Is it a good idea to encourage ALL employees to trade in these markets? Should insiders and/or highly uninformed people be allowed to trade? Do they help or hurt the market?
It's good to make prediction markets optional, but provide encouragement. Some people do it for fun and entertainment, while others might be more interested in recognition and in some cases rewards. I think if employees were forced to trade in the markets they may become less accurate/reliable because interest would be lowered and time and energy put into the decision making would be less; trades would be careless, not thought through.
It's interesting the people running projects can make their own predictions about when a project will finish. However, from my experience, even if you are an insider (it's your project), you still don't know when you might hit a road block. Isn't that the problem? Plus for a corporate prediction market, isn't everyone kind of an insider for parts of the market (obviously some more than others).
So, yes, I think highly informed individuals (insiders) should be allowed to trade. They may have an advantage against other traders but I don't think it will skew the results needed from the prediction markets. "Collective intelligence" comes into play and the knowledge of the group is more accurate than that of the most intelligent person in that group.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Threadless
In what other industries or areas would Threadless’ community-driven product development model work well? And not so well?
T-shirts and apparel is a great place for this Threadless type of community. It is a place for artists to submit their work, community members to comment and score the work and most importantly T-shirts and apparel (onsies and hoodies) can be printed cheaply. I think the creative/artist aspect of the business model as well as the low cost product set it up for success. Other factors are of course the top management team really working for the community.
I could see this kind of product development working for actual art work too. I'd be surprised if it hadn't already been tried. The shipping for this kind of thing might be more expensive because of the shape of the art work. Tubes for posters, or if artwork was actually framed or matted it would also be more expensive than balling up a Tshirt for distribution. However, the cost of printing the work might be cheaper than printing on Tshirts. The CCO commented that a lot of different industries have tried to use this business model, but have started their sites, with revenue and profit in mind of course, which is why he thinks they have failed. Threadless started as a community-based site and then rolled into a money making venture. The founders are grounded and don't forget that their community drives their success.
As the Threadless team is contemplating rolling out into the retail sector they are still focused on thier success factor, thier community. What would the Threadless community think about Threadless going retail?
T-shirts and apparel is a great place for this Threadless type of community. It is a place for artists to submit their work, community members to comment and score the work and most importantly T-shirts and apparel (onsies and hoodies) can be printed cheaply. I think the creative/artist aspect of the business model as well as the low cost product set it up for success. Other factors are of course the top management team really working for the community.
I could see this kind of product development working for actual art work too. I'd be surprised if it hadn't already been tried. The shipping for this kind of thing might be more expensive because of the shape of the art work. Tubes for posters, or if artwork was actually framed or matted it would also be more expensive than balling up a Tshirt for distribution. However, the cost of printing the work might be cheaper than printing on Tshirts. The CCO commented that a lot of different industries have tried to use this business model, but have started their sites, with revenue and profit in mind of course, which is why he thinks they have failed. Threadless started as a community-based site and then rolled into a money making venture. The founders are grounded and don't forget that their community drives their success.
As the Threadless team is contemplating rolling out into the retail sector they are still focused on thier success factor, thier community. What would the Threadless community think about Threadless going retail?
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Friendster and LinkedIn
Online social networks have become ubiquitous in the past few years. What forms of value do users get from these services and who is most likely to sign up on LinkedIn versus other sites?
Social networking sites provide users/members with the ability to create an online network of friends and/or colleagues. Users take advantage of this network in different ways. Some individuals like to be narcissistic and tell EVERYONE what they are doing all the time and post endless photos of themselves. Others use it to post pictures they can share with friends and keep in touch. In some examples people can find long lost friends and family. A friend's husband recently got in touch with his 20 year old son whom he had never met via Facebook and they are planning an actual meeting. So their new-found virtual relationship is actually leading to a son meeting a father he has never known. Other simple stories occur such as reuniting with childhood friends.
MySpace and Facebook and the "has been" Friendster are positioned for social networking. Other networking sites, like LinkedIn are positioned more for the career persons. Career persons can use LinkedIn to reconnect with old colleagues and they have a instantly updated address book to stay in touch with these colleagues. LinkedIn can also be used for business opportunities, either to "advertise" your service (basically make it known what you do), post a job position and look for job opportunities. LinkedIn in focuses on ones career attributes rather than personal attributes. It is basically a lot less fun that the social networking sites, but serves its purpose, creating a network of business professionals.
