View Full Version : You people need to contribute to this site....



Soonerus
02-17-2012, 10:55 PM
...like I did or risk it going away...who do you think supports this ??

Lauri101
02-18-2012, 07:50 AM
What Soonerus said!

for 75 cents a week, you can be a gold member. C'mon - you spend more than that for coffee or soft drinks in a day!

Easy180
02-18-2012, 08:48 AM
Figured as much as I loiter on this site 30 bucks ain't bad

ctchandler
02-18-2012, 09:15 AM
I'm not stupid, I'm not poor/rich, just a retired man on a fixed income but I believe in supporting things I use. I'm even computer literate (I. T. career since 1962) but I have missed something. I have never seen a solicitation for support. OK, Maybe I am stupid, so if one of you good folks or one of the administrators will point me in the right direction, I can come up with a dime or two.
Thanks,
C. T.

Double Edge
02-18-2012, 09:34 AM
http://www.okctalk.com/announcement.php?f=24

Soonerus
02-18-2012, 09:36 AM
By the way, I have no affiliation with this site but as a long term OKC person I think it is a great resource and great site !!!

ctchandler
02-18-2012, 09:38 AM
Thanks Double Edge and I agree with you Soonerus.
C. T.

ctchandler
02-18-2012, 09:59 AM
After following the link provided by Double Edge, I was able to locate where to contribute, but to be honest, if Soonerus hadn't started this thread I would have been a free loader forever, as it is, I'm about a year behind on my contribution. OH well, at least it's done now and I will bump it up in the not too distant future when I have a little more spare change available.
C. T.

stick47
02-18-2012, 10:22 AM
Put me down for $100 as soon as the politics section gets removed.

Roadhawg
02-18-2012, 10:27 AM
Put me down for $100 as soon as the politics section gets removed.

Just quit going in there

Doug Loudenback
02-18-2012, 10:30 AM
I'm delighted to help defray the expense associated with this invaluable and unique Oklahoma City resource even if only in a small way. Before Pete became the forum's owner, I did the same in a small way when I could (do you remember, Midtowner?) . Regrettably my better health days are gone but I remain gratified to be able to contribute a $29.95 (?) contribution and hope that it will be of service toward the continuation of this extraordinary Oklahoma City forum. Pete has so much expanded this forum's credibility and breadth that there is simply nothing else like it in Oklahoma City, bar none.

I've not met Pete, though I'd hoped to before now, so this is sort of an interesting aside. Since Pete no longer lives in the City but lives in California, the drive behind his zealous pursuit of this forum remains a mystery to me — what is it that drives him to purchase this place from the former owner and after that make it such a better place than it was in the first place?

Whatever the answer is, I'm glad that it happened. Pete's ownership and moderation of this forum has been an extraordinary blast.

MDot
02-18-2012, 10:58 AM
I'm going to whenever I have enough money but as most of you know I'm only 17 so I don't have the extra money just sitting around right now but when I do have it I'll make sure to pay my dues to keep this site in good health.

Easy180
02-18-2012, 11:52 AM
Just quit going in there

Even have to scroll all the way down to get there....Easy fix

Pete
02-18-2012, 12:04 PM
Small point of note: When people quote a post full of high-quality digital pictures, Pete's hosting bill goes up. He now is hosting the images twice and when people load the page, (1M times on some threads), his hosting provider has to continue to provide those images to the user.

So to be specific, if you want to help you can easily do so by just quoting text in the form and not not including images.
Just tossing out the suggestion. It is a small way a lot of people can help keep costs down.

Actually our hosting program allows for plenty of bandwidth and storage, so there is no incremental cost for posting photos or anything else.

I actually encourage the photos as it's one of the things people like most.

BDK
02-18-2012, 12:51 PM
:yourock:

Just reiterating the appreciation for the site, as well. When I'm out of school and hopefully gainfully employed, I will certainly be moving up to platinum status.

