Mike wrote:
Yea, censorship and legaly binding contractual agreements to enter the site sounds like a great idea all round..........No I'd rather buy a sticker, heck I'd rather buy a few (can go next to my "sarcastic c**t" ones).
That's a bit of an exageration. We all love this site and there are plenty of ways to keep it running. I for one would like to see it continue to expand and attract more members so we can all benefit from the smarts of people like Dr Mini, sc850 etc. I was merely suggesting an alternative, and in my opinion more reliable (and less work in the long run) method to selling stickers and hosting images.
Anybody here that is a a member of
Overclockers Australia might see where I'm coming from. They started out very small a few years ago and have gradually grown to have over 45,000 members on their forum. Obviously the scale and potential user-base of a 'technology' website is far greater than the niche for mini enthusiasts, however its a good example of how community oriented websites work.
It's about a bunch of people who just want to have an online meeting place to chat and who shouldn't have to pay for the privilege. All it takes is some community-minded people to want to lend a hand.
The reason I suggested some site sponsorship is because it is an effective way to raise revenue for all parties concerned. On a comparatively small scale site like this, you don't need huge banner ads about 'online match makers' and 'free IQ tests' that make a site look trashy. By implementing a site-specific advertising system, we would be in control of the size and style of ads so its simple to keep them a reasonable size and not be all 'bells and whistles' and animated trash. Everybody wins because the local mini shops and other companies get to advertise straight to their target market, the users can direct their funds to those companies, and they don't have to pay a penny for a great website.
We've obviously got some technically able people who frequent here so it would be simple enough to approach you're local mini workshop and say, "hey, I've we've got a website that is looking for sponsorship. We have people who can design your advertisement and you can have exposure to XXX site visitors per month." I am a member of the Qld mini club and their monthly magazine gets plenty of support from local businesses.
With regard to my comment on a forum user policy, it's something that I strongly feel we should have regardless of whether we sell stickers or recieve sponsorship from related companies. It doesn't have to be some draconian code of conduct that stops people from having an opinion. However some of the comments that are made on the site come pretty close to asking for trouble. In this fine country there are defamation laws and that means the owners of this website are responsible for the material contained within it. Plenty of sites have these issues. I've already mentioned overclockers australia but they have been threatened with, and actually had legal proceedings brought against them in the past due to members posting defamatory vendor verdicts. I don't actually think that this is a major problem at this stage for our AusMini but its something that everybody, especially the webmasters need to be aware of.
Hope you can see where I'm coming from....
dewey
