Subject: FUTURE OF CCL

From: Jan Labanowski <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 05:05:01 -0500

Dear CCL Subscribers,

So this is another piece on the future of CCL from my perspective.
The future will be a constant feature on the list, and I will be
bugging you about once a week or so... Sorry... But I have to do it...
But please refrain from discussing list support efforts on the CCL
itself. It would add to the noise, and it is more than enough that I have
to do it. Send your comments to me directly.

All past messages on this topic are archived under
   http://www.ccl.net/ccl/future.html
   gopher://www.ccl.net:73/11/future
   ftp://www.ccl.net/pub/chemistry/future
and you can also get them via e-mail by sending a message:
   select chemistry
   cd future
   get *
   quit
to [email-masked]

So You and me can always check the progress of this thing and learn from it.
If you did not have a chance to read the previous stuff, please do...
In short, I got some NSF money for developing the list and moving it
into some self-funding model. Otherwise, I would have to close it.

First of all let me thank the  many people who replied to my previous
message. I got a lot of encouragement, some criticism (actually I did not
get any substantial criticism, just advice and warnings on policies),
and a lot of advice. I got a lot of messages, and please be patient. I will
answer them all, unless they do not call for my comments, but some of them
(e.g., offers of collaboration) require more thought than others, and some
others, which offer advice require analysis, i.e., time. And if you notice
the time stamp on this message, you will concur that I am trying hard to
get on top of things.

A short progress report. I am hiring a person to help me mostly with the
Web site organization and software support. I hope to have another opening
if you help (yes... I will stick my hand in a moment...). I hope this
person will start working by the end of November. So you will see soon
some improvement.

Many of you are worried about me wanting to commercialize the list fast.
Let me make this clear. The FREE list as it is now, will stay as a part
of Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) for as long as I have the grant
from NSF (i.e., likely up to 3 years). Even if I was a greedy individual who
wants to make big bucks on Internet fast (popular fad nowadays), I cannot
do it, since I am working at OSC and OSU. While I will be trying things
within constraints which are placed upon me, the list is FREE. It may also
stay FREE much longer than the NSF grant. But I do not have a crystal ball,
and to ensure list existence and possible growth (and extension), I have to
provide the list with a path of growth, safety net, ensured future funding,
and institutional stability. While you may be bored already, read on,
since we can all learn from this experience, and many of us see that
traditional academia is changing not necessarily according to our wishes
or opinions.  Some of you, as I can see from your reactions, may have
similar questions, or may have them in the future. If at the latter
time, I will have list run as (or also as) a for-profit organization
I treat it as means, not ends. It simply may be more convenient from
the operational point of view. I am old enough to know that this endeavor
will not bring big income. My only worry is to keep it alive since
I believe that it is a useful thing. If I just pass it to one of the
Web malls in exchange for publicity, it will be there only as long as
the mall exists, or as long, as it brings money directly or indirectly.
On the other hand, I created the list with your help, and I really care,
though some of you may think, I am playing a marketing spiel. While I cannot
praise enough the organizational protection and infrastructure of OSC/OSU,
I can count on it as long as they support the CCL, not as long I as live...

Let me explain in more detail the CCL environment. OSC is a supercomputer
center supported by the State of Ohio (we are a line in Ohio budget) and 
also from other sources and foundations. OSC's primary goal is to serve
Ohio academia, but we also are chartered to foster other computer and
communication related initiatives within the state. We also have an active 
research and development program, and are involved in many outreach
initiatives within Ohio and beyond (e.g., we have an important involvement
in the US DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program). We are also
visible on the national arena, and you can find more about it from our OSC
Web page (http://www.ccl.net/), press coverage, and "rumors".

On the other hand, OSC is located on the Ohio State University (OSU)
campus, and uses OSU infrastructure, administration, and adheres to OSU
internal rules and regulations. At the same time, OSC is not an academic
department of OSU, and therefore, the employees of the OSC are not,
by definition faculty members, and do not have tenure (with one exception,
which does not have much to do with the OSC relation to OSU).
And do not worry that I will spend money recklessly. I have to go
through my OSC administration to spend every dime. And if they do not like
it, they will not spend it -- we are very careful here about the publicity,
and spending "taxpayer's money", since our existence depends on public support.

In summary, the CCL presence in OSC is just a GOOD WILL of OSC management.
And this may change if CCL is classified by my peers as burden, liability,
or simply an unrelated activity for the Center. And some people complain
about the resources taken by the list, so I have to fix this problem
if I want to enjoy the environment and cooperation of the OSC.

While it is not customary to talk dollar amounts on the list, I have to...
The NSF grant, provides me with a single support type position, and
a very limited budget for other things. I am very lucky that I got what I got,
but even my office space line was cut. OSC pays the off-campus overhead rate
and I have to pay for it from my grants -- this is however much better
deal compared to the regular overhead in academic departments. The fact of
GETTING SUPPORT FOR THE LIST FROM THE PRESTIGIOUS NSF IS PROBABLY MORE
IMPORTANT THAN THE PRECISE AMOUNT. At least this is how I understand it.
THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY, WHICH WOULD NOT HAPPEN IF THE LIST WAS
A NOISY AND LOW CONTENTS MEDIUM. But to really develop CCL resources into
the state-of-the-art environment which can be useful to all of you, I need
more assets than the grand provides. We all know this theme: "There is so
much one could do, but there is only 24hrs/day".

