One night a few years back, a friend of mine called to invite me for a drink -- he'd been in the bar a couple hours already. He talked about his plan to leave his firm to join another, and about how he'd spent the past few days photocopying client records and taking important databases with him for the purposes of keeping track of the old clientele. "Gotta stop by the office for a sec," he said as we walked through the windswept downtown streets.

A "sec" would actually be a few minutes, since we'd be riding up to the 46th floor. We stepped into the elevator. The doors closed. He pulled out his evening access card and punched 46. Nothing happened. The doors opened. A security guard asked to see his ID. Then he confiscated the access card and asked us to leave. Technically speaking, my friend had not been employed there since that morning, and the company didn't look too kindly on the idea of him taking his old clients with him.

For some reason, the recent shutdown of Go.com, and along with it, the sudden disbanding of its volunteer-edited directory, the Go Guide, reminded me of that story. The human "content judges" who have been the driving force behind large Internet indexing projects like The Open Directory Project (ODP), Zeal, and Go Guide - have been vital contributors to the Internet user's navigational experience, and as such, creators of tangible and intangible forms of value.

Where have all the Go Guides gone?
So the interesting question immediately after the Go Guide folded was "where would those loyal and active guides go?" After all, they could be an asset to another, more active company. In a business like insurance or dentistry, a client list can be the lifeblood of a practice. You can, in fact, sell a client list. But as Disney found out, a list of volunteers is a bit harder to sell than a list of clients. For one thing, volunteers are not the types of people who enjoy being bought and sold.

So the question became, where would these intrepid and tireless netizens go to ply their trade? Would they simply join the ranks of the Open Directory Project? Certainly, some have, but ODP is well-entrenched, and its application process requires applicants to wait for approval. Many former Go Guides wouldn't want to wait around, and the ODP has not had a huge incentive to woo the Go Guides. Of course many volunteer editors have already worked for two or more of the major volunteer directories (ODP, Hotrate, Zeal, and Go Guide).

Some displaced Go Guides have decided to start up their own site at http://www.goguides.org. But they'll face a tough road trying to go it alone. The GoGuides.org mission statement reads:

"GoGuides.org is a virtual community made up of people from all over the world brought together by a common goal: to build a directory of the highest quality that gives each and every member a voice in its construction and operation. Committees will be formed to oversee such daily operations as web design, internal problems, html editing , the prevention of spamming and the handling of complaints ... Together we will work to make this directory become known, not only for it’s [sic] dedication to the highest quality, but for the value and importance it places on each and every individual member."

Wherewithal Editors "Own" their Categories
But according to Steve Thomas, CEO of directory infrastructure startup Wherewithal (http://www.wherewithal.com), the majority of active Go Guides have taken up residence as category owners, or "CO's," at Wherewithal. Wherewithal offers an interesting advance on the concept of a human-edited directory. Participants work on their categories in a relatively decentralized way, and do not "rise through the ranks" of a hierarchical system as with ODP or Go Guide. And short of behavior which contravenes the criminal code, editors cannot be fired for misbehaving or "improperly" categorizing content.

Wherewithal is also developing a custom directory product (http://www.wherewithal.com/pb/) for webmasters who wish to design a custom portal around a topic-specific directory.

Another key difference with the Wherewithal concept is that instead of expecting its volunteers to work for free, it rewards them with a revenue sharing plan - a plan which is clearly banking on a strong rebound in the advertising market. Thomas argues that in spite of the advertising market’s decline, the total revenues from page views associated with the Yahoo and ODP directories still makes this a lucrative market. By any standard, it's still a big pie for the companies who serve up the lion's share of the category-based search traffic.

But most joining Wherewithal's growing ranks of category owners are realistic about the advertising revenue share they can expect to make from category editing. Chuck Vining, an ex-ODP editor, is an active presence as the Wherewithal category owner for Computers & Internet. Vining is also an editor at Zeal (now part of LookSmart) and a restaurant guide called ChefMoz. In his editorial roles, Vining always goes by the handle "Spock," and has been known to issue playful warnings of giving "the Vulcan neck pinch" to unruly message board participants. Vining admits there is some attraction to the Wherewithal revenue sharing plan.

"The prospect of being paid for what I do elsewhere certainly has its attraction," says Vining. "I don't think there is anyone who would refuse to accept a fair income for their fair efforts. There is also the very real possibility of having income earned transferred to a charity of your choice."

Imagine the freedom
Wherewithal Chief Evangelist David Prenatt is finding that the motivation for many recent additions to the ranks of category owners has not been the revenue sharing plan per se, but has rather stemmed from what Prenatt refers to as the "freedom and self-determination" of being a category owner. CEO Thomas echoes this sentiment: "In our system, COs know that insofar as they have made a useful contribution, they are going to make money from it, not Disney or AOL. A lot of our COs don't expect much revenue at all (I think they are wrong--just look at ODP's numbers), but they get a pride of ownership out of Wherewithal."

A safe place to fuel an "editing addiction"
Editor Anthony Larsen, a web consultant and designer from New York, was relieved to find an outlet at Wherewithal for the "editing addiction" he developed while working hard as a Go Guide. "The kind invitation made by David helped ex-Guides feel more comfortable," adds Larsen.

Bruce Stone, an active editor and veteran of ODP, Zeal, Go Guide, and Hotrate, is also optimistic about Wherewithal. "I am very impressed with Wherewithal," says Stone. "I foresee a promising future for it; of course I thought the same for the now dormant Zeal."

Editors seem to have a diverse and unpredictable set of motives for volunteering. Phil Carta, operator of a travel-related e-commerce site, was an active Go Guide, but admits "there's no high-minded ideals in doing this. I just find it fun to do. After a hard day, it is actually therapeutic to sit and edit for 30 or 60 minutes."

"GO also had the advantage of being a wonderful sitcom," adds Carta. At least at the end when there would be a daily blow-up over some matter, sometimes warranted, sometimes not. It made for good reading and the next installment, over the morning coffee, was usually fun."

Carta also notes that he has taken an interest in Wherewithal’s Custom Directory product and "will be creating a few [custom directories] as adjuncts to my main business interest related to tours in Africa."

Whatever their motivations or aspirations, many former Go Guides have come to Wherewithal with high hopes. Thomas believes that Wherewithal "is now home to all of the top ten Guides," and estimates that 200 Go Guides in total have joined Wherewithal, 120 since the Go.com shutdown announcement, out of a total of what one top Guide estimates to be 300 "active Go Guides." (Go had been citing a figure in the tens of thousands for the "total" number of Go Guides.)

Not all have been interested, admits Thomas: "I think David's invitation was received well by the Guides themselves, but there was some sour grapes on the parts of certain forum moderators who knew that our timing was perfect." Yet the two most active Guides are already becoming Wherewithal devotees. Cindy Crowe, a former senior-level Go Guide who edits at Wherewithal under the handle TX_Lady, has emerged as something of an informal spokesperson for the Go volunteer emigrants, and has been active as an editor and in Category Owner forum discussions.

At this point, the recruitment of editors doesn’t seem to be a problem. The larger concern may be getting down to working on improvements to Wherewithal’s unique category editing platform, search technology, and custom products. "Recruitment is clearly becoming viral," says Prenatt. My biggest concern at this moment is not whether the community will grow as much as it is getting ready for our initial product release."