How should PriusChat be paid for?

Sounds so simple, but would it really be?

What if I only donated $1, would that be enough? Will I get the same benefits as the guy who donated $100?

What if I donated some ambiguous 'minimum' amount, would that be enough for a lifetime? Or does my 'paid subscription' 'expire' at some point?

What if I ran out of memory again, would I need to donate again?

What happens next year when the donations from this year 'ran out'?
Will this be a 'subscription' service then?

What about the original members, do they have to donate or do they become special 'members emeritus' who are excepted?

Will 'subscription' have to be prorated to some kind of date to make it easier to administrate?

What about....

See? Maybe not so simple after all...

 

how about a pledge drive?

you send a pm to every member, announcing that there is a pledge drive to raise money for the operation of the site. Let's say it goes on for .....the month of May. People who donate $10 get a window sticker. $25 gets you coffee mug. $50 gets you a t-shirt, and $100 gets you all three items. you could generate some cash, spread out some merchandise which is great grass-roots advertising, and you don't have to then limit some people on posting.

 

I say we vote him off the island.

Tom

 

Poor sport.

Tom

 

I say Danny is rich enough, kind and big hearted enough to allow the worlds Prius owners to enjoy the forum for free.

 

The most recent type of ad is a bit overwhelming, but it can be limited if you leave the browser on PC all day....think it only pops up if you enter PC.

 

Exactly. That's why I don't get all the hullaballoo about these ads. Compared to other sites, they are a non-issue.

Set up your little 30-second computer program if you like. I guarantee you that you'll spend more then 30 seconds a day administrating.. if not the donor data, then the customer service that will inevitably be required (because once you set yourself up to be a donation recipient, you are obligated to communicate with your 'membership' and 'membership' always has questions when there is money involved.

 

I paid Danny $100 I think a year after I joined. All I got was a thanks.

 

I'm brand new to the forums and it's a great board. It's active with lots of helpful information as well as great side talks.

I think a subscription would be great way to help out. I think the benefits already listed for being a paid member are great. I think an added monthly or quarterly discount to the pc shop would be nice. It doesn't have to be a huge discount but something to 'give back' as a thanks for paying.


iPhone ?

 

1) I may be blind but I fail to see StevO's authority on this board, he does not appear to be a moderator, founder, administrator, dinkum thinkum or bottle washer. Before I worried about the site's financial future I would want someone in authority stating there was a problem.

2) I searched high and low and there is not a Paypal (or similar) link anywhere. In fact the TOS explicitly denies there ever will be.

Terms of Service | PriusChat

3) I routinely and happily pay $50 to Ars Technica to hang out there. They have free technical forums with for pay (to post) political/social/intimate forums.

Ars Technica OpenForum

Ars Technica Premier Subscriptions

FHOP and environmental could be for pay, (I would pay good money not to see any FHOP threads, personally. Just think how few environmental trolls we would have for $50 a year to post)

If Danny thinks there is a problem, I would hope he considered adding some way to have us donate. I would hope that basic technical discussion remains free and that arcane social/political/environmental chat is the first to go behind a pay wall, if needed. (to post)

 

I still think Danny should pay us. Just saying...

Tom

 

Ah, you are assuming he gets those ads because he is forced to, I suspect they come up randomly and we have no easy way to point out offensive ads. Are Technica has a site feedback forum, where we bitch a lot. (I see at least 3 ad complaints on that Ars page)

Cohortes Vigilum - Ars Technica OpenForum

But we have no evidence we are getting obtrusive ads due to financial constraints. Nor do we know Danny is keeping them on once found. What we do know is that there is no 'official' way for us to black flag ads that are obtrusive. I speculate that Danny has no policy to discourage repeat offenses. Until advertisers are punished for obtrusive ads, they will continue to break site guidelines freely.

That was my assumption as well, that you started with your conclusions and went in search of 'facts' to back up your pre-existing conclusions.

I too have been a moderator, (live chat, structured live chat, threaded discussions, etc.) sysop, hardware provider for chat web sites. There are solutions available, as you say, I merely point out that until you know what the problem is, offering solutions is premature.

I think you are offering a solution to a problem that may not exist.

(In my time here, Danny seems to prefer to run PC as a one man show, and the site has grown to stretch any one man. Look at the folks trying to get feedback from the Prius Shop, as an example. More funds or different funding will not add more minutes to Danny's day, so may not solve any of Danny's actual issues. Or at least that is my observation.)

When someone in authority comes on and describes the actual constraints to proper ad presentation, I will be happy to eat crow and try to support the site, if wanted.

 

I agree. We do make all the content here. If it was not for the content there would be no priuschat.com

 

i also contributed $100 to be a platinum sponsor. to be honest with ya, its unrealistic to expect a lifetime membership in a forum that has very limited income options. an annual contribution at say 10 -25 a year is more realistic since upgrades are required and inflation as little as it is, along with MS bloatware all plays a part in increasing costs.

most of the options went away when a major server upgrade was required. but that was back when i could realistically read 80-90% of every post here. now, i could not even begin to cover 25% of the posts.

back in the internet boom times, i had a few websites with sponsor ads on them. granted none of them were anything like PC, but my issues were policing the banners ads to make sure i was getting paid what i was entitled to.