Yay :) For future reference for you and others on the list, there are a few things that are useful to know when working out whether to respond to an emergency request like that:
1) Skill set required. You got that mostly (ie, PHP! :), but any particular frameworks/databases/operating systems being used are also useful knowledge - some are very complex and having direct experience with those can help. Also, high load environments (very busy sites in the million page views/day+) are good to note, they require some specialist knowledge. 2) Location. Again your phone number pretty much covered that but it's a fairly broad area. Specifics help increase the chances of getting the attention of someone very local, which can improve the level of communication and result in earlier resolution. 3) Severity. While all emergencies are by definition serious, the failure of a hospital radiology system is in a different class from a website selling widgets. In the event that your emergency is really serious, be clear on that. Some experts who would not normally respond to a website problem will shift existing work to assist in the face of something severe. 4) Budget indication. This is an indication of how serious the issue is to you. If you don't include a budget indication we assume you're looking for someone at close to standard rates. If you want fast turnaround from someone really experienced you should indicate you're paying well above the odds. This isn't because the expert people are greedy but because normally they're booked well in advance and it's not worth their while to move other clients unless you're paying emergency rates. Some experts simply have a one-off emergency response fee then charge normal rates from there. Anyway, I'm glad it worked out for you! :) Regards, Richard. On 30 March 2010 10:09, Anna <[email protected]> wrote: > We have had a great response and have found someone to fill the gap. > Thank you to everyone who contacted us. Anna. > > -- > NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug > To post, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to > [email protected] > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > nzphpug+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words > "REMOVE ME" as the subject. > -- NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to nzphpug+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
