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Looking for more input

jar546

jar546

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I know we kicked this around before but I am looking for input on this forum to improve it and draw more people to it. One of my ideas is to have regionally specific areas within this forum. I don't want to make this too big but if California or Washington State or Florida, etc. has some very specific codes to discuss that are different from the standard codes, it may be a good idea to have separate areas. This may draw more people from the respective geographical location.

Thoughts please? It cost me nothing more than my time to set that up.
 
not sure if they would get much more action, than just posting under approriate heading
 
How about topics on NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, or a discussion areas specific to particular building types, such as healthcare?
 
RLGA said:
How about topics on NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, or a discussion areas specific to particular building types, such as healthcare?
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We did try something along those lines with this:

http://www.inspectpa.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?48-Institutional

As you can see, there was very little interest and discussion within it.

I can see NFPA 101 as being a possibility because it is not really covered here under the existing topics.

Any thoughts on this?
 
There might be an interest in a forum topic devoted to alternative energy sources such as solar and wind etc.
 
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A couple of thoughts; one competitive edge this forum has is the quick response to questions submitted and the ability for members to edit and post large pictures is a bonus compared to other message boards.



A turn off is the topic sometimes goes off on a tangent with a lack of professionalism displayed by individuals bickering at each other’s intelligence.

Francis
 
The forum is just fine like it is; but, California and Florida might like seperate place to post questions; especially California because they are so different. You just need people like me to pony up with a little dough. I'll send a check but a little conserned about confidentiality.

If you add a thread for Florida you might want to contact our great Florida Electrical Expert and he could get more people their to participate. Crap, my memory cells seem to be sneaking off when I'm not paying attention. Otherwise I don't think dividing the country up is a good idea; just specialty areas where the normal ICC answers just confuse the questioner.

Just my 2 cents worth. Do you accept checks for 2 cents? It's in the mail.
 
Well, that didn't work; maybe having other methods of payment might draw more funds. I don't use paypal, credit cards (anymore), or pay over the internet. Do you have an address I can send a check to? Don't need a name, just an address.
 
I believe Durant is on to something. Some people won't use credit cards. I believe also that not all would be interested in the saw horse membership fee. Budgets are tight.

Further, there use to be a banner for credit cards and payments paypal etc. That should be right up front. The site is still free in some areas and that is great and should remain, but a real mission statement should be developed to encourage membership. The original intent was to keep it free and to educated each other or keep each other aware of issues and code changes problems etc. This site is for discussion, it is a place where code people can go to raise a question on a subject with perhaps more experienced code officials being able to help.

Part two would be to encourage the many readers to logon and post because we all really want their input. With that encouragement we as members need to bridle our tongues. There are no stupid questions, at times there are stupid answers and responses. So this is just my ideas. We all want to debate, but at the same time I believe we are all willing to extend help and knowledge.
 
I do not know if you would be willing to post the yearly cost or would want to,

But for me I would know how much and maybe how often I should be contributing
 
cda said:
I do not know if you would be willing to post the yearly cost or would want to, But for me I would know how much and maybe how often I should be contributing
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The yearly cost varies based on the number of updates, renewals and cost of the dedicated server along with repairs of the system and troubleshooting by the IT department. It is several thousand at a minimum. We had to do a migration that cost over $500 in labor from the IT department for 10 hours of work. I am trying to keep my head above water on this and today as an example, I am still here 13 hours straight doing maintenance and making minor changes, adding forums, etc.

The hard cost that does not include me is what is several thousand per year. My time is free and this year alone I had over 5,000 emails and daily troubleshooting with people who could not log in, lost their password, wanted their name changed, etc.

I think that it is reasonable that if I have a couple hundred bucks left over at the end of the year I deserve it. I have 2 other Administrators helping me and I still have at least 2 hours a day dedicated to this site whether you see me post or not. Honestly, I average about $300 or so left over each year. We do our big push in January for money after the holiday because that is when the server fees are renewed. I'm happy with my $0.41 hour that I am averaging as long as I don't lose money.

Maybe someones else wants to take on this burden, otherwise I need your financial help. I just got a new IT person at a very reasonable rate so we are going to take advantage of that and finally do a security update that has been hanging for a while.

