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I get some of these questions a lot. Some of 'em rarely come up. But, maybe collecting the answers in one place will prove helpful.
Q: When are you going to post another update?
A: When I have time. Your patience is always greatly appreciated.
Q: I'm looking for "person X"...can you help me?
A: Ummmm...no. If the person you're looking for isn't on the list, I either: (1) don't know (or have contact info for) the person or (2) have been asked not to give out their personal information. A few people were listed and chose to remove their listings. I have to honor those wishes. Note that the chances are extremely high that the reason is actually (1)...not (2).
Q: Email to "person X" on the list bounces...what's up with that?
A: Sadly, people change their email addresses and don't always remember to let me know about it. The most current info I have is on the page. There's also a date associated with each entry that corresponds to the last time that person's entry was updated. If you tell me about the bouncing email, I can at least note on the page that the address appears to be bad. Other than that, there's really nothing I can do about info that goes stale.
Q: It looks like this list is too much for you to handle...can I help in some way?
A: I sincerely appreciate the offers of help but the list is being hosted on a personal web site as a personal project and I really don't see how that could fly. If I do end up abandoning it completely, the most logical thing to do would be to hand it over to the school and let the current students have fun with it. I may do that some day. For now, I'd rather leave things be.
Q: What happened to all the info that used to be listed for each person?
A: Prior to mid-2004, the page used to have a lot more info for people than it does now...things like marital status, names of children, place of residence, etc. At some point, the page hit a critical mass where it became nearly impossible for me to manage. There were too many things that needed to be updated each time someone sent their info in. So, none of it was getting updated. That was wrong. The best solution for me was to go back to a simpler list. I know the list was more fun to look through when it had that info, but I decided it was better to have an updated list with current contact info than to have no list at all. By the way, I did look into automating the updating process but people just don't pay attention when they enter their data and I had to go through each entry manually anyway. For example, I ask for the years attended and give an example (1978-80) and I get responses like: "10" or "Class of '75." Yes, the format checking can be programmed into the form but doing that takes a lot more time and effort than I had to give to the project. And then there are people who don't fit the mold...people who came and went, people who went from '80-'82 and then again in '86 and one more time in '89-'91. That doesn't lend itself to automation. The main problem really is people who don't pay attention, though. And, sadly, quite a few of those people apparently attended Nido!
Q: Why don't you automate the process?
A: See the answer to the previous question. There's also another thing to consider when allowing people to submit/edit their own info directly: spam. This is a personal project on a personal page. I really don't have the energy or time required to "watch" all entries and make sure the page doesn't get flooded with spam. And, frankly, some of you want to submit info that I don't care to host on my site. For example: too much personal info (I am sometimes floored by the things people put out there for everyone to read...they simply don't stop to think about the potential audience), links to your business interests (again, this is a personal site...not a place to advertise), shout outs to everyone you ever knew at Nido, etc.
Q: Why don't you add feature "X" or feature "Y"?
A: It would be cool to have a listing of everyone's current geographical locations. A map, maybe, showing where everyone's gone. It'd be great to have a mailing list for all interested Nido alumni. There are lots of cool things we'd all love to see. Alas, I'm not up to the task. Sorry about that.
Q: Why did you start the Nido Alumni Roundup?
A: As I looked through the logs for joanna.org in late 1997, I noticed something interesting. Quite a few people were finding my page by looking for the phrase "Nido de Aguilas." Since I went to high school at Nido for a couple of years, the name crops up on a couple of my pages. Obviously, people were looking for Nido. Whether they were looking for info on Nido or lost schoolmates or maybe something totally unrelated to "our" Nido is anyone's guess. But, it seemed just as likely they were looking for the school as anything else. So, I thought I'd offer a bit o' web space to serve as an informal Nido reunion area. And, boy (!) did it take off! If you know of other folks who went to Nido, point them over here so we can get them listed as well. You never know...maybe you'll find your long-lost best friend. Or, maybe they'll find you...but only if you register.
This page last updated: July 11, 2006.
URL: http://www.joanna.org/nido/faq.html