Huh? So why keep the Riff Raff out? What, don’t the Riff Raff enjoy “entertainment and occasional enlightenment,” or are they only stupid all the time? You some kind of self anointed elitist?
For that matter, last I knew, ArsTechnica didn’t use UBB either, but custom software of their own.
But some concerns of my own:
First, one month is far too short for a trial period. You can’t get a person hooked in a month. I went that long between my first and second posts. I would actually suspect that, in the long term, even a full year would work as a trial period. While most of the members of the board don’t stay that long, most of the traffic does in fact come from people who have been here a long time. The only downside I can see to this is that that would mean that the Chicago Reader would have to wait another year from now before the money started coming in. But there’s probably a workable compromise, say, 90 days.
Second, it’s inevitable that the payment structure will change in time, and it may even change to the benefit of the members. I think that the contract needs to be explicit that if this happens, existing members will not get a refund. That is to say: If Bob joins at a rate of $15 per year, and the next day, the administration decides to lower the price to $10, Bob does not get five dollars back, or a six-month extension, or anything of the like. I say this both because it would be a headache, and because of the slippery slope: If Bob gets money back, then what about Joe who joined two days prior? Etc.
Third, while I am not opposed to charter members getting a discount, this should not be reflected in any way visible to the masses (special title or whatnot). As other posters have mentioned, this would not only create an elite (inevitable with a subscription system), but it would create a permanently closed elite.
Fourth, I would recommend that there be some sort of scholarship program. This could be one of the items funded by the profits generated, or it could be built from donations by willing members. But there have been new members who are recognizable as an asset after only a handful of posts, and it’d be nice to see some official recognition of this by the mods. When it comes to recognition and awards, nothing is as eloquent as money.
Fifth, I would also like to see an explicit system for gift subscriptions. I see no reason why it’d be more difficult to implement than a direct subscription system, and it would be a lot more streamlined than passing each others’ passwords around.
No tip for you, Oh Uncle of Beers.
Actually, even though I actively support the idea of going subscription, having an open GQ seems to me a exceptionally good point. That’s where the input of casual users is the most important. Heck, I’d support free GQ and a higher fee for the access to the other forums, but I’m assuming all these models have probably been thought through.
Your absolutely right I pay the cold hard cash…And where does that cold hard cash coome from. Advertising and merchandising. But I still make enough after all the expenses to do the occaisional upgrade and spend most of my days reading silly questions and generally rummaging around the internet.
I’ll tell you if this model works you should approach the airline industry and tell them to charge the flight crews air fare as well, sure some pilots will turn up for work simply because they love to fly. I doubt that there would be enough to fly all routes but what the hell it might work.
Accuracy! How is accuracy going to be maintained in general questions? If I decide I am going to pay for a service is it going to be accurate?
Maybe but trust me undesirables can afford five bucks as much as anyone else. Or does riff raff refer to anyone who disagrees?
Actually thinking about the way this has been handled by Chireader as in giving less than a weeks notice but saying well we’ve mentioned it might happen some day. Think this may work to thier advantage with some people being so pissed off that they’ll pay the five bucks just to come back and vent.
But this isn’t a valid analogy. Airlines make money off the pilots and flight crews. Therefore they pay them, not the other way 'round. Airlines are a commercial venture. The SDMB is not making money off us, and is probably losing money if anything. They are hosting a service (which costs money to maintain) that we’re taking advantage of purely for our entertainment and enlightenment. If we all disappear, the Chicago Reader is none the poorer. If all the flight crews disappear, well, there’s a problem.
Or am I misinterpreting you?
$4.95 is about the same as a weekly Blockbuster rental. No problema with that.
I do wish to humbly request that this announcement appears as a sticky in other forums. Had I not read the “Goodbye SDMB (going to subscriptions)” thread in the Pit, I wouldn’t have known about the switch. I don’t routinely go into ATMB forum.
I do think that a 30 day or 60 posts, whichever happens first, is a better way for newbies to join. I also think that anyone joining should get a price break because I think $15 is too steep for someone who is on the fence about joining.
