Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum
driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone
already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available
that would work.
What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and
a much more user friendly format.
The steps (as I see it) would be:
Purchase a URL
Select a forum software and personalize it for our use
Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL
from somoene like godaddy)
Upload to the new server
Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)
Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following
positions
Site administrator
Forum Moderators
Tada!
We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another
day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of
an association would be simple to implement.
Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum
driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone
already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available
that would work.
What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and
a much more user friendly format.
The steps (as I see it) would be:
Purchase a URL
Select a forum software and personalize it for our use
Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL
from somoene like godaddy)
Upload to the new server
Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)
Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following
positions
Site administrator
Forum Moderators
Tada!
We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another
day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of
an association would be simple to implement.
In the absence of any negative input I’m going to go ahead with a plan
on Friday the 5th. You will certainly have my nomination and vote for
admin/moderator at the new site. I have a hosting company lined up
that would meet our needs and cost us $5 per month. I think we can
swing that in a group that talks about hundreds of dollars for fuel
filters. I’ll risk my own funds, pass the hat after it’s all up and
running, then hopefully turn the torch over to someone who will be
around solid internet connections because we plan to shove off as soon
as the house is ready to rent and boat is ready to cruise.
Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum
driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone
already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available
that would work.
What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and
a much more user friendly format.
The steps (as I see it) would be:
Purchase a URL
Select a forum software and personalize it for our use
Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL
from somoene like godaddy)
Upload to the new server
Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)
Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following
positions
Site administrator
Forum Moderators
Tada!
We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another
day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of
an association would be simple to implement.
One other thing is that we will want to keep the yahoo group alive for
those inevitable hickups that happen with data bases and servers. It
will be the back road communication for members so they can know there
is not a problem with their connection but with the forum/server.
I already have an agreement for web hosting with 1and1 that is not being utilised and is paid for that I will willingly donate to the cause and also make time to assist in the project.
Lance,In the absence of any negative input I’m going to go ahead with a planon Friday the 5th. You will certainly have my nomination and vote foradmin/moderator at the new site. I have a hosting company lined upthat would meet our needs and cost us $5 per month. I think we canswing that in a group that talks about hundreds of dollars for fuelfilters. I’ll risk my own funds, pass the hat after it’s all up andrunning, then hopefully turn the torch over to someone who will bearound solid internet connections because we plan to shove off as soonas the house is ready to rent and boat is ready to cruise. George— In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com, “lance_ryley”<lance_ryley@…> wrote:>> George,> as the owner/moderator of this forum, I’d be happy to give up the> reins if someone else came up with a website. ;)> > Lance> > — In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com, “George Huffman”> <thatboatguy2@> wrote:> >> > Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum> > driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone> > already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available> > that would work. > > > > What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and> > a much more user friendly format. > > > > The steps (as I see it) would be:> > > > 1. Purchase a URL> > 2. Select a forum software and personalize it for our use> > 3. Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL> > from somoene like godaddy)> > 4. Upload to the new server> > 5. Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)> > 6. Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following> > positions > > - Site administrator> > - Forum Moderators > > > > Tada! > > > > We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another> > day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of> > an association would be simple to implement. > > > > George> >>
Posted by Stephen Dewey (stephendewey@…>)
The old saying holds true - you get what you pay for…I’m a moderator on a tractor forum http://www.tractorbynet.com (click on the forums tab) It is run as a commercial enterprise. They use vbulletin software (costs $100 per year to lease, more for phone support). Of the various forums I visit, I feel it is the best user interface. http://www.vbulletin.com will show you all the features.Passing the hat for donations is often contentious. Many feel that the internet should be “free”. On a woodworking forum I visit - www.sawmillcreek.org they tried for many years to be a user supported community, but ultimately failed as the popularity grew & they had to take on advertising to cover their operating costs. The suggested donation was
$6 a year, but the amount of traffic is huge, the ISP / hosting fees were substantial, and the % of contributing members was low. I’m fairly certain the amount of interest in freedom yachts is far less than woodworking, so the operating costs should be reasonable.Long story short - I think running some google ads and/or finding some relevant commercial sponsors (brokers, sailmakers etc.) to cover the operating costs may be the way to go. You have to look at ads on the yahoo site anyway… From a logisitcal standpoint, perhaps we need some initial investors to put up some funds to get it started, then pursue advertising once the traffic is up. Of course this would be run as a non-profit - we’d only need as much advertising as required to cover the costs. If you look at tractorbynet - I feel they’ve done a respectful job of incorporating the advertising.One concern I have is can we export the accumulated
knowledge from the yahoo groups to a new site? Any technological or intellecual property barriers?Anybody got stats on how much “use” the yahoo group site gets - that will drive the operating costs…I’m quite happy to take the lead on this effort - also I’m willing to pony up some money to get it off the ground - It is certainly worth it for the education & entertainment value.oh and www.freedomyachts.org is available Stephen Deweyhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/stephendeweyFrom: George Huffman <thatboatguy2@…>To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comSent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 7:36:08 AMSubject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum
driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone
already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available
that would work.
