Managing & Administering I-Kolam site

Here are some interesting statistics on ikOlam ( http://valuethewebsite.com/www.ikolam.com ). It looks like more people visit the site only during competitions, see the peaks in Nov and Jan. See also http://statisy.com/overview/ikolam.com . These guys concluded what is obvious - "After analyzing ikolam.com's demographics we have determined that ikolam.com average users are 45-54 years old, with College. We also have determined that ikolam.com's average user earns $100K+ a year and is most likely Female. Oh wait it seems like we know a little bit more about ikolam.com's average user, they have Children and browse from Home and are Asian." I never thought people who visit ikOlam are so rich Even though the other site whose name also begins with i has more visitors, people spend more time per visit on ikolam than on the other site. Of course, these do not answer Mrs mahAlakshmI's questions. I thought it will be nice to know how others think of this website.

Regards! - mOhana

Rao sir ur statistic and analyses may be right even i observed only few people are in the regular list may be around 10-15 according to me i may be wrong .And as u said mainly governed by females except u and anirudh .regarding earning may not be all rich as i am one of the example. Today’s young generation hang on face book. Ikolam is totally different than other site here we got the opportunity to display our arts and which appreciated also .more importantly though small number of people but we got attached by emotionally, psychologically or u may say by heart to each other though we have not seen each other’s .This site is one of its own, UNIQUE and to end my favorite too.

What a heartwarming phrase - "meeting point"!
How considerate of you to think about the different things you've mentioned, and at the same time also ask about it as well. I couldn't help laughing at what Mohanaji's has posted in his comment. :0
Yes Mahalakshmi, I'll certainly answer to the questions you've asked, but may take a day or two to do that. We are in the middle of our preparations for music rehearsals for our daughters', and other annual tests/events in extra curricular activities as well. I'm hoping when one event is over this Saturday, I'll find time to explain without further delay.

Dr.Rekha, good to know that you're attached emotionally and psychologically to this site.

On a side note to Vinci, I still remember that I had not answered to your question that you had asked me months ago (part of it had to do with history of Ik). My apologies to Vinci. But, I'm still hoping that one day, I'll get to your question as well. :0

rEkhA ma'am, it is not my analysis, it is the analysis of the website which I gave in quotes. My interest in rangOli is more theoretical and mathematical. I can never draw on floor My interest to understand the nature of rangOlis and the mathematics behind them and to create new designs and new ideas. At times, I feel whether I am intruding. I hope not. The nice thing about ikOlam is it concentrates only on one thing, namely rangOlis instead of diluting with so much other clutter. Visitors, in general, are quite courteous and respectful.

Regards! - mOhana

Rao sir, i fully agree with ur view that the traditional kolams r based on the mathematical calculations .And ur PC rangolis r really justifies the same and lovely to watch. all the ikolam members except me are expert in this (that does not mean i am bad in mathematics).Indeed ikolam has preserved our rangoli culture .If u have seen my comments i want this should come in gunnies books o f record for fastest and on the basis of highest numbers of rangolis done by a single person etc etc. u can through some light on it. I will take this opportunity to congratulate our Lata for the great initiation for preserving our ancient wealth by spending her valuable time and money as mentioned by mahalaxmi .
Let us pray Indian Team to win the world cup which is going to start very soon.

How come only a couple of our members are commenting on this post? No time for others to comment, or, not worth commenting on?

It is not something like not worth commenting at all maha and lata...if u remember when we used to chat i had even asked u if we(members) could share ur burden...although i am very curious to know how u run this website successfully...actually i didn't know how to ask u about this just like our maha has done so neatly....i thought it was a bit personal...thats my opinion...

Oh lata mam! yesterday itself I went through this post. But I hesitated to comment only because i thought whether I am eligible to comment. becoz, i am a new member. Please keep in mind that I am ready to share your burden, not only in financial terms but also in any other way which you would like to share. I heartily agree that you are doing a very great job that too in your routine busy schedule.

hai maha, its so sweet of u to think on others burdens, fantastic
lata, its nt that we dont want to comment, i thought it woudnt be sensible to talk on this before considering ur opinion which u have postpnd for some time, so we were just waiting, now ready ready jute, to do anything for ikolam,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, he he he

I really appreciate the efforts taken by Lata for ikolam.Lata you made us feel that this is our family site.

