> Hi James, > > I think you'd get more support when you put it that way. > > You should put something like that on top of whynzline.com website > instead of what's there now. What's there now in bold doesn't tell me > that. You know how people only have few seconds to get impression from > a website. At the most now, it would shock people that 2M is spent on > a website, but not much deeper than that. > > Highlight that the government is essentially competing with existing > local business using tax payer money. I think more people could relate > to this better. > > And I think this way it could/would grow further into more discussion > in general about the real issue: What is the boundary for our > government when doing these sort of things.
And at worst, it makes people think it's about Event Finder ... On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 1:25 PM, Sid Bachtiar <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi James, > > I think you'd get more support when you put it that way. > > You should put something like that on top of whynzline.com website > instead of what's there now. What's there now in bold doesn't tell me > that. You know how people only have few seconds to get impression from > a website. At the most now, it would shock people that 2M is spent on > a website, but not much deeper than that. > > Highlight that the government is essentially competing with existing > local business using tax payer money. I think more people could relate > to this better. > > And I think this way it could/would grow further into more discussion > in general about the real issue: What is the boundary for our > government when doing these sort of things. > > Just another 2c worth > > On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 12:59 PM, James McGlinn > <[email protected]> wrote: >> Hi Mark, >> >> Thanks for taking the time to post your (clearly well thought out) >> response. >> >> Just as one example of where NZLive are over-stretching their mandate >> (directly from the Ministry itself as opposed to external contractors) >> their RFP states: >> >> “We would like to investigate the option to allow organisations to add >> events that do not display on NZLive but that can feed their own >> websites. This would allow NZLive to develop into a master national >> events database.” >> >> How this fits with their mandate to provide a "cultural portal" or >> support arts and culture is beyond me. Surely all cultural events >> would be listed on NZLive? Or is this simply to compete with >> Eventfinder? >> >> >> Kind regards, >> James McGlinn >> __________________________________ >> CTO >> Eventfinder Limited >> Suite 106, Heards Building >> 2 Ruskin Street, Parnell, Auckland 1052 >> Phone: +649 365 2342 >> Mobile: +6421 633 234 >> >> [email protected] | www.eventfinder.co.nz >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On 29/04/2009, at 12:11 PM, Mark Rickerby wrote: >> >>> >>> I don't think the idea of a cultural portal is a bad one, but I have >>> never felt NZLive was a good realization of this idea. However I >>> remain unconvinced with the arguments about wasting taxpayers money >>> because the vast majority of 'waste' goes directly into Wellington's >>> local economy anyway (it's easy to understand why others feel >>> differently), but I do agree in the case that the money has clearly >>> been squandered. I'm not sure how clear it is in this case, the only >>> empirical evidence seems to be the graph of traffic stats. >>> >>> What nobody has raised is that this outcome is might be due in no >>> small part to the private sector contractors who made the site lacking >>> the complete vision (or perhaps the $$ they were demanding) to produce >>> something that lived up to the concept and promise of a cultural >>> portal, and instead has become a basic events guide site. >>> >>> Most of the issues being expressed about what NZLive should or should >>> not be doing are not just a case of government management >>> (mismanagement if you insist), but are emergent from the relationship >>> between the government and private sector. To a large extent, >>> government departments rely on the good judgment of their business and >>> design partners to guide them. >>> >>> When agencies enter into these relationships, there is not necessarily >>> a clear pathway from the high level rhetoric of ministers, to the >>> actual administration of funding and management of projects. That's >>> just a simple fact of any hierarchical organization. >>> >>> A lot of people arguing about this kind of spending don't realize how >>> much of our educational and cultural fabric is derived from this >>> funding, and how impoverished we would be without the various things >>> that are being funded. Spending money is not synonymous with wastage, >>> each case has to be assessed in context. >>> >>> I would be hesitant to publicly lambast government and MCH, without >>> first knowing the details of these relationships and the lines of >>> responsibility. Promoting arts and culture is a part of MCH's mandate, >>> and whether or not NZLive achieves this, it is designed to achieve >>> this, which is enough to justify its existence from a funding >>> perspective. Looking at the documents it's clear that this project was >>> initiated long before EventFinder launched, so at the point of its >>> initiation, there would have been no such service. >>> >>> The problem I have trying to process some of the arguments here, is >>> that apart from the graph of traffic, I don't see what the evidence is >>> that the website has failed to meet its objectives. Overpriced, yes. >>> Failure, unclear. >>> >>> For what it's worth, I would rather see the NZLive money spent on arts >>> funding directly. >>> >>> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ >>> NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug >>> To post, send email to [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe, send email to >>> [email protected] >>> -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> > > > > -- > Blue Horn Ltd - System Development > http://bluehorn.co.nz > -- Blue Horn Ltd - System Development http://bluehorn.co.nz --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
