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Subject:ADMIN: An Open Letter to the TECHWR-L Community From:"Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sun, 01 Aug 2004 12:43:57 -0600
After a great deal of time and thought, we have decided that
we need to disengage from daily involvement with TECHWR-L. Over the
past year or so, we've made some substantial changes in our lives,
and we no longer have the time or energy to do TECHWR-L justice.
Eric, after 13 years in the tech writing industry, made the leap
from senior tech writer to software engineering manager at a large
technology company. Deborah, after nearly 12 years as a tech writer,
is now employed in and studying early childhood education--a path
she's passionate about.
For both of us, staying on top of the daily requirements of TECHWR-L
is barely managable, and the content and site development that we'd
like to pursue just doesn't ever get to the top of the priority list.
What's next? Good question. We're open to constructive
suggestions and ideas. We've considered transferring the site
to a volunteer to run it, but have concluded that this isn't a
viable option for several reasons. First, managing one or more
volunteers effectively requires at least as much time and energy
as running the site directly does. Second, we have a substantial
stake in TECHWR-L, and we need to ensure that our investment and
that of the community is preserved and maintained appropriately.
Our experience with volunteer labor--both as volunteers and as
coordinators of volunteers--demonstrates that the long term
committment of time and energy needed to move TECHWR-L forward
isn't a reasonable expectation of a volunteer.
We've spoken with many of the key TECHWR-L sponsors and
advertisers, but for a variety of reasons, they're not in
a position to take on a project like TECHWR-L.
What's left? The person (or people) who take on TECHWR-L should
have a stake in its success--"skin in the game," as it were.
That could come in the form of an outright purchase, or some
kind of a partnership with us or with other investors. What
might that look like? We don't know; we want to work with anyone
who is seriously interested to come up with a solution that allows
TECHWR-L to move to the next level, under someone else's guidance.
We welcome constructive comments, suggestions, or serious
inquiries.
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