Maybe The Reader, or more specifically Cecil, makes the largest contribution to the party by attracting a quality membership. IMHO, what makes this scene special is the way the publicity department (albeit passively) targets great party animals - just take a look at one of those threads about ‘How did you find the SDMB’: Whatever else one may think, the audience for Cecil’s columns and books comprises intelligent, educated, inquisitive and humorous people.
The joint jumps because of the publicity department – that and the way the bouncers throw out the riff-raff.
And I don’t charge clubs for my dance floor exertions. I’m just glad to be there, have fun and to express myself. Sex in a toilet cubicle would be nice though.
This is one of my big questions too, the LIONsob and I decided years ago not to play with plastic because we saw too many people get themselves into trouble that way.
haven’t decided if I’ll pay or not. If its $20 I’ll probably stay and pay. I’ve been here for quite awhile now, but I’m not a heavy poster. $50 is not worth it to me. I’m not well known on the board, and have nearly zero friends, so I come here for mainly the content. I just don’t have that kind of money to pay for just a good read. If it’s over $20 I’ll at the most be a lurker, but I’ll probably not even look this way again. I’m not faulting the Reader; they have to do what they have to do.
Even if they don’t take money orders, In the other locked thread on this same topic Demo and someone else (was it SamClem? don’t remember offhand) said that they would be willing to let people send them money and then pay for it on their credit cards. Hell, if this is the only thing keeping people from paying then I’ll extend the same offer on my credit card.
No problem paying but I think I’ll lurk for a while* before paying to see what happens to this place.
If it stays the same or close I’ll pay but if it stagnates I’ll save my money for a DVD/PS2 game. 20-50 quid a year is worth it(hell I spent x3 that at a single Dopefest ;)) if it remains the great place that it is now.
I miss Hornacek too. And I’m going to miss Stockton even more when he leaves.
Of course, I’m in Laker-Country now, so it behooves me to keep my love for all things Jazz to myself.
If the board goes pay-to-post, I honestly see the number of new subscribers–people who’ve never posted before–plummeting precipitously. And that would be disastrous, because there’s nothing ignorance-fighting thrives on more than new blood.
Even more than any of the regulars leaving, this is the problem I see. The board isn’t the board without new posters.
I also meant to say (in my post above) a possible by-product of this development is significantly more publicity for The Reader and Cecil as, ASAIK, it’ll be the only general interest board to charge for posting. Good for their business, possibly very good.
Now, that might be seen as a cachet (given human nature) and attract interesting people from wider afield or it might mean every loon on the net will heading this way – either or both ways, it’s even more work for the staff.
It’s so very difficult what all this will mean but it could be a good development.
Honestly, LC, I can’t see that much publicity coming out of this. I could be wrong, of course, but it doesn’t seem newsworthy enough even to spark a mention in Slate or Salon. Where were you thinking the publicity would be coming from?
Since the other thread got locked due to length, this seems like the only appropriate place to respond to a reply directed at me from there.
Stoid, of course I read the announcement - I quoted directly from it. What kind of question is that? Really.
And nowhere in any of my replies did I say I have knowledge of their books or what it costs to run this place.
Here is my beef again, since I apparently haven’t made it clear.
When Ed says: "Have we considered alternatives?
<snip>
The Chicago Reader has a full time ad sales staff that has tried everything it - and you - can think of"… (paraphrasing) so now we’re forced to come to you, the members, or this place gets shut down, I consider that a lie.
They have not tried everything that I can think of, let alone every other alternative out there to making this a pay-to-post environment.
They have not.
And when they say they have tried everything, yet I don’t see banner ads on the SDMB, I consider that a lie.
As to the economics of it, I’ve already conceded that banner ad revenue isn’t as lucrative as it once was. But that doesn’t make it non-existent, as is evidenced by the fact that there are message boards out there that are being supported by banner ad revenue.
But again, let me reiterate - I’m aware that there’s a chance that the SDMB won’t be able to take in enough revenue to support the additional expenses it incurs, with banner ads alone. Some form of member participation might be necessary to augment it. If that were the case, as I said before, I’d gladly chip in.
People have been getting really snotty with the posters who’ve said they can’t afford to pay to post at the SD, and suggesting that they haven’t “tried everything” in order to afford it (such as taking 2nd or 3rd jobs, selling old CDs, etc.). Well, if y’all want to make that argument against the posters here, then it has to be equally applied to the owners here as well.
Do not lie to me and tell me you’ve “tried everything” when you have not.
I don’t see banner ads on this page.
It is FREE to register with Busrt Media and start having ads appear and it can be done RIGHT NOW to start offsetting some of the costs of running this place. It may not support it fully, but it’s a damn sight better than nothing.
RiteAid now sells pre-paid Mastercards. You buy the card for 10-20 dollars, and presto! There’s 10-20 dollars of available “credit.” You can’t use it in stores, but for on-line and telephone purchases, it seems workable. If you want to add money to it, take your cash and card in to RiteAid, and they’ll take you money and swipe your card, and you’ll have that much more available on the card.
Yeah, I’d say 20 bucks is about my limit, too. And 10 or 15 bucks would probably be more appropriate. More than that would be a strong deterrent to new members, I should think.
