[Imc-web] Re: [Imc-production] Steering Agenda Item: the IMC website

Thu Jan 29 17:19:15 CST 2009

Josh,

I didn't take it that way at all, and in fact, I am glad that you shared
your perspective and clarified these issues for us.  I often worry that the
things I write sound angry, too - no worries.  I just don't want people at
the IMC to think that it's your fault if the IMC site doesn't have
everything they want.  It helps that Chris has outlined specific requests.

-Stephen

On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 5:15 PM, Josh King <josh at ucimc.org> wrote:

> Sorry, this sounds kind of pissy now that I go back and read it. It's
> really just a lot of tired, unconnected thoughts. In summary, I'm sorry that
> the website isn't everything that it could be, I'm working on it, and I
> should try harder to put systems in place to include others in the process.
>
>
> On 01/29/2009 08:19 AM, Josh King wrote:
>
>> Hi Stephen, Chris,
>>
>> I just wanted to comment on a couple of things. First, I definitely want
>> to expand the role of other people in the day-to-day administrative and
>> monitoring aspects of the technical work at the IMC. It does, however,
>> need to be done in a way that's more careful than giving a large pool of
>> people root access. I can attest that even for someone like me that has
>> spent a huge amount of time managing our systems and has the requisite
>> skill set to design a large chunk of how everything fits together at the
>> IMC, it's not too difficult to do something that screws up something big
>> for everyone. The need for a careful, managed solution requires systems
>> to be in place and structured in such a way as to allow that kind of
>> careful management, and unfortunately putting those kinds of systems in
>> place is one thing that I've spent a colossal amount of time on over the
>> past year or so. I've started to reach out to certain people for them to
>> help take over some day-to-day tasks, and this will happen even more as
>> I continue to work on the IMC's websites and migrate the email server
>> this weekend. But for Tech at least, it's going to be pulling a small
>> number of people from an even smaller pool, as I don't currently have a
>> lot of time for training people in server administration and web design,
>> and so have to work with the people that I already know have the skills
>>
>> Chris, in response to your specific concerns, there was a problem this
>> morning that Dan fixed where the partition on the offsite server where
>> the website is stored filled up, and I'll be working with him to make
>> sure it doesn't happen again. This may be why you had the problems
>> you've had in 2, 4, and 5, as 2 and 5 I've never experienced. Featured
>> stories should be at the top, except for the logo image, top menu, and
>> the blocks "Local Interest," "Global Newswire," and "Upcoming Events,"
>> which I placed up there in response to complaints that they were too
>> difficult to find. It is true that there are bugs with the site,
>> specifically one pertaining to uploading images and another with the
>> WYSIWYG editor. I'm working on those and on a further redesign of the
>> site, as the current version is a rough upgrade to improve performance
>> and allow for anonymous commenting again, rather than an effort to
>> significantly extend the functionality of the site as it existed before.
>> It is true that there seems to be no "Home" link, though you can click
>> on the logo image to return to the front page, and now that it's been
>> pointed out I'll add one.
>>
>> It's clearly unacceptable for the IMC not to have a functional online
>> publishing presence, especially if it's felt that the design and
>> functionality of that presence is the main reason for lower traffic. I
>> should probably have been more diligent about making sure that people
>> interested in working on modifying the website get the shell access they
>> require, but that's out of only 1 or 2 people who have asked. I'm not a
>> great drupal developer, but since we're unlikely to have tons of drupal
>> developers with lots of time on their hands popping out the woodwork,
>> I'll try and set aside some of my other tasks and work between now and
>> the next steering meeting on creating another potential redesign and
>> improvement of the site to show.
>>
>> I'm thinking of implementing some kind of online to-do list for myself
>> that people can submit to. My workload has gotten to the point where I
>> can't always even keep track of all of the different things I have to
>> do, and it might provide a more centralized way to keep track of things.
>>
>> I definitely agree with Stephen about the poor level of volunteerism in