Doug Loudenback
02-18-2012, 01:52 PM
Sid and Pete, when you were talking about images, you meant images actually uploaded here, didn't you? Surely there would be no cost factor when merely linking images into messages?

Please clarify.

BBatesokc
02-18-2012, 02:10 PM
Sid and Pete, when you were talking about images, you meant images actually uploaded here, didn't you? Surely there would be no cost factor when merely linking images into messages?

Please clarify.

Embedding an image hosted on a 3rd party site like imageshack should not incur any costs unless something has changed.

I don't envy Pete and his ownership of this forum.

I don't know about the others here, but I wouldn't be put off by the presence of google ads etc. to offset the costs. I would imagine there is enough traffic that it would cover the costs of this site. Just the Google ads alone on one of my sites provides $1000+ a month. Is there some unknown reason why that's never been done here?

Pete
02-18-2012, 02:27 PM
I'm going to do Google ads or something similar... Until recently there wasn't enough site traffic to generate much income.


And to reiterate, there are no additional costs to me for any type of images -- third part or those posted directly to the site. At least not yet, as we haven't used all our allocated bandwidth or storage.

BBatesokc
02-18-2012, 02:38 PM
I don't know what the monthly costs are, but have you approached/consider approaching any local companies to sponsor the site in exchange for an ad or two. This would keep the ads local and avoid the "singles" and other nearly spam type Google ads. I could see some law firms or other companies who could see an advantage to this.

Stew
02-18-2012, 02:40 PM
I don't post very often but I read this site about every day. There's a lot of really interesting and smart regular posters on here keeping me informed on OKC like no other site I've ever found. Well worth supporting if you ask me.

Pete
02-18-2012, 02:43 PM
I don't know what the monthly costs are, but have you approached/consider approaching any local companies to sponsor the site in exchange for an ad or two. This would keep the ads local and avoid the "singles" and other nearly spam type Google ads. I could see some law firms or other companies who could see an advantage to this.

Yes, but it's tough since I live in California.

If anyone knows of a good commissioned ad salesperson, let me know. I had some previous referrals that didn't pan out.

metro
02-19-2012, 08:27 PM
Small point of note: When people quote a post full of high-quality digital pictures, Pete's hosting bill goes up. He now is hosting the images twice and when people load the page, (1M times on some threads), his hosting provider has to continue to provide those images to the user.

So to be specific, if you want to help you can easily do so by just quoting text in the form and not not including images.
Just tossing out the suggestion. It is a small way a lot of people can help keep costs down.
Thank you! This bugs the tar out of me when people quote an image posted in the post above theirs! I've seen some threads where the pic is reported 5 or so times on the same page! Completely unnecessary waste of bandwidth and space, I've also notice this is when discussions usually derail.

betts
02-19-2012, 10:10 PM
Small point of note: When people quote a post full of high-quality digital pictures, Pete's hosting bill goes up. He now is hosting the images twice and when people load the page, (1M times on some threads), his hosting provider has to continue to provide those images to the user.

So to be specific, if you want to help you can easily do so by just quoting text in the form and not not including images.
Just tossing out the suggestion. It is a small way a lot of people can help keep costs down.

Thanks, I did not know that.

Patrick
02-20-2012, 08:01 AM
I'm delighted to help defray the expense associated with this invaluable and unique Oklahoma City resource even if only in a small way. Before Pete became the forum's owner, I did the same in a small way when I could (do you remember, Midtowner?) . Regrettably my better health days are gone but I remain gratified to be able to contribute a $29.95 (?) contribution and hope that it will be of service toward the continuation of this extraordinary Oklahoma City forum. Pete has so much expanded this forum's credibility and breadth that there is simply nothing else like it in Oklahoma City, bar none.

I've not met Pete, though I'd hoped to before now, so this is sort of an interesting aside. Since Pete no longer lives in the City but lives in California, the drive behind his zealous pursuit of this forum remains a mystery to me — what is it that drives him to purchase this place from the former owner and after that make it such a better place than it was in the first place?

