Enter the World Wide Web
by
David B. South, Jr.
reprinted from The Monolithic Dome Roundup Winter 1999
I
first started using the Internet in 1993. The World Wide Web was only
a couple years old, yahoo.com was a few college students indexing the
whole web from their apartment, and my 14.4K modem was cutting edge technology.
In only a few years, I watched an amazing transformation as the web became
part of the lives of millions of everyday people. For us, the web fundamentally
changed the way we reached customers.
In the past, a potential customer would call for a free brochure and wait
about a week for it to arrive. And it was only 16 pages. Now they can
look on our website (www.monolithic.com) and see hundreds of pages
of text and photos. The best part is how the customers are empowered with
worthwhile information before they call the Monolithic Dome Institute.
It is no exaggeration to say each contact made through the web is worth
ten to twenty contacts made by phone.
Now we have taken the next step with our new website, domebuilders.com.
It is to bring customers, dome builders, architects, and engineers together.
It contains directories of individuals and companies, big and small, who
are involved in the dome business.
For many customers, this will be the best place to start when looking
to build. There are even links from our website to the sites of dome builders,
engineers, architects, or anyone who has a website and is listed on domebuilders.com.
But for me, the best reason to visit is the bulletin
board system. I can't tell you how many questions we receive every
day via e-mail, phone, fax, or regular mail.
For every person who asks a question, undoubtedly, there are dozens more
who want to know the answer.
The bulletin board will allow any-one to post a question for everyone
to see. Not just the Monolithic Dome Institute, but all visitors to the
dome builders website. I have participated in many similar groups and
have learned a lot about what works and what doesn't.
One thing that does work is member registration. Everyone who uses the
bulletin board system is required to register. This free and simple procedure
helps ensure an honest, open discussion and reduces abuse. Once registered
you can post replies to other posted ques-tions, join in a discussion,
or start a new topic.
In addition to the directories and the bulletin board system, we will
create web pages for individuals and companies who do not have their own
dome website. A fee will cover creating the pages and hosting them for
one year. Then a subscription fee is charged for each additional year.
As a bonus, an e-mail address is also part of the service and is easily
accessed over the Internet via any web browser. This service will be available
in January 2000.
As for our future on the net, we are putting together the Monolithic
Marketplace online (monolithic.com). It will be the source for Monolithic
shotcrete pumps, PoleStar rotating scaffold bases, Monolithic
mixers, and many other dome and non-dome products. And we will always
strive to make our websites the best place for dome information on the
World Wide Web.
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