Here’s another idea- for a fee ($20?), you can get your name on the dedication page for Cecil’s next book or something like that. Technically, it’d be a purchase, not a donation, and it’s one that shouldn’t cost the Reader anything to impliment. I have absolutely no idea if this is feasible or not, but maybe it’ll help.
Before we get to another book we gotta empty out the warehouse first – we’re slopping over with too much of all the old ones.
But keep them good ideas coming, please!
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
How about a Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, or a Daddy DeepPockets program, or an Adopt-A-College-Kid program, or a Straight Dope Marshall Plan for the exchange-rate-challenged, so posters who are flush could chip in towards the continued participation of the worthy but penniless?
Dibs on Guinastasia, P-landgirl, and Ice Wolf. 
[sub]sorry if somebody already suggested this–I don’t feel like going back through all 3 pages to check[/sub]
Aw, DDG-you’re SUCH a sweetie!
I still say sell out Cecil’s extra books with autographs and stuff.
DDG – you sweetheart! Wow. Thanks a bunch.
“Worthy but penniless.” I’m blushing. :o 
I’m blushing too.
Hmmm, “worthy but pennyless” is almost good enough for a sig.
Of course, I’d probably be more “worthy” if I knew how to spell “penniless”
As wrenching as it would be to see the board go to a subscription basis, I also understand that the money has to come from somewhere. I think that some really cogent and appropriate arguments have been made concerning content and treatment of subscribers versus nonpaying users. The points made by kabbes about the Reader’s answerability to individuals and participants complicating things are well framed.
I for one, am willing to subscribe but would rather see a voluntary contribution system. The administrators need only start a pledge thread to assay the level of support available from the SD faithful. The paid banner concept works for me but is admittedly messy to implement. It would be quite easy to establish a voluntary subscription plan such that donors would still sign up to the same exact terms we agree to currently. Part of the agreement need only to specify the nonrefundable aspect of your donation (because it is a donation, not payment for services). I would hope that management would be willing to try out a PBS style policy of open broadcasting and individual contribution before it resorted to a commercial subscription model of operation.
My 2¢,
Chris
PS: Since the Adiministrators are reading this thread I am obliged to recognize the superb quality of these boards. I have yet to see any dire abuse of power by all of the regulating bodies here and it is gratifying to participate in such a very decent online community.
Maybe paid members get a free spell checker:)
I forget who posted it (and I’m not going back since I was lucky enough to get this screen to load), but I really like the idea of restricting access by forum. Here’s my vision of it:
- Keep ATMB, GQ, and (maybe) GD Free. About this MB is important information necessary to board administration, and General Questions (even moreso than Great Debates) is totally in the spirit of Cecil’s column. It exemplifies the purpose of the Straight Dope, and is the open line to the world for incoming questions and new victims^H^H^H^H^H^H^H ahem members.
GQ and GD would be the gateway drug, so to speak, that causes innocents like me to turn into full-fledged board-junkies (I include GD because that’s what actually hooked me and made me register).
-
Keep read access to MPSIMS and IMHO free as well. This way people can get a feel for the personality and the social aspects of the community, and they will also have an incentive to pay so that they can participate in all the nonsense.
-
charge for posting privileges in MPSIMS and IMHO. These are the really high-traffic and low signal-to-noise ratio forums, with lots of chatter and meaningless drivel (plus some good stuff). So if you want to waste bandwidth chitchatting in those forums, you have to pay for what you use (a yearly fee).
-
Posting AND viewing privileges in the BBQ Pit would be included only to paid members. This area has distasteful and [im]mature, volatile content, and a paid membership would keep visitors from seeing (or participating in) the more seedy side of our community.
In summary:
To READ or POST in ATMB, GD, or GQ, registration is free for unlimited use.
To READ MPSIMS or IMHO is free for unlimited use.
To POST to MPSIMS or IMHO requires a paid membership.
To READ OR POST in the Pit requires a paid membership.
Whaddaya guys think?
While I like the idea of trying cutting down the posts per page (and maybe making the default lookback 6 or 8 hours at times) there is one way we could keep most of the international flavor…
Congestion pricing.
