On 02/24/2012 03:45 AM, Gail Kilgore wrote:
Then, I got an email today that left me with a lot of mixed
feelings.
I will only send bits and pieces of the email and the person sending it is
not from Colorado.
"There is too much well funded competition out there. We used to be it and
now we are yesterday's news. The crap that USGenWeb did is partially to
blame but it is also a function of being out of date. Volunteers don't have
the funds to do massive databases."
"Thanks for asking. I don't know anyone [useful] who would be interested.
They are dropping fast - age, illness, etc. We probably have 25% adoptable
at this point."
This left me to thinking today and trying to find replacements for these
counties is becoming impossible. They have moved on with the new
technology. I would like to see a roll call from all states as to what
their vacancy is. I have a lady interested in a county and still trying to
work it out, had another one interested but didn't know beans about web
pages.
I agree with this person that we are now a lot older than when we started.
Life is playing on our times, there are illnesses and all that goes along
with getting older. I have been trying to bring in young blood new people
to carry on.
I would like to hear your thoughts and thoughts on recruiting, or else I am
going to have to back up and ask that some of us take on more counties to
get them updated. I can't do them all and Billie has been helping. I am
not asking you to adopt them but to at least work on the main pages of the
sites that are up for adoption.
On one hand I can sort of see their point. Ancestry, and other big
sites, have huge budgets and loads of "stuff" to get massive databases
online.
To bring this down to a manageable issue lets look at it like a
"Mon-n-Pop" [ us ] with Wal Mart [ Ancestry, et. al. ] coming to town.
How can "we" compete with the "Big Box". "We" don't have
the buying
power they do. "We" don't have the "deep pockets" [ budget ] they
do.
The issues just keep coming. The answer comes from Sam Walton himself.
In his book he tells the "Mon-n-Pops" how to stay in business and even
prosper when Wal Mart comes to town.
As a general rule Wal Mart comes to town and builds a store with nothing
else around it. Next thing you know every "Big Box" in the country
starts popping up like weeds all around the Wal Mart store. Did you ever
wonder why? [ rhetorical question ] The reason is, they read Sam's book.
Next time your in a Wal Mart take a REALLY GOOD look at the shelves. Wal
Mart is very good at what they do. BUT, they don't carry a large variety
of any one kind of thing. The trick, that most "Mom-n-Pops" never learn,
is to do what Wal Mart doesn't do well. Provide the kinds of things that
Wal Mart doesn't.
For many years I was Sporting Goods Department Manager at Wal Mart. Just
down the street was an Academy Sporting Goods. I was the best salesman
that Academy had [ I thought about going down there and asking for a
raise *<]:oD ].
Here's the deal. We can't compete with Ancestry, et. al., so we need to
identify what they do best and look for the things they don't. "WE" have
to provide the goods and services that Ancestry doesn't. "WE" have to
find ways to get our message out, that "we" are here and what "we"
provide, in ways that don't require major budgets. "WE" have to work
smarter, not harder. "WE" have to go that extra step, provide a better
"shopping experience" for our visitors.
As for the recruitment issue..............I don't know what the answer
is. There has to be some way to find those people interested but I don't
have the cure all for that.
I am not quite ready to retire from COGenWeb but I may have to take a leave
of absence and would like Billie to step up to the plate to keep things
rolling.
I'm not ready for you to retire either. I'm sure everyone feels that way.
I'm not Gail, and I've kind of stirred the pot a bit lately, but with
everyones forbearance I will do what I can to keep things rolling if you
have to step back for a bit. I do firmly believe that this group,
CoGenWeb, belongs to all of us. That every member should have their say
and majority rules. Not always the best but the only fair way to have it.
I really haven't said anything but I am just finishing up radiation for
skin cancer, now I think I have found some more, will get this checked
tomorrow when I go in for my last treatment. I am falling apart.. as soon
as my MRI is done, I will be having surgery on my cervical discs. I had C
4& 5 fused 40 years ago and they are shrinking and C3 is in trouble and I
am in 24 hour pain with this neck problems. I can't be on pain meds and
try and think about what I am doing and pain meds really make me crabby and
you get enough of that from me with out something else being added too it.
Billie is very capable of handling everything... and I will let you all
know when I am going to be out of touch for a while. My computer will be
near but I will just have to see how I am doing.
<blushing> Thank you for the kind words and vote of confidence.
If you have any questions I am here.
--
“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain
the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the
government lest it come to dominate our lives and interests”.
- Patrick Henry -
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