Support Maple Leaf Up 2.0

[Marc van Aalderen]

Hanno and team,

I really should pay more attention to the other subjects than just the Carrier forum.....

Anyway, donation on it's way.

Keep up the good work and thank you for all your efforts in bringing and keeping so many people from all over the world together.

Cheers,

[Stewart Loy]

.. does not seem like a lot, but if everybody did it, there would be lots for the site we all claim to value to much.

And just 15 cents a day ... like Nigel W. says 'easy peasy'.


Stewart

PS - how is the final volume of the Carrier series going Nigel??

.

[Bob Carriere]

.... we need money to run the site but no one will inform the membership of the true cost of running MLU.

Why are we so afraid of hurting people's feelings or being up front with the reality of life.... nothing is free anymore......

A lot of members may not even have a remote clue of the realistic cost of running MLU.

Other forums have a "Wall of Fame" where donors are listed and kept updated.... members can see by date the last time they contributed...some have a ranking system for big time givers...smaller contributors are also ALL recognized.

Most Hospitals in Ontario have a wall that lists all the donors, benefactors and small supporters.... some have sold bricks with family names on them.....

What they heck are we afraid......???

We have tremendous team of volunteers working unseen and I fear not fully appreciated.... they should be listed on the first line.

There was a lot of chit chat and wispering when Geoff was running the forum and God bless his soul, he left us quite an heritage..... we should have learned from that experience that there is a need to be transparent with the membership.

I support being up front...posting operating expenses..... with no veto from the membership for financial decisions taken by the volunteers.....suggesting a contribution amount so the volunteers can budget for future operational needs.....even building a reserve for unforeseen events....... recognising donrs large and small and if some are offended that they are not listed for not supporting this fine forum as donors.... though titty !!!!

The forum has never run as good as it is now...... and as reliable....

If we are timely and responsible, we will not be subject to mandatory registration fees..... or advertising and/or painful popups.... or risk frustrating our volunteers with shoe string finance.

My Canadian 5 cents worth.

I have made donations in the past and will continue to do so..... that is why I fell entitled to posting my opinion.

Bob Carriere

[aj.lec]

I agree with Bob and Stewart
How much are the running expenses ?
Set a price per member and run with it
It is a great site and would be a great loss to lose it because of some tightwads . If they dont want to pay their share limit access and it is their loss
I have just kicked in a $50 .Cheap for the info and stories
Many thanks to all the volunteers and management for the great work they do

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all - most clubs I am associated with have an annual fee of about $50. I am prepared to pay that.

Bob

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

It is in the MLU Bank.

Bob

[c dressel]

Im in let me know

[Stewart Loy]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

.... we need money to run the site but no one will inform the membership of the true cost of running MLU.

Why are we so afraid of hurting people's feelings or being up front with the reality of life.... nothing is free anymore......

A lot of members may not even have a remote clue of the realistic cost of running MLU.

Other forums have a "Wall of Fame" where donors are listed and kept updated.... members can see by date the last time they contributed...some have a ranking system for big time givers...smaller contributors are also ALL recognized.

Most Hospitals in Ontario have a wall that lists all the donors, benefactors and small supporters.... some have sold bricks with family names on them.....

What they heck are we afraid......???

We have tremendous team of volunteers working unseen and I fear not fully appreciated.... they should be listed on the first line.

There was a lot of chit chat and wispering when Geoff was running the forum and God bless his soul, he left us quite an heritage..... we should have learned from that experience that there is a need to be transparent with the membership.

I support being up front...posting operating expenses..... with no veto from the membership for financial decisions taken by the volunteers.....suggesting a contribution amount so the volunteers can budget for future operational needs.....even building a reserve for unforeseen events....... recognising donrs large and small and if some are offended that they are not listed for not supporting this fine forum as donors.... though titty !!!!

The forum has never run as good as it is now...... and as reliable....

If we are timely and responsible, we will not be subject to mandatory registration fees..... or advertising and/or painful popups.... or risk frustrating our volunteers with shoe string finance.

My Canadian 5 cents worth.

I have made donations in the past and will continue to do so..... that is why I fell entitled to posting my opinion.

Bob Carriere

... very well said.


