RE: ADMIN: An Open Letter to the TECHWR-L Community

["Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- Users -dot- com>]

Is there any way for control of TECHWR-L to pass into the collective
hands of all of its 5000 or so members?

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric J. Ray [mailto:ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com] 
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 2:44 PM
Subject: ADMIN: An Open Letter to the TECHWR-L Community




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.

Eric and Deborah Ray
ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com
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