Social networking sites provide users/members with the ability to create an online network of friends and/or colleagues. Users take advantage of this network in different ways. Some individuals like to be narcissistic and tell EVERYONE what they are doing all the time and post endless photos of themselves. Others use it to post pictures they can share with friends and keep in touch. In some examples people can find long lost friends and family. A friend's husband recently got in touch with his 20 year old son whom he had never met via Facebook and they are planning an actual meeting. So their new-found virtual relationship is actually leading to a son meeting a father he has never known. Other simple stories occur such as reuniting with childhood friends.
MySpace and Facebook and the "has been" Friendster are positioned for social networking. Other networking sites, like LinkedIn are positioned more for the career persons. Career persons can use LinkedIn to reconnect with old colleagues and they have a instantly updated address book to stay in touch with these colleagues. LinkedIn can also be used for business opportunities, either to "advertise" your service (basically make it known what you do), post a job position and look for job opportunities. LinkedIn in focuses on ones career attributes rather than personal attributes. It is basically a lot less fun that the social networking sites, but serves its purpose, creating a network of business professionals.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wikipedia
How do Wikipedia’s processes for creating and modifying articles ever lead to high-quality results?
That is an extremely difficult question to answer, especially after reading exactly how the process works. I suppose the best answer came from the "Wiki's at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein" case, a quote from the founder of Wikipedia, "The Wiki model is different because it gives you an incentive when you are writing. If you write something that annoys other people, it's just going to be deleted. So if you want your writing to survive you really have to strive to be cooperative and helpful."
This statement holds a lot of ground when it comes to a corporate wiki, or wiki's on a smaller scale than Wikipedia. The incredible amount of information on Wikipedia and the level of accuracy it maintains is astonishing. In some cases it holds a better reputation than Encyclopedia Britannica and overall, the accuracy of Wikipedia is not far behind Encyclopedia Britannica.
I suppose Wikipedia survives on a system of checks and balances. Yes, it is an open source to anyone, but questionable information is quickly brought to the forefront of the "organization" and immediately reviewed, a five-day process to "include or delete" information.
Wikipedia is a non-profit organization. It is difficult to comprehend the level of inforamtion and effort that has been put into such a project. Wikipedia also accepts donations. Donations used to be solicited on the homepage and I think the donations were in the $millions$. Not only do people donate time, but money. Wikipedia is a phenomenon.
That is an extremely difficult question to answer, especially after reading exactly how the process works. I suppose the best answer came from the "Wiki's at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein" case, a quote from the founder of Wikipedia, "The Wiki model is different because it gives you an incentive when you are writing. If you write something that annoys other people, it's just going to be deleted. So if you want your writing to survive you really have to strive to be cooperative and helpful."
This statement holds a lot of ground when it comes to a corporate wiki, or wiki's on a smaller scale than Wikipedia. The incredible amount of information on Wikipedia and the level of accuracy it maintains is astonishing. In some cases it holds a better reputation than Encyclopedia Britannica and overall, the accuracy of Wikipedia is not far behind Encyclopedia Britannica.
I suppose Wikipedia survives on a system of checks and balances. Yes, it is an open source to anyone, but questionable information is quickly brought to the forefront of the "organization" and immediately reviewed, a five-day process to "include or delete" information.
Wikipedia is a non-profit organization. It is difficult to comprehend the level of inforamtion and effort that has been put into such a project. Wikipedia also accepts donations. Donations used to be solicited on the homepage and I think the donations were in the $millions$. Not only do people donate time, but money. Wikipedia is a phenomenon.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Blogs at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein
What are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing internal versus external employee blogs in a corporate setting? Are there certain industries where one of these strategies makes more sense?
The obvious advantage of implementing internal vs. external blogs is that there are less resources required for editing of internal blogs as they are only internal and do not need to be prepared for an external audience. Internal blogs can be highly effective in disseminating information as well as bringing up issues and topics they may otherwise be ignored by other forms of internal corporate communications. However, corporations must also be aware of the fact that bloggers can also go off-topic, so blogs may become irrelevant and lead to unproductive employee behavior.
The benefits of external blogging include an innovative corporate culture and easy and fast global communication. Issues and topics that are not disseminated via traditional media forms can be discussed and discussed endlessly in blogs. However, corporate external blogging requires extensive resources. IT infrastructure needs to be developed and maintained and review for compliance for appropriate content need to be conducted. Additionally, if an adverse post gets released there can be dire ramifications.
