EDITORIAL

  EcoEng Newsletter 3, December 2000

EcoEng-online: What will the future bring?

By Andreas Schoenborn, Editor, Switzerland
  When we started EcoEng-online in spring 1999, it was an experiment. Would it be possible to utilize the internet as a tool to help ecological engineers and create kind of a virtual community?

The child has grown - moderately but steadily - and is in good health. Let me give you a few numbers:

  • we now consistently have 1'000 or more visitors per month
  • a visitor stays for 12 minutes on average (which is a lot)
  • about 1300 visitors have come more than once (these are people interested in the field, but not part of the community)
  • 240 visitors have come 10 times or more (this is the size of the community)

I have edited three issues of the EcoEng-Newsletter in 2000. I am proud to say that the direct feedback I get from readers is very encouraging. Authors now start to contact me by themselves, which makes work much easier. There also are 14 volunteer correspondents worldwide which have been quite busy in 2000.

So, the experiment was successful. However, EcoEng-online could be doing even better:

  • A platform like this needs a discussion forum where people can share their opinions and needs with others.
  • There should be a sophisticated archive where people can search for and order publications, preferably with direct links to the publishers.
  • We would like to have online learning opportunities as part of EcoEng-online (a proposal has already been submitted)
  • We'd like to extend our mailing list and our reach considerably
  • We'd like to be able to fund our correspondents, which would also make it easier to get good articles.
  • And much more...

You can help us reach these goals!

In 2001, IEES wants to put EcoEng-online on a more solid basis, financially. We are looking for businesses who want to profit from the opportunities we offer and take part in our web platform.

We offer:

  • webspace for your company in the "Business Lounge" section
  • ad space (= banner space) in the top level pages of EcoEng-online (the newsletter will have no ads)

We want from you:

  • a financial committment to support EcoEng-online for 1 year

The costs:

  • depend on your needs and will be in the range of 500 to 2'000 US$ per year.
  • an arrangement that fits your needs as well as ours will be worked out together

Please contact me if you're interested.

Yours sincerely

Andreas Schoenborn
 
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© 2000, International Ecological Engineering Society, Wolhusen, Switzerland