Something to ponder.

[Gob]

Errrmmm I did....

[BoSoxGal]

I would have no problem being a conduit for contributions and making the payment every year. I suspect there are others who would be willing to be responsible for that task.

Are you asking us to monetize the board? Are you asking us to agree to a yearly membership fee for access? Are you asking us to send you enough money to establish a trust?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but it seems like every year (except where there was overage because someone made a large donation) you would post asking and very quickly afterward you would post stating the need had been met. If you are highly annoyed by just that process, let someone else take the reins.

It’s gross to threaten to shut the board down. That makes you no different than Gwen so I hope you will just stop with that. We just had a conversation where pretty nearly all the active posters expressed the desire to keep this place going, so that threat is just ugly.

I can understand if you want to be off in your van and not worry about this place. There are plenty of others who won’t mind the ‘burden’ of keeping the lights on.

[BoSoxGal]

I’m confused. We just asked you about this very recently and you said you didn’t feel any need to pass the responsibility to others. Others are willing, and said so at the time.

The day to day running of the board, the backroom work, as I said RB and Daisy will still chip in on occasion if I'm out of my depth technically.

I'm talking about the

FINACIAL RUNNING, PAYING FOR IT, MOOLAH, SPONS, QUIDS $$$$$.

GET IT NOW?

I was well aware all along that it was the financing you were fixed on.

How do we divorce this forum from your blog that you say you no longer want or need? Is that even an option?

What are the full yearly costs to renew the board?

Please advise.

[ex-khobar Andy]

I assume you've paid for your blog until [Date] and once that expires, Plan B goes unless we take action to continue funding it as a stand alone entity.

If members take care of the cash and give you a free ride as occasional tech expert / contact person for Go Mommy or whoever it is grants us space on their servers for our witterings, can we sustain Plan B? I looked at the list of members and counted 24 whom I would call regular or at least occasional posters over the last several months.

I am willing to pay say $25/year for continued access to this board and the friends (I use the word loosely) I have here. I'm willing if necessary to help some members who may have financial difficulties. So if 20 people find $25 apiece, is that close to covering the cost?

Someone said that maybe we could all migrate to Facebook. I have no idea of the mechanics of that, or what the cost (measured in ads, not dollars) would be. It would change the nature of the board - IIUC we'd all have to use actual names and while I don't have any great objection to that, the anonymous nature of this board is, I'm sure, a factor on what and how I post.

[BoSoxGal]

I’m not supportive of any migration to another platform. Reddit, Facebook, etc. would be a very different type of forum experience and we would not have an easily searchable archive - plus we would lose the last 12 years of archive. There is no reason to leave this platform, anyway - we just need to migrate the responsibility for collecting yearly costs to someone other than Gob, which should not be terribly difficult to do.

As I recall and past posts indicate, the yearly cost of PlanB is in the neighborhood of $120. Apparently there is a separate cost of $17 for the domain name? And some unclear cost for Gob’s attached blog, but since he doesn’t need that anymore obviously we should determine if the two entities can be divorced and what the total annual costs for Plan B would then be.

In any case I doubt very much every poster would need to pay $25/year since the known costs only amount to $137/year (if that, the record is unclear if the domain name charge is an annual one).

So what we need when Gob next weighs in is a detailing of total annual costs, information about extricating this site from Gob’s personal site, and then perhaps we have a poll or some other mechanism by which to elect a primary and secondary poster to be responsible for collecting funds and making payments annually. (Obviously we should have more than one person with access to the mechanics because everyone is getting longer in the tooth every day and most of us have already experienced the death of a board due to the sudden death of the sole administrator.)

eta: Another option is we agree to each make a contribution now that would represent our yearly contribution for the next 5 or 10 years, which would not fund the board in perpetuity but would relieve Gob of the obligation for a period of time. Even if we choose this option I think we should have another person with access to the payment functions and ability to take over if something happens to Gob. It isn’t clear to me if that aspect of the board functioning is accessible to RB or Daisy, or how much they are in touch here since neither has posted or even logged in in quite a while (2 years and 4 years respectively)?

[Burning Petard]

Can it be made simple? Just tell me who to make out the check payable to, and what postal service address to mail it to.

