The future of MacHamRadio – Update

Since my posting the other day, I’ve been flooded with offers to take over the website in the event that I am forced to shutdown. As the primary backup plans for the website have not come to fuition, this post is an attempt to let you know what would be involved in such an undertaking, if one were to take over the management of the site.

For starters, I own the web domain and that would have to be transferred. Assuming you know how to do that and you already use a domain registry service like Hover, GoDaddy, or others, it is an easy process. However, if you’ve never done that before, you should know that it can be a bit confusing and will likely cost you some money in transfer/registration fees; although, I would not charge for the domain name.

Next, in order to maintain the website in its current presentation and hosting configuration costs approximately $400/year; half of that for the web service (SquareSpace) and half of that for the forums (Muut). I am currently paying that entirely out of pocket in order to keep the site free of advertisement. The nice thing about the current setup with SquareSpace; however, is that everything is managed for security and up/down-time and the entire website is tightly integrated and easy to manage from desktop or mobile platforms. Right now, one post to the website and everything else (Twitter, Facebook, email list) happens “automagically” which is a big time saver.

Of course, the site could be moved to another service, or back to WordPress (I actually still have the archive of the WordPress site), where it could be created at little or no cost; and there is a free option on Muut as well as other free forum software packages. This may actually be the easiest way to tackle this as it would require only the transfer of the domain and backend services.

Besides the website there are the backend services such as Twitter, the Facebook page, Gmail addresses, and the mailing list. Transferring the Twitter feed and Facebook page are relatively easy, and the Gmail accounts are not much more difficult. I also have a collection of graphics, logos, and more that I can provide as well.

One thing I will NOT consider transferring is the MailChimp mailing list of subscribers. That list of individuals provided their email address with the trust that I would protect that information, and I won’t compromise their privacy. Anyone who takes over the site and wants to maintain a mailing list will have to reestablish the mailing service and mail list, either through MailChimp or some other service. However, I would be willing to send a “final email” to the entire list to inform them of how to go about subscribing to a new list, if one were to be created.

If you’re interested in taking on the MacHamRadio.com website, then send me an email via [email protected] and I’ll review and consider all of the applicants. Please include a brief synopsis of any similar work you’ve done in the past as well a sentence or two about what your plans would be for the site in the future. Ideally, you’d have some experience managing Facebook community pages, Twitter feeds, mass mailing lists, and more. I’ll review and will choose the best applicant. Yes, consider it like a job application in that I want to find the best person and best situation to take over the site. 

Finally, in my opinion, the only thing worse than shuttering MacHamRadio.com would be have it transferred and then languish in neglect on the web. I would much rather shut it down than have the site become nothing more than a haven for advertising, flash ads, and out-of-date information. Ideally, if someone want to take over the website, they would have the experience and know-how to take the site and continue or improve on what has been done before. The Mac Ham Radio community deserves to have a great website and I hope that the right person can be found to take the site and continue with the legacy that has come before.