HUNTINGTON, IND – August 24, 2007
After 12 years of service, the Huntington County Community Network (www.huntingtoncounty.org) will cease operations at the end of 2007. The HCCN board of directors announced that the local non-profit organization had accomplished its original mission and would dissolve.
Founded in 1995 by graduates of the Huntington County Leadership Academy and initially funded by an Access Indiana grant, the community network was created to
“disseminate public information about Huntington County and give the people of Huntington County ready access to the wealth of information to be found on the Internet.”
The organization brought the first local dial-up internet access to Huntington in 1996. Also that year, the group launched a web site to provide information about the local community. HCCN volunteers hosted training sessions on Internet use and web site development. The organization also helped coordinate the acquisition of the first high-speed broadband Internet service for the Huntington City/Township Public Library, Huntington University, Huntington North High School, and the Huntington County Courthouse. The web sites of several local non-profit organizations were hosted on the HCCN server free of charge.
A letter sent to the managers of those non-profit web sites explained the reasons for the community network’s dissolution.
The past 12 years have brought remarkable changes in the use and availability of online technologies. We are pleased that HCCN has played an integral role in catalyzing some of these developments. As the online environment has changed, our focus has changed along with it. For example, when inexpensive dial-up service became available throughout the county, we discontinued our service. When a variety of high-speed solutions were developed by regional providers, we ended our broadband initiatives. Each time the marketplace caught up with our efforts, we said “mission accomplished” and turned our focus elsewhere.
Now, we are about to make a similar decision. When we first launched our web site, it was the only site providing comprehensive information about our community. Today, when you search for “Huntington County, Indiana” you can find thousands of sites loaded with useful information. There are news feeds, discussion forums, community calendars, genealogical resources, economic reports, library collections, churches, non-profit organizations, and many businesses. Simply put, our web site is no longer needed to catalog information about Huntington County.
Similarly, HCCN’s free hosting service is no longer necessary. Not so long ago, having a web site was prohibitively expensive for many of our local not-for-profit organizations. Today, however, high-cost web hosting is a thing of the past. There are countless providers offering free or low-cost web hosting.
Over the next several months, the HCCN board of directors will work with representatives of the non-profit organizations who currently host web sites on the HCCN server. If desired, the HCCN volunteers will help each organization develop a transition plan to a new hosting service. Organizations wishing to receive this assistance have been asked to respond by letter before September 14, 2007.
Currently, there are 39 such web sites hosted on the HCCN server. “Several of these sites are ‘cobwebs,’ or sites that are inactive or were created by organizations that no longer exist,” said John Paff, a founding board member and currently its vice president. “Some have moved their web site to another host, but we still have old files on our server. Whether these web sites are active or inactive, we want to help our local organizations have as seamless a transition as possible,” Paff said.
Any local non-profit organizations impacted by the decision to dissolve HCCN may request help in developing a transition plan. HCCN will also provide a small grant to fund domain-name transfer and low-cost web site hosting for up to one year.
The Huntington County Community Network’s all-volunteer board of directors includes:
Scott LaMar, President
John Paff, Vice President
Jeff Lehman, Secretary
Joe Wixted, Treasurer
Board Members At-Large:
Gary Campbell
Mike Snelling
Ryan Wall
The board member’s letter concluded:
This decision has not been an easy one. Many of our Board members have devoted considerable time to the Huntington County Community Network; two have served since HCCN’s inception in 1995. However, no organization should outlive its usefulness. We can look back on the past 12 years and be very satisfied by what we have helped the community to accomplish.
Correspondence may be directed to the Huntington County Community Network, c/o Huntington Courthouse Room 106, Huntington, Indiana 46750.