posted 07-02-2002 04:27 PM                  

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MG..I agree completly...but..how much could we possibly hope to get for Fixumm?.......

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Mike......oooohhh.........EXCELLENT!!! lol!

posted 07-02-2002 09:03 PM                  

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Originally posted by fixumm:
wooooooooaaaa I have e nough BS to keep the server running for a week.

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AAAHHHH...minor corection due here...seems to me when we were in Louisville it was Horse Sh*t yiu were full of........remember??,,,LOL

posted 07-02-2002 11:49 PM                  

I have a friend who owns a 96 GS Vette - their web site can be visited by non-members, but to get into the site and read who owns what car etc, you have to be a paying member and belong to the site. Seems like a good idea to me.

posted 07-03-2002 09:01 AM                  

This thread seemed to be started under the assumption that there is some sort of need or desire to have this site pay for itself (or at least part of itself).

It's great to see that the community (including myself) is willing to pony up if necessary, but to me, there seems to be an awful lot of sturm und drang for something that may or may not be an actual issue.

Unless CJ has inside info (when doesn't she?), or unless the whole point of this thread was to "float a trial balloon" to see what the reaction would be, perhaps we could ask Mike to pop in with his stance on the need/desire for the site to generate revenue?

posted 07-03-2002 05:54 PM                  

Would rack that up with some of my BEST MONEY EVER SPENT items.... anytime

Would agree with Marty's original statement as to 'newbies' though... and feel that is important to not lose site of. Let em browse awhile....

Bait em then drag em in to shore

And they, I'm sure like I, and most of us, would agree it is a bargain at most any price

posted 07-03-2002 06:04 PM                  

The POA website was just about break even, yes we do charge for advertising, but we also have to pay for hosting and website/discussion forum development, maintenance, software, and don't forget about the T-Shirts and hats! LOL

Here are some facts...

The POA website has grown by leaps and bounds over the past two years and takes up well over 1200 megabits of hard disk space on our current server (I know that this is minor compared to current hard disk prices, but hosting sites charge dearly for hard disk space). We also own and maintain a separate server here in Houston where the Scrapbooks, Event Calendar, and other various space consuming image files are stored. This server alone holds nearly 2000 megabits on its hard drives. By having this secondary server here in Houston, we have been able to avoid the additional fees for space on the main server, which is located in Atlanta, but the Discussion Forum grows in size daily!

At our current rate, our hard disk usage grows by about 1.5 megabits daily. Based on new registered members, this will only continue to expand. One alternative would be to delete old posts, however I know that we all rely on being able to use the search function to find old posts and pictures that may have been posted along with them.

Besides hard disk space, we exceed the maximum bandwidth (through-put) daily and this also increases as our community grows.

Our current server has less than 20 other accounts (websites) on it because the Discussion Forum is so processor intensive and if they were to put anyone else on it we would begin having problems with load times from the server. The two other servers that are co-located and owned by our hosting company contain nearly 1500 accounts each. All said, our host is actually losing money on our account.

I believe that the reliability of our hosting service has been extremely high for the past year! We have been paying $100.00 per month, which was a real deal! I'm not interested in changing hosts or going with a lesser quality server. The company that hosts us is financially solid and dependable and I don't want to change services nor do I fault them for complaining. We have been asked to do something about our bandwidth and hard disk usage or we will have to look for a new host, which again I'm reluctant to do because of the outstanding service record that they've provided us.

Here’s what we need to do...

Since we are literally hogging all of the resources of this server our hosting service has recommended that we purchase our own server and they will provide a slot for us in their rack space and continue to provide us with the great service that they have for the past year.

The costs??

$8000.00 for our own new Dell server with a 1-hour downtime replacement parts guarantee. Our new rate will be $450.00 per month. Totally, I need to come up with over $13,000 (based on the cost of the server, one years service and server installation) to make this change and go forward. Next year we would only need to raise the $450 per month since the server will already be paid for.

We will have 20 gigs of hard disk space on redundant drives, dual processors, daily backups, and complete support for the server that will be located and maintained at the same location in Atlanta. This should keep us going for years to come with all the hard disk space and bandwidth we need for future growth.

