Dear Mike:
I've tried to contact you directly and was glad to see that you started the posting here. We all appreciate the fact that, as a final act, AVA and you set up this Web site and discussion forum. But for everyone's sake, would you please clarify the following:
1. Under whose name was this site created? Who registered the domain name of vmweb.com? Who "owns" it and who can make changes to it? Who can take it down?
2. What is the relationship with bravenet (none, a contract, etc.)? If a future steering committee wanted to change hosts, is this possible -- without losing the name VMweb?
2. If someone wanted to volunteer to help in running this site (posting material, moderating the discussion, etc.), whom do they contact and how?
3. Is this a listserv as well as a discussion board? (Meaning, can people receive postings to their individual mailboxes or do they have to come to this site to read posts?) If so, can it be set to digest?
The answers to these questions will help any volunteers who step up to take further action on a possible new professional association.
Thanks.
Susan
Susan:
Please understand that there is a great deal to do this week. While I endeavor to respond to everyone’s needs in a timely manner it has been difficult the past few days.
First, it is important to clarify one thing, this site was mot created, facilitated, or paid for by AVA. It has no association other than being related to the same field. This is intended to be a free resource to volunteer managers regardless of their history with AVA.
I am thankful to see your interest in vmweb.org and hopefully I can clarify some of your questions here.
1. This name was created under my name, Michael Lastfogel. As a soon to be former staff member of AVA I wanted to give back what I could to the volunteer management community. This is what I am good at so this is my contribution.
this is important, I personally paid for everything required to get this going. I used funds on my personal credit card and invested my personal time in its creation. Some private parties have felt led to contribute funds to see the success of the site, all of which will be reinvested in services and hosting. This site is owned by the volunteer management community, period. I am acting as a point of contact and using my technical skills to facilitate delivery of user’s contributions.
2. I do not see how your second question is relevant but since this is an open community I will gladly answer it for you. Bravehost is the web host for vmweb.org. They provide solid dynamic resources that enabled me to create this site from a hands off approach. Since this is a volunteer activity for me I needed to make sure it could sustain itself with the least amount of personal time invested. I found bravehost to be affordable and capable of meeting those needs. A domain name is not tied to a host. If you wanted to change hosts you simply change a few settings and you can take it with you. I would not recommend changing hosts for vmweb.org although if someone presented reasons that would benefit the profession, we could work on it.
3. I anticipate publicizing some opportunities for volunteers to help soon. This will include editing news, a possible newsletter, and other content related tasks. Again, this is designed to be a community driven site. You, the user, can post your own messages, classified ads, calendar items etc. This is an open forum and will not be moderated beyond the code of conduct. Report violations to abuse@vmweb.org.
3. This is not a mailing list. When you create a thread or reply you may specify to be emailed when individuals respond to your message. You may download a vmweb toolbar that offers one click access to the forum and other often used vmweb resources. View the toolbar here.
I hope I have been able to answer your questions. This site will post news related to the volunteer management community which may include, but not be limited to forming a new association. This site is not the start of a new association nor will it become an association.
All the best,
Michael
Thank you for responding to my questions, Michael. I was not being accusative or negative -- just attempting to be totally transparent. Thank you, too, both for your time and your cash investment.
I am still not clear who can make any changes or additions to the site beyond the non-moderated discussion board. For example, who can make the front page more informative? Are you going to continue that work and, if so, how does anyone reach you off-list?
My questions about Bravenet and the domain name were not simply curiousity. Is "vmweb" also registered to you personally? If we are going to publicize the site widely (which I hope everyone will), this is important. And, although you correctly tell everyone this site is not meant to be the start of a new organization, it is a lot of people's wish that the discussion here does lead to that -- and might even want to continue the name VMweb in some way. Would it be available to them?
In order for this site to "work," there do need to be more mutually-agreed upon guidelines. To that end, I will start a new thread.
Thank you again, Michael.
Susan
I think there needs to be something on the home page that says "about us" or "about this site", and a link that says this is an endeavor that has been put together entirely by an individual, who that individual is, that person's previous relationship with AVA, etc. This site looks like some sort of "official" inheriter to AVA, and I think it needs to be clarified that this is one person's individual effort, NOT the replacement for AVA.
Thank you, Susan, for your terrific questions. I need to start asking more myself.
