DCN INFORMATION PROVIDER COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES [These are draft notes until approved at a subsequent IPC meeting.] DATE: 10/01/97 TIME: 6:15 - 7:30 PM LOCATION: City of Davis Computer Lab, 600 A Street. ATTENDEES: John Batchelder, Jason Coffer, William Diemer, Anne Hance, Paul Healey, David Hungerford (proposing mini-project), Steve McMahon, Esther Polito, Paul Sherman (proposing sponsored project), Vicki Suter, Richard Yamagata NOTE TAKER: Paul Healey A 1. Approval of Agenda. The agenda was approved. B. Project Proposals 1. Sponsored Project, Professional Environmental Resource Page (PERP) -- Paul Sherman After a round of introductions, Paul Sherman summarized the proposed project, described more completely in his 9/17 e-mail to the committee. Three principal issues were raised by committee members: a. Support of the project through on-page advertising by environmental consultants, even if that support were of a "non-profit" kind, was seen as potentially conflicting with DCN's public-service goals, or at least [interpolation by note taker] its neutrality with respect to commercial interests. b. It was pointed out that the request for domain-name service would entail an initial cost to DCN of $200.00, and a continuing cost of $20.00/mo. c. There are currently many environmental sites on the web, easy to find with search engines. Attending the above points were several proposals for modification of the project: a. The project could be associated with Vicki Suter's pursuit of an EPA grant with similar community-based organization and education goals, Assistance with grant-writing could be an added function. b. Removal of the advertising component. c. The project could be done under the auspices of the Webteam (thus recruiting a new member), perhaps as a new area with its own editorship. In that case the work would be a DCN internal project rather than a sponsored project. d. It was also mentioned in passing that Mark Weiss of the PBS POV program was issuing environmental education grants. Given that the committee felt the proposal to have potential through one or more of the alternatives suggested, Paul agreed to bring a modified proposal to the November 4 meeting. Approval of the previous meeting minutes was inserted at this point and accomplished. 2. Mini-project, Davis Youth Soccer League Website and Mailing List -- David Hungerford. David Hungerford explained that the DYSL is a more training- and competition-oriented organization than AYSO. It receives support from local businesses, who advertise in tournament brochures. Summarizing from Davis's written proposal and presentation, the project (website and mailing list) would facilitate a. Game scheduling and other communications among players and parents. b. Dissemination of tournament information. Part of the purpose would be to "boost" Davis as a tournament location by providing hotel lists, maps and tourist information. c. The audience would consist of about 340 players and their families (together with the out-of-town attention to Davis as a tournament location). The general reaction of the committee was that the project would appeal to a rather specialized user base, and that it had, as did the previous proposal, some commercial aspects of concern. Perhaps as a way of expressing that concern, it was asked why the project could not pay for it's own account. The answer was that it could, and subsequent discussion revealed that what the proposer was really after was technical guidance on web page construction, available software, etc. The mini-project was approved, scaled down to Webteam assistance, essentially. There was discussion among the committee about how often assistance of this type should be given to projects which don't really satisfy DCN's larger goals. No conclusion reached -- just the usual differences between the kindly and the hard-hearted. 3. Internal (Framework) Project, Neighborhood Association List Server -- Steve McMahon. Steve proposed generalizing the Neighborhood Group mini-project (neighborhood listserv) idea into a free service to be offered to community neighborhood associations. The demand on DCN resources would be small if a cap on the number of such lists is imposed. One condition for use of such a list would be acknowledgement of DCN as the sponsor. Some questions were raised respect to determining who is a "valid" neighborhood group, giving control of list membership to individuals (subscription) rather than the association, and possible political entanglements. Steve and the committee as a whole agreed to further discussion and possible refinement of the proposal. The remaining agenda items were tabled for lack of time.