Re: !! *Very* important Oracle-L message !!

On my web page I maintain an Amazon.com payments paybox, which is for collecting anonymous donations. I think if Bruce sets up a paybox for each list he hosts free of charge, and included a pledge request in the list footers, there will be a steady stream of donations.

Amazon calls this the "Honor System," and it can be found at:

http://auctions.amazon.com/exec/varzea/subst/fx/home.html

It is basically like paypal, etc, but you can put the paybox inline with any HTML, and it allows anonymous donations. The fee to Amazon is 15% of the total payment per transaction plus 15 cents.

I work for Amazon, so feel free to flame me for shamelessly promoting my own product as a solution to this. As an act of contrition, I promise to pay US$50 into any form of collection that Bruce sets up, Amazon or not.

--
Jeremiah Wilton
http://www.speakeasy.net/~jwilton

On Wed, 29 Aug 2001, Anjan Thakuria wrote:



> Can we just start pledging ..We have got to keep this form going under. Ideas

>

> > -----Original Message-----

> > Sent: 28 August 2001 23:29

> > To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L

> >

> > Ok, now that I have your attention, please read the following message from

> > Bruce Bergman,

> > owner of fatcity.com.  It concerns the future of this list.

> >

> > Please read the entire message before replying.

> >

> > -------------------------------------------

> >

> > Hello ORACLE-L list members --

> >

> > I would like to take a few minutes of your time for a "State of the Union"

> > address, if you can call it that.  This is a rather serious message, and I

> > request that you take the time to read this message entirely.  I've got a

> > problem that needs resolution this week, and I'm hoping you folks can help

> > me come to a conclusion.  This message turned out to be fairly

> > long-winded, so please excuse me for that. :-)

> >

> > Fat City (fatcity.com) is my company, and I am the provider of the list

> > services that you receive ORACLE-L through.  I've been hosting Internet

> > mailing lists for over 10 years, and carry quite a few lists, including a

> > big selection of Oracle-related lists (14, in fact).  Fat City has always

> > been a labor of love for me.  Over the years it has rarely generated any

> > income at all, and it usually does not cover my expenses -- most of the

> > time

> > it is a monthly loss for me.  The vast majority of my 60+ mailing lists

> > have

> > been hosted for free, at my expense (as is the ORACLE-L list, for example).

> > Yet I have absorbed these costs because I enjoy hosting discussion lists

> > and I know a lot of lists can't afford to pay for quality service.

> >

> > I am soon to be one of the Rhythms Orphans.  Rhythms, my DSL provider, has

> > gone bankrupt and will be out of business by 10-Sep-2001.  I need to find

> > another provider of high-speed Internet in order to continue operations.  I

> > am at the point of either folding shop completely and going out of business

> > myself, or trying to make Fat City a viable, money-making endeavor.  I need

> > to make this decision by this Friday (for financial and planning reasons).

> > After Friday, I am committed one way or the other.

> >

> > My upstream ISP and I are on very good terms, and in fact, I've been a

> > customer of theirs since 1985!  As a result, they have graciously offered

> > to help me out of this situation at considerable expense to themselves.

> > I'm not at liberty to discuss the terms of the contract I would engage in

> > with them, but suffice to say that is one of those once-in-a-lifetime

> > opportunities that I'd be a fool to pass up.  I have this offer personally

> > from the President of that company, if I want it.  Simply said, my ability

> > to take them up on their offer and switch Fat City over to a dedicated T1

> > or

> > better solution revolves around being able to generate quite a bit of

> > additional

> > income per month, and very soon.  In an effort to be open and up-front with

> > you folks about this, I basically need to generate an additional $500 more

> > per

> > month. Right now that seems daunting, but I've been working hard to line up

> > that

> > additional income, and I believe I can do it.  Just not right away.  My

> > estimates are that it will take me four or five months to come up to that

> > level.  I need to get out there and sell website hosting and list hosting

> > packages, and get new customers.  That takes time, unfortunately.  I need a

> > buffer to enable me to get past this startup phase.

> >

> > After some discussions with Jared (the list owner), and some encouragement

> > from him, I am coming to you to ask for you help in keeping Fat City

> > financially afloat until I can be self sufficient.  I'm not asking for a

> > specific dollar amount from anyone, nor am I *expecting* anything from you

> > folks.  But if it is within your power to contribute some money towards

> > this

> > end (and yes, I know these are hard financial times for everyone), I am

> > hoping you can help.  If I can get sufficient promise of funds that will

> > see

> > me through the next few months, I am willing to jump in with both feet and

> > make Fat City a viable business.  If it looks like the contributions are

> > not

> > sufficient to enable me to do that, I will cease operations within the next

> > 45-60 days.