Snailgate

[Methuselah]

The topic of pondering how to get funds for this group seems to be stalled. One way to get this task better organized would be to set up a smaller group to discuss this topic. The place on this board where smaller groups can be found is through the topic that occurs on the top page under “FAQ-Users Levels and Groups-What are usergroups?
If I understand Gob’s intent, he wishes to stay in control of the site, but to also get help on administrative functions, such as establishing a way to collect money, get it over international boundaries and account for time zones, and other technical subjects. If he had a smaller group to perform these tasks, with his approval, the pondering could speed up. I’ll volunteer to be a member of such a group, and those of you who wish to see this board go on in its present form may volunteer also.
This method has the benefit of seeing this messy business go on where Newbies can’t see it, because these topics infer (unfairly) that the life of this site may be ending. In the spirit of doing this work in private, I’ll volunteer my email site as a place to volunteer, out of the sight of others. I’ll pass this list on to Gob. He can decide if he wants such a group, and if so which volunteers to accept.
[email address deleted. More on this later.]

[BoSoxGal]

I think things work just fine having the conversation here on the board out in the open sunlight, as we’ve always done things.

I can’t even recall the last time somebody new joined this board and started posting, other than bots. Oh wait . . .

[MajGenl.Meade]

[Gob]

I would have no problem being a conduit for contributions and making the payment every year.

You know, that must be just about the funniest thing I have ever read here...

Are you asking us to monetize the board? Are you asking us to agree to a yearly membership fee for access? Are you asking us to send you enough money to establish a trust?

Just looking for alternatives.

I’m not trying to be an ass,

You don't have to try.

but it seems like every year (except where there was overage because someone made a large donation) you would post asking and very quickly afterward you would post stating the need had been met. If you are highly annoyed by just that process, let someone else take the reins.

Not annoyed, it's just not a pleasant thing, I find it akin to begging, and it would seem that, as I have said, it's the same generous folk each year, and a few freeloaders.

It’s gross to threaten to shut the board down. That makes you no different than Gwen so I hope you will just stop with that. We just had a conversation where pretty nearly all the active posters expressed the desire to keep this place going, so that threat is just ugly.

Go fuck yourself.

I can understand if you want to be off in your van and not worry about this place. There are plenty of others who won’t mind the ‘burden’ of keeping the lights on.

I'm looking for solutions here

[Gob]

I am willing to pay say $25/year for continued access to this board and the friends (I use the word loosely) I have here. I'm willing if necessary to help some members who may have financial difficulties. So if 20 people find $25 apiece, is that close to covering the cost?

If 10 people paid $14 a year, that would be fine, at current rates.

[Gob]

I'm going to ask the hosting company, how much they want to host Plan B if I remove my blog.

[BoSoxGal]

I'm going to ask the hosting company, how much they want to host Plan B if I remove my blog.

Finally, some progress toward getting clear information on the board costs going forward.

Gob you can tell me to go fuck myself all you want, but you did threaten to shut down the board just a few posts back - anyone can see that and others were also consternated by this whole conversation so clearly you didn’t handle it well.

As to laughing at my offer to help - you can go fuck yourself right back on that point. Beyond the fact that I have a public record of being an excellent steward of public funds both in government and nonprofit organizations for which I have managed them, I also once essentially gifted you a very expensive iPod with thousands of dollars in music on it, so I’m hardly the stingy one with $$ here and you have no basis to insinuate that I cannot be trusted as a steward of contributions to the board. I’d resent that much more if I didn’t already know you are a cunt.

I’ve contributed to this board in the past but no, I didn’t feel the need in recent years when you’d said the need had been exceeded by generous contributions from others. I have been very underemployed while battling serious illness and you’ve been traveling about the world while living it up in your retirement - why should I feel compelled to send you extra money that you’ve provided us no detailed accounting of?

If going forward this place is going to be divorced from your expiring blog and regularly funded by the participants as a collective, then I do think that 1) there should be someone - and other than me is fine with me, I merely offered to help - who holds the keys to the place in addition to you, in case something happens to you or you get your pants in a twist again at some point and don’t want the bother; and 2) the collecting of funds should be a transparent process as it is in any other fee collecting service. To that end making a modest set fee that everyone actively posting pays is the way to go - post when annual fees are due and send a digital receipt to each as they pay. That shouldn’t be an enormous burden on the person managing it, but if you don’t want to be that person, don’t hold the board hostage to your discomfort with asking for funds which repeatedly, year after year, participants have been happy to send you in sufficient quantities to keep the board going.

