To donate or Not donate? That is the question.

[wood-of-1kind]

I have been a member here for a long time. There has been a great deal of progress with our "benevolent " leader (Jeff) at the helm.
Too many benefits to list that come with the FREE membership policy. The ability to advertise for free is a fantastic privilege especially for those that sell their goods here. I used to actively sell carbide tools & inserts without being charged a nickel ( I would normally say a "penny") but the penny no longer exists in Canadian currency. Although I was not asked for payment, I made a point of donating small amounts or contribute by offering my products when we used to have our annual IAP celebration. It was my way of "giving" back for the privilege of free advertisement for being an IAP seller.

Along this line, do you think that sellers here on IAP should "donate" small amounts to help Jeff to keep the lights on? Feel free to post your reply on this thread even if you do not use the free advertising feature.

-Peter-

 

[dschem]

brings up a good question - how is the site currently funded? I imagine many would not feel comfortable donating if thy aren't aware of how the funds are budgeted

 

[rherrell]

I used to donate 10% of my BASH earnings but it seems like the BASH is history. I'm MORE than grateful to Jeff for allowing me to sell my goods here and would be happy to pay for the privilege but we've already been down this road. Years ago Jeff charged us for selling our goods but he stopped doing so for some reason and we went back to donations.

Peter, there is nothing stopping you from making a donation since you feel so strongly about this.

 

[wood-of-1kind]

I used to donate 10% of my BASH earnings but it seems like the BASH is history. I'm MORE than grateful to Jeff for allowing me to sell my goods here and would be happy to pay for the privilege but we've already been down this road. Years ago Jeff charged us for selling our goods but he stopped doing so for some reason and we went back to donations.

Peter, there is nothing stopping you from making a donation since you feel so strongly about this.

Thanks for your reply Rick. The Birthday Bash is every 2nd year now and I believe that one is scheduled for 2027. As mentioned in my OP above, I used to donate when I was active with sales. Just looking to hear as to what others have to say.

-Peter-

 

[jttheclockman]

Thanks for your reply Rick. The Birthday Bash is every 2nd year now and I believe that one is scheduled for 2027. As mentioned in my OP above, I used to donate when I was active with sales. Just looking to hear as to what others have to say.

-Peter-

There is nothing definite about any Bash celebrations any more. There is not enough interest here from past reports about continuing them. There was talk about bringing back some swag and trinkets and opening the IAP store again from what we heard a couple years ago. That would have been a way to generate some cash flow. Other ideas were suppose to be bantered around about improving the site but that seems to have died off. You can always PM Jeff and ask what is a good way to do this.

 

[jeff]

brings up a good question - how is the site currently funded? I imagine many would not feel comfortable donating if thy aren't aware of how the funds are budgeted

Advertising shown to non-members (log out and you'll see it) generates a few bucks a month. We receive donations now and again from members, and we have one or two members who make regular donations. Hosting, software licenses, our SSL certificate, and occasional professional services are the main expenses, and our income just covers those.

 

[jeff]

There is nothing definite about any Bash celebrations any more. There is not enough interest here from past reports about continuing them. There was talk about bringing back some swag and trinkets and opening the IAP store again from what we heard a couple years ago. That would have been a way to generate some cash flow. Other ideas were suppose to be bantered around about improving the site but that seems to have died off. You can always PM Jeff and ask what is a good way to do this.

We have not had the discussion in a while, but the consensus had been that there's not enough interest in running a bash. We all loved those big contests, the drawing, and the mugs and t-shirts, but we don't have the critical mass of interest and visitors to support that any longer. Plus, it's hard to find volunteers to commit the enormous amount of time needed to run the events. Part of that is a self-fulfilling prophecy, so one approach would be to run a bash again and see what happens.

Why the low turnout? 10 years ago, our organization was pretty much the only game in town, so if you were interested in penmaking this was the place to be. Now there are so many places to talk about pens, many people have drifted off to other platforms, most notably the many Facebook groups. Most people don't have the time to be checking in to multiple groups on a daily basis, and Facebook is "easy" so that's where they end up.

Happy to continue this discussion.

 

[jttheclockman]

Well Jeff not sure if you want to continue discussions on this thread or start a whole seperate one. But a comment or 2 would be that this statement probably sums up the reason the interest here is low and also the membership being down. Why the low turnout? 10 years ago, our organization was pretty much the only game in town, so if you were interested in penmaking this was the place to be. Now there are so many places to talk about pens, many people have drifted off to other platforms, most notably the many Facebook groups. Most people don't have the time to be checking in to multiple groups on a daily basis, and Facebook is "easy" so that's where they end up.

I will throw in a few other reasons. We have seen low turnout in many aspects of not only this hobby but all hobbies and this can be seen in Craft Show circuits. This time of the year most craft shows are busy and things getting heated up. But vendors are down as well as attendance. Many reasons for this but interests have dwinddled and people have so many other things to do. The influx of the laser and CNC machines have added to list of hobbies being tried these days being that prices for these have come way down. Money is tight so that can be a factor. The list can go on.

But to bring things back to pen turning, I think there are less makers because of the expense of the hobby as well as the lack of customers buying our products. I have been here a long time and seen the transformation of this site over those years. Now I am not offending anyone with this statement but it just is fact, there is not the leaders or the desire to lead that is needed in every forum, here any more. People have passed on in one shape or other and replacements have not stepped up. Many old timers have moved away from turning pens and the Newbies do not stick around long enough for various reasons I am sure.

The concept of new ideas and new techniques has dwinddled and this always generated lots of interest. Those type members are few these days as opposed to many years ago we had quite afew. Just look back on the new threads generated in say the past month or 2 and you see where the interests lie. Many are sales ads. It is always good seeing new members join hoping they stay around and contribute to the site. This type of forum has so much more to offer than FB groups. It is so much easier to follow forums like this as opposed to FB. The information is so much greater found here than anywhere else on the net. To me questions get better answered here because we can link information pages as well as answer the questions with photos.

To sum up my thoughts here, probably will never see the same interest in this site as years gone by but it still the place to get your fix for pen turning and much more. I will say that most of my home renovation projects are coming to an end and I will be spending more time in the shop. I hope some of my new projects will generate some interest in some ways. Happy turning.