Time to lay the cards on the table.  I�m the person who hassled Ian till he posted a donations reminder.

We were just talking and shooting the breeze last night when the subject turned to the MAACA site.  I was truly shocked when he told me how much it costs to keep the site running.  I was also a little embarrassed when I found out how little of this amount was paid for through member donations.

Which brings us to Ian�s dirty little secret; he�s still living under the delusion that this is a private house party and that it�s his obligation alone to pay.  How absurd!  Tell me truthfully:  how many of you go to parties, that last 3+ years, where the host pays the lion�s share of the costs? Not many I bet.

The point I�m trying to make is that, assumingly, Ian has budgeted a certain amount of cash each year to cover his hobbies.  I�m not sure how much this amount is but I can�t believe that there�s a whole lot left after he takes care of the MAACA bills.  In other words, Ian is footing the costs of giving us a place to hang out while also supplying free classifieds. Call me weird, but this just doesn�t seem right to me.  Its time Ian realizes that he is supplying not only entertainment but also a service to his members.  Also, I see no reason for him to feel guilty for asking us to �kick in� to help keep the party going.

Like many of you, I have made donations in the past and even bought a T-shirt or two.  However, now that I know how much of a financial burden this has become for Ian I can�t help but feel guilty.  For this I�d like to make a public apology to both Ian and the moderators for taking what they have given me for granted.  You can be sure that I will be sending another donation in the near future.

Furthermore, I think this would be the prefect opportunity for us to brainstorm a few ideas on how Ian can make the site financially independent.  We�re not talking about making him rich, just enough to cover the yearly bills; insuring MAACA�s future well being without Ian having to sell off all of his pins to cover the costs of the site.

Example:
I know how opposed Ian is to making this a �pay per view� site but I see no reason why it cannot have a 2-tier membership.
Teir-1. (Free membership): Which would allow reading, (and maybe posting) to only limited sections of the site. (I.e. Make the Classifieds section off limits to free members).
Tier-2. (Full Membership): Earned by paying yearly dues. Would allow full access and posting to all sections of the site.

If anybody else would like to share some ideas please feel free to post them here.

Also, for the record, the above views and comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Ian or the moderators.  If you have any complaints or issues with anything I�ve said please PM me in private.  I see no reason to involve Ian or the others; they have enough things to worry about already.

Sorry to be such a buzz-kill but I just had to get this off my chest.
Thank-you
Adam

I think if we were told how much it costs to run the site then appropriate donations would be made.  I don't like the tier idea..  How can we buy machines if the only guys that post there are the few paying members..

Mike

I'm gonna have to agree with MrMikeman, a tiered system is just going to slowly break the place down...since it's a community we should know what goes into making it a community.  Perhaps then some folks might be able to apply their abilities in many different ways?  I think if we got an idea about traffic/costs/requirements we might be able to do something effective to help spread it out more evenly and not require Ian to shoulder the responsibility.

It stays free. Period. Non-negotiable.

It is costly in time more than money. Since MacPhreak doesn't take a single dime to run the website, webcosts are limited to about 150$ a year. Other costs like meeting items (trophies, prizes, bla blah...), t-shirt financing (paying to have them made before selling) and other surrounding costs equal to about 700$. Make it 300$ with all the shirts sold. That, and I put in about 20-25 hours a week making sure it all runs smoothly and answering questions sent by PMs. JD puts in a lot of time as well.

As for making the site self sufficient, I should have something in the next few days/weeks. It will probably mean having a banner up on the site, but then again it will be approved by all admins first.

As I understand Adam's point, keep in mind that I do enjoy it all so much and it has given to me much more than I have put into it.

Simple as that!

I don't think there should be any forced fees of any kind.
People should feel absolutely free to browse this site as they please.

That said, I'm sure we can easily make the site self-sufficient with
a yearly fund-raising drive.  (.... a-la-United-Way )

If we had a simple "thermometer" graph from, say, $0 to $300 (...or whatever ),
and just let people know that the yearly MAACA "fund raising drive" is on,
I'm sure people would happily donate to the cause.

Donations would remain anonymous, with perhaps the exception of a public "thank-you"
to anyone who donated $25 or more (...for instance) .
(if some folks can afford $20K+ in pinball machines, $10/yr won't kill anybody )

We could set a minimum fund target of say $300/yr, to cover actual costs,
or a higher target (say $500 ), to cover a few extras expenses
(.. and a yearly beer and pizza supper for the admins... !  

But like I said, the entire premise relies on voluntary, anonymous contributions
with no stigma attached to those who chose not to donate.
(...although, I get the feeling that most of the "regulars" would chip in at least a few $$$ )


Food for thought...

Keep up the great work guys...

cheers,
Steph

I have to agree with Steph about the "drive" or "goal" oriented method. I'm sure everybody that enjoys this site and the meetings and friendships as a result of MAACA would be more than happy to chip in whatever support they can afford.

Unfortunately tho in today's busy world, people need reminders and an idea or goal of what is needed in terms of support. I think the thermometer idea would be fun and get everybody thinking and because it's anonymous it makes it easy to give whatever is possible whether $, expertise in repair advice, hosting a party or sending a part in the mail to a fellow member who asked on the boards.

I appreciate all the incredible work that all the admins have done and given in both time and money but we are a full fledged community now and should be proud to help support our group and be able to support our group. The admins can then concentrate on the  nuts and bolts of keeping MAACA running smoothly both membership and website wise.

Just my 0.02
ME