response 1 of 14:

Feb 27 07:49 UTC 1995

Yes, Mnet also did this about 2 years ago when they put together their
new 486 system that replaced the Altos. The idea was very popular and
worked well. It was also a nice community building effort because it
brought together alot of Mnet people as alot of things auctioned were
services. Dinners cooked, massages, lessons, things built, things fixed, etc.

However, these things go over alot better if they are for a specfic goal.
IE: "We're holding an auction to raise money to buy a new fratzel for the
computer." Just holding one to out of the blue to put more money into the
treasury, without any specific plans on what the money will go towards
ussually doesn't meet with as much acceptance. Unless the system is really
in a bind and money is needed simply to meet daily operating expenses, which
it is obvious, Grex isn't.

Also, this sort of thing worked better in the days when most of the users
were local callers into dialins. Most of the buying and selling will be,
by necsessity, from and to local A^2/Detroit people. However, our user
base these days tends to have much more in the way of out-of-state, and
out-of-country users.

response 3 of 14:

Feb 27 15:56 UTC 1995

        Arbornet's 1994 auction had no specific goal, and still gave us a
remarkable amount of money.  Still, it's true, it usually works better
when it's for a specific goal.  Isn't there anything Grex users want, but
that Grex can't afford to pay for under it's ordinary budget?  That is
just impossible to believe.  I want higher speed modems, and more phone
lines, and a faster network connection for Grex if goals are needed.

response 5 of 14:

Feb 28 07:38 UTC 1995

  Being needy would increase the size of the bids, but just to be fun,
I think all that's needed is sufficient user interest.  And out of town
users can still send/receive a lot of stuff by mail, if the donors are
willing to ship (that's a good question to ask of the donors prior to
posting the items).  Plus, there are remote pockets of Grexxers like the
McKendrie-ites where even services could probably be auctioned.
 
  Part of Grex's difficulty in choosing a single cause to rally around
seems to be that there are so many things people want improved, it
splits the emphasis of any particular improvement.  If the disk died,
then rallying behind getting a new one would be easy!
 
  I think any Grex fundraising efforts could be helped by being broke,
but there's something to be said for having a nest egg.  I think DanR or
someone expressed the opinion that Grex should keep $3000 in the bank in
case of emergencies.

response 7 of 14:

Mar 2 21:05 UTC 1995

I've been thinking that we should have some kind of fundraiser, but
that we should discuss our goals first and come up with a specific
goal for the fundraiser.  I think there would be a lot of support for
a better Internet connection, whatever that turns out to be.

response 9 of 14:

Mar 2 22:30 UTC 1995

  <<uh oh, sexist pronoun alert!!  activate p.c. flame shields nephi!>>
 
  Waiting for a cause sounds like a good plan.  There are also other
fund-raiser possibilities.  I think before committing to an auction as a
fund-raiser, a quick agora survey of "how many people think they'd donate
something" would be a good idea.  If it's 20 or more people, that would be
enough to make a go of it.  If there's not that much interest, I don't
think it would be worth the trouble.

response 11 of 14:

Mar 3 16:36 UTC 1995

  More than half of M-Net's auction items were non-computer things.  Also,
most of the compuer stuff seemed to bring in as much as or more than the
JCC sale probably would.  Example good prices: two CD-ROM games sold for
$10 and $20, CGA card for $5, super I/O card for $25, ISA VGA card for $25).
They also sold five XT's for $25-$28, and I think Grex was selling them for
about the same price at JCC.

response 13 of 14:

Mar 3 21:22 UTC 1995

I really think you should decide what things you want Grex to do/acquire, 
and the order (priority) these things should be done in, when money and 
staff time become available.  It's the *order* which is so important to 
this process.