What's up with Deals and Discounts?

[Howard Klepper]

Sorry to post this here, but the mods have not responded to my question, which is: Why have I recently been denied access to the Deals and Discounts forum? What do I have to do to get the decoder ring?

[Van Huskey]

Sorry to post this here, but the mods have not responded to my question, which is: Why have I recently been denied access to the Deals and Discounts forum? What do I have to do to get the decoder ring?

Become a contributor. $6 for a years access.

[Glenn Clabo]

Only contributors have access.

[glenn bradley]

Yep, a whole $6. I got my money's worth the first few visit ;-) Been a member ever since. I just auto-renew; not because I am dedicated . . . I'm just lazy ;-))

P.s. This is a recent change to better serve the folks who pay to advertise here, if I understand it correctly. Do a search and I think you'll find a few conversations as to the how's and why's.

[Mike OMelia]

Hey Howard... I have no idea... I thought the $6 was for the CLASSIFIEDS, not Deals & Discounts. Plus, I though you were a paid contributor anyways... didn't you try to sell your drum sander here?

Mike

[Van Huskey]

I thought the $6 was for the CLASSIFIEDS, not Deals & Discounts.

Mike

The policy changed in the last week.

[Richard Blaine]

Only contributors have access.

The new policy means us members won't be posting the deals or discounts we hear about.

I guess the contributors don't need to know about them.

[Dave MacArthur]

Or you could become a contributor Rather than taking an angry attitude against folks who've decided they like this forum enough to sacrifice one six-pack a year for it's continued good health. Like Glenn said up above, I believe the change helps support SMC's survival as a viable place for advertisers to spend $ and not be on an equal footing with non-paying companies posting ads in the discounts forum.

I just bought a FWW and a ShopNotes mag to read last weekend, both cost me around $6 each. They had 7 articles maybe, I was only interested in 3 or 4, and none of the articles were as thorough and informative as 20 threads I read here each day. I like to think I'm the kind of guy that will support something great that I enjoy with $6 of effort a year.

Everyone's decisions and situation are their own of course, but I sure can't see having an attitude because some other feller ponied up $6...

[Larry Rasmussen]

.................... you make someone that would come back again and again, participate in the deals board but still not cough up six bucks to help keep things running sound kinda cheap.

[Keith Outten]

In order for us to keep all of our woodworking forums open to everyone for free we need Advertisers and Contributors at this point. The Deals and Discounts Forum being open to everyone to post free advertisements was having an impact on our ability to market banner ads. Rather than close the D&D Forum we decided to restrict access, it is still here for everyone who is interested in becoming a Contributor and is still very active.

The annual donation of 6 dollars is just 50 cents per month, we felt that even a student could afford to participate at this level if they have interest and it is less than the cost of going to just one movie. We may be able to provide Contributor status to everyone for free, if in the future our Friends of The Creek directory is successful. This would be a preferred option however it depends entirely on the numbers.

Years ago when SawMill Creek was owned by Hampton Roads Online we provided the service absolutely free with no advertisers. We had plenty of bandwidth we weren't using and lots of server space. We had a network administrator who was paid by our Internet customers so we operated The Creek as a community service.

When our Internet Company closed its doors in October of 2005 the majority here wanted us to keep The Creek online. Our only option at that time was to purchase The Creek from our partners and sign a contract with a local bandwidth provider. The legal risks of owning a service like this one is substantial so we had to incorporate my sign business and transfer ownership to Northwind Associates to stay online. Given our growth since 2005 our expenses have continued to grow as well. If we hadn't transferred The Creek to Northwind it wouldn't exist today simply because of the personal financial risks my family would have to bare. Northwind Associates Inc. is a corporation so we have taxes to pay and people who must be compensated for their time. We have monthly bandwidth bills, annual software license fees, and hardware that must be replaced every 24 months.

My one-man, part time sign business cannot provide the funds to run SawMill Creek, so we need your help.
.

[John Mark Lane]

I've been on a lot of Boards in a lot of topic areas for a long time. I started doing this back around 1980, when "electronic bulletin boards" were the thing, it was text only, and monitors were monochrome. I have many interests, and have been active in boards related to music theory, piano, guitar, recorder and mandolin, leatherworking, backpacking, kayaking and canoeing, Golden Retrievers, old Jeeps, motorcycles and a number of other topics. I was also a regular on the old rec.woodworking, back when it was full of good ole Galoots, and also on the Old Tools listserve years ago.

This Board is one of the two or three best I've seen on the Internet. That doesn't "just happen", and it does cost money.

I'm always baffled when people criticize the decisions of the site owners or moderators, but don't feel any compulsion to make even a small contribution to the site. You pay for magazine and newspaper subscriptions. You pay for your coffee. These are not government subsidized services.

I made a contribution (larger than suggested) here soon after registering, and will make one each year (and probably more often). Happy to do it. Very happy to do it.

Thanks, Keith. Really, it's a top notch site!

[Dave Gaul]

My family didn't eat for a week when I ponied up the cash for SMC... but it was soooooooooooo worth it!!!

[Keith Westfall]

In order for us to keep all of our woodworking forums open to everyone for free we need Advertisers and Contributors at this point.

Keith,

It's too bad that you feel the need to justify your actions and decisions in running "The Creek".

If an individual doesn't feel it is worth $6 to access everything, then they should go elsewhere! The Creek offers WAY more than a meesly $6 will get you anywhere else.

Even for the cost of being a "Friend of the Creek" is cheep when you consider what you get.

Hopefully you will be able to keep up the good work we (and the freeloaders) will all be able to continue to enjoy. This is a top notch forum and worth every penny of the price of admission!

Thanks for all of your efforts to continue to bring it to all of us.

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Keith. Very well stated. I'm sure this will put an end to the complaining. I hope it encourages more people to contribute.

[Rob Damon]

Keith,

I agree with you on setting the site up for success. I ask a question some time ago and never got a response. Hopefully, someone can chime in now.

A few years back when found this site I became a contributor and instead of the $6 donation, I put in $50 to help for those that did not contribute. The following year at renewal time, I PM to ask a question,but I was a week beyond the 1 year time, so I hit the wall of "no responses to non-contributors". It kind of tweaked my feathers considering had I just ponyed up the standard $6 that year and last year and this year, I would only be $18 into the creek, instead of $50 and considered an "outsider-member". The $50 spent at $6 per year would have carried me through 8 years of "in good standing" with the community. But I got over it and moved on.

I hate renew yearly on anything. When I subscribe to magizines I always go for 3-5 year so I don't have to worry about it and when you subscribe to 8-10 magazines it become less to worry about.

So my question before and still is: Why can't we subscribe for multiple years or a one time " lifetime" member and have a designation as such. Personnally, I would rather (knowing that this is a great place and is here for the long run) pluck down a one time fee ( $6/per x 50 years = $300) and shoot you off a one time check, become a "lifetime" member and not ever have to think about it again.

Just curious. Thanks.

Rob