Derek has pointed out the challenge on creating public nodes in public schools. As difficult as it may sound, I begin to get some ideas from my own attempt.
First, finding the right admin with sufficient tech knowledge to understand the benefit is the first challenge. (You do not want to approach admin who will believe a wireless AP attached to an outdoor 12dbi antenna connecting to an outside network can generate interference to bring down the entire college network.) Then you need to find the right channel to reach them. If the first hurdle is overcome, then it comes to selling the idea. My opinion is that it is a NO NO to try to convince the admin to open the college network as a node for public consumption. You will get slam at no time. Rather, here is one ave to explore: Think about a joint venture relationship that is no different from the Byrant Park project. The utility of a school is its premise, NOT its existing network infrastructure. In other words, can NYCwireless serve as a "broker" to negotiate with ISP to donate a new network connection to be brought into campus? One will have a more easier time to sell about opening a node that does not use and not interfere with the network operation of a school. Assuming the answer to my question is positive, then we need to think about why a school should go for it. Simply saying it's a good PR may not be enough. Can it bring excitment and interest to the local and college communities? Imagine if students and faculty all think the additional network can provide alternative Internet connection for their study/work, they could very well be your lobbying force to the admin. If you can convince the school that it can even serve as an outreach for student recruitment, this will make the case look even better! So, if a school does give permission for premise use, and if some ISP does donate a connection, now what's left is the logistic part. NYCWireless can play a role to help technical setup and maintaining the node/network connection, in return for whatever "promotion right" (e.g., advertising on behalf of the ISP to students/faculty who need to subscribe high speed connection at home) that can help to to stike a deal with ISP to donate and to go along with the joint venture. Or whatever other stimulus NYCwireless members can come up with and sell sucessfully. What about the equipment cost? I will be optimistic to see people making donation if the benefit to them is clear. I am sure there are other business models to explore, and it would be great if folks "listening" at this forum will jump in to offer their ideas and experience. Bon On Mon, 17 Feb 2003, TheLight wrote: > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > I tried this at CUNY (Public College, City funded) with no luck and also at > PACE (Private College). The bureaucracy was so bad that I couldn't get > anywhere with it. The problem (on the college level) is that the existing > Admins feel very threatened if an outside organization comes in and tries to > do anything on or with their network. It's a turf war more then anything > else, and even if the benefits are phenomenal the admins will come up with > reasons not to do it. They'll then pass those reasons along to their > superiors who trust their IT staff, and the superiors will thank us for our > offer and slam the door in our face forever. I also tried the tactic of a > completely separate wireless network. This failed in the college level, but > might work on the public k-12 school level. > If you can figure out a way around it, lets go for it. It will give > NYCWireless a possible backbone for future projects and give a huge benefit > to the public school system as well. > > Couple of questions: > *What kind of infrastructure does the average public school have, if any? > *Can we integrate wireless and form a good business case for them? > *Can we actually offer this to the City of New York? It's a lot of work, > and will require massive resources. > OR > *Should we offer this to schools on an individual basis? > *Can the main school official accept our offer, or must (s)he get > permission from the school board of New York? > Lets talk about the logistics of this because, as was previously stated, > this would be a great thing for the city and for us. > > - -Derek "TheLight" > KC2JKD, OES Queens > > Don't fear the penguin. > .^. > /V\ > /( )\ > ^^-^^ > He's here to help. > > - -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of j > Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 2:43 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [nycwireless] hi, im new to this (public schools as nodes?) > > > hello > > i've just stumbled into this whole universe, and think > it's a FANTASTIC movement. > > in browsing around, i noticed the park projects and > the proliferation of "starbucks" nodes. > > given my background, which i won't go into, my > immediate thought was "what about schools as nodes?" > > has anybody explored this remarkable opporttunity? > > NYC has well over 1000 public school facilities > scattered all over. > > on a policy level, this would not only help public > schools and cut costs, but would provide truly > remarkable community incentives/services. > > for 30 years folks have struggled to provide > incentives to "keep" people within urban school > neighborhoods. > > need i say more? > > this would be truly high stakes, however, as the scale > and implications would cut right at a WHOLE lot of > commercial interests... > > in fact, im not sure that public schools per se can > even get involved without a system-wide policy on the > matter. > > in terms of procurement and policy, there are many > levels to the entire system. some schools could find > a way to go at it "solo," perhaps a few networks of > schools working together. likewise, independent > public schools (i.e. charters) could probably do it > today without any hassles. > > some thoughts. > > peace > > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day > http://shopping.yahoo.com > - -- > NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ > Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ > Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: PGP 8.0 > > iQA/AwUBPlFG7IfYWwfzd9H1EQJDPwCg5Go36b6gCWp6I3QnAw/zoI/buX8AnjG/ > Scv1E+/F+ZzBBG049E9JhCZ+ > =Ydgq > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > -- > NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ > Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ > Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/ > -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
