Robin, please check your e-mail.
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Donations
- Thread starter Robin
- Start date
I wonder if you should wait a bit…for instance, I was planning to send a good donation next week after some money cleared on the old Credit Card. Maybe some other folks are in the same canoe.
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- Jul 25, 2012
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Robin, Well, I share your disappointment after you've tried so hard. I do have a serious question: Does running the site give you any pleasure, if money weren't an issue would you really want to keep it up?
I know you are one heck of a nice guy and I've always feared that because the site seems to give pleasure to so many others, you stepped into the breach and ran it more for other people than anything that it gives you.
IF just if, you wanted to keep the site up you've got this core of twenty or so, that is a base you could work from.
My contribution is coming by snail mail, when it gets there keep it to pay bills, don't send it back.
I would council taking a deep breath and not do anything rash. I'll bet that there will be a flood of ideas and thoughts prompted by this post. But what ever happens I'll always think of you as my friend and prize the things we've shared.
We will probably only meet over on the other side, but I'll look forward to finally teaching you how to make a proper pot of coffee!
Rob
I know you are one heck of a nice guy and I've always feared that because the site seems to give pleasure to so many others, you stepped into the breach and ran it more for other people than anything that it gives you.
IF just if, you wanted to keep the site up you've got this core of twenty or so, that is a base you could work from.
My contribution is coming by snail mail, when it gets there keep it to pay bills, don't send it back.
I would council taking a deep breath and not do anything rash. I'll bet that there will be a flood of ideas and thoughts prompted by this post. But what ever happens I'll always think of you as my friend and prize the things we've shared.
We will probably only meet over on the other side, but I'll look forward to finally teaching you how to make a proper pot of coffee!
Rob
What are your cost to date for running this site? Projected cost for the next year?
I e-mail family and friends, but it's never ever as good as getting together. This forum is as close to getting together around a canoe tripping fire as you could hope for, without actually getting woodsmoke in your eyes. I'll gladly keep in touch with friends here by e-mail, but it'll never ever be as good as getting together on this forum. I hope Robin steps back for a good long moment before closing this down. I'm disappointed he hasn't gotten more support for this site. Stunned.
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I donated, and that was the first time I ever donated to a web site. I signed up for another canoeing site (with a pictograph-like logo) some years ago, because it seemed like a good site and subscribing was mandatory. In the sign up process, there was no mention of cost that I saw. Then, I got an e-mail that said something along the lines of: ”
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On most forums I hate posts where people jump on bandwagons and give other people thumbs up and thoughtless points of view like 'I agree' in response but there are times when something like that is worthwhile, and I feel like saying 'I agree' to Dave's post.
I've never contributed money to a forum. I did once sponsor a certain individual who runs a forum only to have them bad mouth me in private messages, ban me, and then refund me the money. I never asked for the money, just an apology.
Anyway, I didn't contribute in the past, and I may not have understood the value of this place. I didn't hesitate this time. And I don't want my money back. If the site goes under, it goes under and I'll be sad, but consider the little bit of money I gave a contribution for past headaches. It's not going to make or break me. But if it's going to make or break the site, I'd consider another contribution.
I've never contributed money to a forum. I did once sponsor a certain individual who runs a forum only to have them bad mouth me in private messages, ban me, and then refund me the money. I never asked for the money, just an apology.
Anyway, I didn't contribute in the past, and I may not have understood the value of this place. I didn't hesitate this time. And I don't want my money back. If the site goes under, it goes under and I'll be sad, but consider the little bit of money I gave a contribution for past headaches. It's not going to make or break me. But if it's going to make or break the site, I'd consider another contribution.
G
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Robin, my check is already in the mail. If CanoeTripping shuts down please keep it to help offset the expenses you have already incurred. My time here has meant at least that much to me, and you should not have lost both time and money in a noble effort.
Yes. This hasn't been an internet experiment, or a personal pet project of Robin's. In my humble opinion, he saw a forum near it's end (due to tragic circumstances) and thought he'd rescue it for the sake of everyone and anyone who might value it. After the last 1-2 years, and after so many site problems (none of which were his fault) he persevered. Sure is a determined guy, eh? For a guy who humps a heavy canoe and gear for fun, you can't blame him for being stubborn and determined to see something through. Like I say, this site might've been under his care and direction, but Robin has kept this thing going for everyone and anyone who might value it. I value it enough to donate, and I'd better not get my $$ back.
To everyone who's donated, my sincere thanks.
To those of you who haven't, my sincere wishes that you would.
No bad vibes coming from me, just hopeful that's all.
"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot."
Joni Mitchell
Sad to hear the site may go under! Either way, I will be donating as planned, and do NOT want a refund no matter what...I don't participate much, but this site has been invaluable.
Even though I bought a canoe pole, I am not rich (despite what I've read on this site), so I have been waiting for a paycheck before I can donate. I can't be the only one!
Even though I bought a canoe pole, I am not rich (despite what I've read on this site
), so I have been waiting for a paycheck before I can donate. I can't be the only one!Robin,
Sorry about the delayed response, I saw this at work and kept forgetting about it when at home. I hope you don't let this site go away, I'm mostly a lurker but this is one of my favorite sites to visit. I just donated.
David
Sorry about the delayed response, I saw this at work and kept forgetting about it when at home. I hope you don't let this site go away, I'm mostly a lurker but this is one of my favorite sites to visit. I just donated.
David
Its only been a few days. Most folks probably don't visit as often as some of us. I'd give it a little longer.
Just a newbie here myself, but with the week I have been here, I have already gathered some good info. Heck, my bookmark folder for canoe packs is now pretty full just from reading that thread, and I have not even begun to start back past the more recent threads.
