Subject: We apologize
The Coca-Cola Company had New Coke. Microsoft had Vista. We have our new website.
Many DC Downsizers have had problems with our new site. We sincerely apologize.
Like New Coke, our redesigned site tested well before launch. Alas, it’s not serving us well.
But we’re not standing pat.
- Our entire tech staff from before has departed
- We’re starting fresh
- We’ve recruited a new and expanded IT staff to deal with the nagging problems — only one position remains to be filled
- And we’ve managed to do this reorganization without increasing our overhead
Our new team is getting “up to speed” and will soon be implementing fixes. In the meantime, it’s important that YOU know . . .
- Most NEW members are NOT having problems
- The problems mostly effect our older members, and for them we have a work-around
THE WORKAROUND: If you log-in using the button in the upper right hand corner of the home page, and then click the campaign link for that day’s action item, it should work for you. We know that’s a bit backward, but it’s temporary.
If that doesn’t work for you, please let us know. And if you tried to get help from us before, and we failed you, please try again. We’ve also replaced our tech support person. Our new tech support person WILL help you.
It costs us money to provide customer service, so please only flag us with problems that prevent you from using our Educate the Powerful System. But if you’re having a problem, we really, really WANT TO HELP. Just hit reply to this Dispatch, provide as complete a description of your problem as possible, and someone will be in touch shortly.
HOW did this happen?
We got ourselves into this mess because we ignored a key feature of our corporate culture — relentless incrementalism. We believe constant SMALL steps — not dramatic leaps — are the key to success. We don’t swing for the fence. We strive to repeatedly get on base.
We ignored that principle when we changed our website. We tried to make too many changes at once, and now we’re paying the price. We’ve learned our lesson, and will be better for it in the future.
Again, we’re sorry for the inconvenience. We’re determined to solve these problems as soon as possible.
Please try the work-around while our new IT staff educates itself about our system. This process of getting our new team “up to speed” will take a little bit of time. But once that happens, change should come quickly.
We appreciate your patience and support.
Thank you for being a DC Downsizer,
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.