T25C

[JJ]

[rkt]

To all LLG's and especially pds,

I just read Paul's latest editorial on T25C. As most of
you know CS branched off T25C. I always enjoyed it very
much. I understand the demands of life as it evolves. I
have been president, newsletter editor, t-shirt and jacket
designer and salesman, for my car club for the past 10
years. I decided as of the last election I would not be
president any longer and delegated my other jobs too.

Personally, I would like to see T25C continue. My favorite
parts were the staff reviews, interviews with cigar moguls,
and the gorilla gallery. I have a few questions for Paul;

When you mention the cost of running the site, how much are
you referring too? Short of making this a pay site can we help with some donations?

The cigars that are used for the staff reviews do you buy them or
do you have contacts that "donate" a few? If so, maybe the LLG's
could donate some smokes to try. I know that I read about many
that other LLG's have that I have not tried.

How much time does it take to mantain the site?
Can some parts be delegated to a willing helper?

Maybe these are not relevant questions and maybe some LLG's can throw up some better suggestions. I'm just trying to think of ways of reducing your cost and work load.

Thanks for what you have done and if the only thing we get to keep I will vote for CS.

[Pablo]

[updated:LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-02 AT 03:44 PM (CDT)]I'll try and answer as best I can, any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Q) When you mention the cost of running the site, how much are
you referring too? Short of making this a pay site can we
help with some donations?

A) The cost of running the site is primarily my time. The minimal ad revenue the site pulls in is spent on cigars for staff reviews, and ISP hosting fees. In my opinion, if I can automate the functions of the site, donations would not be needed.


Q) The cigars that are used for the staff reviews do you buy
them or do you have contacts that "donate" a few? If so, maybe the
LLG's could donate some smokes to try. I know that I read about
many that other LLG's have that I have not tried.

A) We have had both cases where they are donated, and we buy them. I would say 75% of the time I buy them.

Q)How much time does it take to mantain the site?

A)When running at full update schedule, with current minimal level of automation, I would say it takes 15-20 hours per week. Of course that includes answering the 25 - 50 emails we get a day as well.

Q) Can some parts be delegated to a willing helper?

A) I have thought of that as well. Of the four features you mention as your favorites, my time concerns only surround two. Gorilla Gallery is very easy to maintian, and takes minimal time. Cigar Interviews has been assisted greatly by Rob Shibata, and therefore again, wasn't a big time consumer.

We currently have over 10,000 reviews left by willing readers of T25C. Analyzing and organizing this data has been the biggest "time suck". Since I am more of a "cigar-guy" than database guy, this one has killed me. Hopefully the new application I am having developed will correct this.

The next step will be Staff Reviews. Consolidating and writing 4 reviews a month is time consuming, but not beyond repair. My plan is to first fix the database of reviews (after all this is what T25C is all about), and if that goes well, work on the rest.

Note: As far as voting for which site would remain, CS was designed with minimal effort on my part required. I have no plans in shutting it down.

Hope this helps! Thanks for the interest.

paul

[rkt]

Thanks for the quick response!

Let us know if we can help. I'm sure someone out
here has some time or some resources to apply.

Since CS is staying, if I had to pick one section
I enjoy most is Staff Reviews. It seems to be the
real LLG rating system.