Certain industries should probably not entertain the idea of external blogging, especially on any sort of large scale or unmonitored form. These industries could include finance, psychology, high-tech and government among others. These industries are highly regulated and any client information or company secrets that are released could have a highly negative impact and the benefits of disseminating instantaneous and spontaneous information would not outweigh the costs.
The obvious advantage of implementing internal vs. external blogs is that there are less resources required for editing of internal blogs as they are only internal and do not need to be prepared for an external audience. Internal blogs can be highly effective in disseminating information as well as bringing up issues and topics they may otherwise be ignored by other forms of internal corporate communications. However, corporations must also be aware of the fact that bloggers can also go off-topic, so blogs may become irrelevant and lead to unproductive employee behavior.
The benefits of external blogging include an innovative corporate culture and easy and fast global communication. Issues and topics that are not disseminated via traditional media forms can be discussed and discussed endlessly in blogs. However, corporate external blogging requires extensive resources. IT infrastructure needs to be developed and maintained and review for compliance for appropriate content need to be conducted. Additionally, if an adverse post gets released there can be dire ramifications.
Certain industries should probably not entertain the idea of external blogging, especially on any sort of large scale or unmonitored form. These industries could include finance, psychology, high-tech and government among others. These industries are highly regulated and any client information or company secrets that are released could have a highly negative impact and the benefits of disseminating instantaneous and spontaneous information would not outweigh the costs.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
iPod vs. Cell Phone: A Mobile Music Revolution
Has the digital music market irreversibly tipped in Apple’s favor?
Right now it appears this way. As the case domonstrates there have been major efforts to hone in on the digital music marketshare, but Apple just keeps gobbling up more and more of the market. In addition, Apple stayed ahead of the market by coming out with the iPhone, the first touchscreen phone that was actually successful, incorporating the full functionality of thier existing iPod and adding web capabilities among other things. If Apple would have decided not to enter the mobile phone market there would have been an open door for a new entrant, but Apple made the right move and are moving in the direction of Monopoly.
Another point to think about is who really wants to still enter the digital music market. Has anyone turned a profit? And what is the future of digital music. It's hard to tell where iPods and other devices are in the product cycle. If Apple remains innovative and continues to be the first-mover in the digital (and next era of music) music world they will be hard to beat.
Right now it appears this way. As the case domonstrates there have been major efforts to hone in on the digital music marketshare, but Apple just keeps gobbling up more and more of the market. In addition, Apple stayed ahead of the market by coming out with the iPhone, the first touchscreen phone that was actually successful, incorporating the full functionality of thier existing iPod and adding web capabilities among other things. If Apple would have decided not to enter the mobile phone market there would have been an open door for a new entrant, but Apple made the right move and are moving in the direction of Monopoly.
Another point to think about is who really wants to still enter the digital music market. Has anyone turned a profit? And what is the future of digital music. It's hard to tell where iPods and other devices are in the product cycle. If Apple remains innovative and continues to be the first-mover in the digital (and next era of music) music world they will be hard to beat.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Google Inc.
Is search a winner-take-all business?
At this point, 2009, past the date of this case, it would appear that search is a winner-take-all business. However, the industry has a lot of big names (Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL) that are most likely not going to take a backseat while Google takes over the market. Competing with Google as a search engine, is not an easy task, but technology and computer engineering maintain continuous growth. I obviously would not now what the next "algorithm" or similar program could be to compete with Google's search engine. There are high barriers to entry in the market, but once a competitively successful framework for search is developed, there are low switching costs to consumers since search engines are free.
On the other hand, Google and the "search" market may end up like the web browser market. Internet Explorer took over the market, it's a free service and the is bundled with Microsoft's operating systems. Now that Google has Google Desktop, Gmail, Blogger, etc. it is easy to become completely dependent on Google as your one and ONLY search engine. It's right at your fingertips for any search you want. The major difference is that search engines are very profitable from their advertising. Web browsers would not attract a lot of competition. It's not a profitable industry (?), but search engines are profitable, so rivals can be expected in the future.
At this point, 2009, past the date of this case, it would appear that search is a winner-take-all business. However, the industry has a lot of big names (Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL) that are most likely not going to take a backseat while Google takes over the market. Competing with Google as a search engine, is not an easy task, but technology and computer engineering maintain continuous growth. I obviously would not now what the next "algorithm" or similar program could be to compete with Google's search engine. There are high barriers to entry in the market, but once a competitively successful framework for search is developed, there are low switching costs to consumers since search engines are free.