With additional funding, we could also afford to expand and grow the site by hiring additional personnel and help take some of the burden off of myself. Between monitoring the site and the daily/weekly maintenance, I spend nearly 30 to 40 hours a week. What started off as a hobby has grown to a full time job for me!

Any further suggestions on how we could take up collections would be greatly appreciated. I for one don't like the idea of membership and am in favor of voluntary contributions, possibly with a page that would rate the different levels of those contributing i.e.: Platinum for $200 + a year, Gold for $100 to $199 a year, Silver for $50 to $99 a year and so on. We could also have this status show up under the username in the Discussion Forum. We would put a complete balance sheet on the website with full disclosure of where the funds went. Any excess funds can be used for sponsoring events, event insurance or whatever else we as a group decide to use the money for.

I thank you all for your concern and hope you'll monetarily help support your POA.

posted 07-03-2002 09:54 PM                  

You could raise the funds by raffling off that new blue Prowler... wha..da..ya..say????

I know where you are coming from, Mike, though... We all know that you can easily handle the costs... but it would be a good thing - for all of us - if the site was self-sufficient.... This way the site can last for as long as there is enough support from us Prowler owners (for as long as we want it).

posted 07-03-2002 11:33 PM                  

Mike, one thing I don't understand - you're paying $100/mo. now and using someone else's server. Why does the charge go up to $450/mo. when you are providing your own server?
I assume you're getting some extra services added on.

Maybe the best thing to do is hire Arthur Andersen and have them go over the books for us? Their fee should be reasonable!

posted 07-04-2002 12:12 AM                  

I'll also agree with Rich Ware on not showing what people would donate. This would be a disaster in my humble opinion. I'm afraid that in 12 to 24 months, we would only have afew hundred people coming to the website.

posted 07-04-2002 06:43 AM                  

So, when I don't understand something, I ask the questions. Mike, thanks for answering it in such depth! It's a lot clearer than mud now!!

I was aware that websites have to be paid for, just didn't know how much. The cost is staggering and now I'm glad I brought up the question and I definitely don't think we should expect Mike to bear all the costs of this site.

I think we all agree that this site in invaluable to all of us. It has created a "community" among us and I think we'd all be lost if we didn't have it.

Personally, I am not in favor of publicly posting the names of the people who donate and how much is being donated. Not everyone has an equal financial situation and I wouldn't want to lose anyone from the site because they felt they couldn't contribute as much as someone else. This is a truly great group of people and I know that everyone would do what they felt they could based on their own situation.

Mike, if you don't mind........I'm going to start another thread..........

posted 07-04-2002 08:51 AM                  

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bbrighton..........As I said before...I'm not a computer guru......far from it. I had heard some discussion in Colorado about the site, servers, banners, etc. I do not understand bandwith, servers, maintenance, forum development and all those other things Mike talked about in his reply. So, when the banner issue came up again it seemed a logical question to me. I've hardly used my banner since the last discussion because of the complaints about loading time, etc.

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CJ,

I do hope you don't think I was disparaging your post -- far from it. The "inside info" comment related to "did you know that there were money issues with the site? maybe".

It just seemed to be that (before Mike's post) that some folks were getting worked up about the POA continuing and such, and, well, me _not_ having inside info, was questioning whether this was a real issue.

Thanks to Mike for clarifying, indeed.

And if you took offense to my phrasing, I apologize - no offense was intended.

posted 07-20-2002 08:38 AM                  

we should all contribute, this is a great site, and we all would lose greatly!!!!!!!!!!!
on the gold membership, mike have dan see if he can include the espn calendar of gary c at the beach wearing his thong!
DAN DO YOU STILL HAVE THOSE PICTURES?????

posted 07-20-2002 08:41 AM                  

Perhaps we can create a link to what the fee will be and methods of payment and to who.

posted 07-20-2002 10:10 AM                  

Isn't it this website that gave you the link to find your modification or information to attend an out of town POA event? How much have you spent on those things? Spend a little on the website.

JMO

Marty

posted 07-20-2002 11:33 PM                    

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Originally posted by JRL:
The T bird site is a joke with an absolute bunch of morons, run by a guy that doesn't even own one.
JRL

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LOL...you can say that again... POA is the best car site..