>> the more support or infrastructure oriented groups. Stephen and Nicole
>> have done a great job of trying to foster that in the Production and
>> Community Connections groups to some avail, me and Tech not so much.
>> Partly this is just because if someone comes in and says they want to
>> get involved doing Tech work, unless there's a specific project they
>> already have in mind there's not a lot I can have them do without fairly
>> extensive training. And just the fact that someone knows how to do
>> something doesn't foster the trust that I need to have before I just
>> hand over the keys to something that everyone in the IMC depends on. So
>> I've been trying to come up with a better system of doing this, and I'm
>> working on it, but it takes time.
>>
>> Anyway, I'll try and fix up the website some more.
>>
>> On 01/29/2009 12:27 PM, Stephen Fonzo wrote:
>>
>>> I'm forwarding this to Tech and Web - not to bother Josh with complaints
>>> - but to let him know that others are thinking of ways to distribute his
>>> volunteerism to others at the IMC.
>>>
>>> Josh has significantly improved the site from its former state, in my
>>> opinion, though I agree with Chris that there are still problems with
>>> posting and accessing content. We have two approaches to making further
>>> improvements to the site or to other things at the IMC - a) keep saying,
>>> "I don't know - ask Josh;" or b) figuring out ways to spread tasks and
>>> knowledge so individuals can address needs as they arise.
>>>
>>> I believe the root problem is analogous to other working groups'
>>> difficulties at the IMC, namely, that for many tasks, the volunteer body
>>> of the IMC relies on one or two people. So for Tech and Web, it is
>>> pretty much Josh, Dan, and Mike; for Shows and Production it is pretty
>>> much me; for WRFU it is pretty much Noel; etc.
>>>
>>> Beyond everyone being strapped and focused heavily on keeping the
>>> building, raising money, and paying bills (all too common non-profit
>>> challenges), there are two reasons for these scenarios:
>>>
>>> 1) Volunteerism is generally weak at the IMC when it comes to anything
>>> that is not directly activist (in other words, the media and tech
>>> stuff). Books to Prisoners, Print, AWARE, Finance, and CUCPJ are all
>>> strong, focus on business/specific agenda, and rally around issues and
>>> deadlines. Perhaps the media/art-oriented groups need to learn from
>>> these other groups (who happen to have an older, more serious and
>>> experienced demographic, which is probably a factor). I will admit that
>>> due to the presence of VISTAs and especially the development work of
>>> Nicole, membership activity is indeed improving in some of the other
>>> groups, and we are starting once more to provide more in the space
>>> (Shows and Librarians are making great progress for such small groups
>>> and for such spotty histories). Will this continue and are our members
>>> aware?
>>>
>>> 2) Access, especially to Tech and Web infrastructure, is limited,
>>> creating a cycle in which Josh or Dan are often the ONLY people to
>>> contact about a given issue. As long as they are okay with this
>>> arrangement, I don't think we need to change the way we work - after
>>> all, I don't think Josh wants extra work by having to clean up messes
>>> that others less qualified than himself make while doing things on the
>>> server or databases. It is apparent that IMC members (myself included)
>>> cannot do all the things that Josh or Dan do, when it comes to
>>> web/internet work, but I don't know how much of that is due to our lack
>>> of skills, lack of access/mutual training, or both. I know it's tricky,
>>> because security is of top concern when dealing with technology. Access
>>> is less of a problem with Shows, Production, and WRFU, but I still get
>>> the impression that along with Web and Tech our work is considered
>>> either too specialized, difficult, unimportant or undesirable for
>>> volunteers to do - or even that we hold less clout or interest because
>>> our work supports activism and artistry but is not directly activist or
>>> artistic. This especially pains me when I am here to train and openly
>>> offer tutoring to those who would clearly rather just have me, Nicole,
>>> or someone else do the work.
>>>
>>> It is clear to me that we need to expand, even by a little, volunteerism
>>> and access to active members that are deemed trustworthy. I acknowledge
>>> that a lot of this will be difficult because it requires a shift in the
>>> culture of the IMC, which I do not think is "unhealthy" as one member
>>> said recently, but is perhaps stale at the moment. Josh, Nicole, and I
>>> are here to increase the sustainability and capacity of the
