I thought I'd add my own two cents to the conversation, in particular
about the different ways in which we try to communicate with you. As
they say on telethons, "keep those cards and letters coming!"
Podcasting
==========
This year, the plan is to experiment with all sorts of "podcasting",
which for the sake of this discussion I'll define as "posting non-text,
non-executable content to the web". Our podcasts will take any of these
forms:
- Audio
- Video
- "Screencasting": that's where the video displays the
screen of someone demonstrating an application or
programming technique and the audio features a
voice-over commenting on what's happening on the
screen.
In response to the question "Why podcasting?", it turns out that the
early results seem to be good. At the Evans Data Developer Relations
Conference that Ross and I attended in early February, we saw that a
number of companies found that podcasts were a good way to explain the
broad strokes of a technology or product. Bill Roth from BEA systems, in
typical marketer-speak, said that podcasting "lets you touch customers
at points where previously no opportunity existed." In other words, it
lets you communicate at times that were once impossible: on their
commute or at the gym.
There's also the "high-touch" factor of podcasts. It's one thing to read
an essay or the transcript of a conversation, but another thing entirely
to hear them say things in their own voice.
We understand that not everyone listens to podcasts on their computer or
on an MP3 player. We also understand that podcasts can't be indexed by
search engines. We have a solution to that problem in the works that we
believe will give the best of both worlds.
Blogs
=====
Blogs are a pretty powerful way to spread information. Search engines
tend to favour them highly and index them quickly. They allow for the
posting of information in many formats -- text, graphics, audio, video,
applets -- and in many combinations. Blog entries are easily linkable,
which allows other people to reference them.
We understand that not everyone reads our blogs, but would like to keep
up with what's going on with the Tucows platform. I have an idea: what
if I linked to blog entries in the relevant mailing lists?
Hacking Wiki
============
Off to a slow start, but we'll be picking up the pace over the next
couple of weeks. The idea behind the wiki is to capture some of the
knowledge about the platform that would otherwise be lost (tips, tricks
and so on) and act as a "skunk works" for new documentation. The idea is
for the wiki to act as a place where we all can work on documentation
and improve it to the point where our docs team decides that it's worthy
of inclusion in the "official" documentation.
I'm thinking of posting weekly summaries of changes to the wiki in
Discuss. Does this sound like a good idea? Let me know.
Tucows Discuss (a.k.a. The Mailing Lists)
=========================================
Okay, I'll 'fess up; I've been bad about this one. I've been
concentrating largely on my mechanical role with Discuss -- that is, the
nuts-and-bolts issues of making sure that it's running, keeping it free
of spam, and so on. I'll devote a portion of my daily routine to
answering questions where I can and finding someone who can answer them
where I can't.
Simply put: I'll be here on the lists/forums/newsgroups, listening and
responding.
And finally...
==============
You can always drop me a line via email ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) or give me
a ring at (416) 535-0123 x1287 / (800) 371-6992 x1287.
--
Joey deVilla - Tucows, Inc. - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
TC/DC (Technical Community Development Coordinator)
"Nerdy Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"
http://farm.tucows.com + http://developer.tucows.com
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