Whatever the answer is, I'm glad that it happened. Pete's ownership and moderation of this forum has been an extraordinary blast.

I think Pete's drive to run this site is very similar to some of our other posters from out of town (Kerry, Hot Rod) that used to live here, but are still very interested in the progress and development of their home city. This is actually where Pete's role as owner of the site is somewhat different than the previous owner. As most of you know, I served on the board of directors and moderators with the previous owner, and the previous owner was a very honest and great individual, but he was more of a free-lance website developer and I think saw the site as more of a business venture than a service to spread the renaissance of OKC. Not saying that he wasn't interested in his home town, but that didn't drive his interest in the site near as much as with Pete.

Patrick
02-20-2012, 08:13 AM
I don't know what the monthly costs are, but have you approached/consider approaching any local companies to sponsor the site in exchange for an ad or two. This would keep the ads local and avoid the "singles" and other nearly spam type Google ads. I could see some law firms or other companies who could see an advantage to this.

Back when I served on the board of directors and moderators for this site with the previous owner, we actually did have those Google ads on the site. But, as Pete mentioned, although we made some money from it, there just wasn't enough traffic to earn a whole lot. And that was even with the previous owner going undercover to encourage all of us to regularly click on the ads to help bring money into the site.

As far as local ads, we tried that in the past. We actually were able to get a few local companies to run ads on the site. And the previous owner even went as far as hiring a commissioned ad salesman for the site. But, even though OKCTalk is well known among us, it isn't as well known in the community as say, the DOK site; most of the companies we talked to were hesitant about buying ad space here because of that. They just didn't feel they were going to get much return for their investment as far as advertising was concerned, and preferred to put their money into more well known sites like the DOK site. DOK has the capital to hire a full time ad sales staff, and we simply didn't have that ability at the time, and even if we did, it was taking a huge risk for loss of our investment, something that wouldn't be as risky for DOK since it wouldn't be a huge to their huge financial budget. I'd imagine Pete is probably in the same boat. And with him not living here, that makes it even tougher, not only because he's not physically here, but also because companies would question that, preferring to advertise with a local owner.

BBatesokc
02-20-2012, 08:44 AM
I've never seen a number, and I don't know if its on a Need To Know Basis, but what is the magic number needed to cover the monthly costs of this site (if Pete is willing to share that)?

I think it would help to put the need into perspective. I could be naive about all this but I'm guessing the costs run between $60 - $300/month depending on the options within Vbulletin utilized and whether or not this is on a shared or dedicated server.

My only experience was my brief stint when I owned OklahomasOwn forum and the cost was $47/month (non VBulletin on shared server). FYI - Don't know if anyone noticed, but Griffin Communications bought that domain from me awhile back.

Pete
02-20-2012, 09:01 AM
I don't want to get into numbers at this point other than to say they aren't huge, but add up over the years.

And regarding local ads, remember that we talk openly, honestly and often negatively about virtually every business and restaurant in town. Look at the advertisers on a site like the Lost Ogle and then think about what gets written about them here and consider how they might not be super enthused about putting their name in a banner while right below they are being called "overrated", "disappointing" or worse.

A site like this is very different than newsok or even Steve's blog. Those are all authored and edited and comments are often completely turned off or tightly controlled.

The balance is delicate but of course, the free exchange of ideas and opinions is paramount. You'd be surprised how often I am contacted even now about something posted here and that's without being on anyone's payroll.


Anyway, I do appreciate the input and we'll continue to look for ways to make the site self-sustaining. For now, I greatly appreciate all the contributions and we certainly aren't going anywhere for a while.

Midtowner
02-20-2012, 11:48 AM
(do you remember, Midtowner?)

I do--and thanks again.

Pete
02-20-2012, 06:27 PM
Since Pete no longer lives in the City but lives in California, the drive behind his zealous pursuit of this forum remains a mystery to me; what is it that drives him to purchase this place from the former owner and after that make it such a better place than it was in the first place?

