Doug, you may have to read all the e-mails on this thread, especially mine! I have no interest whatsoever in building "a list and companies that are interested can post contacts." Developing such open-ended software - with all the attendant verification and maintenance headaches - is a non-starter.
No, what I said I would do was to take the TP directories from large and reputable VANs, like Kleinschmidt, and consolidate the information into a public directory. Neither starting the list (after all, your VAN and the others would be providing the raw material), nor maintaining it (Kleinschmidt can send incremental updates on a daily or weekly basis) would be much of a problem. The data will be practically 100% complete and reliable that way. End users (of the VANs) would not update their trading partner information directly; this information would come only from the VANs. You can send your trading partner directory to me in XML; that's no problem, as I'm sure I can figure it out. Don't have any fear: your competitors will not be able to "troll the Novannet directory for targets to poach." Why would your customers mind having a central directory where their trading partners can easily find them? Heck, if they're paranoid, we can even have an opt-out feature whereby they can mask their telephone numbers. Wouldn't Kleinschmidt benefit by having its customers easily reachable (via Kleinschmidt, of course) by new trading partners? William J. Kammerer Novannet Columbus, OH 43221-3859 . USA +1 (614) 487-0320 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Anderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, 02 February, 2005 12:22 PM Subject: FW: [EDI-L] Re: <MISC> EDI Coordinator Trading Partner Contacts Steve Yes, I am here. I have been out of town, so I have not been following this thread. Without reading all the emails, I would suggest that our customers would not be too happy if we posted their name and phone number to a public list. If William would like to start a list and companies that are interested can post contacts, that is a start. However, the problem is not starting the list, but maintaining the list. And won't XML solve this problem? ;-) You can just send it and everything will be immediately understood by the receiver. Doug . Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Access the list online at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