Well Lata, I didn't want to disturb the birthday Baby ???!!Enjoy!!!

yes i also thought same like rani...it is bit personal hence i didnot comment anything...

Dear Lata, definitely we do have time to comment and it is not like we think it is not worth commenting. I felt it was a query directed to you personally and quite frankly I was waiting for your reply to get answers to the questions which were in our minds as well. I too felt like Rani mam, it was a personal query and i thought it would shed a lot of light and perhaps an opportunity for us to comment once we know what/how things are done by you. this is one forum where a person like me who is an introvert spends her time making genuine friends and shares her thoughts. I think you very well know how much I and others appreciate your work 'cos you know us by now and you know that genuinely we appreciate your work/effort and love and respect you a lot for all that you do dear.

Dear Lata ..it is not that we don't want to comment. I was just waiting for a reply from you and thought of commenting later and also I felt it was too personal and should stick to my limits.

Hi friends:) A very meaningful and sensitive discussion going on here, which is turning a little serious i think.
"How come only a couple of our members are commenting on this post? No time for others to comment, or, not worth commenting on? :)"
Lata, after seeing these words from you, i felt little guilty because i am one of the old members who is experiencing the love and encouragement of ikolam (that is none other than You and Mani Sir) and also from the ikolam friends for more than 2 years. We always (my family) talk about your love towards your youngest child (ikolam) to bring it up with different features and encourage everyone by publishing their work, in the midst of your busy schedule! Many people do have blogs, and their own websites but not like ikolam where many people's arts are published together and from that we can learn many things. We have got many new relations and good friends even without seeing each other! Initially, i used to browse other sites also for kolams (one is which Mohanaji also referred) but now a days i dropped it because they are not user friendly.
I always thought about the topic that Mahalakshmi has raised now, but, thought that whether it will be sensible to ask you. (i am little reserved type of person, this you could have noticed from my comments:( )
We ikolam members, will always support you to bring our site the best one of this kind (any form of support).
Mohanaji, the link you have given to study the statistics is really interesting. I also don't think that any of the ikolam user must be earning $100K a year. But, i am wondering, how do they come to know about the income of users.

brindA ma'am, I believe they estimated the average income of the American visitors to the site. They would have somehow found out from the e-mail id where they live by using people search or similar tools. Then they would have assigned the average family income in that neighbourhood. For example, demographers would know what the average income of the family is in my area in Frederick or latAjI's area in San Jose. It is also possible to know the exact income if they are paid members of some institutions whose job it is to gather such information. Salaries of even rich Indian guys to the tune of four million rupees, even in the present chak de India, may not be that common. That does not mean some of our members are not that rich. May be, a few are

Regards! - mOhana

Thank You very much for your informations, Sir. I will be happy if you call me just brindha, not mam, because i am like your daugher:)

Sorry it took a while to respond here. I had been totally consumed and I did not want to rush off a response. First of all, thanks Mahalakshmi for starting the thread; I felt touched. Thanks everybody for sharing your opinions.

Interesting stats information Mohanaji. While the demo graphical information is fairly accurate and is easy to guess, rest of the information is overstated by a mile (I wish it were true, though!). Case in point: Average income of iKolam visitor. The stated figures might be true if iKolam was meeting point for investment bankers and not kolam/rangoli enthusiasts! It looks like they took samples of visitors from Fredericks, MD and San Jose, CA only. Even then, that would not be true in most instances. The explanation on how they might have figured out the annual income is interesting. Looking at the source of the information, I could guess where this is coming. This is most likely from Alexa or similar browser extensions. They do ask for age/income (optional) as part of the installation. Even though we collect some demo graphical information (optional, again), we don't share *any* information with any 3rd party. So, even we would not really know where most of our visitors are coming from (apart from what we can all guess).