> >

> > Let me be clear about a few things: If I *do* cease operations, I will give

> > all of my lists time to find new list providers, and will make every effort

> > to aid the shift over to the new provider, provide list dumps, archives,

> > mail forwarding, etc.  Even though Rhythms goes out of business on

> > 10-Sep-2001, I have secured service until at least 10-Oct-2001 to enable

> > this to happen.  So don't worry about having to rush into your conversion

> > if

> > things don't work out.  I would also like to clearly state that this is not

> > some attempt to blackmail or coerce anyone into coming up with money.  This

> > will either succeed or fail based on what you folks can comfortably and

> > willingly contribute.  If I had the ability to cover this startup period

> > myself,

> > I would definitely do so.  If Fat City ultimately goes under, it wil NOT be

> > your fault, and I hold no one to blame.  That's just how the Internet cards

> > are right now.  I do not want anyone to contribute if they don't have

> > the money, or if things are tight at home, or anything like that.  I would

> > like contributions to be made from those who are able to make such a

> > contribution willingly.

> >

> > Also, I don't want anyone to send any money right now.  Basically I just

> > want a show of hands of those who could contribute something to this cause.

> > Send me (bruceb_at_fatcity.com) or Jared (jkstill_at_cybcon.com) an E-mail saying

> > what amount you'd be willing to contribute.  If you would rather donate

> > anonymously, perhaps Jared could collect those donations.  I will "pass

> > around the hat" until Friday morning, at which point I'll see if there were

> > sufficient pledges to enable me to move forward.  If it seems like there

> > is,

> > then I will come up with a way for you to honor your pledge (probably

> > either

> > directly to me via check or via PayPal, most likely).  The funds can be

> > collected in the next few weeks, but I must make my decision on Friday.  I

> > apologize for the late notice on this, but I was not given this offer by my

> > ISP until late last week.

> >

> > In return for your contributions, I promise the following things:

> >

> > - I will use all contributions ONLY for the express purpose of paying for

> > my

> > Internet service costs

> > - I will continue to host the ORACLE-L list for free for the forseeable,

> > indefinite future

> > - I will make no more requests of this list for contributions of this sort

> > - I will provide a full accounting and update to the list on the costs and

> > how the funds are being used

> > - I will make improvements to the list that will enhance your features and

> > performance (for example, faster turn-around on list postings, etc)

> > - I will at least carry though for the next calendar year unless I have

> > catastrophic financial failure

> >

> > Please note that the ODTUG organization is already making a considerable

> > contribution by way of a monthly payment for service, so they are already

> > aware of this situation and are actively helping out.  There are a good

> > number of people here who are on the ODTUG lists too, so I wanted to point

> > that out ahead of time and let you know that they are being very helpful.

> >

> > Another way you could contribute would be to come to Fat City for your list

> > hosting or website hosting needs.  I had just started offering website

> > hosting services before this mess started, and obviously, a monthly paying

> > customer is far better than a one-time contribution.  If you go to

> > http://www.fatcity.com and click on the "Website Hosting" link, you can

> > check out the packages I offer.  In an effort to get new customers, I am

> > willing to waive all setup fees in order to bring new customers on board.

> > If you become a customer here in the next couple of months, that would help

> > tremendously.  If you have an interest in hosting your website (personal or

> > business) with us, -or- a want to start a new mailing list, please contact

> > me for details.

> >

> > I know this is a lot to ask of you folks.  You are entirely welcome to just

> > tell me to jump in a lake, and that that's how business is right now.  But

> > I

> > know many of you personally, either from ODTUG conferences or from other

> > Oracle events, and I also know how staunchly you support this mailing list

> > with useful information, humor, helpfulness and an eye toward quality.  I

> > would like to think that you find Fat City to be the best place to host

> > your

> > list, and that you will want to help me out so that I can continue to

> > provide the list to you folks free of charge.  I made a promise to Jared

> > years ago to host this list for free because I think it is one of the best

> > and most valuable resources out there.  I intend to honor that promise to

> > him by continuing to provide it for free.  If it turns out that I must

> > close

> > shop and call it quits, at least I will have known I did my best to make it

> > succeed, and I did so without having to reneg on committments I had

> > made in the past.

> >

> > I am being open and honest with everyone because I believe that this is the

> > best way to succeed.  I believe you appreciate this kind of approach, and I

> > want you to know that regardless of what happens, I certainly appreciate

> > every consideration you give this request.  Whether or not this succeeds, I

> > know that you are a great group of people and I wish this list the best

> > luck

> > in this life, or the next. :-)

> >

> > Remember, time is of the essence.  The sooner I hear from people who

> > can help, the sooner I can nail down a line of approach.  If you have any

> > questions or concerns, please E-mail me.



-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
-- 
Author: Jeremiah Wilton
  INET: jwilton_at_speakeasy.net

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