Shareware Extravaganza 1/Shareware Extravaganza 8 (Most Significant Bits) (Disc 1).iso/all/bbscd.txt

Text File | 1995-05-03 | 9KB | 183 lines

BBS MAGAZINE ARTICLE FOR RICK ROBINSON

Here are the promised questions. Please forward a photo of yourself (if
you've got one of good quality) and some screen captures to 701 Stokes Road,
Medford, NJ 08055. Or, if digitized, to this e-address.

1. Exactly when did the BBS go online?

PC-Ohio went online on September 1, 1985.  It took a couple of weeks to get
everything together but we made it on September first.

2. Please describe the current focus of the board -- why should callers call?

We are a general purpose all-in-one system. We have just about everything
that a caller would want in one place. We have files, messages, chat, games
and Internet email all at one flat rate. We will be adding full Internet
access by March first using MurkWorks' BBSNet. We are a BBS Direct Premier
System so we are easy access from more than 100 cities in the US.

3. What was the intention or goal of the board at that time?

We started PC-Ohio with the intention of being the best BBS in Cleveland.
There were only a few systems online in 1985 and we thought we could do better.
We have out lasted all those systems from 1985.  PC-Ohio is now one of the
oldest continuously running systems in the world.  We exceeded our goals when
we won the Computer Shopper Best BBS in America Contests in both 1990 and
1991.

4. What equipment did you begin with (software and hardware)? How many lines?

We started with a Tava PC clone and one phone line.  We originally used RBBS
but switched to PCBoard 7.1 when Richard Driggers sent us a copy in November
1985.  We had a USR Courier 2400 and a 30MB hard disk.

5. What was your background at the time?

I was purchasing agent for Computer Warehouse, the first computer discounter
in Cleveland. I bought the Tava PC as a second "bigger" computer (I had an IBM
PC with a 20MB hard disk). My friend, Bob Abbott, who had been running an
Apple BBS for years, suggested the Tava would make a great BBS setup. He knew
I had lots of shareware collected and plenty of PC experience at Computer
Warehouse. Bob thought I would make a good Sysop.  My wife and I had just
moved to a new house so we had a spare bedroom where we could put the
computer.

6. Describe how the board has changed (philosophically or otherwise) between
then and now?

We have always run PC-Ohio with the idea of being a system that we would
personally what to call ourselves. We review what other systems are doing and
learn from their mistakes and successes.  We review callers' suggestions and
add features that are in demand, Internet email being a good example.

We made one major philosophical change about two years ago when we decided to
remove all "adult" material from the system.  The many discussions at ONEBBS
Con in 1993 lead us to believe we would be better off without X-rated GIFs and
other Adults-only material.  Recent events in Florida and California have
shown us that we made the right choice.

7. Detail the physical changes: growth in lines, files, networks, callers,
subscribers, BBS software, etc.

As stated before we started with a PC clone and one phone line.  When the first
multi-node version of PCBoard was released we were able to expand past that
one line to three lines.  We steadily grew to 5, 9, 15, 24, 30, 40 and then 50
nodes. We have been using Novell as our Network OS since 1986 and have been
pretty happy with all the features they have added to Netware over the years.
We have expanded from that first 30MB hard drive to a total of 13 Gigabytes
online today. We use Micropolis SCSI hard drives in our two 486-33 file
servers.

The first network we ever joined was Fidonet in 1987.  We ran a separate Opus
BBS long before any other PCBoard sysop had ever heard of Fidonet.  The first
PCBoard based network that we joined was RIME.  Then we got into Smartnet,
Intelec, Ilink, U'NI-net, Nanet, Rosenet, and Friendsnet.

In 1991 we used PCBuucp to add Internet email to PC-Ohio.  At the 1993 ONEBBS
Con we saw the unveiling of the Planet Connect satellite system.  We
recognized its great potential and immediately ordered the complete 3' dish
setup.

