NCF President's 2006 Message
To: the members of the National Capital FreeNet
It is a great privilege to serve as
President of the National Capital FreeNet and on behalf of my colleagues on the
Board, I’d like to thank all of you for continuing to show your support through
your comments and suggestions, your direct participation as a volunteer, your
continuing donations and most Importantly, for your membership in this unique
online community.
Two of the greatest strengths of NCF
are its technical excellence and the energy of its diverse membership. Over the
last several years, we can boast about a service that has been not only robust
and feature-rich, but near “bullet-proof” when you consider the few times we’ve
had technical issues. We can thank our terrific staff and volunteers under the
leadership of John Selwyn, our Executive Director for this.
Having spent considerable time and
attention on reliability and usefulness of our service, in the last year, we
have turned our attention back to basics. Making sure that we
are providing useful, relevant access to technology for our members and
further, making sure that everyone who wants to can use the service.
Lots happened at NCF in 2005, but
I’d like to single out two different, but equally important changes in how we
operate, that in my opinion, act as beacons, pointing the way for our
continuing sustainability.
The first big change was our
beginning to offer high-speed DSL services. We wanted to make sure that the
services that we provide are relevant in the rapidly changing communications
environment that we find ourselves in. It is interesting to note that
Statistics Canada reported last year that Ottawa ranked first among 20 Canadian
cities for Internet use in the home –reporting that 78.9 percent of households
in Ottawa have at least one regular Internet user. I’ve often speculated about
the fact the Canadian cities with highest Internet use are the same cities
where community networks like NCF have been around the longest and continue to
thrive. In Ottawa today, more than 60% of Internet users are using some form of
high-speed service and we at FreeNet needed to pace, if not lead this trend. To
accomplish this, we began to provide a 3-meg DSL service in a manner that is
true to our “co-op like” mandate. We’ve made sure that the price is low, thus
ensuring that membership in NCF continues to be valuable. Beyond that, we’ve
made sure that the service is offered with a lot more flexibility for things
like bit-caps, sharing and help, to make sure that NCF clearly stands apart
from commercial services.
The other important arrival at NCF
in 2005 was a revamp of the way we ask you to contribute with the formation of
the Members-helping-members Assistance Fund and the NCF Improvements Fund.
We’ve always helped people get
online and to access up-to-date information and communication technology.
Sometimes that help was through instruction or simply showing the way and
sometimes it’s been through offering services that weren’t readily available. Sometimes
however, we’ve helped out when people have not otherwise had the means to
access this technology, but it wasn’t always clear who pays. The cost of NCF
services is covered by contributions from members. This includes the cost of
operating modems, telephone lines, email, spam filtering, office operation,
staff costs, and more. The NCF Members-helping-members Assistance Fund provides
NCF dial-up Internet access and services to members who would not otherwise be
able to have Internet at home. The NCF Improvements Fund helps keep NCF up to
date and running well.
The leadership shown by those of you
that chose to make a special donation when renewing your account since these
changes were made is a clear indication that NCF will continue as a viable
organization with services available to everyone.
However, we still have lots of room
to grow and to improve. We’re at about 9,000 members today, and balancing the
budget is still a task that stretches resources mighty thin. What we need is
more members and that’s where you come in. I know you enjoy being a member of
NCF and I know that you rely on the service as part of your life. I started
this note by referring to the energy of its diverse membership. You can help to make sure that this
continues. Please be an “NCF
evangelist.” Tell people about what we do and the benefits of being part of NCF
and encourage them to join.
Thank you.
Chris Cope,
President NCF
ccope@ncf.ca