daviddoran
New Member
A transition year student whacks up a site for his dad, and gets paid €10 for it
Well I never. I'm sure you weren't including me there
A transition year student whacks up a site for his dad, and gets paid €10 for it
As Alan said, don't pitch it as authority, but I think to succeed you must plan on becoming an authority;
but it requires clarity of definition
Would be nice but not often the case. Anyone can claim to be an authority on a subject and can be without the backing of their peers. They just better put forward a strong case Also I don't believe being an authority and being a representative necessarily mean the same thing.I think you need to have the backing of the most critical of your peers before you can claim to be an authority though, right?
I think his point is that IF the sight wanted to be an authority it would have to have backing or would simply be excluded from the community.
A good point. The problem is though - what constitutes a web professional? A transition year student whacks up a site for his dad, and gets paid €10 for it - is he then a web professional? Or would it be limited by qualifications? Or portfolios? Or company owners? ....
What qualifications ARE there, if any?
Good question. There aren't really any paper ones. I have a couple of diplomas but I wouldn't consider them worth anything.
Maybe there could be some kind of base-line, like for example three or four published websites? They would have to be commercial sites rather than personal projects.
Just an idea?
As a matter of interest, I can understand your crying foul at Spoiltchild, as they are a design house, but why Blacknight? I'm sure they couldn't give a toss about design [as a company, not as individuals] as they only host sites. If anything, they would be better qualified to judge [in some respects] as they know the business but have no vested interest. Unless of course they only like sites that they host
My point is that if you want peers to buy into an organisation that represents them, then I don't think it's fair to try and skim benefits for yourself and to declare yourself as some kind of superior authority (unless, literally, everyone in the industry thinks you are!) At the most, a figurehead(s) could be appointed but in no way could they be tied vociferously to their own company.
The bottom line is that, sadly there is no answer that I can see anyway..
One establishment that should have held the respect of the community at large is Eircom, but look at the total shambles they created. And do you remember Doras - the self appointed authority that wouldn't know a good website if it bit them?
TheMenace said:2) Guardianship - there needs to be a 'moral guardian' appointed. Someone who cannot really benefit as a vested interest... i.e. someone that doesn't work for or own a Web design agency, hosting company, somebody selling SEO services, etc. Rules would need to be drawn up regarding founding members/administrators in such an organisation taking advantage of it for personal/commercial gain.
Alternatively, you can run by committee; no real need for a single 'guardian'.
A good point. The problem is though - what constitutes a web professional? A transition year student whacks up a site for his dad, and gets paid €10 for it - is he then a web professional?