Let’s face it, the big jam is during the US business day. Maybe have that a members only time. Only paid members can post, or maybe even read. For the most part, the Europeans and Asians aren’t clogging the board during the US day, we are. We should pay the freight. The additional server is going to be underutilized at midnight, when the Australians are on. Why make them pay? Give a ride to those who use it in “off hours”. They’re not why we need more bandwidth. We are.
While I like the idea of trying cutting down the posts per page (and maybe making the default lookback 6 or 8 hours at times) there is one way we could keep most of the international flavor…
Congestion pricing.
Let’s face it, the big jam is during the US business day. Maybe have that a members only time. Only paid members can post, or maybe even read. For the most part, the Europeans and Asians aren’t clogging the board during the US day, we are. We should pay the freight. The additional server is going to be underutilized at midnight, when the Australians are on. Why make them pay? Give a ride to those who use it in “off hours”. They’re not why we need more bandwidth. We are.
(BTW, if I doublepost, it’s because this is timing out… )
While I like the idea of trying cutting down the posts per page (and maybe making the default lookback 6 or 8 hours at times) there is one way we could keep most of the international flavor…
Congestion pricing.
Let’s face it, the big jam is during the US business day. Maybe have that a members only time. Only paid members can post, or maybe even read. For the most part, the Europeans and Asians aren’t clogging the board during the US day, we are. We should pay the freight. The additional server is going to be underutilized at midnight, when the Australians are on. Why make them pay? Give a ride to those who use it in “off hours”. They’re not why we need more bandwidth. We are.
(BTW, if I doublepost, it’s because this is timing out… )
Here’s another suggestion. Instead of requiring paying to maintain membership, you could sell the ability to edit one’s own posts. You can do that for individual posters in vB, correct? Perhaps you could get the money you need from that, and wouldn’t have to impliment paid membership.
I just started a poll thread over in IMHO:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=70966
Would you pay $25 a year? Cast your vote. (Preferably at a low-traffic time of day.)
I’m thinking we should add a surcharge for duplicate posts:)
It seems clear that the Chicago Reader cannot accept donations of any kind, be it money or equipment. Obviously subscriptions would be a difficult choice to make, would change the flavor of the board, and there are no guarantees it would work. However, there seem to be a plethora of people who do indeed wish to contribute, so what’s the solution? Business - chalk me up as a strong supporter of us, the users, buying banner ads. The Reader therefore is not taking donations and is instead selling ad space (which, ostensibly, is what is supposed to be keeping this board afloat in the first place), and those who wish to contribute in order to help keep the SDMB free can do so, plus get a little perk of their own banner ad in the process.
So, Ed, what is the going ad rates for banner ads, or can that be found on the Chicago Reader’s home page? (I’ll go check it out.) I, for one, would be more than happy to purchase a banner ad, and I even have a product I could sell (a friend just had a book published, so any advertising is good advertising).
Frankly, this seems to me to be the most reasonable solution, at least until we see who, actually, would pony up the dough for the ads. If at that point, and after trying some of the suggestions posted herein to speed up access, the need for money remains, maybe then the topic of subscription should be raised again.
Esprix
Esprix, you can find the ad rates here.
One problem is that the on-line ad rates are based on per thousand views, which may be fine for someone trying to reach a mass audience but may be complicated for a user wanting to spend $20. Maybe the could come up with a separate system for user ads on The Straight Dope website.
The only problem I see with it, is that the banner ads themselves use up bandwith, so it’s watering the money down a little bit.
Could someone with some internet knowledge let us know how much it costs to run the actual ad?
Maybe there could be different prices if you are not selling anything, or link your ad to a non-profit organization.
I guess the Chicago Reader would have to make some hard choices on what sites are acceptable to link to.
I could see everything from HCI to the NRA, The Christian Coalition to Gay Pride Groups and Planned Parenthood to the LBMB.
Personally, it would increase my experience to post on a forum where you could get hit with an ad from any random political view.
All of those organizations can buy ads right now, so what difference would it make if someone bought the space and donated it to them? No matter what, the Chicago Reader has to approve the ad anyway.
Here’s what I got from the link:
All well and good, and within the price range that has been discussed (have your banner ad hit 1,000 times in 12 months, say, or something similar).
I also agree with the idea of the Reader coming up with a special non-business category of ads, say $X.00 for a banner ad for 12 months on the SDMB only, but it’s text-only or something like that.
It’s a thought - money’s money, after all…
Esprix