Vendiscuss donation goal

[BluePlate]

OK it's late, I'm bored -  I did not ask Steve's permission on this, hopes it's OK!

[caserri]

Well,

If you really want me to raise it....

Just FYI, I'll have some really cool VENDiscuss branded items available soon for those supporters who want some. I'm just waiting for the samples to arrive.

Blue how long until you consider this poll officially closed?

[BluePlate]

OK, I noticed two people voted NO.  While everyone is entitled to their own opinion I argue the following:

#1:  If anyone has run a successful high traffic website knows, the more traffic the more money it costs.  Vendiscuss is high traffic and continues to grow.  And with dsimms doing 45 posts a day, Steve might just go broke (JK  )

#2:  If you just picked up 1 tip from Vendiscuss, maybe finding the great locator, asking what is the best 2" product, finding a great deal on a shiney new NW at used prices, or just learning in this weather peanuts got about 3 day shelf life. You made or saved money.

#3:  Steve obviously put time and sweat equity into the board,  time is money. I spend 30-40 minutes a day here.  Steve could kill us with flashy ad or Google Ad us to death, instead the ads are small and considerate. I have no doubt Steve could SELL OUT to any vending company at any time to get this traffic, he doesn't.  (Except that time he was going to sell the board to a French company.)

Anyway, I think in general the donations come too slowly for what we have.  We have it good here.  If everyone gave $5, the donation amount could triple.......

OK, Ok excuse me....I need to step down from the soapbox!

I think we close the poll Friday 2/28 @ midnight......

[G-Vending]

My 2 cents:

I think all the locators that run there ad's on here for free should be a Sponsor and

pay for there ad space.

The best locator on the board is a Sponsor  Go EDDIE

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I was a member of another board that had a member area you paid to use that area

the tech's would answer questions there on how to fix machines ect.

The free loaders had an area that the tech might answer questions but most would not.

We have a nice board here and I do not mind giving my part..

In the last few days Technvend has saved me a lot of money by helping fix a machine

that is what the board is all about..

[lurtsman]

Vendiscuss deserves support. It has been huge in growing my business. The successful vendors I met here changed my life. They saved me from huge mistakes. I appreciate that Steve keeps the ads to a minimum. I'm not a fan of making all locators pay to sponsor the board though, because they would want to have some control over what people say. It would restrict the freedom that has made this board so effective for sharing information. It's great that Eddie sponsors the board, and I have faith that Steve still treats him just like any other locator on here. However, I believe 97% of the population (or so), would not have the ethical standards to do that.

The goal should be raised. Hopefully 100% of non-time costs (Steve's labor), will be covered by donations so he is not out any money at all. It is very impressive for him to refrain from selling the site, or advertising on it, given the constantly increasing value of the site. This is also the only site I have ever seen, where voluntary donations passed 1000$ so quickly.

[BluePlate]

This is also the only site I have ever seen, where voluntary donations passed 1000$ so quickly.

I think that is to do with the fact we have a goal in mind, MAKE MONEY!  I would love to say I'm in the vending business to spread happiness and joy around the world by providing big handfuls of candy to the masses at 25 cents a piece.  I'm not.  I'm here because I don't want my son to worry how he is going to pay for college, I'm here because I want to buy something nice - I want to be able to do it.

This board has both saved and earned me a good amount of cash in the last year, I want to make sure it is here for years to come........

[caserri]

#1:  If anyone has run a successful high traffic website knows, the more traffic the more money it costs.  Vendiscuss is high traffic and continues to grow.  And with dsimms doing 45 posts a day, Steve might just go broke (JK  )

Here is an interesting tid bit about that. This month we have already blown through our allowable bandwidth! Up until this month, we've been making it to the last day or two of the month before I had to buy more. This month we hit our limit on the 22nd. A full week and 2 days before the end of the month!

Another sign of healthy growth! 

[whaletail116]

Do you mind if I ask what the Donation Money goes towards?

[caserri]

Do you mind if I ask what the Donation Money goes towards?

Whale,

I don't mind at all. As a supporting member yourself, you have every right to know. While I will not go into specific details here, I will give you a general outline of costs.

When I started this board over 2 years ago, I paid roughly $8.00 for the domain name and plunked down about $4.00 for a month of hosting. Ahhh, life was simple then! 

Since then, our community has grown by leaps and bounds. As BP said, as the membership grows, so does the post count. Each time someone posts or adds an attachment like an avatar to their account, it takes up space on the server. We are only allotted a certain amount of space. Once it's all used up, we have to buy more, and then more again as we grow.

