PTG List Distribution, Internet listings

[John W. McKone]

>     Everyone,
>
>     I just got connected today, and read John Baird's message from April
>     15.
>
>     Young Chang is in the process of setting up our own Internet site for
>     a World Wide Web connection.  We are planning to use our own
>     connection to the Internet, and have product descriptions, dealer
>     lists, and things like that.  Phelps Group is doing the development on
>     it.
>
>     There is a chance that Young Chang could provide free access to the
>     WWW for the PTG. This is only preliminary - we haven't gotten all the
>     facts yet, but I am hopeful this will be the case.
>
>     Someone in PTG would have to maintain the E-mail and technician
>     listing, preferable someone in the home office. Phelps could do the
>     initial development (for a fee, of course), which should pretty well
>     guaranty that it would be done professionally.

It seems to me that we already have a pretty well developed page, so I
don't see any benifit to paying someone for further work in that area.

I'm also a little uncomfortable with a PTG page being sponsored by an
individual manufacturer.  I'm guessing that your URL has Young Chang
somewhere in there.  Even if it doesn't, there is reason to be concerned
about mantaining an unbiased image.



>     There is no question - the technicians should be listed by name, city,
>     zip, and telephone number. There's really no problem publishing a
>     phone number here - it's no more risky than being listed in the phone
>     book. And no one is going to want to write down numbers from all over
>     the country and make long distance phone calls - unless you publish an
>     800 number. Not such a good idea.

Yes, there is a question.  If you'll read some of the responses in the
thread on phone listings, you'll see that many of us are not comfortable
with having our phone numbers so widely distributed.  Many technicians use
the home phone as their business phones, and want to mantain there privacy.
I have a seperate office phone, but still want have some control over who
has access to it.  If they find me in cyberspace, they can contact me in
cyberspace.
>
>     It wouldn't be difficult to have a Home Page on the web set up to
>     search our little PTG database for names by city, zip code or area
>     code. It doesn't have to be just a list - there are lots of sites set
>     up with database searches. It just requires a little more setup
>     effort.
>
>     Who will be responsible for the E-mail is a bigger question. This
>     could turn into a real job, and we don't really want to allocate more
>     PTG funds for this.  Or do we??
>
>     At the least, we should be up front and aware that there will be both
>     benefits and costs in this project.
>
>     It should be done, though.  Judging from the access monthly on some
>     pretty lame home pages on the WWW, exposure will be a real benefit,
>     and a well prepared Home Page on the web will definitely be  good for
>     the PTG over time.
>
>     Don

Have you taken a look at the page that Ron has worked so hard on yet?  It
is far from lame, and with the contributions of others, it will only get
better.


John McKone