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Grex > Coop10 > #93: Spare Parts / Mail Machine / 501(c)3 Fund Raiser! |  |
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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 126 responses total. |
roadtrip
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response 50 of 126:
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Apr 2 06:13 UTC 1998 |
no extra b-days for us under 18s and under 21s?
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rcurl
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response 51 of 126:
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Apr 2 17:34 UTC 1998 |
I don't need no extra birthdays....could I return some?
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keesan
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response 52 of 126:
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Apr 2 18:00 UTC 1998 |
You will have to arrange that with staff. Perhaps they could issue
antibirthdays. (I was concerned that the under 21s might use their extra
birthdays to purchase something alcoholic, which could get grex in trouble).
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other
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response 53 of 126:
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Apr 2 21:42 UTC 1998 |
hey! birthdays don't get people alcohol, people get people alcohol!
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aruba
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response 54 of 126:
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Apr 3 07:58 UTC 1998 |
Well, we are at $609 and holding on the fundraiser. Once again folks, let
me point out that while Grex is not about to go broke, our cash reserves
are low right now and we are sort of crossing our fingers that nothing
will go wrong before we get some spare parts. Compared to last year, our
budget and goals for this year are modest, but our costs have risen, which
eats into our ability to expand the hardware. We could really use some
help to ensure that our financial situation stays healthy.
If you don't feel comfortable giving money outright, please consider
becoming a member or buying a T-shirt, both of which will help a lot as
well, and earn you "the undying gratitude of all who love Grex", as danr
used to say. And as nestene made plain, any size donation, even $1 or
$.50, is appreciated.
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keesan
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response 55 of 126:
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Apr 3 20:29 UTC 1998 |
I am still willing to lend the money for the spare parts, which grex can
return if and when the donations arrive. Jim asks, if we can raise enough
for spare parts for the new Sun, would it be possible to sell the old one?
Or even sell pieces of it at say $10/piece, sort of like Mt. St. Helens?
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steve
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response 56 of 126:
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Apr 4 08:07 UTC 1998 |
Ha!
Jim has the same idea I've had. The Sun-3 parts are truly worthless,
unless viewed as a part of history, or some other marketing ploy^ht^h^h^han.
*That* might work. ;-)
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janc
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response 57 of 126:
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Apr 6 16:03 UTC 1998 |
I can see putting enough Sun-3 parts to make most of a working computer
(except for a SCSI disk, and we'd not promise that it will run, and we
aren't in a very good position to supply any software) up in the next
Grex auction.
Currently we have raised $609 of the $950 we need to ensure that we will
be able to keep this new machine running.
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aruba
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response 58 of 126:
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Apr 7 17:05 UTC 1998 |
Please thank bruin and janc for sending in their pledges. Thanks!
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keesan
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response 59 of 126:
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Apr 7 20:53 UTC 1998 |
I think, since many of the current members contributed to buying the Sun, that
those of us who joined since it was purchased should all try to contribute
for the spare parts, since we are benefiting from the new Sun. And that
non-members, to make sure that they will be able to continue to use grex for
free, should try to send in something, maybe based on how much they use grex,
say even $5-10. If 35 people each sent $10, we'd have enough. Are there 35
nonmembers who used grex for e-mail? Would it help to ask them in the login
screen to contribute just a little bit?
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aruba
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response 60 of 126:
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Apr 8 01:13 UTC 1998 |
Well put. It might help to have a more specific message, I suppose; perhaps
several, which change periodically. I'll go put one in now.
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steve
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response 61 of 126:
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Apr 8 03:10 UTC 1998 |
What we need to do is get the word out for our 10,000 email
users that we could use the extra money. Not quite sure what
the best way to do that is, however.
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keesan
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response 62 of 126:
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Apr 8 03:36 UTC 1998 |
Can you send them e-mail? Point out that if the Sun does not have spare
parts, they could stop getting e-mail? Perhaps not send to India or other
countries that would have trouble paying, but start with locals. People who
only use e-mail might not even know that we are asking for donations. I only
recall seeing it mentioned on the menu are the bbs login.
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rcurl
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response 63 of 126:
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Apr 8 04:42 UTC 1998 |
This suggestion has been made before - but not implemented. Thank you
for saying it again, keesan, and thank you Mark for responding positively
to the suggestion. Yes, Grex should regularly approach its non-member
users for support - small donations or enough for a few months or a year
of membership. Now...I expect to hear the anti arguments again...
