Major Site Changes

[Admin]

As many of you know, it is around this time every year that I have an in-depth look at the whole site, what it is providing, changes in technology and more as I commence the yearly upgrade of the site keeping it at the forefront of being the best recreational aviation resource for everyone.

 

Earlier this year I announced some huge changes coming however these changes are so big and so so costly, I have been mulling over how it can be done successfully. At first it was considered that it would need a team of 3, all being paid a full time wage, plus myself to bring it to fruition. I estimated the costs would be in the vicinity of $150k and I can hear you say WHOA, just for a website, that is stupid...however, I also calculated that the payback period, of which I won't go into, was acceptable and the site would still be free to all users.

 

Here are the brain dump sketches that I did early this year and forms the beginning of the changes and also drive the whole site as the biggest greatest recreational aviation resource available. Note, they are only initial brain dumps that I sketched out and since then a lot more thought has gone into it all including the code development, the technologies needed, the business processes, the usability and much more.

 

 

Work has already commenced on this concept however I am at major coding decision making time.

 

With over 10,000 registered users and over 2,500 unique visitors to the site every single day, Recreational Flying is poised to deliver something even more incredible to service the entire recreational flying community and industry.

 

If I went into further detail this post would be a book and I don't want to constrain your thoughts but I am very interested in hearing your comments...these would be of the utmost importance to me so please post here what you think, your ideas of improvements, your opinions etc so I can get a greater feeling on what I am creating or need to create that you will all find the most helpful...thanks.

 

Incidentally, I have disabled unregistered viewing of the Announcements forum thread content whilst this thread is running.

 

(Note: this idea, concept etc is the property of Recreational Flying)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Robbo]

Ouch

 

 

[Downunder]

Interesting "Expo" idea. Is this a new concept or in use online now?

 

 

[Admin]

Interesting "Expo" idea. Is this a new concept or in use online now?

I don't know...I haven't seen any other site using it and I am guessing is because to do it properly is very expensive including the Agent being pinged on their mobile phone or PC when a user lands on their stall

 

 

[DrZoos]

You will probably absolutely hate this comment....but I really don't think this will succeed or is warranted... I sincerely wish you the absolute best of luck, but in all honesty...to generate that revenue from a site like this is extremely and in my opinion overly ambitious...

 

Having said that all great people have done what others considered crazy, ambitious or uneconomical.....

 

If you were being bowled over with people by now saying wow, awesome , sign me up, i would pay for that, then i would think your on a winner... but the sound of crickets is generally a clear sign of potential disaster. With 2500 uniques per day if this warranted this investment you would ahve peopel jumping all over this by now telling you they love the idea.

 

 

[DrZoos]

 

At best its a mass market, but given they are generally in the 100's of thousands or millions of customers i doubt it...

 

So it likely fits in the Love job, labour or love / hobby category / love job category of markets...

 

I personally would never pursue anything like this other than a hobby / interest... which i have done and will continue to do... but investing $150,000 in this in my opinion would be possibly a catastrophic ROI.

 

In the above diagram all business should avoid investment in the bottom left and should only pursue niche and mass markets where clear demand and ROI can be established, tested and proven prior to investment

 

clearly you know your economics and may have chatted with customers...but if i didnt have signed up advertisers or similar that can significantly warrant that investment, i wouldn't touch it..

 

I have done paid web design for people in your shoes and in 90% of cases they never make break even...simply because they build the thing hoping people will come, rather than building it after people are bashing the doors down wanting it...

 

 

[rgmwa]

I'm having a hard time trying to understand what your concept is about Ian, but $150k sounds like an awful lot of money to spend. As your typical forumite my needs are really pretty simple and well catered for by the present site. As an analogy, in my job as an engineer I've always had very capable scientific calculators. They would have cost HP and TI millions to develop and came with thick and detailed instruction books that I've never had the time or need to read properly. Consequently most of that massive development cost has been wasted on me over the years, because on a day to day basis I probably use only 10% of what they are capable of. But the fact is, that's all I need. My concern is that you develop a super site at huge financial and personal cost, and then discover that the majority of users just keep on doing what they do now. I suspect most users of this site are probably the same as me. Maybe if I knew what the new site was capable of I might change my mind, but at the moment I don't see how it could be much better than it is already. On the other hand, maybe I'm just showing my ignorance. I was very happy with a Tandy TRS 80 when it was a state of the art computer, but even I wouldn't go back to one now.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[bexrbetter]

I seem to be as thick as bricks when stuff like this is explained to me, but for a change "I get it" - and I like it.

 

The "24hr Online Expo Building" manufacturer's directory angle is very clever and should work for both sides of the fence. It's almost like the step up from DOS to Windows.

 

 

[Downunder]

It could be the future of "retailing" but might be ahead of it's time.......

 

I don't see it particular linked to this site. It's much bigger that that.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

why don't you start of small like working out how to run a webinar or an AMA session or a live broadcast video. have a look at how facebook, twitter and reddit are working with large audiences

 

 

[Admin]

[Birdseye]

All for innovation, but I didn't get halfway through that Tradky video. Yuck.

