Club Arnage server hosting - contributions gratefully received

[Bob U]

Good idea

[mgmark]

Goodness - this simply won't do - there is far too much friendship, fun and cameraderie on this site for it to wither.  Cash is always tight for all sorts of reasons (somehow it seems to relate directly to spending beyond income apparently) but never so tight that I can't support this.  Just let me know where/how to contribute.....

As another thought for CA members, there's always ebay to clear out stuff that you no longer need/want that is cluttering up the garage and loft, and then donate the proceeds to the site.

MG Mark

[keithk]

Our club has something like 1800 members? I know most are inactive! If we put £2.00 each their must be 250 who care???

[smokie]

Yep, I was proposing a regular update.

The response has been astonishing in just a few hours.

Just reached the immediate £500 target... it was only on £370 when I started writing this!!

I favour letting more offers roll in for a day or two more, thereby lowering everyones commitment (but making it a little harder to administer if/when there are funds to return) rather than simply "closing the lines" right away. Additionally we will probably set up a permanent "make a donation" link someplace, which might help a little in the longer term.

I will get a PayPal arrangement set up tomorrow.

Thanks on everyone's behalf to those who have volunteered.

Good point that BigH makes about his magnificent efforts for Kidney Research - he is already planning tin rattling so that may be a no-no. (btw H I believe Pistonheads was bought by Haymarket or someone, around the time of Hammy's accident, or do I have my fora confused?)

Keith - we reckon there are not more than 30 - 40 (OK, maybe a few more at this time of year) active members.

Stu - Dave specifically does not want to move the hosting - although maybe he could be persuaded to think again on that.

[Lawnmower Man]

When I spoke to Dave I offered him free hosting on my server at least in the short term.  I think he has BIG concerns about moving servers,  Even more so given the short time left till we go south.  It may be worth revisiting the idea of moving servers once things quiten down after June/July.   I think we have to allow Dave to do what he feels comfortable with.

Although Dave is not very active on the site I do know he cares about it a lot.  He is pretty busy at the moment getting ready for PQ and the Race itself.    So it may be that he doesn't have the time right now to investigate the best solution. He's just taking the easiest.

Regards,
T.

[NorwayNick]

get the paypal thing sorted out and you will have a donation coming your way from me

[termietermite]

Maybe your donators could set a lower limit of when they don't want their contribution back?  Say, if you only need £20 of my £50, keep it.  Something like that.  Each individual according to their means/strength of feeling about this.

I suspect that although there are only 40 or so apparently active members, that there may be others who look in without logging in (our "lurkers") on a regular basis, who may still feel more strongly about the site than you think.  We know how many people turn up at the 'poo bar - it's got to be more than 40.

Changing servers sounds as if it could be fraught with problems, at least in the short term.  I'm no techie but you seem to have made big strides recently in getting shot of spammers.  It would be a pity to make a retrograde step for a short term aim that it looks like you can solve, anyway.  I'm a member of another forum and the software is awful and causes countless problems.  Would a change of server affect this?

Yes, it was Pistonheads which was bought by Haymarket, btw.  But it's a massive site covering much more than sports cars so I bet their revenue strength is much greater than CA's could ever be, from an advertiser's point of view.

EDIT I take Big H's point about the clash with the charities.  However, I'll bet the site members here have already pledged a bit and that more will be forthcoming in June.  If CA collapses in a heap then the situation will only get worse for the charities we support.

[powermite]

come on then Smokes,sort out paypal.Im sure we'll raise enough to keep us up and running in the short term.
Buys us some time to come up with a more permanent way of funding.
PM

[Nobby Diesel]

Smokester,

PM'ed you earlier today. Please let me know.

[keithk]

Keith - we reckon there are not more than 30 - 40 (OK, maybe a few more at this time of year) active members.
.

so a max of £ 15 each then?

[Jem]

Smokie,

Let me know when the Paypal thing is sorted and I'll put some money in straight away. I wont want it back.

Jem

[smokie]

Keith - we reckon there are not more than 30 - 40 (OK, maybe a few more at this time of year) active members.
.

so a max of £ 15 each then?

No, I've deliberately not set a figure, as some can afford more than others. That's also why I thought it best kept anonymous, and why I asked for communication via PM rather than on the thread. It will be managed jointly by the mods and Dave, and I don't see why accounts (without names) should not be available to participants on request.

Once again Termie has come up trumps with the idea of "how much do you not want back" as this might ease the admin. However we should obviously aim to repay every penny, but it will take a collective effort of some sort.

One or two people have PMd me without stating the amount they are prepared to stump up. I'll PM them back, but it would be helpful if people could place a max value on their pledge. That way, when I "close" the book I can work out how much I need from each to achieve the target. At this stage I do not want to collect and be responsible for a long term fund.

[sh4rpsh00ter]

Sort out the Paypal thing and i'll be making a donation, didn't get my ticket off here this year but have done previous years so definately worth a few quid.

Tim.

[nopanic - neil]

Long-term members with business web-sites could pay a small fee for putting a link on?


EDIT : Hindy suggested that we should contribute to RLM.  If we're going to do fundraising then we need to swell our membership.  I'm sure he'd be willing to interview one of us over LM weekend.  Then we can get the web address out there a bit more.

I would pay for a link to my web site, I can put it as advertising for my company,

but even better - I would'nt expect any work from it, as I'm in a special unusal industry - Strange but true. It woud just help with the branding of my company and its service

[SteveB]

As one of those probably classed as a "lurker" , I would glady make a donation.

This site has given me countless pointers, reams of information & hours of laughs .

Long may it continue !