In addition to space, the board also uses bandwidth. This is the unit of measure that represents the draw a person pulls from the server when they are online simply reading posts. As with disk space, this costs money and we are only allowed so much per month. Once that is exceeded the site either goes down until the end of the month or we buy more. (I apologize if everyone already knows this stuff. I'm trying to be as explicit as possible)

With all that said, let me give you some basic info.

The following costs represent money spent to operate VENDiscuss since 01/01/09.

(1) Hosting bill. Our largest expenditure. (Includes disk space and bandwidth) = $899.40 Paid up until 12/31/09 at which time I anticipate having to switch to a larger plan. That plan costs $1,199.88 for the year. That should take us to 12/31/10. Starting on 01/01/11, I hope to have the forum in the position to warrant purchasing a dedicated, managed server at the yearly cost of $2,088.00.

(2) Take a look at our "Past Contest Archives" section. Granted most of the prizes we've given away, we did so last year but I hope to start running some great prize giveaways again soon. We need funding to do this if we can't get prize donations from other companies.

(3) Paid forum maintenance and feature implementation = $726.30. I have an outside tech support company "on call" to help me fix any issues that come up that are beyond my technical knowledge. I also hire them to write and install code for feature modifications on the board. A lot of the little extra stuff, some you may see, others are in the background, did not come with the software and had to be created just for us. So far in 2009 I've called upon this company 4 times. Their average charge is $75.00 per hour resulting in a total cost of $726.30.

Other than the costs above, there are numerous other incidental charges that come up from time to time. Some I keep track of, others I do not. Just what I listed here represents a YTD cost of over $1,600.00.

In addition, I've spent countless hours of my own time working to make this place what it is and am determined to keep it going regardless of cost or donations.

An example, I generate, download, and archive a complete backup of the forum DAILY. If the sh** hits the fan, I want a fresh copy in backup so we don't lose valuable information. this process takes roughly 2 hours each day to complete. By contrast, 2 years ago a backup took me 5 minutes.

Please don't think I'm complaining about any of this. It was never my intention to turn a profit from this board and that remains true today. Ask some of our older members and they will tell you that it took some serious arm twisting on their part to get me to accept donations. I just didn't feel right about it. I still don't but it sure makes it easier on my wallet when I have help.

Sorry for such a long post. (This one alone probably cost at least 0.12 cents!) I hope some of you have made it to the end with a better understanding. Please note that I'm not asking for anything in this post, I'm simply answering a question. If you can and want to help that's great but it's not required to take full advantage of what we have to offer here.

[MrEen]

Damn. I want to change my vote now and it wont let me! (I was NOT one of the "NO!" voters, but I now believe I chose too low an amount.)

[whaletail116]

A very generous man and a profit from this board is what you deserve.  I promise that as my small business grows, my donations will do the same.  God Bless you!

[Poplady1]

I am more than happy to contribute in time and funds. 

Blue Moose

[caserri]

Here is a preview of some VENDiscuss gear we are working on making available to our supporters as well. This stuff is great!

Click to enlarge

[BluePlate]

Hey, nice stuff!

Anyways,  24hrs left to vote......get the votes in!!!!!

[West Coast Vend LLC]

I changed my vote after reading the costs involved in running the forums. I think you need to cover your costs and have additional funds to cover upcoming expenses. You should never have to lay out your own money and have to wait for the members to donate enough to cover you. Your not trying to get rich from donations, you are just hoping to cover expenses.

We have over 1500 members now and although many of them do not visit as often as others, most of us would not be where we are today without this website. It's a place to come every time we have a question about the vending business. You ask a question and it get answered in a couple of minutes or hours at the most.

I think we should have the option of having an amount automatically taken from a bank account if you would like. $10 per month would not even be missed from your business. Hey, you can use it as a write-off at the end of the year.

Gary

[BluePlate]

OK folks, voting was locked!

If you take the wieghted average of the votes, I came to $2389 as a goal. 

Please don't try to replicate this number!  I'm using crazy math that assumes that some people who voted $2500 + , really wanted to vote higher. (hence the plus).......

Steve looks like you have a new goal.....

[caserri]

Ok. I'll make the necessary changes.

[cavity]

Ok. I'll make the necessary changes.

Didn't have to twist your arm too hard.

[BluePlate]

Ok. I'll make the necessary changes.

The members spoke!