Pending Forum Closure

[JimKindred]

Folks,

I hate to sound like NPR but the AC has to be self supporting to remain active and at this point it is not. Hosting fees run approximately $100 per month, our funding comes from the vendor fees and the member subscriptions. We have looked at alternate hosting services and those only turned out to be more than what we are currently paying. At this point we need the support of the membership to continue to operate the site.

If you would like for the AC to continue to be available to the reenacting community please consider a subscription or donating to the operation costs of the forum.

Thank you.

[Mark Choate]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Jim,

I for one would be happy to make a donation to offset some of these costs.

Please clarify the proper way for me, and others to make this donation.

thanks,
Mark

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Hi All!

I suspect it can be a workload to keep track and monitor a subscription base... but I would rather see it than the death of the AC... in spite or despite social media evolution.

I would suspect there are enough lads willing and able to subscribe. How was it during the time the AC was subscription based? Viable? Doable? Sustainable?

I would pay for a month myself just to see my firearm heresies to have a home.

I see the question also as being is there a large enough "fan base" of the AC to contribute what is needed? If so, give it a run. If not, then, yes, sadly true enough, the AC may have indeed slowly withered and died.

Curt

[coastaltrash]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Jim,
I'll bring it up with the guys at our meeting in February, but I think we might be able to kick a donation in for the cause. The Independent Rifles have always benefited from the forum at our events.

The sad thing about all of this is that social media is the cause of this. Gone are the days of people that looked for Unit websites etc. The only thing the group ever gets asked is if we have a Facebook page (which we do!) I couldn't see the Want to Sell Section on the boards now.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Social Media has done a number on reenacting discussion boards. I still see lots of activity on collectors' fora out there.

IMO...
FB is good for organizing events for groups of people who already know each other. Even so, however, discussions tend to be "stream of consciousness"... once its too far down the page, it will never see the light of day.

What sites like Szabo and the AC provide is an archive for those discussions and the info that comes to light, and an open, public venue for anyone to access the information... you don't have to "know somebody" to get it. I can think of numerous times that old threads get linked into new discussions or shared by email when people have questions.

Websites in general are dwindling. FB is like the "Walmart" of the web. Go to the links page and see how many links are broken because the original site is gone. Its pretty bad... all the ground that was gained making the great research of the '70's - '90's (and beyond) available when Paul started the site is slipping away. People used to be able to come here and read, read, read, and walk away with a lot of great information. Now, even here, you have to dig for it.

I'll stop... its depressing.

[JimKindred]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Thanks guys, the support is much appreciated. As long as we can keep the AC funded I am more than willing to put in the time to keep it running.

[erik]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

I constantly see the use of social media distracting my students to somewhere else with no rules or mission. To my mind the AC is a structured site which curbs poor and rambling discussions. It must soldier on
Donations? I will buy the month of April, just tell me where and how to send the funds.
Get 11 other interested parties or groups and we are good for a year and next year let's do it again.

Erik Simundson

[JimKindred]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Erik,

Thank you very much for your kind offer. We now have a donation button setup for the website, it is in the upper right corner of the page.

I constantly see the use of social media distracting my students to somewhere else with no rules or mission. To my mind the AC is a structured site which curbs poor and rambling discussions. It must soldier on
Donations? I will buy the month of April, just tell me where and how to send the funds.
Get 11 other interested parties or groups and we are good for a year and next year let's do it again.

Erik Simundson

[Bmanz1085]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Jim,
I clicked on the 2 year for $20 subscription link on the page. It took me to a page where you could select vendor or member plus, but only had a 1 year option for $15...

[JimKindred]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Bob,

The two year subscription is no longer available, all we have is the one year option. Thanks

Jim,
I clicked on the 2 year for $20 subscription link on the page. It took me to a page where you could select vendor or member plus, but only had a 1 year option for $15...

[Pvt_Sullivan]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Actually, I think the problem really is that the "AC" has lost its focus. People are using facebook to get the word out because this place doesn't support their needs.

I look at individuals who replied to this thread and only three of them have been at the same quality events I have been to in the last year.

That says it all to me.

[thomas aagaard]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

100$??
Now this site might have some special system, that rules out standard providers...
But I pay like 2½-3$ a month for my domain. 5GB space and free traffic and no adds.

http://www.one.com/en/

So I fint it strage that you can't find anything cheaper?

[JimKindred]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

$100 per month is not out of line, my business website is approximately the same price as well as are a number of other non Civil War related forums I checked with looking for other hosting services.

100$??
Now this site might have some special system, that rules out standard providers...
But I pay like 2½-3$ a month for my domain. 5GB space and free traffic and no adds.

http://www.one.com/en/

So I fint it strage that you can't find anything cheaper?

[Tyler Underwood]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Perhaps, all members should be required to pay an annual sum for membership? By this I mean no guests, a person must be a member to view anything besides the home page. This should also weed out the people who are just here to use the buy sell and trade.

[Jerry Ross]

Re: Pending Forum Closure

Not sure how paypal works. My wife paid using her account and name. Thank you for taking care of the the upkeep of the website. I don't get to go to as many events these days . I always enjoy reading about other organizers' good events.