Professional Credentials: MSc
There are always lots of questions when things start (and end)both big picture and small picture. My perspective is that some ambiguity is desirable at this point to allow the freedom of ideas and expression to emerge from as wide a field as possible. While the details of domain names, hosting, etc. are important, to me they hold less importance than getting the discussion going in the first place.
Thanks Mike for taking this on so selflessly and creating a forum for exchange and dialogue. Without your efforts, we would not even be having this discussion.
In rethinking a new professional association, my challenge would be to think out of the confines of history and consider the opportunities of broader, more engaged coalitions of associations and individuals. As a profession that contributes to building community, volunteer administrators could be modeling a new kind of organizational framework suggested in some of the "generative governance" work now appearing.
Thoughts?
Professional Credentials: CVA, MA, PhD Candidate
Until there is an obvious, prominant link on the home page to information about who runs this site, why it was started, what it's intentions are, etc. -- until there is absolute transparency -- I can't contribute. And I don't think it's fair to ask others to, given the lack of transparency with AVA and the continued lack of transparency over its demise. Please, no more "same old same old" -- if the standard isn't going to be changed, count me out. If this change happens, I'll be more than happy to reconsider participating here.
Professional Credentials: MSc
I am really quite discouraged by your comments Jane. I was not going to respond beyond my intial answers to Susan's questions since I am not a volunteer manager and therefore this is not my fourm. I have put a great deal of my personal time and energy into this project simply to give back to a group of noble professionals that I connected with over the past year.
You are being accusatory, suspicious, and outright negative. I am dissapointed that someone with your level of experience chooses not to contribute in this group. I certainly hope that as the site is completed you will find reasons to reconsider.
With regards to the demise of AVA, I can speak from experience when I say that AVA was as transparent as it possibly could be. It was a bad situation all the way around. For staff, board members, and especially members. I lost a job, some of my health, and a lot of sleep. I refused to let the membership and potential members lose everything too. So I made this. Plain and simple, no hidden strings and no man behind the curtain.
I feel that I was adequately transparent in answering Susan's questions and that I have gone beyond that with this post. If you are hoping to see something on the main page I encourage you and all other users to email me and I will work on it. If your intent is to bring a spirit of negativity to the board and discourage others from participating either directly or indirectly then please do it on your own site.
Please review the code of conduct where the purpose of the forum is stated. I ask that all posts support that purpose.
Some good issues here. We have encountered them with various clients at times. Here are some raised here:
There is no credibility in transparency on the internet. It is easily counterfeited. We have had rogue directors set up websites competing with their own organization. You have to take things at face value. What you see is what you get. You can't really trust anything else.
Domain names are available to anyone and they are cheap. People often don't realize that the .org or .com or whatever at the end of the name makes a difference. The people who register domain names do have some rules but they require someone with a legitimate claim to press the issue.
There are a lot of companies such as Yahoo or Google who make it easy for people to set up basic services rather easily. Most internet service providers also provide for small 'personal' websites. Needless to say, these web sites or services are completely at the whim of the company that provides them and their customers who manage them at the user level.
There are a lot of issues involved in properly managing a web site that many association directors do not know about and even resist learning about or even deny that exist. These involve basic information technology management concerns of software selection, installation, data backup, disaster recovery, user access and security, continuity, and compatibility.
We have had several cases where a web site for an association was set up by some well meaning volunteer. After a while, that volunteer finds other things to do or gets into an argument with someone else in the association and the association has to do something. Sometimes the volunteer will let go the domain registration peacefully otherwise a new one is needed. Sometimes data is bound up in some content management system or done with some proprietary web page software and is difficult to transfer.
Mike has got something started here. He is using both hosting services and software from bravenet to help him get something up and running and available. It is up to all of us to help define what it should be, how it should function, and what needs to be done to make it what we would like it to be.
The questions should not be on 'what is this' but rather 'what should this be and how we organize to maintain and continue it.'
Let's learn and use that learning to build for the future
Michael,
please, don't be discouraged 
Criticism does happen and it's the salt of most conversations, as long as it's a constructive one. You might want to consider to just add that "About me" page and let go of the rest 
Thank you for everything you did and everything you're doing!
