resource July-August 2009

Norm's Notes

barretr — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:00:13 -0700

We're growing.

Which is good and bad.

The mostly good news is that our business model is built around lower prices through mass production. Our 'website machine scales up', which means that the costs of programming, maintenance, updating & upgrading, hosting, etc can be shared between the 75+ websites that we provide. And this means that you get a much superior website, for a much lower cost.

For example, when we develop a feature, like 'Recaptcha' for one client, all clients benefit, because one programmer can upload and deploy the new feature across all 75 websites in “almost” the same time it would take for one website.

And it means that we can afford to provide a monthly newsletter to keep you up-to-date on new and existing features, to give you information about what other administrators are doing, and to ask your opinion on matters all and sundry.

On the other hand, there are growing pains. Such as figuring out how to organize a larger group of staff, dealing with staff and clients spread across five time zones, avoiding staff layers (so that you can continue to deal directly with a programmer, instead of a 'client services agent'). And lots more.

We're trying to maximize the benefits, and minimize the drawbacks of growth and change; keeping the core values that have made our company successful, at the same time as we take advantage of a larger operation with more revenue which we can use to improve the software and service.

Norm

P.S. We are beginning to organize our 'service lines' into:

Residential Reuse & Recycle Websites &/or Residential Materials Exchanges (combined or separate)
Commercial Materials Exchanges & Reuse/Recycle Websites (combined)
Biomass Exchanges (see www.biomasstrader.org)
Local Food (including Rescue Food) (see www.sharedharvest.net)

What's New on Your Service?

barretr — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:00:19 -0700

As of August 5th, we are operating on version 4.84.1. Over the last several months, we’ve made the following improvements and additions. You can also check “Release Notices” on your Communication Center at any time.

NEW on all exchanges

Upgrade: reCAPTCHA implemented

We recently added reCAPTCHA to the 'Contact Us' form (previously called the 'feedback' form on some exchanges) to address admin complaints about spam being sent through the exchange forms. reCAPTCHA stops spam sent by computer programs by making the sender prove that they're human by typing in the characters that they see (usually colorful images with distorted text). Note: Some spam is sent by actual humans, who can, of course, find a way around this type of control.

To read Release Notice:

For Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and eWaste exchanges click HERE.

For Food, Agriculture and Biomass exchanges click HERE.

Minor change for commercial type exchanges using the Company Module

Upgrade: You can now edit your own listings

To read Release Notice:

On commercial exchanges using the Company module (most industrial and all biomass exchanges) only primary or secondary contacts for a company, or an administrator could edit their own listings. In June we changed this so that ANY member can edit their own listings.

For Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and eWaste exchanges click HERE.

For Food, Agriculture and Biomass exchanges click HERE.

That's News to Me

barretr — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:59:22 -0700

Besides the changing listings on your material exchange, are you giving your website visitors any reason for a repeat visit?

Statistics show that ‘dynamic’ websites are visited much more frequently than static ones. Your website is designed to be dynamic with changes to guides, directories, news, etc. made through the Administration Panel provided.

The News section of your exchange can be used to send out information on new exchange features, instructions on how to use the exchange, highlight events in your community and much more. Don't forget to keep your information fresh and relevant by checking it from time to time.

For suggestions on the News and Info Section, see the article from Resource, July 2008 issue here: http://www.iwastenotsystems.com/exchange-news-inform-and-engage (Note: The name of the News and Info section is called Exchange News in this article and the section looks slightly different.).

And you can learn how to make News items permanent by downloading the tutorial here: http://www.iwastenotsystems.com/admin_guides/news.pdf

Please Stare!

barretr — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:58:22 -0700

Show-business people know the secret. Elvis swiveled his hips. Michael Jackson wore one white glove, and moon-walked. The intent was to make people look.

So what does your website homepage say? Does it invite people to stop and stare?

Here are a few ideas to make your homepage ‘stare-worthy’:

Get Listings. The more listings you have the more likely people will stop and take a look. If you are not displaying your listings people may think you don't have any and continue on there way. It's like looking in a store window and not seeing any products for sale—would you go in?
Put your listings right upfront. To do this, use the “Listing Browser’ setting. The ‘Listings Browser’ essentially moves the ‘Search’ pane into the center column of your exchange and adds a ‘Category’ browser, giving members a more powerful, intuitive and easy-to-use method for finding listings.
Put the News and Info section at the top of your homepage, with Listing Browser displaying next.
Research shows that people use two methods to navigate websites. One group automatically ‘searches’ while the other group likes to ‘navigate’. By setting your web page up as suggested--with the ability to either ‘search’ or ‘navigate’ you meet both groups’ needs.