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Ian, please remember the tried and tested KISS principle. What Tradky and you are proposing is all very clever but most of your members are down to earth guys, not super execs flying turbo prop tin cans. It's not for us.

 

I realize that running this site is costing you a lot but spending more in the way you're proposing, will not recover your current outlay, IMHO.

 

 

[Admin]

I appreciate all your sentiments...really I do...but I have intentionally not explained 90% of it all for strategic reasons but rather just wanted to brain dump to leave it as open for you as possible. Remember being visionary means seeing something that others can't and I don't mean that in any derogatory way at all to anyone.

 

Think of it not as enhancing this site to it but rather this site being just one of the components of it but with some redistribution of features. In fact this site, as depicted in the drawings, would probably go back to Australian specific and structurally duplicated for other regions...possibly...this is what I mean by leaving it open

 

 

[SDQDI]

I agree with Downunder Ian, the idea seems to me like a good one BUT I think if it is limited to flying gear in general then I hank it would be a waste, after all how many pilots are there really!?

 

I think if it was applied to goods across the board (not just aviation related) so that it had a retailer for everything then all of a sudden you pick up a mass audience which IMHO is what it would need to succeed.

 

I, along with most on the forums I would guess, am not really interested in too much else besides the forums but I think if it was done right you could certainly have a successful expo idea.

 

Ps if you turn into the next zukkerburg (spelling?) remember us lowly mortals:victory:

 

 

[DrZoos]

Ian the other thing is you can get this coded for a fraction of the price by indians on upwork and you have none of the overheads or labour relations issues of aussies... You will hire an indian with 100 times the ability of an aussie coder for about 1/4 the price and none of the ego or labour market issues. I hate recommending any foreigner over an aussie...but i would never hire an aussie for this type of job.

 

 

[Admin]

The tricky bits of the new menu system was done exactly that way

 

Although I ended having to do most of it as they couldn't grasp the concept, and then when they did it I still had to optimise it cutting the amount of code down by about a third

 

 

[Admin]

Update is that the test site has been created with most of the non expo coding done. I am now at the stage of evaluating different software solutions that will bring the expo component into reality.

 

To do this I have created a basic set of key requirements that the expo software application must address although there are many many more sub requirements and user interface mockups but I want to hear your suggestions on what you feel are any extra requirements that the application must meet. Here are the top key requirements:

 

Expo Requirements

 

Exhibitors in full control of the design of their booth including objects, colours, text, links etc. and their positioning in their booth

 

Exhibitor booths can have videos, interactive 3d product views, lists, links, images, banners etc.

 

Exhibitors can select one of many default booth layouts which can then be personalised

 

Video/Audio/Text interaction with exhibitor representative and user

 

Different types of exhibitor representative communicate now links such as Sales Representative, Support Representative etc.

 

Available exhibitor representative(s) are sent some form of instant notification when user clicks communicate now in booth to begin communication

 

Communication can use PC, tablet or mobile phone of any brand i.e. Apple, Android, Windows

 

Exhibitor representatives can set their availability in booth yes or no from any device i.e. PC, Tablet, Mobile Phone

 

User can select which exhibitor representative to communicate with when multiple exhibitor representatives are available in the same booth

 

User can see how busy exhibitor representatives are when choosing to communicate when more than 1 representative is available

 

Exhibitor representatives can have multiple communications occurring at the same time

 

Exhibitor representatives can pass brochure/document links to users whilst communicating

 

Exhibitor representatives can add/play YouTube videos to users whilst communicating

 

Exhibitor representatives can communicate to each other

 

Exhibitor representatives can request another representative to join in conversation with user

 

Booths can have forms for users to complete that are sent to the exhibitor

 

Exhibitor representatives can display messages on their booth e.g. Back in 5mins, set from their communication device

 

Exhibitor booths are 3d

 

Interactive floor plan view where user can click a floor plan booth and popup view of the booth

 

Expo aisle walk view where user can view booths on left and right sides of the aisles

 

Interactive auditorium for product presentations and conferences

 

Closed conferences where exhibitors can hold meetings with their representatives

 

Online sales store (optional)

 

Exhibitor booth analytics

 

User visit logs

 

Archive of communications

 

User visitor categorising

 

Representative notes on user visit

 

Technical Requirements

 

Completely useable on all sized devices by responsive design

 

Use Xenforo registration and login system

 

Integrate with Xenforo user base

 

Video/Audio/Text chat worldwide with minimal latency

 

Exhibitor can set booth permissions on representatives

 

Exhibitor can add/remove representatives

 

Integration with existing site including header, logo, colour scheme etc.

 

Own server hosting (preferred)

 

html and css template system for easy overall design and development

 

...if you can think of any more requirements, wish list stuff, would like for it to do, etc etc etc, then please post your list...thanks

 

This is all about keeping you in the loop on what is hopefully going to be an exciting aviation resource for you to have available 24/7