Stewart

[chris vickery]

Flat fee, yearly, kick off all the baggers.

[Little Jo]

Hi All

I have only been a member for 12 months and was a complete novice and at times reluctant to ask a question or seek advice for fear of making a fool of myself. But I am so grateful to the members of MLU who have been so helpful with their support and assistance during my first restoration project, now completed and something I am proud of. I knowing full well I could not have done it alone.

I love the friendly banter between the members and I follow each and every comment made on the MLU forum which really makes me feel I am part of a larger fraternity of people with similar interests around the world. I feel to be part of such a wonderful group you must pay to ensure we continue to stay viable.

In this life you get nothing for nothing and to pay a membership of $50 a year, or around a dollar a week is small change for what we get out of the MLU membership.

Cheers

Tony

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Little Jo

Hi All

I have only been a member for 12 months and was a complete novice and at times reluctant to ask a question or seek advice for fear of making a fool of myself. But I am so grateful to the members of MLU who have been so helpful with their support and assistance during my first restoration project, now completed and something I am proud of. I knowing full well I could not have done it alone.

I love the friendly banter between the members and I follow each and every comment made on the MLU forum which really makes me feel I am part of a larger fraternity of people with similar interests around the world. I feel to be part of such a wonderful group you must pay to ensure we continue to stay viable.

In this life you get nothing for nothing and to pay a membership of $50 a year, or around a dollar a week is small change for what we get out of the MLU membership.

Cheers

Tony

Tony..We are always glad to have such high caliber members such as yourself..
That partake and share ..that is what this forum is all about..
And over the years those of us that can travel around to other country's and get together with other members that we have met through the MLU forum..That has been our founding fathers ,Jeff..AKA JIF Winnington-Ball's greatest accomplishment and we, the great unwashed ,mean to keep his dream alive and carry on with his good work..
Wea all use are own names here and locations and over the years many of us now know each other ..which never would have happened with out his guidance and this forum..
So carry the message on and support us..post lots and enjoy the time we have together..
I'm curious about your handle ..Little Jo..
1.You are either little in stature..
2.You look like little Joe on the old TV series Bonanza..
3.or you are 6'19"..just a couple of inches shorter than our biggest Dutchman,Hanno,who is 6"21"....
4.Other
'Fess up..
We need a laugh..

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

.... we need money to run the site but no one will inform the membership of the true cost of running MLU.

Bob et al,

There is nothing secret about it, but the fact is that the true cost of running MLU is not known - yet. Up to now we have been depending on free help from a lot of people, some not even MLU members. Plus we have not factored in all the cost to be able to calculate the true cost of running MLU.

When Geoff passed away, Brian Gough and I secured a couple of mapleleafup.xyz domain names to make sure we had a URL to move to. Cost? I could look it up for you, but it is small change to me.

Later I worked with Shawn to move the MLU database and forum software to a virtual private server. Shawn has the experience and talents to carry out this work, and this being his Dad's legacy he set up a server for which he only charges MLU $30 a month. He is one of our volunteers as he did not charge for his time spent on migrating MLU from .org to .net. Plus he continues spending time every now and then on backups and maintenance.

I am not sure if this cost will increase because we use more server space or bandwidth in the (near) future or if we need to hire specialists to solve problems Shawn might not be able to solve. Indeed the forum runs trouble free and stable right now, but who knows what the future might bring. Remember one of those hack attacks we had in the past?

We will have to add to this any costs we will have to make for new vBulletin software licences (we are still using Geoff's licence) and software upgrades.

Also, I would like to establish an association as Geoff and I had discussed many times. This will enable us to put the MLU assets into the association's name. If we do this we will not lose a URL or other assets currently in someone's personal name after he decides to quit or passes away.

And there will be other cost drivers I have not thought of right now. But currently I spend most of the time I have available for MLU on vetting the new members. I wish I could make more time to indulge in the discussions on this forum like a used to do. Plus figure out and set in motion the things mentioned above.

After only five months of operating mapleleafup.net I can conclude it is currently run using a minimal cash flow - no-one runs a cheaper forum right now. Based on this current cash flow, I can assure you MLU is funded until at least the end of this year thanks to the generous donations of quite a few members. I will do everything that is needed to secure the future of MLU in the long run, but count on it to cost us more, both in time and money.

