ADMIN: Current site and upcoming list changes

["Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM>]

And, as a followup to Deb's brief (and understated) announcement
about the changes to the site (for which Deb won a Merit Award
at the International STC Tech Pubs competition, BTW).

With this update we'll see the beginning of some changes
to the site and the list that are long underway and
long overdue. In short, ads are available on the TECHWR-L
site, and, as soon as we complete the move to a new list
host, commercial ads on the TECHWR-L list will no longer
run for free.

The whole story:
For the past six and a half years, the TECHWR-L list has been located
on a server at Oklahoma State University, at no charge; however, because
of the extremely heavy load this list places on OSU's resources, the
TECHWR-L list will soon be moving to another server. Although free
list hosting services are available, those services do not provide the
level of service that TECHWR-L members require. Therefore, we will
move the list to a commercial list host, which will bring with it
substantial costs.

With this change, we will no longer be able to absorb all costs associated
with the list or this site, as we have done in the past, although
membership in and use of the list will continue to be a free resource we
provide to the Internet community. That said, we are now
offering some additional services that will help us continue to make
TECHWR-L a valuable resource and community.

On the site, you'll find the Public Links area, which is designed to
help support the TECHWR-L community. Here, you'll find subscription
information, list archives, topic summaries, a chat forum, the
contractors database, and contact information about the list and this
Web site. For the most part, this information is what's been available
on this site in the past.

Also on the site, there's now a Members Only area, which provides a
Directory of technical communication related books, resources, and
sites--with approximately 250 new additions with this update alone.
As a member, you'll also receive a weekly "Best Of" summary of meaty
discussions and contributions on the list that's emailed directly to you.
Currently, the Members Only area is available to you at no cost--just
to give you an idea of the extent of the information available. Starting
sometime in September, 1999, however, the Members Only area will be available
by subscription only.

And, ad space is now available on this site, including
banner ads and square ads, displayed on all pages.
Contact ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com for more information about
availability and pricing. This site has an average minimum
of 2500 unique visitors per month, with 30,000 page views,
and obviously a very targeted audience.

Upcoming TECHWR-L list ads:
For the past six years, TECHWR-L list policies have allowed you to post
your ads on list at any time at no cost to you. Beginning as soon as
we move to a new list host, however, this policy will change:

All ads will be posted on list as part of a once-per-day Ad Posting, sent by
the listowner. This will not only help reduce site traffic, but also help
ensure that your ads are not overlooked in the sea of posts that TECHWR-L
generates.

List sponsorships will also be available. Sponsorship ads will be located at
the
footer of every TECHWR-L message (that's approximately 80 messages per
day arriving in 4400+ people's email boxes).

See http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/whatsnew.html for more information, and,
as always, contact me directly with questions or comments.
Eric


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Eric J. Ray                  ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com
TECHWR-L Listowner
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