And here I thought we had a date to share some pie. 
ETA: Thanks for the update What Exit?!
Count me in if it all goes tits up. I don’t know what I’d do if this place disappears.
Of course we do!
That’s the “problem” with this place, so many nice people!
And thanks What Exit?
Aw, I love you guys! sniff 
I guess this means I should start saving threads now?
So who wants to buy the domain name “ifthesdmbgoesunder.org” and post updates on a coordinated move? There are internet gurus on this board that I’m sure would be willing to essentially recreate the 'dope on a new server. Of course, the payment would likely still be needed to pay for hosting. Anyone have an idea of the monthly bandwidth transfer of the SDMB so we could get an idea on pricing?
Ed didn’t say the board is going away and he certainly didn’t say it’s moments away from vanishing without a trace. It’s a scary thing to hear but let’s keep it in perspective a little. We’ve worried about the board’s future before and here we are.
Why don’t we take over www.boards.us?
I know the owners, registration is free, and no-one else is really using it.
Thanks for the reminder about the Facebook group…I’d completely forgotten. That was the first group I ever joined on Facebook.
I suspect Dopers will have a way of finding each other should the need arise. Let us hope that need never comes.
Wow.
I joined the board back on AOL in 1997. I can’t imagine not having it.
How can I find out where we will regroup if it disappears? Can we agree to edit the Straight Dope Wiki entry on Wikipedia, which does include a mention of the board? If we edit the link and a bit of content there, we should be able to regroup.
jali, PM me if you want. If we get tossed, I’ll probably be S the K or some variant thereof on Fathom.
I’ll be over at FFF.
I’m sure word will arrive there.
If we DO end up all having to move at some point in the (hopefully distant) future, I’ll be ticked off royally if some joker becomes Siam Sam before I can register. :mad:
Keep me in the loop if everything here goes to hell! I’m on the facebook group so I will check there first if I ever show up here one day to blank space on teh intarwebs.
Two problems rear their heads upon reading this thread.
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if everybody goes someplace different, it’ll be breaking up that ol’ gang o’ mine. In just the last few posts half a dozen replacement boards have been suggested, usually with “I’ll be at dorkweb.com” or some such. Maybe we need a thread to hammer out where we would migrate as a thundering horde. It wouldn’t be the same without both Skald and Bosda for instance. It would be…different.
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How are the busy and netstunned among us, such as I, to know which of the many boards to evacuate toward, without the techsavvy to guide us? Y’all knowledgeable types may want to look after us poor lemmings by figuring out where we should all evacuate in the event of an emergency.
I was always confident that my parents would resurrect me before they moved.
elmwood has set up a temporary home in this thread.
When the bankruptcy story first came out, Jophiel started this thread. The thread includes some info from Ed Zotti, as well as links to various stories. It also includes a post by paperbackwriter which seems to me to be closest to the truth:
Additional facts are now available that not only support paperbackwriter’s assessment, but which suggest that further turmoil lies ahead.
Creative Loafing had total revenues of $35 million for the fiscal year which ended June 30, 2008. They had total revenues of $3.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2009. In the bankruptcy case document filed in Florida on 10/13/2008 (PDF file here) they state that the $35 million in revenues covered operating expenses, leaving zero to pay interest or principle on the $40 million in debt they incurred to buy the Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper. There are two lenders involved, both of whom have claims on the assets of Creative Loafing in the case of default on the loans. Creative Loafing, according to the bankruptcy filing, did default on the loans. It appears to me that the Chapter 11 filing was a direct response to the default claim, to buy some time before the lenders could get their hands on the assets.
In other news, Creative Loafing is trying to sell one of its papers. Story here .
Given the state that the newspaper business is in, and looking at the debt, revenue and (non-existent) earnings picture for Creative Loafing, I expect that the ultimate resolution of this mess will be the end of Creative Loafing, with most or all of the papers continuing as independent papers or owned by the hedge fund that loaned CL $30 million.
Many of the paper held by the Fund will continue to operate, if only to project the idea that they are worth buying. True or false?
Oakminster!? Is that you?! Where the hell have you been? And what’s this “Guest” crap? I thought you joined up a couple of years ago and promptly celerated by being dragged into the Pit by a goon unable to appreciate that your gruff exterior covered a heart of gold!
Hey, everybody, it’s Oakminster! Welcome back, buddy!
On topic: I’m votin’ early to raise the registration fee to twenty bucks to keep the Dope alive. Come on, that’s less than two dollars a month! Today’s posts alone are worth two bucks.
I expect that all of the papers would continue to operate. That’s the only way they have any significant value. From the bankruptcy filing, the entire tangible assets (physical assets) of Creative Loafing are under $2 million, and they paid $40 million for two papers. The only way to recover anything close to the $40 million debt would be to sell the papers as functional newspapers.