As Robin Boast reminded us, from July, Ning will no longer be offereing a free service. They have now released their new pricing structure and while not onerous, it coincides with a change in the way in which Lynda and I administer Museum 3.0.
Until now, this brilliant network has grown organically and we have been able to devote substantial time to it as it formed part of our experimentations throughout the research project we have been collaborating on. From the end of 2010, neither of us will have the same time available to us to continue maintaining the network at the level which has made it so effective.
Therefore, we're looking to evolve the network to do a number of new things:
redesign the site to make navigation easier
develop podcasts for ITunes which explore the issues we discuss here on the network
develop new webinar series in lieu of the in-situ conference series 'Transformations in Cultural and Scientific Communication'.
In order to do this, we may need to move to a tiered fee structure so that we can employ some people to develop the site and add new and specific features.
We're thinking of something that looks like this
free membership
contribute to blog and forum posts
upload photos
basic - $45 per annum
contribute to blog and forum posts
upload photos, videos, audio
establish and contribute to chat, events, groups
install ning apps
premium - $85 per annum
contribute to blog and forum posts
establish and contribute to chat, events, groups
install ning apps
closed works groups, moderated membership
special membership events
discounts to webinars, seminars etc.
We have till the beginning of July to make a decision. We really need your input on this one! Please do let us know what do you think?