Advertiser Free Sawmill Creek - Vote Now!!

[Elliott Cameron]

I am a nobody on this forum. RARELY post , infrequently browse. I get the impression that this place is a " Country Club " . If you keep it 'user-supported' the people who have the "contributor stamp" under their name will eventually start feeling that they 'own' the place. It is just a simple fact of human nature. Eventually the "BIG" contributors will start using their contribution $$$ to try to leverage their opinions on how things "should" be done and how the forum runs.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having woodworking related banner ads at the top of the page. They have a two-fold benefit.
1. They generate much needed $$
2. They are a source of info that some folks would might not otherwise know about.Special sales , discounts , clearances etc...

If this site does decide to be strictly user supported , then there needs to be a cap on how much each person can contribute to eliminate the possibility of people using their $$$ to influence things. Don't say it won't happen because you know it WILL ! Human nature. you can't change it.

What is wrong with advertising anyway ? I run a small "niche" business that would not be able to attract new customers without advertising. Advertising is the American Way. Capitalism....our way of life !!

Elliott

[John Bailey]

Thanks Andrew,

Welcome the support.

John

[Syd Lorandeau]

My contribution is in, no ads
Syd

[John Bailey]

Thanks Syd, much appreciated.

John

[Tom Quatsoe]

Normally I would support advertising, because the more $ available, the more functionality that could be added. However, the more I think about it, the beauty of SMC is in its simplicity. It is well laid out, there is a lot of data per page, it loads quickly, and there is significantly more info in the database due to no sign up costs.

My donation was just sent. Keep up the good work.

Tom

[Joash Boyton]

well-said........

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Normally I would support advertising, because the more $ available, the more functionality that could be added. However, the more I think about it, the beauty of SMC is in its simplicity. It is well laid out, there is a lot of data per page, it loads quickly, and there is significantly more info in the database due to no sign up costs.

My donation was just sent. Keep up the good work.

Tom

Thanks Tom! and BTW..........Welcome to the Creek! Thanks for wading right in!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I am a nobody on this forum. RARELY post , infrequently browse. I get the impression that this place is a " Country Club " . If you keep it 'user-supported' the people who have the "contributor stamp" under their name will eventually start feeling that they 'own' the place. It is just a simple fact of human nature. Eventually the "BIG" contributors will start using their contribution $$$ to try to leverage their opinions on how things "should" be done and how the forum runs.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having woodworking related banner ads at the top of the page. They have a two-fold benefit.
1. They generate much needed $$
2. They are a source of info that some folks would might not otherwise know about.Special sales , discounts , clearances etc...

If this site does decide to be strictly user supported , then there needs to be a cap on how much each person can contribute to eliminate the possibility of people using their $$$ to influence things. Don't say it won't happen because you know it WILL ! Human nature. you can't change it.

What is wrong with advertising anyway ? I run a small "niche" business that would not be able to attract new customers without advertising. Advertising is the American Way. Capitalism....our way of life !!

Elliott

Elliott...........I beg to differ.............The owner of SMC is, in fact, Keith and Jackie Outten.....they own the equipment and software and have for a couple of years soley funded it. Aaron provides the free professional system administration. Recently Kieth stated he'd taken out a personal loan to fund next year's expenses. On the other hand, some of us feel it's not right that Keith, Jackie and Aaron foot the bill for the rest of us.

I personally don't like seeing the contributor tag after my name. I've been poor and know first hand what it's like to feel bad because I couldn't afford to contribute or even participate. Contributors have even had their privileges suspended here for violating the Terms of Service (rules). Being a contributor here really doesn't buy you anthing other than personal satisfaction of knowing you were able to help financially support this place and keep the Creek flowing.

[Jim Becker]

Elliot, I have to agree with Ken. Financial contributors are held to the same set of rules as all members at SMC. There have been a few people who have given larger sums, but it was through kindness and commitment to the community...they didn't receive anything more for it. Not even an SMC hat, etc...

[John Keane]

My contribution is in the mail. I would prefer to remain ad free.