Rosanna
I will work on having an "about" page up soon. Thanks for everyones patience while I continue to finish the site and modify it with your suggestions.
Provided I pass my exam tomorrow, I look forward to having more time to build this over the weekend. Send me smart thoughts around 11:30 EST tomorrow 
What will you be examined onto?
I'll keep my fingers crossed!
"You are being accusatory, suspicious, and outright negative."
If questions about who runs this site and his or her motivations regarding this site get these kinds of answers -- the same answers that people got when they asked questions of the AVA board, it must be noted -- then I see that nothing has changed. Asking questions here is a no-no -- just participate and trust and assume the best. I see where that got us re: AVA.
If demanding professionalism and transparency makes me "accusatory, suspicious, and outright negative", then so be it!
I frequently advise organizations on how to evaluate organizations in the developing world on whether or not they are credible. I have a set of criteria I use to help in establishing an organization's legitimacy. One of the things I warn is that, if an organization is reluctant to share basic information -- the names and profiles of the people associated with the organization, its mission, its activities, its location, etc. -- then the organization is probably not appropriate to support. And if the organization response with hostility to such basic questions, the best thing to do is to walk away.
So, I'm walking away.
Professional Credentials: MSc
Don't you get it this is not an AVA site!!!!
I am an outsider looking in and it appears to me that the host is only trying to keep AVA members connected to each other for continued sharing. He is investing his time and money on a volunteer basis. Is that not what volunteerism is all about. I believe if the national group I belong to were to fade, some one from our association would do the same to hold us together for the mentoring. We do alot of problem solving, etc via the web.
I do not understand the hostility among the group. Perhaps this is what caused the demise of your organization. Teamwork is what builds an excellent organization.
I really don't get the jest of the remarks from some of the members. There can be more than one website for volunteerism. Face it we all could use uplifting and mentoring, sharing, problem solving, etc., with others in the same field.
Sorry if I am out of place with this post, but felt compelled to respond to the issues being addressed here.
Professional Credentials: Certified Administrator of Volunteer Services
It truly saddens me to see anyone approach this site, or any other effort to bring some sort of cohesiveness to our profession, with such negativity.
I understand there are a wide range of concerns and negative feelings concerning the situation with AVA. That said, I encourage everyone to turn this negative into a positive. If AVA wasn't living up to its potential, let's use this forum to discuss what changes are needed to create an organization that provides better service to all managers of volunteers.
An "about us" would be a great addition to this site, as would making the calendar live. As someone who manages a website on a limited basis, however, I can appreciate the great deal of work that goes into what you are doing Mike. Thanks for taking this on and providing us all with the opportunity to share ideas!
Professional Credentials: Community Volunteer Liaison, United Way of the Greater Dayton Area
For gosh sakes, Michael, it has been several weeks since AVA announced its closure -- why is it taking you so long to create a website that will satisfy everyone's expectations???
Michael, I want to say THANK YOU for taking on the task of keeping those of us in the volunteer management field in the loop. The loss of AVA, its website, trainings, etc. creates a huge void that is not covered by the other volunteer organizations I belong to (POL/GOV-VPM, NAVPLG, MOVOL, PVMA).
Take heart that its only a few people, unfortunately some of those whose names stand out as leaders in the field, who are mercilessly putting you under a microscope. Reading their words, you appear judged guilty even before doing anything that might be construed as incorrect. I agree they seem accusatory. Perhaps they hold ill-will toward you as a former AVA employee? Their wording was unfair and could have been phrased a little nicer, perhaps offering suggestions on how to make it more successful. I would bet that they don't talk to their volunteers in the same manner. None of us would if we expect to be effective.
I would ask that all readers give Michael time to put the site together correctly. He mentioned is going to ask for help from others in the field and those same leaders should get on board to help him to get it right. In other words - OFFER YOUR EXPERT ADVICE.
An "about" page would be nice, but I don't feel I have been misled. Michael has been upfront about what his intentions are - all I had to do was go to his forum page and read all about it. Right now I'm much more concerned with hearing about what is happening in the field, as are the others in my local network with whom I've already shared the web address with. And with the response that the forum has been receiving (just look at those numbers!), I think he has shown that this website is needed and welcomed.
Thanks again, Michael. I promise I'll be patient.
Professional Credentials: Manager of Volunteer Services
