| 1. Why did you create Feesch? |
When I first started Feesch (May 1998), it was very difficult to find other ICQ users in the UK. There were other user lists, but they were slow and awkward to use. I had the skills (or so I thought) to do things "properly", so I started writing Feesch. The rest as they say, is Feeschtory.
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| 2. How much do you get paid to run Feesch? |
Nothing. Not a single penny. In fact it's the other way round, Feesch makes money from me. Feesch is an "Association", not a business. It's a non-profit organisation, run purely for the benefit of its members.
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| 3. Why do you run Feesch? |
Good question, but basically because it makes me feel good, it's something I believe actually makes a difference to many people's lives. I get paid (a reasonable salary) to create dull and often unimaginative corporate web sites that get few visitors apart from the clients themselves.
Feesch is my way of giving something back to the Internet, my contribution to making it a better place. No, really! I guess it's a bit like planting a daisy to make up for building a multi-story car park.
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| 4. Who are Feesch Deputies? |
They are a carefully selected group of about a dozen Feesch members. They check all new content posted on the site in their spare time and they are granted limited power to remove anything illegal or offensive.
Any decisions which they make (based on a very strict set of guidelines) are then checked by me, and if necessary over-turned, though that is very rare indeed.
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| 5. Why do you charge for something which should be free? |
Believe it or not, for the first 18 months I paid for everything out of my own pocket. Soon however, it became a burden and I realised that it wouldn't be long before Feesch's needs would exceed my finances. So, the concept of "GoldFeesch" was born, for a small contribution towards the costs of running the site, members could enjoy extra benefits.
I deliberately set the cost low (£10 a year) so that everyone could afford it, I didn't want it to be a playground for the rich. When you consider that some sites (especially dating agencies) charge on average £500 a year, GoldFeesch membership really is quite affordable.
Don't forget of course that GoldFeesch membership is not essential, it just provides additional benefits. You can still join Feesch and use all the core services (ie searching, groups, events etc) without paying a single penny.
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| 6. Where does the money go? |
As I mentioned before, I don't get a salary, nobody does. All of the money raised from GoldFeesch and advertising is paid directly into a totally separate building society account which Feesch uses for a number of things.
For example, Feesch owns four servers (it's not like I can just run Feesch on 2Mb of free web space!). There is also the cost of registering domain names (which Feesch owns quite a few of because of misspellings!) and the PO Box address which costs over £100 a year. The money is also used as working capital for things like merchandise, organising events etc.
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| 7. How much time do you spend working on Feesch? |
Just to keep things ticking over, I need to spend at least two hours a day maintaining the site.
I reply to all e-mails personally, handle disputes between members, handle appeals against deputy decisions, answer technical queries, talk to companies about banner advertising, fix any problems with the site as they occur.
Any development (and there is a lot!) is in addition to those two hours.
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| 8. Is Feesch a dating agency? |
No. It is a list of ICQ users in the UK, nothing more and nothing less. It's quite similar to a pub or a nightclub, people often use them for dating, but the bouncer never asks you for your marital status!
People may use the site however they wish, for whatever purpose. There are many people who have found love because of Feesch (myself included), there are also many people who just use Feesch to find people to have a chat with.
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| 9. Would you ever sell Feesch? |
No. At least not for the money, possibly if I had to give the site up, but then I would sooner give the site to someone I trusted rather than sell it to someone I didn't.
I'm also not interested in franchising to different countries (they can write their own!), nor am I at this point looking for investors. With investment comes responsibilities (I need to then make a profit), and I also lose control of the site in terms of decision making.
As long as Feesch can manage without, I don't think investment is in the site's best interests.
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| 10. Why is it called Feesch? |
When I first started working on Feesch, I was working for a company called Feesch Creative, it was supposed to be a company site for advertising our clients on. However, there was never enough work time to develop it, so I did it all in my own time in the end. The company is no longer trading, but the name remains.
Feesch Creative got their name because the Managing Director liked fish. Sorry, it's as boring as that, a rather silly pronounciation of the word "fish".
If you (like me) find that explanation rather dull and disappointing, you may Click Here for an alternative definition.
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