I had gladly donated to Harlan's site, and even to myCCR when Richard owned it, as well as other forums of interest, and would be more than happy to throw some money into the pot here, if the site should survive. I certainly hope it does.
I look at non-commercial sites like this similar to magazine subscriptions. I can gain as much information, and learn as much (or more) from what others share, as I can for any magazine I subscribe to. Something like this is of at least equal value to me.
To be honest, I am still just trying to get a grip on things here.
I had gladly donated to Harlan's site, and even to myCCR when Richard owned it, as well as other forums of interest, and would be more than happy to throw some money into the pot here, if the site should survive. I certainly hope it does.
I look at non-commercial sites like this similar to magazine subscriptions. I can gain as much information, and learn as much (or more) from what others share, as I can for any magazine I subscribe to. Something like this is of at least equal value to me.
To be honest, I am still just trying to get a grip on things here.
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I never gave much thought about the costs involved in running the site. If it does close, hopefully another site such as paddling.net with all the advertisements can keep the theme alive.
Robin,
How much do you need?
How much do you need?
Not everybody logs on every week. Can you mass email all members so they get the donation request? Please give it a little more time before possible closure. My donation was under electbc@yahoo.com. Bruce
I just spent an hour itemizing the last years spending and it must of timed out and I lost it all, Oh well. To be honest, I wish I didn't post that dumb thing last night and I am heartened by the positive responses to that post.
Rather than try to cut and past the emails that would help confirm this review, I'll recap the last 11 months finances from memory. In November of 2013 I had a fund raiser which went well, the membership was around 200-250 iirc then. In December the site was struck by hackers who took advantage of the sites inability to perform updates from vBulliten. I was using a different IT guy at the time and he did his best to keep the site running, it was down for short periods over the two months. I also had to renew the sites hosting fee which is $200 per year.
Things went smoothly for a while, good because there was no money left. In May issues began to develop on the site so I found the present webmaster John, It was decided that I would have to buy my own license from vBulliten which would allow the site to receive new updates from vBulliten to fight the constant threat from folks who would do harm. The bill for this was $400, $250 for the license, $150 for the installation and cleaning up of the site. The real bill was $850 but John donated the first 6 hours of his service to Canoetripping as a not for profit site. I paid this out of my own funds. I also paid $110 for the window stickers that where to be used in conjunction with a fund raiser. Unfortunately, by late July, activity on the site was way down and I held off on the fund raiser, knowing activity always picks up after the summer. John also installed the new header, worked on the logo, the topo behind the page, and installed the Paypal button and did all the legwork setting up the sites Paypal account, along with a few other things. I have yet to receive the bill for that service. Recently we had some issues on the site, the site was down for 2 days which John cleared up. He installed the latest update, as you can see we are running the latest vBulliten version 5.1.3 at the bottom right of this page and reviewed the entire site for issues. John gets weekly reviews from the Siteguard and checks vBulliten for any issues to be aware of now. This is necessary to keep the site free of viruses and takes time, the old adage holds true here, time is money.
I also have the Siteguard renewal coming in February ($200) . Anyone who has joined in the last 12 months knows I send them 3-4 canoe related questions to confirm their interest in canoes and weed out the spammers. This has worked very well, 9 out of 10 are good, but I wonder about the 10% who never respond to my questions. Their applications get deleted. This, along with Johns constant attention are the ways the site has a chance to remain trouble free, but it requires a commitment from the membership via donations.
I know that this new commitment to constant professional attention to the site will cost, but how much is anybody's guess. When the fund raiser didn't appear to look like it was going to raise enough funds as of last night, I became alarmed and just didn't want to go through another year of issues and upset members, along with the thought of using my own funds to cover repairs later in the year.
Without going into details, the last 24 hours has given me a new outlook on the situation and I feel that the site will be able to maintain a steady presence and move forward with the memberships continued support.
Rather than try to cut and past the emails that would help confirm this review, I'll recap the last 11 months finances from memory. In November of 2013 I had a fund raiser which went well, the membership was around 200-250 iirc then. In December the site was struck by hackers who took advantage of the sites inability to perform updates from vBulliten. I was using a different IT guy at the time and he did his best to keep the site running, it was down for short periods over the two months. I also had to renew the sites hosting fee which is $200 per year.
| Upgrade to 1 year GrowBig Hosting (10 months left) canoetripping.net | 49.50 USD |
|
| Basic Backup Service (renewal) HackAlert Malware Monitoring (renewal) | 42.00 USD |
|
| 1 year StartUp Hosting canoetripping.net (renewal) | 119.40 USD |
I also have the Siteguard renewal coming in February ($200) . Anyone who has joined in the last 12 months knows I send them 3-4 canoe related questions to confirm their interest in canoes and weed out the spammers. This has worked very well, 9 out of 10 are good, but I wonder about the 10% who never respond to my questions. Their applications get deleted. This, along with Johns constant attention are the ways the site has a chance to remain trouble free, but it requires a commitment from the membership via donations.
I know that this new commitment to constant professional attention to the site will cost, but how much is anybody's guess. When the fund raiser didn't appear to look like it was going to raise enough funds as of last night, I became alarmed and just didn't want to go through another year of issues and upset members, along with the thought of using my own funds to cover repairs later in the year.
Without going into details, the last 24 hours has given me a new outlook on the situation and I feel that the site will be able to maintain a steady presence and move forward with the memberships continued support.
Well your post last night really hit home, sometimes we need a swift kick in the butt to get going. I don't always log on so I didn't see the issues until I was scouting around a bit. Thank you for all your work. Bruce
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