On the other hand, Google and the "search" market may end up like the web browser market. Internet Explorer took over the market, it's a free service and the is bundled with Microsoft's operating systems. Now that Google has Google Desktop, Gmail, Blogger, etc. it is easy to become completely dependent on Google as your one and ONLY search engine. It's right at your fingertips for any search you want. The major difference is that search engines are very profitable from their advertising. Web browsers would not attract a lot of competition. It's not a profitable industry (?), but search engines are profitable, so rivals can be expected in the future.
NTT DoCoMo, Inc.: Mobile FeliCa
1. Is DoCoMo wise to offer its existing mobile phone rivals access to FeliCa?
DoCoMo offering FeliCa to its mobile phone rivals will create a network effect of users and encourage merchants as well as other possible e-money merchants to adopt the necessary technology to accept FeliCa. The more users there are of FeliCa the more likely merchants and others will be to adopt the necessary technology needed to accept Felica eMoney payments. Credit card processing fees are a major expense for many vendors and decreasing this percentage fee per transaction is a good incentive to adopt FeliCa eMoney payments; and the larger the network of FeliCa users the more enticing the adoption of eMoney FeliCa technology becomes.
If FeliCa can gain a first-mover advantage and have all retail, vendor and other necessary parties adopt to their framework the harder it will be for a competitor to come in and take market share. The grocery store discounts of using FeliCa is a good example of the first mover advantage because the grocery store chain will not likely offer the same deal to a FeliCa competitor. The more partnerships DoCoMo can build similar to the grocery store, the more embedded they will become and the threat of new entrants will decrease. DoCoMo phones will still have the competitive advantage as they are built and designed with the FeliCa capabilities in mind.
With the launch of FeliCa, DoCoMo must be sure to be clear regarding the security risks of using eMoney. They must educate consumers as to the risk and dissimilarities that exist between eMoney and credit cards. This will help consumers to realize the importance of reporting a lost or stolen phone immediately. Consumers can sometimes be lax about a missing credit card because they know they are protected against fraudulent transactions.
Lastly, DoCoMo/Sony may want to consider hiring or building a team of credit analysts as they are entering a market of unknown territory. DoCoMo/Sony must create a supporting back-end to their technologically savvy eMoney application.
DoCoMo offering FeliCa to its mobile phone rivals will create a network effect of users and encourage merchants as well as other possible e-money merchants to adopt the necessary technology to accept FeliCa. The more users there are of FeliCa the more likely merchants and others will be to adopt the necessary technology needed to accept Felica eMoney payments. Credit card processing fees are a major expense for many vendors and decreasing this percentage fee per transaction is a good incentive to adopt FeliCa eMoney payments; and the larger the network of FeliCa users the more enticing the adoption of eMoney FeliCa technology becomes.
If FeliCa can gain a first-mover advantage and have all retail, vendor and other necessary parties adopt to their framework the harder it will be for a competitor to come in and take market share. The grocery store discounts of using FeliCa is a good example of the first mover advantage because the grocery store chain will not likely offer the same deal to a FeliCa competitor. The more partnerships DoCoMo can build similar to the grocery store, the more embedded they will become and the threat of new entrants will decrease. DoCoMo phones will still have the competitive advantage as they are built and designed with the FeliCa capabilities in mind.
With the launch of FeliCa, DoCoMo must be sure to be clear regarding the security risks of using eMoney. They must educate consumers as to the risk and dissimilarities that exist between eMoney and credit cards. This will help consumers to realize the importance of reporting a lost or stolen phone immediately. Consumers can sometimes be lax about a missing credit card because they know they are protected against fraudulent transactions.
Lastly, DoCoMo/Sony may want to consider hiring or building a team of credit analysts as they are entering a market of unknown territory. DoCoMo/Sony must create a supporting back-end to their technologically savvy eMoney application.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Electronic Arts in Online Gaming
Since the writing of the Electronic Arts Case the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii have been released and both have online gaming capabilities. What’s your assessment of the current online gaming market?
It appears that online gaming has really taken over the video game world. Not only with the consoles, but on PC's too. In addition, simply playing or competing online using the consoles is only one of the attributes. Wii's and PS3 can also be used to watch video on demand. I also know with the Wii you can simply browse the news online using your handheld device.