1) I really need AT LEAST 2 FULL TIME PEOPLE to work on the development of
   the resource and getting it to the point of STEADY STATE (when it can
   be managed more economically) of EXCELLENCE (when it is useful and
   attractive to subscribers, users, and supporters).
   a) computer expert with practical knowledge of hardware, software,
      networking, electronic publishing, etc. (I am currently in the
      process of getting such a person using my NSF budget, though I am
      leveraging my CCL vision against monetary reality, which cannot work
      forever... I hope that optimism is contiguous...).
   b) an experienced, versatile chemist, with a broad background in
      comp.chem, and related areas, who will be willing to develop
      the organization for the archives, implement it, and provide the
      highly automatized protocol for future upkeeping and extension.
   c) I may need some consulting in these disciplines of Comp.Chem., which
      I cannot provide from within OSC. CCL is an international forum, and
      it gives me a real possibility to ask people who are top specialists
      in some specific areas, but happen to live in countries with depressed
      economies (or are currently out of job in leading economies) to
      contribute summaries, overviews, and tutorials and other work which
      can be done via network. Of course, I will accept FREE help and
      contributions ALWAYS.

2) I need a lot of legal advice, and organizational advice...

3) I need to invest in hardware, software, secure bandwidth, and a stable
   office/work environment for the list.

4) I need student assistants to help with mechanical, and routine tasks.

Let us play the numbers then:
  Ad 1a) I will probably need to augment salary at some point, to be able to
    ensure stability of this position. 

  Ad 1b, 1c) With benefits and other overheads we are talking $60-70k at
    current levels. I may try to out-source this work to retired people, or
    less expensive geographic areas, but it involves some risks...

  Ad 2) This is expensive stuff... Ask a good corporate/foundation/trademark/
    copyright type lawyer how much he/she charges for an hour. My EDUCATED
    guess is at least $500, and I need many hours to make it through
    transition period, avoid legal traps, and ensure future institutional
    stability. I am VERY LUCKY to have excellent opportunity at OSC to work
    with Eclips (Electronic Commerce, Law, and Information Policy Strategies)
    -- check it out, http://www.ccl.net/Eclips -- you, or your organization
    may really want to work with this group -- they are Internationally
    acclaimed and extremely successful group, though do not take too much
    of their time since I need them too {;-)}). However, while their staff
    was very helpful with fast advice, to really get this going, I need
    to help them justify their substantial involvement.
 
  Ad 3). T1 line (and I need one to relieve OSC network traffic) is around
    $1,000 a month or more, depending on how far you are from Central Office,
    and how much competition CAP introduced in your area. You may have noticed
    that CCL competes on the Web/ftp Server with OSC contents. During busy
    hours it gets slow, and everybody knows it. It is bad for OSC and for
    CCL. I have to move primarily Web and ftp servers and searches out of
    OSC server. I also need communication hardware (router). I need a server
    machine to last some time. And I need gobs of fast disk space, backups,
    UPSs, scanner, etc.  And I need software (e.g., commercial strength
    Web server, new goodies for Web multimedia scripting/publishing, applets,
    VRML, libraries, etc., etc.).  To stay current, I have to spend
    substantial resources on this.

  Ad 4) Student help is less expensive, probably in the vicinity of
    $10,000/yr total.

I intentionally did not include figures for each item, since I do not want
to undercut my negotiating position (this message is public announcement),
but it may sum up EASILY to $200,000 a year. But of course, I will work
with what I have to the extent I can...

I cannot collect such money from the individual membership donations, though,
obviously, if ALL OF YOU chipped a $100 a year, I would be FINE.
But I am trying to be realistic. On the other hand, the list developed
its assets in the course of its over 5 year existence. The Computational
Chemistry is seen as the high growth area for the years to come, and
is advertised as the job for the 21st century. Moreover, I would not
even think about it, if I could not get a combined experience, help, and
support of the OSC, which developed a lot of understanding and good models
by providing services to many sectors of Ohio economy, education, and
government. Moreover, I have a substantial period of time, when I can use
the educational umbrella, and tax benefits of my organization and its
infrastructure. And it is much cheaper than if I would have to build all
this myself. 

I am now in the process of putting together a plan for seeking corporate
contributions. You will learn about it soon, but I have to do more
studies. While I have some idea on how much some companies pay for having
their logo and link to their site in the Web site run by the
academic/non-profit, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I added the odometers to some pages in CCL archives, so we all have
better idea about traffic. And beside, in a few months the Web pages will
be better organized and designed and at that time I may start working on
more publicity for this site. So, please help with suggestions. PLEASE...

So now is the reality check... Please contribute as individuals now...
I will of course remind you about the CCL Drive several times. Send the
checks with the amount you consider reasonable to me:

   Jan Labanowski
   Ohio Supercomputer Center
   1224 Kinnear Rd
   Columbus, OH 43212-1163

and make the checks payable to:

   OSC Development Fund (CCL)

(Not to me personally, since I will not be able to cash them!!!).
You will receive a THANK YOU letter, which you need to keep for your
records, since the contribution IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE and you should deduct
it on your income tax return (Yes, I checked this!!!).

I will create a special Web Page to thank all supporters (but if you want
to be anonymous, let me know VERY EXPLICITLY, and obviously, I will not
mention your name). I will be updating the Web page with amounts received
so we all know how we are doing. Of course, beside thank you, you will not
get any other favors from me, and your contribution is STRICTLY VOLUNTARY.

On the other hand, I will soon go after corporate support. I will appreciate
help from CCL subscribers working for the for profit corporations, and also
for suggestions whom I should contact and how (e.g., many hardware and
software vendors out-source their publicity efforts to advertising companies
and I need good contacts in this respect).

Thank you for your patience...

Yours,

Jan Labanowski
[email-masked]