New site looking for feedback

[OpenOutsource]

Hi,

We are in the process of putting a site together and would be grateful for any feedback . The site as its name, OpenOutsource is concerned with open source and outsourcing and if you are interested has news in both those areas updated daily and a list of service provider auctions etc..

We are looking to see if anyone is interested in any of the subjects detailed on the site and trying to get some momentum, or at least someone to post a question, idea or criticism in the forums. Certainly to try and find any like-minded people who would be interested in the developments on the site and would join in.

If you do take time out to take a look at the site, please do register (it is free). At the moment the consists of a few friends and ex-colleagues etc. and currently is a little lonely .

The first impression of the site ie. the design I am aware of; I know the look and feel hasn't settled down yet, but we would welcome any comment on it.

In summary, it goes to show how some techies will spend their time after a redundancy with a vision and no really clear business idea

TIA - For your time, hope to see you there...

Shawn

[thunderlizard]

Has a nice, friendly feel, I can imagine myself coming back to it now and again (I do occasionally put out small projects on sites like these). The picture of the couple adds some welcome human interest, but looks a touch sulky. Come to mention it, the bloke (=you?) reminiscent of the great Tony Hadley off of Spandau Ballet.

The main impression I got was that yoking together 'open source' and 'outsource' made it look rather more a personal interest than a professional site. I can't really see why the two go hand in hand, other than their assonance (maybe a page on Brown Sauce too) I reckon it's more likely to attract small businesses than the big guns, but that's probably what you're angling for anyway.

Best of luck with it.

[EddieC]

Well there's something wrong with the style sheet used for the "Latest News" urls as in IE6 the font changes when you hover and it makes it look all wobbly.

[OpenOutsource]

Thanks for the feedback,

EddieC;
I have fixed the wobbly text - you shouldn't see it now.

Thunderlizard;
Thank you for your friendly feedback. I agree the photo maybe needs a brighter feeling - my wife Gülenay (pictured) is working on this now. The Tony Hadley thing comes up now and again - comes from my favourite time in music history - but I must say I really didn't like the band.

As things get a little more serious on the site I will move the 'personal interest' stuff to behind the scenes where I will continue developing it. The one part of it is the idea of the Open Company, which I believe in wholeheartily but need to find time to develope it more and make it at least readable. This is the connection I see between Open Source and Outsourcing, it wasn't just assonance. Didn't understand the brown sauce bit though . I envisioned a plate of Open Sauce and Outsaucing?

And you are right about the small business bias, it is where I want to put together the services and information necessary to help them. Small businesses are much more interesting and challenging...

Thanks for your time

Shawn

[OpenOutsource]

As a further note we have something that may be of interest to contractors out there. We have a list of currently 167 online service auctions and I will be adding some more later today. If anyone knows of any others not listed then please let me know.

There is a section for reviewing online service auctions - I would be interested in any feedback on this. It's a little quiet now but I intend to keep going until it provides a useful set of information for anyone considering them.

I would be interested in knowing what kind of information you would like to see in the online service auction list and review.

TIA Shawn

[OpenOutsource]

Service Auction Questionnaire

I am hoping that some of you will be interested in this. We are planning to go round the service auctions (235 on our list currently) that we know of after putting together a common set of questions for them to answer. Would you like to join in? Do you have any suggestions for what questions you would like to see answered?

If you are interested or want to take part then follow the 'Site News' link on the homepage - 'Join in with the Service Auction Questionnaire!' or go straight to the topic Service Auction Questionnaire on the forums.

I would certainly be interested in the responses we get back and how they compare with each other.

[chillinlong]

Re: Service Auction Questionnaire

Are there UK projects options aswell on this site?

Regards
Chillinlong

[OpenOutsource]

Re: Service Auction Questionnaire

If you mean are there UK Service auctions in there - yes, there are sites like technical outsourcing, freelancers dot net, project posting etc..

If you mean are there questions related to only UK service auctions - maybe, if members think that certain questions apply only to geographical area or even industry then let us know.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree