Jahanshah Javid
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Looking back, looking ahead
05-Jan-2011
It's been an interesting day, to say the least. I'm very excited to announce that iranian.com has entered a new phase with the official handover of our former investors' shares to the new. We had a phone conference on Skype and went over the last details.
All I did basically was listen with mixed emotions -- feeling good about the wide-open possibilities and at the same time nostalgic about the past.
It's been more than four years since iranian.com became a private company with several Iranian-American and American investors bringing in about $120,000 to modernize the site. This included installing a content management system, implementing a new design and integrating some 12 years of content. It was a giant step forward. The most important was making the site more interactive with the introduction of blogs and comments.
With the formation of Iranian LLC, we became one of the handful of the biggest Iranian websites to become a formal company without the support of any government or institution. It allowed us to remain completely independent from any outside influence, essential for a free and open forum.
During this period, the company made enough money from ads, events and a one-time fund-raising campaign to cover current expenses but never enough to invest in major upgrades. And investors certainly never gained a profit. We were running out of options and falling behind other sites in offering new and better tools to our visitors while burdened with a huge debt to our investors.
About a year ago I began discussing the possibility of a partnership with a friend who had expressed interest in iranian.com on a number of occasions in the past. Over the years I've developed great respect for him as I watched him become one of the most successful Iranian-Americans on the internet. He's best known as the founder of IranianPersonals.com, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with, but he's also been a major player in several other internet sites and projects. A few months ago he started negotiations with iranian.com investors and an agreement was finally worked out.
So as of today I'm officially working with new partners. There are a lot of unknowns about the future but all that means is that we are open to any changes necessary to make iranian.com realize it's full potential. I'm confident that it will only become better, with better interactivity, more user-friendlyness, and hopefully some social networking tools. When will you start seeing the changes? I'm guessing over the next three to six months. Your input is essential. Leave comments here and tell us what you would like to see.
Will the site become more financially successful? I hope so. But that's not my area of expertise. I'm a journalist turned publisher of sorts. All I know is content. I don't understand money, business or finance. I did not read the contract I signed with the outgoing investors and didn't read more than a page of the new. Not very smart, nevertheless I've relied completely on trust. Show me a ten-page contract full of legal terms and my mind goes completely blank! I'm confident I'm going to be working with a good, smart, capable team and that's enough for me.
As much as I'm excited about the future, I'm sad to say goodbye to my old team who have been incredibly supportive, hard-working and full of good faith. I'm particularly grateful to my dear friend Kayvan who had the vision to turn iranian.com into a company and brought a group of investors who put their faith in me and iranian.com. He worked his butt off without earning a dime, especially in the past year as the sole manager of the company. My admiration for his honesty and professionalism increased tremendously. The man is as solid as they come with a heart of gold.
And I owe a big thank you to Wayne who acted as manager for the first two plus years, also without a salary or any financial gain. I learned a lot (although not nearly enough) from his efficient no non-sense style, great organizational skills and sharp business sense. We all loved his great sense of humor too, especially in the most unexpected moments of our serious weekly meetings on Skype!
Finally, my hats off to Foaad who did a tremendous job not only in implementing and maintaining iranian.com's current design but more so for caring so much about everything that went on here with great sincerity. In many ways this site has been his baby too and I know he will miss being behind the scenes. I surely will miss him and I hope I can always turn to him for advice and inspiration.
I am well aware that I share much of the blame for the fact that iranian.com did not become the financial success investors had hoped. After all, most of the ideas about how the site should be organized and maintained were mine and everyone put their trust in me. But I hope they can feel good about their part in building this wonderful, vibrant community that has made a significant contribution to the virtual Iranian civil society, if not the actual.
It's now time to build the future on lessons learned...
Enough talk! Let's do it!
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Iranian.com is
by jasonrobardas on Mon Jan 10, 2011 06:26 PM PSTundoubtedly the best iranian web site . I have nothing but admiration for Jahanshah javid , his insight and his relentless effort in creating a democratic medium for all to express their opinions freely .
I have a problem with the Farsi font
by Souri on Mon Jan 10, 2011 01:41 PM PSTEvery time I write something with Behnevis, I can't adjust its form here. There's no way to fix it in a good shape, neither in a coment nor in a blog's text body. Is it possible to make it in a way to support Behnevis font?
The good behavior of the people, warms our heart and make us thankful..... And the bad ones, just make us to recognize and appreciate the good ones!
Dear Jahanshah, please make your site more boring
by mitra northcal on Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:12 AM PSTYour site is too interesting with all stories, articles and poems, cartoons and political analysis, etc. You need to make it more boring so we can get more work done :).
Esfand jaan, :)
by Princess on Mon Jan 10, 2011 09:57 AM PSTActually, I don't have the adds, but of course I understand your preference. It was just a thought.
!Princess jaan I disagree استخفرلله!
Esfand AashenaMon Jan 10, 2011 09:47 AM PST
I think the front page is finally settled and this format works for a medium like i.com. The clutter are mostly the ads and you either have to get a software to keep them hidden or try to ignore them.
Personally I don't like the Iranian websites where you have to click on something just to "enter" and then a lot of other clicks to get where you "think" it may be interesting! I think you should offer what you have and let the readers decide where to click, not decide for them!
Everything is sacred
Another minor suggestion
by Princess on Mon Jan 10, 2011 09:36 AM PST... and others might disagree with me on this, but this is the designer in me speaking.
Is there any chance that the future homepage of IC can have a bit less but more selective information? I think decluttering the page and providing a bit more breathing space can make a big difference on the psyche.
Just a thought. :)
Ebi
by Majid on Sun Jan 09, 2011 06:03 PM PSTThe link you posted here is a perfect example of JJ's policy for inserting videos when he says "That's how powerful videos and images are. They are distracting."
Read his answer to my comment here!
Ebi jaan, seen over and over again
by Monda on Sun Jan 09, 2011 04:04 PM PSTSepaas be khodet va energiet for finding one example.
Ebi jaan; being able to delete some one else's blog?
by SamSamIIII on Sun Jan 09, 2011 02:58 PM PSTI reckon you agree ;:::))), how about it JJ, like veto system in UN you bestow certain rights to delete blogs aka clogs which one deems as blog-clog. very entertaining idea. Cheers!!!
Path of Kiaan Resurrection of True Iran Hoisting Drafshe Kaviaan //iranianidentity.blogspot.com //www.youtube.com/user/samsamsia
Anahid & Monda Jaan, sepaas......
by ebi amirhosseini on Sun Jan 09, 2011 02:36 PM PSTThat's the point,why waiting for sb else to do it,check here please:
//iranian.com/main/blog/darius-kadivar/knighthood-france-bestows-culture-honor-michael-caine
Ebi aka Haaji
Very Important Request!
by Monda on Sun Jan 09, 2011 01:31 PM PSTI second Ebi: Being able to delete own comment would be great. Thanks!
JJ why not just have a
by alimostofi on Sun Jan 09, 2011 01:01 PM PSTJJ why not just have a suggestion link permanently near the login.
One of the reasons we Bloggers contribute, is that we go to top for a brief moment. And then if you are lucky you might get on the selected blog list.
Most Iranian forums have died when admin or owners control the flows with stickies.
Ali Mostofi
//www.alimostofi.com
Ebi jan, if no one replied to your comment and blog not closed
by Anahid Hojjati on Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:21 PM PSTIf you insert dot in subject line and another dot in body of comment, you should be able to delete your comment or it will show as dot in subject area and dot in comment area until someone in IC admin deletes it. However, if someone has replied to you or if the blog is closed to any further change, you cannot do that. JJ, sorry for answering, correct me if I am wrong.
JJ Jooni
by ebi amirhosseini on Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:14 PM PSTman savaade computer nadaaram,but:
How about being able to delete one's own comment .!!??
Ebi aka Haaji
Small world, I have met Kayvan before
by Anahid Hojjati on Sun Jan 09, 2011 11:56 AM PSTSo it turns out that Kayvan is a friend of my brother and I have met him and his wife before. My brother even said that he has met you couple times at kayvan's place. It is a small world indeed. I did not realize this Kayvan is that Kayvan.
Your suggestions: Keep them coming
by Jahanshah Javid on Sun Jan 09, 2011 11:50 AM PSTThank you all for your messages of support.
This blog will remain on top of the featured list to allow more people to give suggestions on what changes/additions they would like to see. So far I've seen many great ideas.
Keep them coming!
JJ why do you keep this post
by alimostofi on Sun Jan 09, 2011 10:02 AM PSTJJ why do you keep this post up there above all for so long?
Is it because you know that the news about HIH Ali-Reza Pahlavi is far too dominating?
And what is the point of entitling the weekly update that contained all the news of HIH's death with something about Whales.
Nothing is sacred is the answer I suppose. Childish. You should be carefull how much you abuse the domain name of iranian.com that you own. You can't abuse it too much.
Ali Mostofi
//www.alimostofi.com
eyval!
by jigsawnovich on Sun Jan 09, 2011 06:01 AM PSTthanks to agha Jahanshah for creating iranian.com and to the investors for helping to upgrade it! thanks to Wayne and Foaad! thanks to all the advertisers. and thanks to all who contribute content and who comment on this lively website!
