AIS: AIS Online

In a message dated 4/21/2000 3:11:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
ChateauWhitehall@aol.com writes:

<< 
 I guess with time we will hear more details about all that new online 
 searchable stuff. My first thought when I heard ten bucks was to recall the 
 price of a first-run movie, so comparitively the ten sounded like such a 
 pittance.
  >>
Good morning!

First of all, my apologies for not being able to keep up with correspondence 
from Dallas.  Besides for the quality of the phone lines, there was the 
problem of time.  I was personally occupied from early in the morning (6 am 
or so) until late at night (11 pm or worse... of course some of that was 
purely social).  So I was just not able to do the blow-by-blow that I have in 
the past.

BUT.... I did keep notes on everything and will be inflicting them over the 
next few days.

For now I'd just like to touch in on the AIS Registrations and/or 
Checklist/searchable database.  As everyone has said, this sparked lots of 
healthy debate - especially about who should have access and whether there 
should be a fee.  Several things were taken into accocunt:

1.  Membership benefit
2.  Perceived value
3.  The mission of AIS as an educational organization

and so on.  Right now, in its debut, there is no charge while John I and 
other Grand Geeks tweak it into the most user-friendly form.  But after that, 
we thought a modest fee would be appropriate.  

Although there are costs associated, that is really not the reason for the 
fee - we took into consideration the printed R & I's and any impact the 
on-line version might have, the need to have registered users and so on.  We 
did not want the fee to be beyond the reach of anyone with a computer, but we 
did think we needed to have something in place.

I personally think that these newest additions to AIS membership are 
incredibly progressive and the possibilities leave me practically twitching.  
Someone mentioned being able to research the geneology of an iris (in order 
to better plan crosses), someone else mentioned having photos associated with 
the registration (maybe better with the index....).  Anyway.... as the saying 
goes, the project is not only out of the closet - it's in the living room 
with its feet on the coffee table.

I now have to try to come back to earth.... pray that my luggage will come 
home today from wherever it lives and pray that all my notes, that are IN 
said luggage, will enable me to offer a 'virtual convention'.  I also need to 
continue to stick pins in my USAir doll - that cancelled plane after plane 
and then, when Peter and I found another way to get home - via Rochester, NY 
- they left us with a food voucher that they said was a transportation 
voucher.... and so on and so forth.

Kathyguest in East Aurora, NY


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