[Gob]

So that means I will have to beg for donations, pay all or most of it myself, or walk away and not bother any more, effectively shutting down Plan B.

So Suggestions for how the forum can be funded in perpetuity welcomed.

There is no "threat" there.

As for the rest of your tripe, could you get even further up your own arse if you tried?

[BoSoxGal]

OK, let's see if this is plain enough;

Some people have been generous in the past, some people have never chipped in a cent. In fact one member funded a couple of years payments on their own. But I still don't think this is a fair and equal way of paying for Plan B, (also I'm a bit fed up of begging for money.)

Suggestions for how the forum can be funded in perpetuity welcomed.

So, what happened today was I got the bill for us keeping the name "Plan B Forum", only $17 so I paid it myself, (in fact the last donor paid it in part.)

But that reminded me that soon I will be asked to pay for my blog space, space which I do not use any more.

So that means I will have to beg for donations, pay all or most of it myself, or walk away and not bother any more, effectively shutting down Plan B.

So Suggestions for how the forum can be funded in perpetuity welcomed.

Threat to shut down the board, exhibit A.

[Gob]

No, you stupid child, it's an option, not a threat. A threat would be "If you do not send money, I will shut the board down."

No wonder you couldn't cut the mustard as a lawyer.

[BoSoxGal]

Typical childish wounded male ego response.

Everyone who saw me lawyer knows that I was a very good lawyer, highly competent and having great compassion for clients and other parties to actions I handled. Never any discipline or even client complaints. My leaving the practice of law was a matter of health, not competence.

You only prove yourself a pathetic cunt making comments like that. Furthermore, throwing out the ‘option’ that you’ll walk away from the board effectively shutting it down is very much a threat when nobody else holds a set of keys to the works so it could be kept going by others if you get your pants in a twist, or drive your van off a cliff into the ocean.

Nice try though, Gwen. Full circle we’ve come. Enjoy your little power trip.

[Burning Petard]

I guess I am fortunate, in not knowing any thing about the history of 'Gwen'. I do know I came here when another similar board died after main caretaker died. It was not easy or intuitive. It required meticulous obedience to instructions, that never produced a response. Finally I got hand-holding and introduction from a member of this board who remembered me from the old Cart Talk bbs. Never any acknowledgement or welcome from the various authorities on this board who are identified in the information at the top of the board, but never come down from their Mt. Olympus to communicate with ordinary posters.

Again, just tell me where to mail my check. I am a luddite-framebreaker who refuses to use PayPal or Facebook

snailgate

[Joe Guy]

I haven't read all posts in this thread yet, but....

I don't like Facebook and Reddit is okay but I don't really like it much. So, for consideration of those who consider things here, I would be okay with being the person who does the begging once per year, collecting donations and sending the payment to wherever it goes. I wouldn't mind being lead beggar & payer but it seems like there should be at least one backup or co-person in case somebody shoots me in the head or a meteor hits me in the head and I drop dead or forget who I am.

Also, I'd like to know if the payment is required to always be made annually or is there a choice of subscription periods.

One thought that came to mind is that maybe we should start with a poll that would go something like this:

I want Plan B to continue and would be willing to pay this much annually:

1) $10.00
2) $20.00
3) $blah
4) I can't commit to a specific amount but will send what I can afford when the begging begins
5) I don't think I should be required to pay but I like posting here

Or maybe start with a simpler poll like this:

I want Plan B to continue existing:

1) Yes
2) No
3) What was the question?

and after yes or no is determined, we could get more into the details of willingness to pay and how much - and who can be designated beggar/payer person.

Just a thought...

[Methuselah]

Joe Guy,
Glad to see you are volunteering to get this ponderous process completed. I’ll submit all my inputs to you, to avoid cluttering up this endless discourse in public. They’ll arrive by PM and/or email. I hope you can gather inputs from others, and present Gob a complete plan.
‘Thuse