GroundSwell service / improvements to web site

Dear all,

I have requested the Board allocated $3000 towards a new web hosting service. The request is for our web server to be hosted by an organization called CivicSpaceLabs, the group that wrote the original software we use now. They offer web hosting (the physical computers and network connection) as well as maintaining the software and fixing problems. We've been having problems with our current provider and these guys are the pro's.

Also, if anyone besides me wants to run our web site and/or we want to make custom changes to the site, these guys can do it.

The cost is $50/mo 12*50 = $600 for the basic service

I've also allocated $2000 for custom changes, specifically to facilitate LUPC requests to better manage our project information and also a custom change to make it easier to associate all of the information for meetings more easily (info like calendar entry, agenda, minutes and attachements). Stakeholders have complained that this info gets out of date or is hard to find.

I rounded it up to $3000 for misc overages and custom work, but hopefully won't need it.

You can learn more about Civic Space Labs here:
https://civicspacelabs.org/services_main

We would be signing up for Groundswell Professional ($50/mo) because it supports > 1000 users in mailings, unlike the free service. It also supports more hard drive storage then the free account.

Hope this helps explain he request better,

-- Richard