Every year I bite my nails hoping there will be enough money to cover the costs because there are so few people that actually step up to the plate and contribute money and it seems to be the same people over and over who give of themselves. I assumed responsibility for this and don't want to let anyone down. This has proven itself to be a valuable resource for many and will continue to for many years as long as I am willing to spend the time, money and effort to maintain it and keep it current with today's technology. The company I own has the resources and the financial ability to front the money every single year and pay the bills while I wait for the contributions to come in. With the new system in place, we will have a better idea of where we are because membership as a Sawhorse is on a time limit and has to be renewed. i need consistency and less nail biting.

OK, rant is over
 
Thank you for the honest on detailed info

I have no idea what it takes to run a site like this, from the info you gave me will ramp up my contribution
 
Maybe it's only yesterday....that you had no clue how much effort this would be.
 
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Jeff,

Somewhere in here you mentioned the possibility of obtaining CEUs for forum participation. That's a great idea as long as the ICC recognizes that. People pay to attend seminars because they need CEUs so why not pay join the forum. The education that's available here is far and away better than any seminar that I've attended. It could also be a tax deduction.

There would have to be a way to verify time spent on-line and that equates to time or money.....I would gladly pay extra.....at least double.
 
I think the state-specific forums are a great idea, especially for those states with statewide amended codes.
 
TJacobs said:
I think the state-specific forums are a great idea, especially for those states with statewide amended codes.
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We're gonna get spread thin....don't all the states amend the code? California didn't amend so much as toss out code.
 
ICE said:
Jeff,Somewhere in here you mentioned the possibility of obtaining CEUs for forum participation. That's a great idea as long as the ICC recognizes that. People pay to attend seminars because they need CEUs so why not pay join the forum. The education that's available here is far and away better than any seminar that I've attended. It could also be a tax deduction.

There would have to be a way to verify time spent on-line and that equates to time or money.....I would gladly pay extra.....at least double.
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The CEU issue is not an overnight rollout and we are in the infancy stages of getting it set up. We will start small if and when we start. ICC recognition is one of the issues.
 
CEU recognition has been an issue with the training that my AHJ provides. Until recently, the ICC would allow CEUs for training only if the AHJ purchased teaching material from the ICC or hired the ICC to do the training.

We are now an ICC approved provider of ICC recognized CEU training. I must be getting close to 40 hours per year.

On the face of it, I don't need more CEUs than I get from work but this is the first time that my AHJ training counts and I don't trust the ICC all that much.

The same can be said for the AHJ.

The ICC will require payment. My AHJ purchases an enormous number of complete sets of code books/CD so perhaps the ICC finally realized that the AHJ DID purchase teaching material from the ICC in the form of the code books. On top of that, the AHJ hires the ICC for training on occasion.

Understand that when I hired in perhaps 5% of the people that worked here had any certifications and it may be 10% 15 years later.

There has never been emphasis on CEUs. Certifications carry no importance for other than meeting state requirements. It's not that I don't understand but I do wish it weren't so.

I remember my first certification renewal. Back then, passing a test was required and $50 for each certification.

The test was on code we hadn't adopted and we didn't have any of those code books.

What with it being difficult to take a test on a code that I'd not seen, I had to buy the books.

That put me into it at least $600.

The good news is that, as it should be, the AHJ has a reimbursement policy.

I gathered up all the paper and sent in copies. No small feat for me.

Five months later I received a check for $25. I still have it; along with other rebates that escaped me.

That wasn't even $5 per certification.

Well at least there is a policy....and it's not hard to decipher.

The ICC will be two nuts to crack. First is to demonstrate worthiness and second is the money.

Worthiness shouldn't be much of a hurdle.

When a test was the method, it was oh so simple. The test was easier than figuring out the index.

CEUs are available for sleeping through seven hours of seminar at Simpson's Brea auditorium. They serve turkey sandwiches and dim the lights in the afternoon.

It seems to me that this forum is at least that worthy but I don't think I would tell the ICC anything I've said.

The money is a market matter. What would it cost the ICC? Its no doubt a butt load to hear them tell it.

I can see why the ICC has had a hand out ever since they shot their foot clean off.

Good luck with it.

Come to think of it, you're probably not one of ICC's favorite people huh.
 
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