Happy New Year!
Posted on Wednesday, January 06 @ 10:04:15 MST by Sparky
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Cathie and I here at 1SLT.com hope everyone had a Wonderful Christmas and will have a Happy 2010! The following is a listing of goals we have set for 2010 for our website and activities.
The Website:
Looking back over the last 3/4 of a decade, 1 Source Laser Tag has gone through many changes, some of them popular - others not so popular. When I originally started 1SLT, there were many people discussing making their own systems and actively working on them. My thought then was to make a website where people could exchange ideas on their systems, posting articles on what they had accomplished, and buy and sell things. I learned a great lesson in that all of the systems under development - the only system that actually hit the market and survived as a company was Steradian. Later EWoW started as a hobbyist system but once again faded and was absorbed by Zone Systems - a commercial market company. Only Miles Tag which started up 3 years after the big buzz has made a Do It Yourself (DIY) system. Even though they have had companies such as Frag Tag and Adventure Sports develope into commercial markets - Miles Tag is still a DIY system. However, they have their own store and have no need for 1SLT.
So, not having anything to really sell...I moved 1SLT in the direction of becoming an information site with links to any other site that had good information for the hobby / sport. The Laser Horizon ezine was started and had a go for a few years when things in the hobby started buzzing with interest due to the new LTTO system, and the interest of a standardized protocol in the commercial market. However, the LTTO system went obsoltete in the stores - although the spirit in the club community lives on - the amount of news for the sport slowed to the point that I couldn't get enough information to fill a magazine in a year's time (that plus for some reason my life ran out of free time to work on the magazine). Other website's such as GregG's and Dougs popped up with better information on the LTTO, in a better format. I tried to reorganize 1SLT to be a bigger better information exchange system using PNUKE and other programs...but ultimately it seems the system was just too complicated for most...and the website now seems to do little more than be utilized by spambots. The forums are littered with posts that are months to years old. The news articles have become more of a blog for my personal information than a news service. Once again trying to be an asset to the community, we tried to better and expand our store portion of the website. Partially do to faulty software, the system getting hacked, and bugs from repairs still plaguing us, the store has struggled at best. I only consider it being a success in it being there for those who needed it when they need it. Even with the problems that still remain from the great hack in early 2009 - the store IS still being used by a few stout supporters (THANK YOU!). The classifieds have drained down to zero ads in all categories - according to site statistics its mainly visited by search engines. The picture albums seem to get a decent amount of views - however all registrations to post comments or photos are those from spammers looking to spew their poison.
All in all...I no longer see the website as being an asset to the community in its current form. My resolution this year is to consolidate and get rid of waste...so the website is going to go through another transformation this year. My goal this year is to scrap the website as it is and revamp it down to the few features that are still in use: Rentals, store, link page, small news outlet for Tagfest, and projects that I'm working on for the LT and other tactical sports communities. The classifieds, pnuke, forums, downloads sections, Laser Horizon files, email system, advertising, polls, and other features are going to be scrapped and removed. So if there is any files you would like to get before they go away...now is the time to do so. Hopefully by simplifying and consolidating the website - 1SLT.com can once again become a useful tool to the community.
Outside of the Website other goals for 2010 are:
- Have one of the best Tagfests ever! It looks like this year we may have 35-65 people attending. It will definitely be a year not to miss!
- The radio towers project is coming along. This has been the main focus of my free time, although things will stall on the project a bit while I do taxes for 2009 - however I do expect to be loaning out the system to various clubs to get feedback on how to improve it.
- Counterstrike Bomb Simulator, This project has stalled due to the radio towers, however I do have a working prototype and expect to have a field testing unit ready well before Tagfest.
- Tag Flags - Furthest back on the burners - however these should be prototyped and running by the end of the year.
- Scope adaptors - Although this is more of a pipe dream, it is my hope to bring back this project if nothing else, just to say I finished it!
- Mod Kits - This is a project to be ready for next Christmas. The idea is to take some of the best mods being posted on youtube for the LTTO / LTX gear and make kits available that have all the parts and instructions ready in one package.
- LARP Game Kits I'm going to be working with some of our local Lazer Tag enthusiasts to make several card decks that are used for simple Live Action Role Playing games. We will be testing these with our local clubs first, then sending them out to various clubs to try. Once we get the bugs worked out the kits will be available for rental, or to buy in the store. Simplified versions will be made in a .pdf version that you can print out to make your own kit without the expense of having to buy anything.
- Lazer Tag T-Shirts - I've already started talking with some artists and am checking with various T-shirt silk screen operations to make a line of T-Shirts specifically for Las/zer Tag Enthusiasts. Time to start promoting our sport to the general public.
- Video Contest - I'm going to make one more try of running a video contest starting in the summer, with entries due before school starts in the fall. If this one flops...then I'll just drop the idea.
To achieve the goals stated above, chances are I'm not going to be around in the chat rooms and other activies that I normally pursue. If you'd like to help out with any of the projects mentioned...please feel free to contact me: droman AT 1SLT DOT com
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