[OHPV-list] Blogs vs mail lists vs websites

[Nick Corrado]

I've used and moderated a number of collaborative sites -- Topica,  
Yahoo! MSN Groups and a number that died in the dot.gone bust.  I've  
been moderator for our family's website for over 6 years now through  
www.MyFamily.com.  There are about 20 regular users and its not  
uncommon for 8-10 logins per day, though the site could handle many,  
many more.  The site handles everything I've seen OHPVers wish for in  
the previous posts on this topic:  Threaded topics, photos with open  
annotation, web and printable calendar, accepts uploads of all file  
types including audio and video, very intuitive interface, invitation  
only membership for privacy, member profiles for those who want to  
create them, instant message/chat feature, instant notification of  
posts or daily digests via email and lots more.

As Chris observed in his post to his blog, collaborative sites like  
these only work if they reach a critical mass of users.  The OHPV- 
list works well in spite of its limitations because its got an  
installed base of users.  I'm confident if we had a core group  
committed to trying out a MyFamily group site for a month, we'd find  
it can do everything the OHPV-list does and a whole lot more.  This  
is a subscription service, but very inexpensive.  The standard site  
is $30 per year for an unlimited number of members.  I'd be willing  
to launch this thing if I can get 15 people from the OHPV list to try  
it for 30 days.  If after the 30 day free trial period, if it looks  
like an idea with staying power, I'll remain on as administrator and  
pay for the first year's subscription to a standard account.

Here's their description from their sign-up page:

http://www.myfamily.com/isapi.dll?c=home&htx=Activities

Unfortunately, they don't have a site tour that showcases the site's  
features.  I'd be willing to present a demo at the February 21st  
meeting if there's interest in pursuing this further.  Comments?
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