While in the very early days I experimented with premium membership as a way to fray the hosting expenses, I discontinued it as it did not make a huge difference in those days. But with the growth of members and visitors to the site, it has become imperative that we spend more and more on resources. I have to limit the space for users so that I can accommodate everybody. I wish I could offer lots of space to everybody like Flickr.

iKolam is a labor of love. Running a site like iKolam requires lots of time and effort. In the recent past, administering and managing iKolam has been so consuming that I have not had the time to do even a site make over which I have been planning for more than a year now. While for the most part visitors are courteous and respectful and genuinely want to use/learn from the site. Fighting spam and a few rude members on every day basis does take a toll. And I had to battle couple of nasty episodes (and continue to) which can't be discussed publicly That's why I decided to hang it up and take a break from the administering duties. I hope to return back to creating/enjoying kolam/rangoli works in the near future.

The web is changing in subtle ways. The fremium model is taking hold (e-g linkedin.com). The notion that the web is free is slowly changing. Sites like WSJ.com have never given away anything for free. Even NyTimes is beginning to raise a paywall. Loyal visitors are the first ones to open up their wallets. iKolam is no different. I would need your support too, so that I can run this site for ever (if there is such a thing!).

I have not solicited advertisement/support from companies for want of time and I have hesitated to ask members for help as well, all these years. I might have given a wrong impression that iKolam makes oodles of money and hence I have not asked for help. Contests are always fun. But, it takes a lot out of me both: figuratively and monetarily. I would like to run many contests in the future. Even though, I have shared the admin duties; I could not ask somebody to work for free, for ever, in good conscience. So, that is there too. And there is the space issue for many members.

We have learnt that running contests pulls in more users (new members) who in turn become loyal visitors and enjoy everybody's work. Irrespective of your location, we would like you to think about donating whatever you could to iKolam's prize fund which would be used to run more contests. Feel free to comment here or write to me personally.

I am a part of this Ikolam and enjoying (even though my contribution is very very less) everybodys kolam and enjoying lovely friendship.
I am waiting for the result and happy to be a part for everything.
viji

Dear Lata,
You are doing a fentastic work by making this ikolam a very good friendly and homely site.
We are here to support you and happy being a ikolam family member.
viji

Dear lata, I don't know how to express my views and thoughts in this matter.I think , you can understand my feelings about ikolam and you.you make our world happy .you give us pleasure, give space to share our thoughts.what to say?we love ikolam and thing it is a part in our life.Hope you understand our feelings.we never forget ikolam and ikolam friends in our future too.

Thanks latAjI! Of course, most of it is not unknown.

Thanks for identifying Frederick, MD as one of the richest areas in the US Do you know in the last ten years or so, this area's demography has completely changed. Maryland is dark blue state and today, this county is the home for a good percentage of illegal immigrants in MD like perhaps the San Jose area in CA.

Wall Street Journal is charging for a very long time. But then people who read WSJ are really rich, no doubt about it. But NY Times did it earlier and then discontinued as it was not profitable and is starting again. I don't think it is going to be successful. Any way, coming to the point, your idea of prize money is interesting. Shall I add a twist to it? There are many whose relatives (like mothers and sisters and may be even fathers and brothers) are / were interested in rangOlis. Those who want to commemorate the names of such relatives and friends, can donate toward the prize money and the prize may be awarded in their name for that particular event (like sarasvatI-ikOlam deepAvaLi 2011 prize). In this way, there is a big incentive for donation.

I know some groups administer in a particular way. As an example, the group's moderators are in different geographical regions like India, UK and the US. They know the general procedures of administration, moderation, etc. Whoever sees a message (or a kOlam here) uploads it. If it needs revision or change, they take the necessary action. Spams are also filtered in this manner. Thus the labour is divided and everybody benefits from it. This is another angle which you might like to consider. Since most of the viewers are from India, may be a computer-literate in India can play a role here.

Regards! - mOhana

Thank you for the response Mohanaji.