>>> organization(s) we work with, but I feel that there will be a vacuum if
>>> any one of us leaves, and I am concerned that we (and others at the IMC)
>>> are being relied upon rather than utilized. That would be fine if
>>> everyone at the IMC received a salary or stipend, or had clearly defined
>>> positions and authority, but it contradicts the consensus, volunteer,
>>> anarchist structures touted by members who have been here longer.
>>>
>>> I detest argument for argument's sake, and I have not said any of this
>>> to start a debate, to revel in exercising critical muscle, or to pretend
>>> that I know any better than anyone else how to proceed from here. I want
>>> to avoid the petty personal and intellectual politics that too often
>>> constrain groups like ours and divert conversations to the theoretical,
>>> and I merely make these suggestions so we can act practically upon them.
>>> We need to think about sustainability through shared institutional
>>> knowledge.
>>>
>>> -Stephen
>>>
>>> On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 10:28 AM, Christopher Evans
>>> <caevans2 at hotmail.com <mailto:caevans2 at hotmail.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>> By no means is this criticism of the IMC website intended to
>>> criticize the excellent effort and contributions of Josh King, who
>>> has worked very hard to maintain and upgrade the IMC's website.
>>>
>>> However, as one of the journalists who still regularly uses the
>>> site, I have to make a few comments about my current experiences
>>> with the site.
>>>
>>> 1) *hardly anyone ever posts* articles anymore, and hardly anyone
>>> ever comments to the few articles that do get posted. Shortly after
>>> the Brian Chesley articles posted by Brian Dolinar in March of 2008,
>>> the comments to articles have dropped dramatically. It used to be
>>> that a Brian Dolinar article could inspire 60 or more comments to an
>>> article. The inability to post Annonymously may have affected that,
>>> but even after the re-installment of Annonymous posting capability;
>>> hardly a response is given to what people post.
>>>
>>> 2) The site has become *difficult to see the featured articles*.
>>> They are not posted at the top of the page, but rather, are placed
>>> at the bottom of the page after the long scroll of international
>>> links to other IMC sites. To me, those links seem secondary for a
>>> site that offers local stories.
>>>
>>> 3) there is no *"Home" link *to get you back to the original page
>>> after you've navigated somewhere on the site.
>>>
>>> 4) the site is *unreliable*. This morning I was able to log on, but
>>> when I tried to respond to a comment, even though I was able to type
>>> in my text, the site would not upload it, and stayed in some kind of
>>> holding pattern. Finally, I tried to start over and now I can't even
>>> get to the IMC website.
>>>
>>> 5) there is *no side to side scroll bar *for the *calendar*. I can't
>>> see what is happening on the weekends at the IMC.
>>>
>>> I know Josh has tons of other duties and I know he has been very
>>> diligent in trying to improve the site for us. It's probably
>>> unrealistic for us to expect one person has the time to do the daily
>>> maintenance and designing of the site.
>>>
>>> I can only say that if the above is true for others, it might
>>> explain why one of the most dynamic sites for local news has become
>>> a silent graveyard for old articles.
>>>
>>> The IMC needs to decide if a website remains a viable avenue for
>>> news reporting and local IMC announcements, and if so, we need to
>>> make it as user-friendly as possible. If we have neither the time
>>> nor inclination to maintain this site, I will form my own blog on
>>> Illini Pundit and Smile Politely and assume that the tremendous
>>> history of the IMC website from 2003-2008 is over.
>>> thanks for listening to my rant.
>>> On behalf of Local Yocal,
>>> chris the building guy
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>>> how.
>>> <
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>>> >
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Stephen Fonzo
>>> Media Training Advisor
>>> AmeriCorps CTC VISTA
>>> Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> IMC-Web at lists.ucimc.org
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/imc-web
>>>
>>
>>
> --
> Josh King
> --
> "I am an Anarchist not because I believe Anarchism is the final goal, but
> because there is no such thing as a final goal." -Rudolf Rocker
>
>

-- 
Stephen Fonzo
Media Training Advisor
AmeriCorps CTC VISTA
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
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