bulletin board sanctioned by the
AGA. I am still wondering if this might be an option. I'll go a head and
warn you that the rest will sound like a ramble/brainstorming session.
It would cost $35 to have it hosted on www.ipowerweb.com(I get a kickback)
for the first year, then $100/year after that. There is plenty of
space(800mb) and bandwidth(30gb) available and have experience little or no
downtime with them on my personal site. The web space includes the domain
name and phpBB board running on a MYSSQL database.
I am interested in starting this project for several reasons;
-The numerous boards and mailing lists out there prove that forums/bulletin
boards are in demand by people trying to find out more about this hobby.
The number of boards can be confusing and hard to find. Many people find
themselves members on multiple boards.
-With some boards having large numbers of members(AB 1475, plantedtank 1275,
AQ 2300, taopa 180, APD, r.a.f.p) they represent a huge pool of potential
members to AGA. The forums could attract members and potentially be an
added value to membership.
-The boards out there are commercial or lack any type of authoritative
sanction. AGA or ADA are the few non-commercial organizations that could
sanction such a venue and have the authority to attract members from other
boards. The sanction would add credibility lacking in home-grown forums.
-Forums can be moderated to prevent a lot of the backlash and unprofessional
behavior seen on mailing list and other forums. Forums based on a database
are easily searched and there would be sufficient storage to keep libraries
and articles as well. With 10x larger memberships on bulletin
boards/forums, it demonstrates a preference when compared to mailing lists
and archives. It also avoids the spam lists and security issues of email
and USENET based lists.
What I am proposing is to create a forum for the AGA, sanctioned by the AGA,
for the promotion of planted aquaria. I will volunteer the time, money and
effort to startup the board. The AGA would approve of the format before
sanctioning it for public access.
Ultimate control and ownership of the forum would reside with the AGA board
of directors, not with me personally. In fact purchase of the web space
could be performed and maintained in the AGA's name.
Moderators would be AGA members and if required could be appointed or
approved by the AGA board. As required, non-members may be invited to
moderate specific topics such as fish:discus or fish:cichlids. We may even
be able to set vendor specific topics moderated by AGA sponsors.
Topics would be similar to the AB board. Plant and aquascaping topics may
be more defined. Topics such as the AGA conference or contest may be added.
If the software allows, paying members could be given full access to
advanced topics which would be read-only to non-AGA members. In addition to
being value added, this may help to address the concerns of advanced
hobbyists who no longer want to get mired down in newbie questions. Newbies
would be addressed by moderators and FAQ.
Domain names are available such as;
Agaonline.net
Aga-online.org
Agaforums.com
Agaforums.net
Aga-forums.com
Aga-forums.net
So what do you think? Where should I go from here?
James Hoftiezer
Senior Database Administrator
Advance America - Database Services
(864) 342-5558 (office)
JHoftiezer@AdvanceAmerica.net <mailto:JHoftiezer@AdvanceAmerica.net>
(864) 621-5720 (cell)
8646215720@tms.suncom.com <mailto:8643166401@msg.myvzw.com>
(864) 580-5480 (fax)
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