# The little forum that could...



## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

Over the last year the forum has slowly been getting it's feet off the ground. As of today our membership is 1600.

Scott (aka. GuitarsCanada) started the site a little over a year ago now. It was something he did for the fun of it, but it gets a little traffic now.
:banana: 

Unfortunately he foots the bill for the most part. He does get some monetary help from those pesky Google Ads we have all come to love. A few dealers have also done some advertising. A few members have already made donations. That said the 1 year bill for internet bandwidth alone was $900.

So I was hoping that maybe some of our members could make small donations to help cover the cost. No benefits or preferred status comes from these donations, it's just a gift to keep a forum you enjoy running.

Scott really didn't want to ask for money, and has no intentions of closing the forum either way, so I decided to start the thread on his behalf. I've also discussed with him disclosing funds raised to make everyone feel like a team. It's good to know the money is being spent on the forum not his numerous trips with the lovely Marnacious. :tongue: 

For those interested, there's a donation button available on the main forum page. Every little bit helps.


*One last thing:*
_We do have more contests lined up once the current one ends Mar 31st. And we will try to keep them coming to the best of our ability. And please support our dealers that are nice enough to donate prizes whenever you can!_



*Jeff*


----------



## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

This has turned in to a very good guitar site and the membership is always growing. The last thing we would like to see is it's disappearance. A donation from members will help keep this from happening and help the mods keep the board in tip/top shape. And they accept paypal.... already made my donation.


----------



## Graham (Jan 26, 2007)

I haven't posted here very often, but I check in several times a day. It's great to see the site do well and many of the folks on it have some very good info. Keep it going, donation made. :smilie_flagge17:


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Jeff snuck that one in there on me. But he speaks the truth. As this thing grows, so does the bandwidth and cost. We are also planning upgrades to the server and continued updates to vBulletin. There are also add ons that can be done in the future to make it even better for everyone.

Would be nice to make enough dough to offset our trips.... but that will never happen. The intention is strictly to keep the forum going. I would certainly be willing to share any financial data obtained from donations etc.


----------



## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

I remember a little over a year ago TheGearPage almost went down because of financial and technical problems and I never want to see that happen to the good people that run this site. I'm honored that I can make a donation to help out this great forum and I hope that others will jump on the wagon.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Very kind words, and much appreciated. We have been very fortunate to get a lot of great people here. It has so far gone beyond our expectations. We will continue to try and make it a safe harbour for all.


----------



## Warren (Mar 2, 2007)

$900, 1600 members? $1/ member = $1600, $2/member =$3200 

If 10% of members use it most, $10 / high use member = $1600

This is really not very much considering the size of the membership. Cheap


----------



## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

I own a small IT Consulting /web hosting company (www.hammtech.ca), I would be willing to donate time, space and bandwidth to the cause.

(edit: remove the "if statement' from the following paragraph)

If that does not work for you, I would not be opposed to the idea that dealers should pay a monthly or yearly membership fee. This forum is a valuable resource for me and I make some business decisions based on some of the information that I find in it regarding what players like, dislike and may want in a product.

You should consider putting together a dealer package to at least cover your costs. I for one have no problem with the owners and admins making a profit for the time that they invest in keeping this fourm up and running, in fact I think you should be compensated for your efforts.

I obviously can't speak for any other dealers, but I would not have any problem paying the site directly for things like my banner ads (I pay google and have targeted this site directly). A monthly fee is definately not out of the question for me.


----------



## mandocaster (Jan 11, 2007)

Absolutely wonderful forum. Period.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Lot's of good ideas and suggestions. All are welcome too. It's still all new to me and I need to sit down and look hard at what the best options are. I am going to talk to my current providers. They are friends of mine from London and helped me launch the original site years ago. The usage was always pretty steady and while it grew the first 4 years it is nothing like what this forum has done. They recently contacted me about moving to a new server, upgraded service. I will discuss with them the pricing structure and see what the best thing is.

I have stayed away from charging anyone anything, either for the for sale forum, memberships or dealers. Would prefer to keep it that way if we can. I will take a hard look at things and see what we can do.


----------



## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

The TDPRI forums has a great system for fundraisers. The dealers/advertisers donate a few prizes, and they have a raffle. You pay a certain amount for an entry (or multiple entries). I know they do really well with their fundraising that way. The dealers get advertising, the members get a chance to win prizes, and the forum gets funding. Everyone is happy.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Also a very good idea, we could do that kind of thing here. Lot's of good ideas. Appreciate them all.


----------



## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

I would guess they get around by the wording of it. It's not called a "raffle', just a 'donation drive' I believe. I don't know all of the specifics, but that site has a massive user base (13,000 members), and they have been doing it for years. So there has to be some way they do it.


----------



## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

Great forums, I'd donate, but i'm sort of broke, jobless, and a teenager.
And you thought your fourties were tough


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

jroberts said:


> Trust me, when you're in your fourties, you'll wish you were a broke, jobless teenager again.


Ain't that the truth?


----------



## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

Regarding bandwidth usage, an administrator at another forum I frequent says linking images uses more bandwidth then uploading images directly to the site?

This might be something to consider?