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omni
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response 64 of 126:
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Apr 8 05:17 UTC 1998 |
One of these days, I should organize a membership drive. After all, I am the
membership chairman, (who has been doing an astonishingly poor job of it)
Maybe we'll do something this fall.
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rcurl
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response 65 of 126:
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Apr 8 05:25 UTC 1998 |
How about today? That would be much better.
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aruba
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response 66 of 126:
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Apr 8 10:37 UTC 1998 |
Yeah, the sooner the better. Our membership rates have been basically
constant for the last 3+ years. (I verified this when I did the financial
research for the 501(c)3 application.) But our operating expenses have
gone up quite a bit in the last year, thanks to the ISDN line, and some
increases in our phone rates. As a result we are depending on other
sources (i.e. the auction, and this fundraiser) for some of our income.
I would sleep a lot better if we had, say, 20 more members. That doesn't
really seem like a lot, but for some reason Grex's membership stopped
growing over 3 years ago, and I really don't know what to do about it. I
was hoping that when we made Jim Membership Chairman, he would come up
with some ideas.
Some kind of canvassing does seem to be in order, I think.
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omni
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response 67 of 126:
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Apr 8 16:00 UTC 1998 |
I have 3 things that I need to get off my calendar before I can
think about anything else.
That, and dealing with an upcoming city inspection, I'm still a little busy.
I think I can devote my full attention come July.
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rcurl
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response 68 of 126:
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Apr 8 17:13 UTC 1998 |
Why don't you come up with the ideas, and others can implement them
(if they 'fly'). There is no reason to put this off. I suggest that we
right away put a suitable invitation in the motd, and start sending
e-mail to non-member users of six-months (or so) standing inviting them
to join (with the whys and wherefores...).
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keesan
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response 69 of 126:
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Apr 8 18:02 UTC 1998 |
Jim will attempt to sign up new members by fixing up cheap computers at
Kiwanis and advertising grex (only $6/month for e-mail, reading websites, and
a local bbs on this very cheap computer......). One friend of ours has been
waiting a few months for her computer, we will start with her. The last
person who promised to sign up after we gave him a modem and showed him how
to use it, appears not to have signed up. What exactly are the benefits of
being a member? I am attempting to find other interesting bbs's that you can
telnet to, but the few I checked out so far are accessible from the web too.
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rcurl
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response 70 of 126:
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Apr 8 18:30 UTC 1998 |
Being a member gives you the good feeling of supporting a worthwhile
endeavor that provides a community asset. Do you really think that the
"attraction" has to be "benefits"? Start with the premise that there are
*no* benefits, and then explain why users should support the system or
it might go away.
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carson
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response 71 of 126:
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Apr 8 19:00 UTC 1998 |
(would it be possible to put a wrapper around the mail programs, much
like party has currently, that will show a message to the person running
the program? that might be a way to get the message out to our primarily
e-mail users without clogging up mail with lots of individual messages.)
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mcnally
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response 72 of 126:
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Apr 9 04:14 UTC 1998 |
Presumably they have to log in to read their mail and if they log in,
they'll be shown the motd.. Let's not start inventing dozens of different
places to put fundraising messages..
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rcurl
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response 73 of 126:
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Apr 9 05:04 UTC 1998 |
I don't think the motd is a particularly persuasive venue. The idea is
to tailor some more (pseudo...) personal approach. If (for example)
the message is sent after someone has been using Grex for six months,
the message can be built around a "I hope you have enjoyed the past
six months on Grex." or somesuch.
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mta
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response 74 of 126:
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Apr 9 12:21 UTC 1998 |
Actually, I kinda like the wrapper around the mailers idea:
o it's not mail, it's not spam.
o it can be made (presumeably) to show up only once unless it's
changed,
o it targets an audience that is using our resources -- very often
with little or no idea who we really are.
I also think a challenge sorta like NPR uses is a good idea. Could a
group of members challenge 20 non-members to join within the next two
months and in return...something? We match the donation with a
non-membership donation, we offer a drawing for a free Grex t-shirt
with free shipping to whereever? (I'd pay for that one but would welcome
help.).
As long as the freebie for the drawing is being offered by a member or
members rather than by Grex itself I think it might stir up interest
without violating our no extra perqs for membership policy. (And it
wouldn't cost the system anything.)
As a matter of fact, if there is no objection I'd like to make that
challenge myself:
If 20 or more people sign up as members for at least one year, I will
sponsor a drawing for a free t-shirt and will personally ship it to
wherever. You must join to be eligible to enter the drawing.
Howzat?
After a suitable period of discussion, we could put the offer in the
MOTD and see what happens.
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