Note: The ‘Listings Browser’ is displayed by default for newer exchanges (including most Industrial, Electronics, Biomass and Food Exchanges). Admins of older exchanges (mostly Residential) must adjust the home page layout if you wish to display this new feature.

See full article in Resource February 2009 issue here: http://www.iwastenotsystems.com/help-members-find-it-fast

To change your homepage layout:

Click on the Admin Panel
Click on 'Layout Options' (under 'Configure the Exchange')
Click on 'Homepage Control Panel' (at top under 'Homepage')
Set Section 1 to 'News and Info' and Section 2 'Listing Browser'
Sections 3 & 4 we suggest you set to 'No Content'

If you don't like our suggestion play around until you find a layout you like! But whatever you do, do your best to make them stop and stare. And if you do, they’ll keep coming back, and your website value goes up when they do.

In the Spotlight

barretr — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:57:22 -0700

Joanne M. Throwe, Associate Director of the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center

Administrator of six iWN exchanges, three in Maryland and three in Delaware.

How long have you been an exchange admin?

I have been running the exchanges for Maryland since March of 2008 for agtrader.org and the second one, foodtrader.org, started in August 2008. I added two more websites for Delaware in February of 2009.

What are the biggest challenges of running an exchange and how did you overcome them?

I would say that the biggest challenge so far has been to answer the various questions about the listings. The agriculture exchanges are quite new for farmers and consumers. They don’t really understand that it’s free and that they can list their events, farmers markets, new products, and advertise their farms. Also, there are many farms that don’t have internet access and will call in their listings. Luckily, we have some pretty amazing students working for us who handle these requests. Also, I love chatting with farmers who tell me all of the local news so it’s just an added bonus to the job.

Do you have any advice for new admins?

I would suggest that new administrators have plenty of patience in the first year. It’s all new to you and to the people who are using the website, so there is a big learning curve initially. After the first year, the site will typically run itself with just a minimal amount of attention. My advice for those just starting out is to make sure you always have a back up person to help answer questions as they come up. No website should rely on just one person in case that person goes on a vacation or can’t respond right away.

What is the most interesting listing you've had on one of your exchanges?

The most interesting listing would be emu eggs that went on sale right after the website opened. Who knew we could scramble up emu eggs for breakfast here in Maryland? They sold right away too. I have also had new ducklings listed on agtrader.org that sold in about a day. I was tempted to buy them myself for the pond near my house. I only hesitated because of the numerous foxes that live in the woods. I love to see the pictures of various things uploaded to the website.

Do you have a favorite quote?

I sure do. It has to be the lady who wrote me saying that thanks to me, she spreads her manure all around the state; only she didn’t use the word manure. I am being polite but you get the general idea.

Do you have any results you would like to share about any of your exchanges?

Thanks to foodtrader.org, we now have similar websites available in Delaware, New York, and Kentucky. I hope to see several more states open up this year. We are also happy to report that the Baltimore City school system is using foodtrader.org to buy fresh produce for their lunch programs. Results like that make these sites well worth the time and effort to administer them.

New Exchanges

barretr — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:56:22 -0700

We welcome our newest exchange partners to the growing iWasteNot Systems community!

Website: http://www.ecostarexchange.com
Type of Exchange: Industrial
Site Administrator: Dona Neely
Client: Devens (Massachusetts) Eco-Efficiency Cente

Website: http://www.massmaterialtrader.com
Type of Exchange: Industrial
Site Administrators: Brian Lavalle
Client: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP

Website: http://www.biomasstrader.org/pennsylvania
Type of Exchange: Biomass
Site Administrators: Nancy Crickman
Client: Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center, U. of Pennsylvania

Website: http://giffordslist.org
Type of Exchange: Non-profit/Commercial
Site Administrators: Lindsay McClung and Sheena E. Solomon
Client: The Gifford Foundation, Syracuse, New York

Website: http://www.resourcexchange.org
Type of Exchange: Industrial
Site Administrators: David Bordieri and Michelle Maher
Client: Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation

Tip of the Month

barretr — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:50:22 -0700

Tired of confirming weights?

We wanted to make sure residential admins didn't miss an important new feature we added in March:

You can now Automatically Confirm Weights of Successful Exchanges

An admin can now set the software to average and confirm these values that users enter, instead of manually confirming individual weights. Read the full article and download the tutorial in the February 2009 issue here: http://www.iwastenotsystems.com/category/category/resource-june-2009#New%20Features%20on%20Residential%20and%20Food%20Exchanges

Bits and Bytes Ideas

barretr — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:55:22 -0700

Repurpose is a documentary about people who take old electronics and turn them into something cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOTw_PkK_SU
How can I recycle this: http://www.recyclethis.co.uk/
How to make an iPod holder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09US5oB2luc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w9aPTXG0nc&feature=related