Hope this helps to answer some of your questions - I’m off to bed now if you don’t mind

Best regards,
Hanno
MLU Administrator

[Bob Carriere]

....and thanks to all the volunteers working in the shadows and doing so much for MLU.

How fast we forget that the transition was only 5 months away....... and that it is still ungoing.

Thanks for informing us of what is happening.... never realized that the true indirect and direct cost of running MLU are still being defined. There was no intention on my part to say that your team of volunteers should be working faster.

In the interim, while finalizing all the current and future cost, if you proposed a funding plan that will provide greater certainty of getting to the end of the year 2011 and provide for some contingency funds (some of ?) the membership will support you and the volunteer team.

Thanks to Shawn for his expertise, time and support.

Bob

[chris vickery]

Hanno, $$$ on the way.

[c dressel]

Has been Sent

[Little Jo]

Hi Hanno

I noted that my diary showed it was time for my donation. Sent today via PayPal. Keep up the good work.

Cheers

Tony

[r.morrison]

Hi Hanno : Have forwarded on a donation via Paypal, tonight. I also noticed there were only 36 members who coughed up some dough, as per your entry. I thought the forum had a lot more contributing members than that, which does not include monies sent to Shawn.
If you need more money, I have some ideas to raise money for support IE: Chris Vickery and the T Shirts.
Thanks to you and your team for the support and the effort you people put forth to keep the dream alive. I can see by the comments earlier, that you really can't put a price on this!!!
Carry on carrying on! Robert...... aka Van Pro Decorating Ltd Vancouver B.C. Canada.

PS: Bruce Harris will be forwarding on his sizeable donation this week, even though he doesn't know it.....yet!

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by r.morrison

Have forwarded on a donation via Paypal, tonight. I also noticed there were only 36 members who coughed up some dough, as per your entry. I thought the forum had a lot more contributing members than that, which does not include monies sent to Shawn.

Robert, thanks for your donation! Have added your name to the register of supporters. Here's hoping some more members will do their bit to support the forum.

Regards,
Hanno

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by r.morrison

If you need more money, I have some ideas to raise money for support IE: Chris Vickery and the T Shirts.

I would support this sort of activities, but other than Geoff, I do not plan to run a type of merchandising program myself.

Long time MLU members can contact me to make arrangements to use the MLU logo and forum to sell merchandise, with part of the profits going towards the upkeep of MLU.

Thanks,
Hanno

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Little Jo

I noted that my diary showed it was time for my donation. Sent today via PayPal. Keep up the good work.

Thank you, Tony!

[Mike Cecil]

Hanno,

Contribution sent.

When's the 'shareholders meeting' in Canada ??? .... I wouldn't mind a quick trip over the 'north fence' to visit my Canadian cousins!

Mike C

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Hanno,

Contribution sent.

When's the 'shareholders meeting' in Canada ??? .... I wouldn't mind a quick trip over the 'north fence' to visit my Canadian cousins!

Mike C

Mike ..
The Ottawa area shareholders have all kinds of MLU meetings...usually involving beer drinkin',lie tellin',rust...old paint...gas fumes..and skinned knuckles..and long discussions on everything under the sun.

These meetings happen usually when kindred spirits visit the Ottawa area..
Just let us know when you are coming and we will give you instructions to the meeting place or make arrangements to meet you to get you to the meetings..\
We are due or over due now...
Gracies bar and Grill misses us..

[Mike Cecil]

Alex

Read and Understood!

Will be in touch.....

Mike C

[hrpearce]

Annual donation on the way

[gordon]

Sent some today to ease the burden

Gordon

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi all - sold another of the elusive Carrier parts book page 13 and money sent. Also checked and saw that I last paid subscription in July 2011 so sent $50 as well to cover next year.

Bob

[Haridimos]

My donation was sent before a while!

Kostas..

[Bob Carriere]

...... my yearly contribution was overdue ....... now paid up

Dollar a week ain't much for the fun you get.

Bob

[George McKenzie]

Sent you $ 40 George McKenzie

[Jon Bradshaw]

Sent it tonight, start the new year off right.