8. Obviously you've been successful. Was it your intention to have a BBS as
your sole source of income?

We never thought when we started that we would make any significant amount of
money let alone be able to make a living out of PC-Ohio.  Our hope was to at
least cover monthly expenses like the phone and electricity.  It took 5 years
to break even and we have been able to grow steadily each year since then.

The turning point for us was the 1991 Fidocon.  Phil Becker and Jack Rickard
gave their first seminar on "How to Make Money With a BBS". Virtually all 300
attendees were packed into a small room to hear how to make our hobby finally
pay off.  The most important idea of the seminar was that the key to success
was the ability to accept credit card payments.  Obtaining a merchant account
was necessary to be able to make real money.

PC-Ohio had reached the point where it was becoming more than a part-time job,
so on the way home from Fidocon we decided that if we could get a merchant
account from a local Cleveland bank we could make PC-Ohio into a full-time
occupation.  We were lucky enough that two banks were willing to consider
us even though we did not have a traditional "store front".  It took about
30 days but one afternoon in October we got a call from the bank approving
our merchant account.  We immediately quit the job we had at that time as
Assistant Manager of Micro Repair at Cuyahoga Community College and became
one of the first full-time sysops.

9. Why is your board successful (secrets to your success)?

Longevity is what has really made us so successful.  We have the reputation of
being a quality system that is "up" all the time.  We offer the features and
privileges that callers want at a very reasonable price.  A lot of our success
is due to luck.  We were in the right place, at the right time to start a BBS.
Cleveland has been such a wonderful location for us that we would not consider
ever moving to another city.

10. Please give a ballpark figure of gross income for '94.

$200,000

11. What specific advice would you offer BBS Magazine readers who hope to
start a BBS in 1995. What do you think would make it successful today and what
is no longer relevant?

Starting a BBS now is much easier than it used to be.  Making money at it
is much hard than ever because of the tremendous competition in the market.

The first thing we suggest to people who ask for help on setting up a BBS is
to go to their local computer store and buy all the current "BBS" magazines
that are available such as BBS magazine, Boardwatch, Online Access, and
especially Sysop News.  They should also buy a copy of "Creating Successful
Bulletin Board Systems" by Alan Bryant.  Then they should go through all the
magazines, read all the software ads and contact the companies like Clark
Development (creators of PCBoard) to get demo copies of the software they want
to evaluate.

The perspective sysop has to decide do they want to have multiple lines on
one computer using software like TBBS or setup a network of computers to have
one line per computer.  Each method has its benefits and drawbacks.  We have
chosen to stay with one line per computer to achieve maximum performance for
each caller.

If a person is trying to setup a system in an area which is long distance from
a major metropolitan area then we deffinately suggest looking at Planet Connect
as a mail and file feed.  While the initial cost of $600 is not cheap, the
system can save large amounts of money in decreased long distance calls.

12. How do you see BBSs competing with commercial online services in the
future?

While the commercial online services like Compuserve and AOL have size on
their size they lack the personal touch that every sysop brings to his or her
BBS.  A feeling of community exists among the frequent callers to a successful
BBS that can not be matched by the "Big" companies.  Popular BBSes like PC-Ohio
can have many of the features of Compuserve without any of the drawbacks of
a big corporation that does not know any of its customers.

We travel to many local computer shows and set up booth space so that we
can meet people in person to promote PC-Ohio.  Many of our long-time
subscribers stop by to chat and compliment us on what we have done with
the BBS over the years.  We still have many subscribers that have been with us
for almost ten years.

13. Please list all accesses and addresses to the BBS (i.e. vox, data,
telnet, WWW, mailing address):

BBS USR 16800: 216-381-3320
BBS Hayes 28800: 216-691-3030

Customer Support: 216-291-3307
FAX: [phone]

Mailing address: PC-Ohio, PO Box 21411, South Euclid, OH  44121

Internet: [e-mail]
Fidonet 1:/157/200
RIME: 1869

14. Who are the sysops/co-sysops?

Norm Henke, Sysop
Doc White, Asst Sysop
Joyce Henke, Asst Sysop