Sorry Doug, I didn't see this question until just now.

I simply love Oklahoma City and this forum allows me to stay connected even though I'm a long way away. I still have tons of family and friends in the area and I haven't ruled out at least a partial return at some point.

I'm one of those people -- and I'm sure and many here can relate -- that is passionate about the things I care about. I assure you everyone I know here in California knows I'm from Oklahoma! And to most, I AM Oklahoma to them and I love being an ambassador.

I also really, really love where I presently live so I guess this site and the interaction it provides represents the best of both worlds. I can still stay involved and up to date on all things OKC, but I can live somewhere I've wanted to be since I was a little kid.

Ideally, I'd have a home in both places and that may come to pass at some point. By far the biggest obstacle is my three large dogs which would require me to drive back and forth or to leave them alone for an extended period of time, both really unappetizing options.


Anyway, I'm really glad I've been able to be a good shepherd for this site and I'm thrilled with all the input. Our numbers here are really starting to move up and I'm starting to do more promotion through Twitter which has helped.

I'd really like to build a development database (working on it) and a better way of organizing all the projects and the key elements of each. My one other big desire is to create a similar structure for the nostalgia items; indexing places from days gone by and to map out the main businesses and restaurants from each of several decades (60's, 70's, 80's and 90's). I'm making progress on that as well.


Anyway, thanks again for all the recent subscriptions! It really does help and I think we are getting close to having advertisement support be more viable.

SoonerQueen
02-20-2012, 09:41 PM
I have been a gold member from the time I started posting here. I'm glad I could help a little.

Patrick
02-21-2012, 08:03 PM
I've never seen a number, and I don't know if its on a Need To Know Basis, but what is the magic number needed to cover the monthly costs of this site (if Pete is willing to share that)?

I think it would help to put the need into perspective. I could be naive about all this but I'm guessing the costs run between $60 - $300/month depending on the options within Vbulletin utilized and whether or not this is on a shared or dedicated server.

My only experience was my brief stint when I owned OklahomasOwn forum and the cost was $47/month (non VBulletin on shared server). FYI - Don't know if anyone noticed, but Griffin Communications bought that domain from me awhile back.

Not sure exactly how much Pete is investing in this site, and as you mention, that depends on a lot of different factors, but under the previous owner, the site was operated on a dedicated server and we were utilizing far more of vBulletin's features than are being utilized now, i.e., image hosting, chat boards, email accounts, etc. Back then, if my memory serves me correctly, cost was around $200 per month plus any money we spent on marketing, which included everything from business cards to t-shirts to ads in the paper.

Steve
02-21-2012, 08:56 PM
Sorry Doug, I didn't see this question until just now.

I simply love Oklahoma City and this forum allows me to stay connected even though I'm a long way away. I still have tons of family and friends in the area and I haven't ruled out at least a partial return at some point.

I'm one of those people -- and I'm sure and many here can relate -- that is passionate about the things I care about. I assure you everyone I know here in California knows I'm from Oklahoma! And to most, I AM Oklahoma to them and I love being an ambassador.

I also really, really love where I presently live so I guess this site and the interaction it provides represents the best of both worlds. I can still stay involved and up to date on all things OKC, but I can live somewhere I've wanted to be since I was a little kid.

Ideally, I'd have a home in both places and that may come to pass at some point. By far the biggest obstacle is my three large dogs which would require me to drive back and forth or to leave them alone for an extended period of time, both really unappetizing options.


Anyway, I'm really glad I've been able to be a good shepherd for this site and I'm thrilled with all the input. Our numbers here are really starting to move up and I'm starting to do more promotion through Twitter which has helped.

I'd really like to build a development database (working on it) and a better way of organizing all the projects and the key elements of each. My one other big desire is to create a similar structure for the nostalgia items; indexing places from days gone by and to map out the main businesses and restaurants from each of several decades (60's, 70's, 80's and 90's). I'm making progress on that as well.


