The editorial and production staff would like to take the opportunity to thank the regular weekly contributors for their on-going support and hope the new less rigorous schedule will be welcomed.
To regular readers I say we will try and make the new ‘monthly’ a bumper issue and we will certainly not be reducing the number of columns we produce, in fact the new schedule may even attract some new writers who have wished to become involved in the past but were wary of the workload involved.
So if you think you or your firm have something positive to say about Newcastle, just email me: andrewc@youronlinecommunity.com.au
The global financial crisis (GFC) has impacted many business models all around the world (just take a look at the newspaper industry) and the changed economic conditions have drastically effected the business development plans of numerous companies in all types of industries and YOC is no exception.
Plans to rollout community portals nationally have been suspended indefinitely and in the absence of a major new investor will not be re-visited until economic conditions and/or access to venture capital improves dramatically.
The management team at Your Online Community Pty Ltd have decided to make some major changes to the way the start-up operates and after publishing NewcastleOnline (also WollongongOnline, SutherlandShireOnline and ParramttaOnline) usually on a Thursday, much needed resources will now be reallocated to other aspects of the business, primarily SMARTPAGES directories and the recently launched Pay Per Keyword (PPK) search product.
As part of its diversification plans YOC is seeking alternative ways to monetize its IP gained over eight years of infield R&D and is also actively examining ways to license its Patents and seeking local partners to deliver its e-publishing, e-commerce and web search ‘know how’ to SMEs.
At the moment the Rudd government is also making substantial grants available to ICT companies for projects with the potential to leverage the rollout of the National Broadband Network on a competitive basis, so any opportunities in this area will also be pursued by YOC in the coming months. | 
