[Equest-users] eQUEST Help Desk Funding

[Jeremy McClanathan]

I third the motion.  To get my thoughts in, I don’t think that having eQuest consultants available for hire takes away from the forum at all.  The forum is a good place to share experience, philosophies, and get answers to simple questions.  But, a community forum is not necessarily a good place to expect time consuming answers to complicated problems.
Having one-on-one guidance available for complicated issues that don’t get answered on the forum could be an extremely valuable additional resource.  It could have saved me thousands of dollars over the past several years.  I would be happy to pay $125/hr to save me hours, or potentially days, trying to figure it out complex problems on my own.  In fact, now that I know someone is available to provide eQuest consulting, I’m going to include a few hundred dollars for QC/trouble shooting expenses in future fee proposals for just this purpose.

Jeremy
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From: jeff at sharpenotes.com [mailto:jeff at sharpenotes.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 11:34 AM
To: Dakota Kelley
Cc: eQUEST Users List
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] eQUEST Help Desk Funding

Hear, hear!
I second the motion!
J#
ps eloquently stated Dakota, eh
************************************************************
Jeff Sharpe, PE
Sharpe Energy Solutions
Ashland, OR

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] eQUEST Help Desk Funding
From: "Dakota Kelley" <dakotak at teliospc.com<mailto:dakotak at teliospc.com>>
Date: Wed, May 26, 2010 11:13 am
To: "Carol Gardner" <cmg750 at gmail.com<mailto:cmg750 at gmail.com>>, "eQUEST Users List"
<equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org>>
Carol,

Let me cut through the philosophical stuff and set a starting bid: were I to find myself in need, I would pay $125/hr for one-on-one, pay-per-use, phone/WebEx-style assistance, billed in 0.25 hr increments or each fraction thereof, with a minimum charge of 0.5 hrs.  This assumes the person providing the help has both a mechanical engineering degree and years of eQUEST experience, which appears to fit your description.  If Portland has not eliminated your Canadian accent, I would gladly pay aboot $126/hr..what’s another loonie, eh?  Naturally, there would be a high expectation that you should be able to solve nearly any issue somewhat quickly, and you would have to determine how you want to handle issues you are unable to resolve.  However, I have no qualms about charging or paying for one-on-one help…it’s called “consulting”.  In my early days I posted a couple questions and received no responses – I could’ve just as easily been talking to my HP DeskJet while printing “I hope that helps” messages to myself.  Having an alternate, fee-based help resource would have been a blessing.

If I may enter the philosophical arena for a minute, I’m amazed by the eQUEST users who will comfortably charge their clients thousands of dollars for a model, using “free” software, but expect free assistance and get up in arms when anyone brings up the idea of fee-based help (or that it would be brought up on a forum created for eQUEST help).  There has been talk about helping for “the greater good of the modeling community”, but I don’t find it to be intellectually honest.  Such a notion is predicated on an equal contribution from all participants, but the reality is that there are far more help-seekers than help-providers, and such will always be the case with voluntary forums.  Quick questions that can be answered in five minutes are not an issue, and the forum is wonderful for that, but when it turns into me taking an hour or two to go through someone’s model for free, while they get paid for my findings, is not inherently good for me or the community.  It has been done for me in the past, and I have paid it forward.  However, there are not enough active participants to make this standard operating procedure.  I also refute the notion that having an alternate help source undermines the forum; the two are not mutually exclusive.

So, Carol, please put out your shingle.  I might break my model just for an excuse to call you.


[http://portal.mxlogic.com/images/transparent.gif]                        DAKOTA KELLEY
                                Project Designer

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From: Carol Gardner [mailto:cmg750 at gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 4:45 PM
To: eQUEST Users List
Cc: Benville, Jim; ed.wall at ee.doe.gov<mailto:ed.wall at ee.doe.gov>
Subject: [Equest-users] eQUEST Help Desk Funding

All,

For the right amount of money, a dedicated land line, and a dedicated computer, I will function as your dedicated Help Desk. Let me know who is interested in funding me to be this resource. Let me know how much you think this resource is worth. As you all know by now unless you've been sleeping, I am a self-employed professional that takes time to answer your questions but must quit giving my time away for free.

--
Carol Gardner PE
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