Anyway, thanks again for all the recent subscriptions! It really does help and I think we are getting close to having advertisement support be more viable.

Pete, I'm wondering if there is a strategic partnership that can be formed between OKC Talk and Retro Metro OKC in terms of the nostalgia part of all this. Let's talk soon...

OKCisOK4me
02-22-2012, 05:27 PM
I've paid to join Gold Status. You deserve it Pete, even if not everyone reads my posts!

ctchandler
02-22-2012, 06:25 PM
OKCisOK4me,
Great, I think this thread woke up several of us and reminded us that there is no free lunch. Great moderators (I have been one on a widow/widower group) and they also contribute a lot. By the way, I do read your posts if they are in a thread that interests me.
C. T.

I've paid to join Gold Status. You deserve it Pete, even if not everyone reads my posts!

Larry OKC
02-23-2012, 01:12 PM
Signed up/paid today

OKCTalker
02-23-2012, 02:53 PM
Done. Now I feel all warm & fuzzy! Thanks, Pete.

ctchandler
02-23-2012, 04:38 PM
MDot,
I don't want to say being young gives you a free lunch, but we have all been there and I'm personally more than happy to have you around to provide the younger perspective and let us older folks pay to support this site. You will when you can and that's a nice commitment. I know at 17, my priorities were certainly different.
C. T.

I'm going to whenever I have enough money but as most of you know I'm only 17 so I don't have the extra money just sitting around right now but when I do have it I'll make sure to pay my dues to keep this site in good health.

MDot
02-24-2012, 11:06 PM
MDot,
I don't want to say being young gives you a free lunch, but we have all been there and I'm personally more than happy to have you around to provide the younger perspective and let us older folks pay to support this site. You will when you can and that's a nice commitment. I know at 17, my priorities were certainly different.
C. T.

Thank you, C.T. I enjoy being a member of OKCTalk and I only find it fitting that I help Pete out in keeping this site alive and I certainly intend to do so, hopefully here in the next few days if everything works out the way I'm expecting it to.

OKCisOK4me
02-25-2012, 10:52 AM
Speaking of all these Gold/Platinum member subscriptions, I think we should have a meet-up for those of us paid members who are here in the metro area. I'm available on Sundays!

workman45
02-25-2012, 03:47 PM
Speaking of all these Gold/Platinum member subscriptions, I think we should have a meet-up for those of us paid members who are here in the metro area. I'm available on Sundays!

We got together once for a meal way back when. Sounds like fun, I'm in.

yukong
02-26-2012, 12:30 PM
I wasn't aware about the subscription availability until this thread. I so love this site even though I don't post much, I love learning more and more about our great city. I was born here and have been here most all my life. I cannot imagine living anywhere else. I was more than happy to pay to help support this great experience. Makes me feel like more than just a lurker. And I look good in gold.

soonerguru
03-03-2012, 07:59 PM
The balance is delicate but of course, the free exchange of ideas and opinions is paramount. You'd be surprised how often I am contacted even now about something posted here and that's without being on anyone's payroll.

I read this quite ominously. Am I misreading this? Are you saying you get pushback for content expressed here? While I would not be entirely surprised by this, it graphically exemplifies why this forum is so critical to this community.

The newspaper is controlled (and yes we love Steve's work). The TV stations are facile and beholden to advertisers. The business community is clubby and insular. The powers that be in OKC like to throw their weight around. OKCTalk, while not always a 100% reliable news source, is nonetheless an open exchange of information and ideas without the watering-down filters and blurring deflections that are otherwise inherent in the aforementioned news sources.

What Pete is providing is a priceless community service and I will certainly become a contributing member.

Pete
03-04-2012, 08:44 AM
I didn't mean to sound ominous but I do get occasional emails asking that something be removed or contesting information that has been posted.

More often than not, posts here draw lots of interested parties into the conversation; note how frequently owners/developers end up posting on one of their own projects.