[John Bailey]

Thanks John

John

[Tim Morton]

Elliott...........I beg to differ.............The owner of SMC is, in fact, Keith and Jackie Outten.....they own the equipment and software and have for a couple of years soley funded it. Aaron provides the free professional system administration. Recently Kieth stated he'd taken out a personal loan to fund next year's expenses. On the other hand, some of us feel it's not right that Keith, Jackie and Aaron foot the bill for the rest of us.

I personally don't like seeing the contributor tag after my name. I've been poor and know first hand what it's like to feel bad because I couldn't afford to contribute or even participate. Contributors have even had their privileges suspended here for violating the Terms of Service (rules). Being a contributor here really doesn't buy you anthing other than personal satisfaction of knowing you were able to help financially support this place and keep the Creek flowing.

well said ken!!

[Dan Forman]

I'v been away from the creek for a few months, but there is a check in the mail for my contribution. The main concern I would have about advertising is if they would want to have any say in content, that is, would they monitor us for negative comments about their product, and try to interfere in any way. I don't have any objection to the "pledge drives".

Maybe it would also help to try to clarify what having more money from advertising would mean to the site. In what ways could our experience be enhanced by having the sort of budget that could result from advertising. If we had some tangible advantages to weigh against maintaining the status quo, it would be easier to put the matter to rest. I didn't have time to read the entire thread, so maybe this has already been done, I just saw a few figures floating around that were pretty impressive, but not much on how that would be allocated, and how that would change our experience when we are logged on.

Dan

[lou sansone]

I would prefer SMC to be ad free. if I want adds, all I have to do is read my woodshop news. I come here to learn and share about woodworking, not to get pitched to by sellers. I think I can figure out how to spend my money without other folks help. keep the creek ad free

lou

[Keith Outten]

I'v been away from the creek for a few months, but there is a check in the mail for my contribution. The main concern I would have about advertising is if they would want to have any say in content, that is, would they monitor us for negative comments about their product, and try to interfere in any way. I don't have any objection to the "pledge drives".

Maybe it would also help to try to clarify what having more money from advertising would mean to the site. In what ways could our experience be enhanced by having the sort of budget that could result from advertising. If we had some tangible advantages to weigh against maintaining the status quo, it would be easier to put the matter to rest. I didn't have time to read the entire thread, so maybe this has already been done, I just saw a few figures floating around that were pretty impressive, but not much on how that would be allocated, and how that would change our experience when we are logged on.

Dan

Dan,

There are lots of projects, software and hardware that we could use here at SMC. A new server is in our future since the existing machine is 3 years old. Our System Administrator wants to add a second server and split our network load to improve performance during peak usage periods. Currently neither server is in our budget. We have an emergency fund that we will use to repair our existing server this year if a new server isn't funded. It would be prudent for us to replace our servers battery backup soon, the existing battery backup is a hand me down from Hampton Roads Online and the batteries are weak and only last about 15 minutes these days.

There are a number of vBulletin add-ons that would be very useful here. Aaron Koehl showed me a few that he would like to add which would add nice features to our existing software. I don't spend much time window shopping for software, when it isn't in our budget.

Recently several Members inquired about the possibility of restoring our chat server. A new chat server is possible as soon as Aaron upgrades vBulletin and a couple other operating system support programs. The vBulletin upgrade is in the neighborhood of $160.00. The chat software is free and the operating system upgrades are free but it will require some time and a system shutdown for Aaron to install and configure all the software.

Many of our Members know that Aaron Koehl is capable of programing custom software and could create modules for SMC. Although it would be nice to have slick features that no other woodworking forum has it is unreasonable to ask Aaron to provide custom programing for free. The very small fee Aaron receives each month barely covers his time to manage our server and forum software. I mentioned that Aaron and I were planning to create a new ShopTours module recently that would be very popular because woodworkers could build their own shop tour with an integrated database. This project is currently on the shelf, many of our Members hated the concept because we would have used advertising to support the programing and operational costs. If we decide to move forward on the ShopTours project in the future it will be a separate business venture for Aaron and myself and not associated with SMC in any way.

.