RE: RE: financial problems with fatcity.com

Guys
like Lewis, Adams, Uni-Bomberism, etc.
both
add value and get advertising for their own <FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>sites/products. I think it balances out well enough
to not worry about it. For me, I'd be
happy
to see  <FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>them get a free ride, but would rather
have a <FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>Benevolent Dictator ( Jared/Bruce ) make this <FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>call.
<FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2> 
my
$0.02

  <FONT face=Tahoma
  size=2>-----Original Message-----From: Jacques Kilchoer   [mailto:Jacques.Kilchoer_at_quest.com]Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001   3:36 PMTo: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-LSubject:   OT: RE: financial problems with fatcity.com   -----Original Message----- From:
  Ivan_Rivera_at_doh.state.fl.us [<A
  href="mailto:Ivan_Rivera_at_doh.state.fl.us">mailto:Ivan_Rivera_at_doh.state.fl.us]   

>Alex, that is an excellent idea! I second that notion.
  

  "doh.state.fl.us"? Does that University count Homere Simpson   amongst its proud alumni?
  Please excuse the long e-mail, but since the suggestion has   been made to make this a "subscription" list, I will share some of the issues   that I am grappling with (along with others) as part of a volunteer moderator   at an internet message board, where we are currently debating a fee-based   message board instead of free membership.   My personal opinion (though of course this would be Mr. Still   and Mr. Bergman's decision) is that having a "subscription" list would be very   hard to manage. If someone who has provided valuable responses (e.g. a Steve   Adams) doesn't pay his fee, do you immediately unsubscribe him from the list?   Do you prevent him from posting an answer? What's the grace period for   non-payment of fees? Would there be a trial period, or would you have to pay   before you can even see what the list is like? Paying before you can see the   content would diminish new membership, and new membership is essential to the   survival of a list such as this one. If you have a free introductory period, I   could sign up with a different "free" e-mail (e.g. hotmail) every month and   never pay. Only the "honest" people would pay, which would end up being the   same as asking for voluntary donations.   Another issue - how many people would go try out another   "free" list? Charging a fee may mean the demise of this list. I think that the   list is worth a modest fee, but what percentage of the membership will think   so?
  What if a person has paid for membership, but is posting   messages disruptive to the list (e.g. spam or insults.) Do you refund their   fee when you remove them from the list? Do they have more rights as a "paying   customer"?
  How about the archives? Would you have to pay to see them?   What about people that always ask questions, but never answer any? Would they   be charged more? Would some of our "experts" become resentful since they are   paying Mr. Bergman and giving out more information than they are receiving? I   can very well imagine a person thinking "why should I give out free answers   when Mr. Bergman 'profits' from my expertise?" (Of course I realize that there   is very little, if any, 'profit' involved, but some people may not be   convinced of that.)
  These are all difficult questions that would be faced by the   person maintaining the list. Without charging enough to make the list   profitable, it might not be worth the headache. Received on Thu Aug 30 2001 - 10:53:47 CDT