The major problem we face is regarding the space (gallery for members’ kolams). Space has never been free for us and it is starting to pinch. At current rate, I expect the available space to run out in a month or so. Unlike papers like WSJ, NYTimes, we are not trying to be profitable here. We are merely trying to survive!

I did think about distributing the moderation work to others. But unlike other sites which are heavily forum based, most of what happens in iKolam is image related. We might enroll the help of some of our members to moderate/flag the comments in the future.

The kolam/rangoli publishing work is an entirely different beast. I have managed to run this site as a family friendly site all these years (except for a very few instances of unmoderated nasty comments); the amount of filth (porn images) that I had to clean up on a regular basis is beyond words

The idea of relatives commemorating the prize money for the participants did cross my mind and we may consider it. From what I have seen, I know that more than half the participants in contests are first timers, mostly from India and are looking to win a prize. This expectation behind the participation has not changed over the years no matter what the contest is about. The major part of fun in participation comes from the expectation of winning something back and not “paying” for it (in the form of solicitations from relatives or charging an entry fee)

We are hopeful that our members will support us in this regard too!

I am not sure whether I was clear in my statement. What I meant was - if Mrs A wants to honour her mother sarasvati, A donates the prize money to ikOlam and the award will be in the name of A's mother sarasvati and is named as sarasvati-ikOlam award for that event, say deepAvaLi 2011. In that way A's mother is honoured and the ikOlam awards the prize to the winner in her name (sarasvati).

Regards! - mOhana

Thank u lata and happy to know that u might enroll the help of some of our members to moderate/flag the comments in the future...pl let us know in what way we can help u...we r here to share ur burden...

Thank You Lata for sharing about the childhood and the future of ikolam which has become another home for us. I should really appreciate Mani Sir for being the back bone of this site by supporting You both by monetarily and psychologically to run this as a successful and a still growing site. I can understand the amount of stress and strain you must be facing day by day. Now ikolam has spread its wings very widely and all the members are enjoying its fruits by getting encouragements for our arts. I (we) will be happy to join you to make this site more successful

Thank you Lata for your reply and happy to know about the working of this site. Please let us know how we can help you in improving this site.

Thank you Lata for your reply. Please let me know how we can support you?

Ohh, such a sensitive and important topic, i dont know how i missed this???!!!

First of all, I should say "Thank you so much Lata". This is a wonderful site which i have seen so far for kolam and happy to see so many new comers, Iam a member of this site for more than 2 years and got many friends even though i didnt meet anybody still. I too wondering about the working of this site thanks for clarifying this. I too want to extend my helping hand to join with you, please let me know in what way i can support to the growth of this site! Once again thank you so much Lata!

Dear Lata,
It is nice that someone has opened this topic. I have become a member of your site recently. Basically I am a maharashtrian. When I was small I had a tamilian neighbour because of which I bacame aware of this rangoli pattern-the kolam. As regards the current situation I have a rangoli drawn in front of my house everyday-an apartment kolam. My neighbours always appreciate my work and wonder how I can manage such a different style of rangoli because for we maharashtrians rangoli is usually a dotted rangoli or at the max a freehand. This is all because of ikolam and I almost log on to your site everyday. I have my own collection of the designs which I hand draw into my book. Certain things like the kuzhal and its use are very new to me. Infact I have asked for it in quite a few shops in Thane where I live but havenot got it. It is nice that atleast the above topic made me write to you which I was debating for very long.
Thanks
Meenal

Lata and friends, sorry for the break. I was kept away from ikolam for the past 2 weeks due to some unavoidable priorities.
An important topic is discussed here and sorry for not able to give my views earlier. Just now I finished reading fully all member's views.
Lata, ikolam is like a family. Nice that you are discussing the matter with all the members. I can only now tell you that whatever way you decide to develope this site I will support you. We all know how TIME is precious and equal to MONEY.So the time spent and hard work done must be compensated in someway or other.
rajamma

hai lata thanq for ur reply n Please let us know how we can support you ? suguna murugesan