From: "Jess McMullin" <jess@cognissa.com>
To: "John Rhodes" <john@webword.com>
Subject: webword future & past
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 21:02:36 -0600


Hi John,

Just a quick note from a long-time fan...unsolicited advice and a bit of a
rant, but bear with it. I've been reading webword for over two years. I
remember when it was just something you did on your own, because you were
stoked about usability. You were doing the webmaster gig to pay the rent,
and getting to chat with Nielsen, Spool, and Norman because you had a good
resource and a wide enough following to merit their time.

So it bothers me to see something like this "One last thing: If you are
freeloading here, that's fine". John, I'm not sure you give your audience
the credit due. If it wasn't for that audience, would any gurus have said
yes to an interview? Not as many, for sure. If it wasn't for that audience,
would webword come up on lists of "favorite usability websites". No. Webword
the consultancy grew out of webword the weblog, and the weblog is based on
so called "freeloaders"

Now I hear what you're saying - webword.com is a big drain on your time, and
you don't make any money directly from it. And after a few years, it's
probably not so exciting anymore. You have cool new ideas you'd like to
execute on (careful if they're Ghost related - MS will eat your lunch).
Maybe it's time to shut it down, if it's stopping some really cool things.
Maybe it's time to turn it over to someone else you trust. Or change the
model to distribute the load over the community, like slashdot. Or maybe you
need to scale it back, just do a weekly thing...but please don't dismiss the
people who come here every day. They may not give you money, but they create
your credibility in a way that past clients can't.

Hope you find yourself comfortable with your upcoming decisions. All the
best on your cool new ideas. (I'd say do some serious due diligence, but
then go for it if all looks good)

cheers,

Jess
-------------------------
Jess McMullin
Usability Analyst
Cognissa
jess@cognissa.com
www.cognissa.com
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