I have a Wii, but never use it and I can only imagine what other online attributes are offered. I also can't imagine what the consoles will be used for in the future. Consoles are now online and there is no going back. I thought it was interesting that you can actually talk to the people that you play against. I was curious to know if kids do this and if there are any "predator-type" situations that have occurred, similar to other online predators? It would seem like a hotbed for predator activity.
It appears that online gaming has really taken over the video game world. Not only with the consoles, but on PC's too. In addition, simply playing or competing online using the consoles is only one of the attributes. Wii's and PS3 can also be used to watch video on demand. I also know with the Wii you can simply browse the news online using your handheld device.
I have a Wii, but never use it and I can only imagine what other online attributes are offered. I also can't imagine what the consoles will be used for in the future. Consoles are now online and there is no going back. I thought it was interesting that you can actually talk to the people that you play against. I was curious to know if kids do this and if there are any "predator-type" situations that have occurred, similar to other online predators? It would seem like a hotbed for predator activity.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Netflix
Since the publishing of this case, Netflix has entered the video on demand (VOD) market. What is your analysis of how Netflix has attempted to update their business model with VOD?
Netflix obviously had to enter the video on demand market. As with any industry, new technology can cause drastic change in an industry and unless companies are willing to embrace change, they will often times be "left behind." Netfilx realized early that the video on demand market would emerge and have been contemplating and saving $ since 2001. From what I have gathered, Netflix is now offering unlimited on-line viewing for all of it's paid subscribers. I'm not sure what the usage of this service is for Netflix viewers, but it will presumably increase and at somepoint take over the mail-order business.
One of Netflix core assets is its recommendation system. This asset can be highly utilized in the VOD market as it has been in the mail order video market. As long as the pricing they have established is profitable, they are aligning themselves for success.
The key componenet that is going to drive consumers to use VOD will be the capability and ease in which they can connect thier internet to their TV. I know I would not attempt this, but my husband seemed to do it with ease. Thus, as this connection becomes more mainstream (I obviously don't know how), the VOD market will boom. Netflix needs to align themselves with the leader of this technology. Netfilx partnered with the makers of DVD's when it was a new phenomenon. They need to do the same thing with the next best technology of linking computers to TV's. I'm assuming you will not always need to connect your laptop to the back of the television. I might be missing an already existing technology?, but from what I know this would be a good move for Netflix.
Netflix obviously had to enter the video on demand market. As with any industry, new technology can cause drastic change in an industry and unless companies are willing to embrace change, they will often times be "left behind." Netfilx realized early that the video on demand market would emerge and have been contemplating and saving $ since 2001. From what I have gathered, Netflix is now offering unlimited on-line viewing for all of it's paid subscribers. I'm not sure what the usage of this service is for Netflix viewers, but it will presumably increase and at somepoint take over the mail-order business.
One of Netflix core assets is its recommendation system. This asset can be highly utilized in the VOD market as it has been in the mail order video market. As long as the pricing they have established is profitable, they are aligning themselves for success.
The key componenet that is going to drive consumers to use VOD will be the capability and ease in which they can connect thier internet to their TV. I know I would not attempt this, but my husband seemed to do it with ease. Thus, as this connection becomes more mainstream (I obviously don't know how), the VOD market will boom. Netflix needs to align themselves with the leader of this technology. Netfilx partnered with the makers of DVD's when it was a new phenomenon. They need to do the same thing with the next best technology of linking computers to TV's. I'm assuming you will not always need to connect your laptop to the back of the television. I might be missing an already existing technology?, but from what I know this would be a good move for Netflix.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and the Market for Digital Information Goods
Who will win the competitive battle between P2P file sharing networks and iTunes over the long run and why?
According to this case, it seems P2P file sharing networks will take over the market of music "sales." It's understandable that record labels and musicians do not want file sharing at $14.99 a month (as of 2005) for unlimited songs as the most expensive offer. Overall revenue from music sales will and are suffering due to file sharing. However, as with any industry, change is certain.
In this case buyers are creating a stronghold on the industry. Buyers know what is out there as far as services for downloading music and can make an educated decision as to the best option. Since there is most likely not much differentiation between the various music files, buyers will choose the lowest cost option, which is not iTunes or buying a physical CD. The music file sharing sites are withing government regulations at this time so unless this changes, which is a threat to the P2P file sharing industry, they will win the majority of this market.
The competition within this P2P industry will most likely increase and prices will fall even further because barriers to entry appear low (I don't know the start-up details). Unless there is some legal intervention into this industry, P2P file sharing is the future of music downloads.