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Interesting, I assumed the opposite. But I guess that makes sense. Uploading the file is using file space, not bandwidth. Drawing in all these pictures and stuff would use bandwidth.


----------



## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

ne1roc said:


> Regarding bandwidth usage, an administrator at another forum I frequent says linking images uses more bandwidth then uploading images directly to the site?
> 
> This might be something to consider?


He's wrong. The source of the picture is providing the bandwidth not the forum.

A picture is a simple html link, the forum doesn't grab the picture and then redisplay it.


----------



## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

Jeff's is right, the pictures that are externally linked should not be using GC's bandwidth as it is using client side bandwidth to pull thoses images from elsewhere.

If you want to know where the bandwidth is going, check your server logs. There are a tonne of packages (webalizer being installed by default on most apache servers) that will allow you to view your logs graphically and determine where changes would be most appropriate.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

jroberts said:


> It would be nice if PM limits could be raised for those who donate. Maybe from 15 to 50 or something.


I thought that was already set at 50. I will see what it is.


----------



## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> I thought that was already set at 50. I will see what it is.


It's 50 for me but I'm a SUPER Moderator. :tongue:


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

50 for me too... I just checked and members were set at 15. I raised that to 35. I think that should do it. If you need to store more than 35 messages you need help.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

The sqeaky wheel usually gets the grease :banana:


----------



## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

Just wanted to wake this thread up again to see if anything was ever hashed out....


----------



## Guest (May 23, 2007)

Ghosting an old thread

" I have stayed away from charging anyone anything"
Good... cause the moment you changed that, this place would be dead.... Who'd pay for a forum when there are so many out here for free?


----------



## Guest (May 23, 2007)

Here's something I'd do....

If GuitarsCanada.com had a good 'sticker', I'd put it on my guitar cases... I'd toss them around at my gigs... I'd spread 'em around my local music stores... 

GuitarsCanada.com has let me spread my url around here, I'd happily return the favour.

When I joined Folkalley.com, they mailed me a package with stickers, temp tattoos, post cards and reusable window stickers... I've spread them all over the place. 

Fair after all, is fair.


----------



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...meanwhile, the nra lovefest continues at the fdp, on "contributing members only" moe's tavern.

-dh


----------



## Guest (May 23, 2007)

fdp?

10 characters...


----------



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

ClintonHammond said:


> fdp?
> 10 characters...



..no, just three, but who's counting, eh?

:confused-smiley-010 

-dh


----------



## Jeff Flowerday (Jan 23, 2006)

fdp = fender forum


----------



## Guest (May 23, 2007)

David... If you'd pay attention to the world around you, you'd notice that the forum, like many many others using this or similar software, has a minimum 10 character requirement for posts.... 
This is often* satarized by people making short post in their typing "10 characters" or "Ten characters" to put them above 'the limit'.

A bright guy like you aughta know that.

*"Often" meaning "all over the internet."


"fdp = fender forum"
Thank you... I never would have known that, as I've never felt the need to visit their web site...


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Good sticker idea! The Mandolin Cafe (www.mandolincafe.net) does the sticker thing and I got 'em on cases and wherever they look cool.

Peace, Mooh.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I can assure all of you that this will never be a pay site. Donations are welcome, but there is absolutely no obligation to support us in any way. I will continue to pay for server time, upgrades etc as I always have. Nobody is putting a gun to my head to keep it going. I enjoy it and its a nice little hobby. We do have stickers on the Cafepress site, they are not cheap though. I was lookijng around at where we could get a bunch made up for a reasonable price. Will keep looking around.


----------



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

ClintonHammond said:


> David... If you'd pay attention to the world around you, you'd notice that the forum, like many many others using this or similar software, has a minimum 10 character requirement for posts....
> This is often* satarized by people making short post in their typing "10 characters" or "Ten characters" to put them above 'the limit'.
> A bright guy like you aughta know that.



...yeah, well, i have my good days and my...oh! look! a dancing banana...

:banana: 

-dh


----------



## Guest (May 29, 2007)

Thanks for making my point for me David.


----------



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

ClintonHammond said:


> Thanks for making my point for me David.


...always happy to oblige, my friend!



-dh

"Start the day with a smile, and get it over with." W C Fields


----------



## Guest (Jun 28, 2007)

"We do have stickers on the Cafepress site, they are not cheap though. I was lookijng around at where we could get a bunch made up for a reasonable price. Will keep looking around."

Any further word on more stickers/flyers/posters???


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2007)

I guess that's a 'no' then?


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Yes, I have contacted a firm in Brantford that is going to get me some prices on some stuff. Will keep you posted.


----------



## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

Apparently there is a place in Hamilton that will do small runs of stuff (shirts, jackets, promo items etc). I'll try to find out who it is if anyone is interested.


----------



## Guest (Jul 10, 2007)

Cool!

Always good to explore options!


----------



## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

You can count on me as a customer!


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Hamm Guitars said:


> Apparently there is a place in Hamilton that will do small runs of stuff (shirts, jackets, promo items etc). I'll try to find out who it is if anyone is interested.


Let me know, I would like to get some GC gear done up


----------