Um I thought I had given an example of how a forum can make money without charging the users, my example of sites making money through advertising and merchandising and still being able to make a small but comfortable profit. Especially when Ed writes that we are “a credit to the master” what does Cecil Adams stand for? Straight talking accurate answers? I just see this as double dipping. Maybe I’m wrong but we’ll see.
Ponying up the $4.95 isn’t a problem, but I might be in a slight pickle. During the 30 initial days, I’m likely to be in darkest Africa without any internet access. Can I use this an excuse to pay the lower price if I miss the cut price window?
Advertising and merchandizing and adds instead of paying a few $$ a year for membership?
I’m sorry, but
- do you realize how much work it is only to find interested advertizers? Let be handling its administration? Do you know what such a policy actually costs before you can speak of getting profit out of it?
- do you realize that one of the attractions of this message board is exactly that it has no advertizing at all = no banners, no flashing, pop ups, nothing that distracts and annoys you at all? To me it certainly is one of the reasons I looked longer then a few minutes when I first visited these boards and certainly one of the reasons I gladly pay any membership fee as long as I like to post here.
Salaam. A
Better yet, set up the payment scheme with a willing Doper (Hi, there!) to take care of it while you’re gone.
Email addy is in profile… email addy is in profile… email addy is in profile…
What about households with more than one SDMB poster? Do we get discounts or do we pay $4.95 per person this year and then the yearly rate for each user in the future?
I tried to read all seven pages first, but I didn’t see the answer. My apologies if this has already been asked and I missed it.
I’ve already asked that very question, Grace, but am still waiting for a reply. I would agree with Sofa King on the GQ issue, it’s an important forum and one that should remain available to everyone, guest and member alike. However, must you be so snarky in how you suggest/word/phrase/demand that?
Tapioca, I’d be more than willing to handle your subscription for you, since you and I have met a couple of times IRL at Dopefests. (If you’re not sure who to trust, or whatever. Besides, I just live down the road a piece from you.)
Couple more answers:
Will there be family discounts?
No. We figure a ten-buck discount off the regular rate is plenty.
How about a longer trial period, free forums, etc.?
We’ve got a plan and we’ll see if it works. If it doesn’t, we’ll adjust.
I throw another vote in for a free GQ if that’s possible with vb software. And maybe CCC/CMA (they’re low traffic anyway). This could create the problem of people posting non-GQ posts in GQ, though.
There’s an announcement at the top of every forum with the same title as this thread.
And I also vote for a way to have gift subsciptions, maybe something like ezboard’s “buy me ezsupporter” program to gift a specific person and/or their “community chest” program to donate towards whoever needs it.
30 days trial is too short in my mind, too. A year is probably too long, but 90 days (or even 6 months) would be good.
Why is everyone even debating this?
Do you really expect an administrator to read this and go “Oh no! <insert name here> doesn’t like the idea/doesn’t like to pay over the internet/can’t figure out how to use PayPal/whatever other lame excuse and is going to leave!” and get rid of the plan? :rolleyes:
What’s done is done - lets give it a shot and see what happens.
The fact is, I can set up email addresses, at will, and get as many free 30 day trials as I want. This plan is typical of true incompetency … and who thought you would see it here on the SDMB? I might even post an OP … nah
Apologies if this has already been discussed in this thread, but I’d like to suggest a significantly longer “guest” period. I think a year would be good.
The board’s greatest strength, in my opinion, is the constant influx of smart new people. I think a short guest period will prevent people from signing up and/or staying. The goal should be to get as many people to try it out as possible and give them time to get hooked. I would expect a lot of guests to sign up for full membership well before the trial period ends, as they realize they want the search abilities, post count, overall coolness, etc. that comes from being a regular member, so a longer free guest period may actually increase revenue.
The email adresses are irrelevant. As for the rest, I can also say “I can be banned and come back as many times as I want”. Yet, somehow, we manage.