According to this case, it seems P2P file sharing networks will take over the market of music "sales." It's understandable that record labels and musicians do not want file sharing at $14.99 a month (as of 2005) for unlimited songs as the most expensive offer. Overall revenue from music sales will and are suffering due to file sharing. However, as with any industry, change is certain.
In this case buyers are creating a stronghold on the industry. Buyers know what is out there as far as services for downloading music and can make an educated decision as to the best option. Since there is most likely not much differentiation between the various music files, buyers will choose the lowest cost option, which is not iTunes or buying a physical CD. The music file sharing sites are withing government regulations at this time so unless this changes, which is a threat to the P2P file sharing industry, they will win the majority of this market.
The competition within this P2P industry will most likely increase and prices will fall even further because barriers to entry appear low (I don't know the start-up details). Unless there is some legal intervention into this industry, P2P file sharing is the future of music downloads.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
EZ Board
1. How should ezboard update their business model to reach their revenue goals?
It does not appear that EZBoard can change their subscription model to increase price due to low cost or no cost provider competition. EZBoard should keep the current subscription model, but push the Gold Community (avg. contribution of $23.26). EZBoard can hire part-time Moderator type employees to start discussion boards on hot topics, especially social topics and make the Gold Community offering prominent in these areas. However, EZBoard must be careful not with how these discussions are positioned. They would not want to make it public knowledge that EZBoard employees would start these boards...that is why they would be "Moderators."
Advertising needs to be the key revenue driver for EZBoard. Their idea is to have a "ring" around the boards since advertising on the actual boards has not been successful in the past. Their idea is to use the registration info. from the paid subscribers to target advertising. First of all this is not targeting the entire audience and second, the registration info. most likely does not provide a lot of relevant info., just name, gender, maybe age etc. However, if EZBoard is able to implement the same process as Google and post ads based on content, this would be appealing to advertisers. For example, if there was a discussion board about pets and then grooming became a topic, an ad for the Furminator would appear in the side bar.
2. What services should they consider offering with the new Version 8.0 software?
I've never posted on a discussion board so have no personal knowledge. EZBoard did the right thing by sending out a survey to get user response on the current program. (They should have made a shorter survey though, probably would have gotten more responses (100 Q's is way too long). They should take the user info. and implement, though more expensive, user satisfaction will likely retain users as well as create word of mouth success which has been their only successful marketing technique to date. In addition, EZBoard should create user profiles as an option in order to create a more unique and useful profile on each member to be used for advertising.
No sure how this would work, but EZBoard should also look into business partnerships, possible linking them to such social networking sites as Facebook. EZBoard should stick to what they are good at, discussion boards and not try to be everything to all.
It does not appear that EZBoard can change their subscription model to increase price due to low cost or no cost provider competition. EZBoard should keep the current subscription model, but push the Gold Community (avg. contribution of $23.26). EZBoard can hire part-time Moderator type employees to start discussion boards on hot topics, especially social topics and make the Gold Community offering prominent in these areas. However, EZBoard must be careful not with how these discussions are positioned. They would not want to make it public knowledge that EZBoard employees would start these boards...that is why they would be "Moderators."
Advertising needs to be the key revenue driver for EZBoard. Their idea is to have a "ring" around the boards since advertising on the actual boards has not been successful in the past. Their idea is to use the registration info. from the paid subscribers to target advertising. First of all this is not targeting the entire audience and second, the registration info. most likely does not provide a lot of relevant info., just name, gender, maybe age etc. However, if EZBoard is able to implement the same process as Google and post ads based on content, this would be appealing to advertisers. For example, if there was a discussion board about pets and then grooming became a topic, an ad for the Furminator would appear in the side bar.
2. What services should they consider offering with the new Version 8.0 software?
I've never posted on a discussion board so have no personal knowledge. EZBoard did the right thing by sending out a survey to get user response on the current program. (They should have made a shorter survey though, probably would have gotten more responses (100 Q's is way too long). They should take the user info. and implement, though more expensive, user satisfaction will likely retain users as well as create word of mouth success which has been their only successful marketing technique to date. In addition, EZBoard should create user profiles as an option in order to create a more unique and useful profile on each member to be used for advertising.
No sure how this would work, but EZBoard should also look into business partnerships, possible linking them to such social networking sites as Facebook. EZBoard should stick to what they are good at, discussion boards and not try to be everything to all.
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