[Equest-users] eQUEST Help Desk Funding

Wed May 26 13:03:01 PDT 2010

I do not have a strong opinion on this issue because it offers a service not currently available.  But to me the issue is one of effect on the whole eQuest community.  My fear is that once this service is offered, many who have spent their valuable time offering free advice will tend to back off and let the paid services take up the slack.  This will probably reduce the usefulness of the current list and leave small firms and individuals without extra cash out.  This may eventually reduce or destroy the value of the free list service.  The future of DOE2 and eQuest depends on young beginners who currently have little money and need the free help.

This list is one of the few truly valuable free services available in the world today.  It provides a forum for old codgers like me to mentor those younger and less experienced (those who need help the most and can afford it the least), and, currently, I am in good company.

Glenn

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From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Dakota Kelley
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 2:14 PM
To: Carol Gardner; eQUEST Users List
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] eQUEST Help Desk Funding

Carol,

Let me cut through the philosophical stuff and set a starting bid: were I to find myself in need, I would pay $125/hr for one-on-one, pay-per-use, phone/WebEx-style assistance, billed in 0.25 hr increments or each fraction thereof, with a minimum charge of 0.5 hrs.  This assumes the person providing the help has both a mechanical engineering degree and years of eQUEST experience, which appears to fit your description.  If Portland has not eliminated your Canadian accent, I would gladly pay aboot $126/hr..what’s another loonie, eh?  Naturally, there would be a high expectation that you should be able to solve nearly any issue somewhat quickly, and you would have to determine how you want to handle issues you are unable to resolve.  However, I have no qualms about charging or paying for one-on-one help…it’s called “consulting”.  In my early days I posted a couple questions and received no responses – I could’ve just as easily been talking to my HP DeskJet while printing “I hope that helps” messages to myself.  Having an alternate, fee-based help resource would have been a blessing.    

If I may enter the philosophical arena for a minute, I’m amazed by the eQUEST users who will comfortably charge their clients thousands of dollars for a model, using “free” software, but expect free assistance and get up in arms when anyone brings up the idea of fee-based help (or that it would be brought up on a forum created for eQUEST help).  There has been talk about helping for “the greater good of the modeling community”, but I don’t find it to be intellectually honest.  Such a notion is predicated on an equal contribution from all participants, but the reality is that there are far more help-seekers than help-providers, and such will always be the case with voluntary forums.  Quick questions that can be answered in five minutes are not an issue, and the forum is wonderful for that, but when it turns into me taking an hour or two to go through someone’s model for free, while they get paid for my findings, is not inherently good for me or the community.  It has been done for me in the past, and I have paid it forward.  However, there are not enough active participants to make this standard operating procedure.  I also refute the notion that having an alternate help source undermines the forum; the two are not mutually exclusive.  

So, Carol, please put out your shingle.  I might break my model just for an excuse to call you.

                         DAKOTA KELLEY                                                              

                                Project Designer

                                Office:      214-744-6199

                                Cell:         214-280-3825

                                Fax:         214-744-0770 

http://www.teliospc.com <http://www.teliospc.com/>           3535 Travis St. Suite 115 

dakotak at teliospc.com <mailto:dakotak at teliospc.com>              Dallas, TX 75204 

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From: Carol Gardner [mailto:cmg750 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 4:45 PM
To: eQUEST Users List
Cc: Benville, Jim; ed.wall at ee.doe.gov
Subject: [Equest-users] eQUEST Help Desk Funding

All,

For the right amount of money, a dedicated land line, and a dedicated computer, I will function as your dedicated Help Desk. Let me know who is interested in funding me to be this resource. Let me know how much you think this resource is worth. As you all know by now unless you've been sleeping, I am a self-employed professional that takes time to answer your questions but must quit giving my time away for free. 

-- 
Carol Gardner PE

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