I’m a hypothetical lurker reading a thread, and I see something that sets me off, and I really want to make myself heard, but then I see a $30 fee to post? Uh, well, maybe I’ll just lurk a while longer.
(How much expense is there in running a message board, anyway? I don’t mind the Chicago Reader making some money off of me, but if I sense profiteering, I’m outa here.)
If banned members try to sign up again, fine, we’ll take their money…and if we determine that they are, in fact, banned members, we’ll ban them again. No refunds. Right now, we’ve got a core group of people who make snide remarks about the way the board is run, we find them, cancel their privileges, start the cycle over again. How many names do you think that they’ll register at even $20 a pop? To my way of thinking, THIS will be a great improvement of the board, and a major reason why donations or ads or whatever will not work. This is a cost of running the message board that is mostly invisible to the average poster. Sure, right now we are dealing with the problem, but at a tremendous cost in time and energy. Time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere.
I completely understand that there are people who cannot or will not choose to spend money to post on a message board, and quite a few of them are worthwhile posters. I’ll miss them. But something’s got to give. The Reader has been running this message board at a loss since day one. Resources are at their limit. This place was never meant to be a primarily social message board, but you’d never know that by some of the posters. Frankly, if ALL you’ve got to contribute is MPSIMS, then I won’t miss you. Yes, social posting is an essential part of this message board, and it’s a lot of fun, but it is not the primary reason.
There are lots of things that I’d enjoy participating in, if they were free. However, I have to decide where to spend my money, time, and energy. Each of you must decide the same. I’d like to play in Everquest, for instance, but I really don’t want to pay to play, since I would only play a couple of days a week, at best. I’m sure that I’d enjoy it, I just choose to spend my money elsewhere. I empathize with the people who say that there’s just no slack in the budget. Been there, done that, wore out the Tshirt. I mean, you KNOW that you’ve cut costs to the bone when you walk to the library, scan all the magazines for money-saving hints, and realize that you’ve already implemented all of them, plus a few more.
I have been speaking my opinion here, it is NOT the Reader’s opinion or even necessarily the opinion of the other moderators/administrators. But free participation is going the way of the dodo, people, and that’s just a fact of life.
Oh hey, I hear ya-just think the whole situation sucks, as I’m sure everyone does.
I’m just saying I’m sure there will be one idiot or two-look at SA-people paying just for the priviledge of posting goatsec and yu0=fagg0t!!!
A question, though, about Salon-I visit the site all the time, and I can read articles and such-and I’ve never had to pay. What’s the deal?
** Gadarene** – To some extent, I’m thinking out loud but…this is a new internet development and one that generates money.
To be clear: What’s being proposed here is a brand new revenue source – and that’s news for everyone.
I have no idea what that could mean for publicity (and to a large extent that depends on how The Reader want to play it) but a lot of new media people are going to find the STMB concept very interesting. Also, it sets the board apart from the rest so it’ll always be the one quoted as the exception to the rule…won’t it ?
But like I said in my earlier post, I think the consequences are difficult to judge but could be good for the long-term prospects of the board – however and at the same time, I don’t think The Reader will be a loser.
OMG!!! You Brits and your public sex-cursions! Been to any libraries lately, L_C? Ummm. . . If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to use the bathroom.
Pepper - You know, if you were to move back here to Utah, you could yell your love for the Jazz from the highest building AND I could have the pleasure of inviting you and your husband over for super (no pasta or rice or Top Ramen)!!! We need ya back, Hon!
I have now read more of the threads and wanted to add that again, even though I can and will pay for the privilege of posting, it is the fact that we will be losing people like Pepper that breaks my heart.
As I said in my analogy (or tried to say) is that even though it may become a luxury not everyone can afford (and as harsh at it sounds, shouldn’t be the Reader’s problem)those still here will be affected by those who can’t be. THAT is what I find sad.
As far as the smaller membership and the decrease in newbies, I don’t think it would necessarily be a bad thing. For the few of us here that came from the much smaller AOL board, you know that we had a great thing going with a very small fraction of the people.
Actually, The Well has been charging a lot longer. And they charge a lot, relatively: $10 a month last time I was a member. I would have stayed for the quality of the posters, I just hated the software and it crashed out my browser anyway, so it wasn’t worth it.
I know they’re still around, but I don’t know how healthy they are or what they are charging these days.
If the real reason you want to force us to pay to play is that it gives you more control, then at least be honest about it and don’t try to pass this move off as a last resort because you’ve exhausted all other revenue resources when you haven’t.
And I’m going to miss Stockton even more when he leaves.
Right now, we’ve got a core group of people who make snide remarks about the way the board is run, we find them, cancel their privileges, start the cycle over again. How many names do you think that they’ll register at even $20 a pop? To my way of thinking, THIS will be a great improvement of the board, and a major reason why donations or ads or whatever will not work. This is a cost of running the message board that is mostly invisible to the average poster. Sure, right now we are dealing with the problem, but at a tremendous cost in time and energy. Time and energy that could be better spent elsewhere.
Ummm. . . If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to use the bathroom.