Reading the responses in this thread gave me an idea. I’m a “guest” here with a join date more that a decade ago, and I really don’t give a rat’s ass about being a “member” of a message board. But I like this message board. I would not be adverse to giving the SDMB a touch of money. So here’s my idea:
Lose at least half the stickies on the ATMB forum. “How to search google”? Gone. The “Ask the…” anthology sticky? Moved to MPSIMS. Condense the other four in to a FAQ. There’s no reason to have six freakin’ stickies, anyway.
ATMB only needs three stickies. And three only.
1.) Statement of Purpose: Fighting ignorance, rules, guidelines, don’t be a jerk, etc, etc.
2.) FAQ: Technical questions: IP issues, malware, and the like
3.) Donations.
I will give 20 bucks for number three. Fold the “membership” privileges into the #3 sticky, because some people like those perks. I don’t give a rat’s ass about the perks, but hey, some people do, and more power to 'em. There should be a mechanism in place where I can slide the SDMB 20 bucks whenever I feel like it.
Think of it this way: Nobody gives money to NPR for the tote bag. Or, hey, a better example: The Humble Bundle. People don’t have to pay, but they do because there is a mechanism in place where they can pay whatever dollar amount they want to.
My price is 20 bucks (and an additional amount to be determined later on my own whim) for the SDMB ATMB to go down to three stickies and put a user friendly donation mechanism in place.