...
by Mola Nasredeen on Sat Jan 08, 2011 08:05 PM PSTانشالله مبارک باشه
1 more request: Make the IC search engine compatible w/ Farsi
by MM on Sat Jan 08, 2011 06:28 PM PSTfont and even other languages used in the site. For example, If I do a search for
مي دانيد قبر امير كبير كجاست ؟
which is a current on-going blog on IC, this is what is shown on the search engine:
مي دانيد قبر امير كبير كجاست ؟
and the message says: Your search - مي دانيد قبر امير كبير كجاست ؟ - did not match any documents.
The same search on Google site immediately finds
مي دانيد قبر امير كبير كجاست ؟ | Iranian.com
As usual, the placement of the mixed Farsi/English fonts can be improved too!
Thanks.
Thank you, JJ, Foaad, Kayvan and the rest of the team
by Princess on Sat Jan 08, 2011 03:44 PM PSTfor all your hard work and professionalism. Thanks for being so reliable. You all have made this venue one of my most favorite web addresses. I wish you good luck with all your future endeavors and hope we to get to meet in person and have a beer with all of you someday.
JJ jan, I would like to second the request for a "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" for all kinds of contributions.
Also as I had suggested before, it would be good have a system which automatically identifies repeat offenders and names and shames them in some sort of a chart somewhere on the main page.
Thanks again for being there everyday!
شریک جدید سایت
Nader VanakiSat Jan 08, 2011 11:18 AM PST
من میگم
Minoo66Sat Jan 08, 2011 08:03 AM PST
ما هنوزم باید هر چن وخ یه دفه بدیم تا بازم تو هی بکنی، یا دیگه تموم شد؟ منظورم پول و سانسوره!
you should consider opposite opinion in the new phase
by banu adibi on Sat Jan 08, 2011 07:42 AM PSTI hope this new phase make change in your opinion and make you fair in accepting others opinion who may or may not match up with yours. Be more considerate and open minded. banu
How is this going to affect the Editorial functions?
by Shazde Asdola Mirza on Sat Jan 08, 2011 07:01 AM PSTMr. Javid - thanks for sharing with us the changes in the Publishing side of the Iranian.Com functions. However, the other very important aspect of your Journal has not been addressed. Is it known how this take-over is going to affect the Editorial efforts at IC? Will appreciate if you can update us on that front too.
Inorder to progress
by J.S. on Sat Jan 08, 2011 05:54 AM PSTOne must:
1) One must embrace change
2) Take a few chances
I see someone progressing in 2011 :)
Mr Jahanshah
by amirkabear4u on Sat Jan 08, 2011 03:35 AM PSTnow that the investor is changed don't you think it is time the moderation of this site also needs to be improved. I do not think users should write any type of comments just because it is their blog space. I know from other users comments, I am not the only one who feels this way.
Thank you and have a good year.
Fairness and Equality in Justice
Dear JJ
by Pahlevan on Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:59 PM PSTI have to congratulate you for keeping Iranian.com independent. Iranian.com is one of the few vibrant pluralist Iranian sites that I know of. I've always loved the way you and your team run Iranian.com; the way individuals contribute to Iranian.com with minimal amount of admin interference and the way this site values individuals rather than collective groups which is more libertarian than democratic, and frankly much more free. I hope, with the help of Iranian.com's new management, you can take advantage of new technologies and make the site more successful ... but please never change this site's pluralist/libertarian spirit!
Cheers
It has been a ride.....
by KavehAhangarAdel on Fri Jan 07, 2011 03:27 PM PSTAnd I appreciate all the friends with whom I have had the pleasure of meeting virtually and exchange ideas. First, i hope with the new team the arts section would be expanded and place will be given to artists who can not be placed into the existing categories such as (painting, photography..etc.) maybe a category for cartoonists, graphic artists, plain drawings as I am sure there are many who are hesitant to put their work out there merely out of not fitting into a specific mold. Otherwise, i am 100% onboard with expanded social media interaction with other mega sites such as facebook and twitter. It will benefit Iranian.com and those who use such media. Secondly, I hope freedom of expression is not undermined, nor limited after the change over as that is the qulaity that attracted me to cross-posting my artwork here on iranian.com. thanks again.
If I want to be FREE I’ve got to be ME!
Kaveh Adel's Facebook Art & Humanity Page
......
by yolanda on Fri Jan 07, 2011 02:58 PM PSTAfter the new management team took over.....it has been hard for me to access IC......the system seems to slow down....several times, I could not access to IC at all......the message was that they were doing maintenance work.......or I could not log on to post comments.....today I had problem accessing IC all day, but I had no problem in accessing Yahoo and Payvand........it is strange! I hope the problem is temporary!
Thank you for everything! IC is very cool and magnetic!