Ning Network Upgrade

[Keith W]

On 1/2/2011 I upgraded the Everglades Exploration Network to the Ning Plus Premium services. To see what that gets us, go here and take a look at the Plus feature set. The Plus subscription is good for one year and will expire on 1/2/2012. Whether or not the Plus Premium subscription is renewed at that time will depend partly on how we use our new services and features over the coming year.

The most immediate effect of this upgrade is that we are no longer restricted to 150 members, and new members no longer require admin approval. This doesn't mean that I intend to let the membership roster grow without any moderation. Inactive members (those who have never posted to the forums)  will still be notified and removed over the coming year. There are two reasons for doing this. First, I expect that members will join with the intention of being active participants. This doesn't mean that you have to post something every day, or week, or even once a month, however, I do expect that new members will at least introduce themselves and tell us why they are interested in our group. My efforts at stimulating discussion by new members by making this a membership requirement have been, I think, very successful. Our newest members are also some of our most active, and I thank you for this. The second reason for moderating our member roster is more practical - if we choose not to continue with the Plus Premium subscription, the admins won't be faced with having to remove massive numbers of inactive members when our membership limit reverts to the 150 member limit.

Having taken this step to upgrade our network, I also want to announce that I will be stepping back from active administration of the Everglades Exploration Network. I want very much to return to developing my long-neglected Everglades Diary website, and my considerable time constraints dictate that I can effectively do one or the other, but not both. Therefore, I'm looking for a couple of folks who would like to take over some of the admin duties here. These will include moderating the forums and periodically reviewing the membership roster. Send me a personal message if you're seriously interested in doing this.

In the long term, it's not really about me and how I run this show. You all have a part to play in making this the 'go-to' spot for discussion of the Everglades and south Florida wilderness exploration in general, and how successful we are depends on how we all choose to use the resources that have been made available to us. This group has great potential for becoming a real force in the decision-making processes that govern the wilderness areas that we all love so much, especially the Wilderness Waterway. Let's think more about actually making it happen. I'll conclude this posting with a quote from a previous post that I made on the one-year anniversary of this group:

"The primary goal of creating this group - the organization of a formal 'Friends of the Wilderness Waterway' - still eludes us, but I'm hoping that in the coming new year we can get together and make this a reality. We have all talked about the many changes that are coming to the Waterway and what we would like to see in the future, but we lack the cohesive power of numbers in helping to influence those changes. As long as we continue to act as individuals in making our voices heard, we will be just that - a power of one, instead of the power of many. As happy as I am to see the Everglades Exploration Network grow and thrive, it is my greater hope to one day see the representatives of a Friends of the Wilderness Waterway group take their place at the table and begin to make a real difference in shaping the future of the place that brought us all together."

[Wayne Wells]

Why couldn't you combine the two? Couldn't you add some sort of blogging forum type of component to the Everglades Diary site and capture the best of both.

I've built a few web sites for work and perhaps could help with some of the technical aspects. Being only a once or twice a year Everglades traveller, I would have to steer clear of the the on-the-ground Everglades information aspects.

[Keith W]

Couldn't you add some sort of blogging forum type of component to the Everglades Diary site...

 

I've thought of this and have rejected the idea. That is why this site exists. There is a substantial cost in $$$ to add the necessary data and bandwidth services to my current Everglades Diary hosting, and an even more substantial cost in time. I don't have either. The Diary was and is meant to be purely informational, and so it will remain.

[vivian]

Keith, I am thrilled you will be updating the Everglades Diary. I really enjoyed reading your trip stories and learned much from the information you provided. Looking forward to reading more when you find the time to update. I hope you can find some moderators to help out with this website it is another great resource you provided.

[Esther Luft]

I have been away too long.  I love your Everglades Diary, as do many others.  Thanks for all the work!!