What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and
a much more user friendly format.
The steps (as I see it) would be:
Purchase a URL
Select a forum software and personalize it for our use
Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL
from somoene like godaddy)
Upload to the new server
Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)
Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following
positions
Site administrator
Forum Moderators
Tada!
We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another
day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of
an association would be simple to implement.
George, I don’t want to discourage you…but isn’t this a bit
sudden? This is a group of individuals after all. Maybe everyone
else will think that your plan is wonderful… but maybe they
won’t. My own opinion is that “in the absence of any negative
input” isn’t near enough buy-in for any group activity. I’d like
to see some positive input as well. Maybe a vote; but certainly
some discussion.
Roger L. F28
----- Original Message -----
From: “George Huffman” <thatboatguy2@…>
To: <FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 6:07 AM
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: New Forum for Freedom Owners?
\
Lance,
In the absence of any negative input I’m going to go ahead
with a plan
on Friday the 5th. You will certainly have my nomination and
vote for
admin/moderator at the new site. I have a hosting company
lined up
that would meet our needs and cost us $5 per month. I think
we can
swing that in a group that talks about hundreds of dollars for
fuel
filters. I’ll risk my own funds, pass the hat after it’s all
up and
running, then hopefully turn the torch over to someone who
will be
around solid internet connections because we plan to shove off
as soon
as the house is ready to rent and boat is ready to cruise.
I
have to agree with Roger. I still hang around this group be cause I like
the folks and I’m happy to share what I learned about my F30 with
others. But I no longer own a Freedom and I’m not sure that I’d
pay to continue hanging around with you (though I would if I still owned one).
George, I don’t want to discourage you…but
isn’t this a bit
sudden? This is a group of individuals after all. Maybe everyone
else will think that your plan is wonderful… but maybe they
won’t. My own opinion is that “in the absence of any negative
input” isn’t near enough buy-in for any group activity. I’d like
to see some positive input as well. Maybe a vote; but certainly
some discussion.
Roger L. F28
----- Original Message -----
From: “George Huffman” <thatboatguy2@…>
To: <FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 6:07 AM
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: New Forum for Freedom Owners?
Lance,
In the absence of any negative input I’m going to go ahead
with a plan
on Friday the 5th. You will certainly have my nomination and
vote for
admin/moderator at the new site. I have a hosting company
lined up
that would meet our needs and cost us $5 per month. I think
we can
swing that in a group that talks about hundreds of dollars for
fuel
filters. I’ll risk my own funds, pass the hat after it’s all
up and
running, then hopefully turn the torch over to someone who
will be
around solid internet connections because we plan to shove off
as soon
as the house is ready to rent and boat is ready to cruise.
Posted by esfogel@… (esfogel@…)
Let me offer a suggestion. Go to Sailing Anarchy and see what they’ve done. They have a news page, a store, a classified section, and a number of forums. It’s all very informative. And it’s all free. How do they do it? They sell an awful lot of advertising space. The advertisers support the virtual community and the virtual community supports the advertisers. As you note, Freedom owners spend a great deal of money on their boats. That’s a great pitch to potential advertisers. They’re always looking for markets. Another site that has done well without charging is the Nonsuch owners group. It’s incredibly well run. But whatever you decide to do, some due diligence will serve everyone well in the long run.----- Original Message -----From: “Stephen Dewey” <stephendewey@…>To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comSent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 8:50:20 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada EasternSubject: Re: [FreedomOwnersGroup] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
The old saying holds true - you get what you pay for…I’m a moderator on a tractor forum http://www.tractorbynet.com (click on the forums tab)  It is run as a commercial enterprise. They use vbulletin software (costs $100 per year to lease, more for phone support). Of the various forums I visit, I feel it is the best user interface. http://www.vbulletin.com will show you all the features.Passing the hat for donations is often contentious. Many feel that the internet should be “free”. On a woodworking forum I visit - www.sawmillcreek.org they tried for many years to be a user supported community, but ultimately failed as the popularity grew & they had to take on advertising to cover their operating costs. The suggested donation was
$6 a year, but the amount of traffic is huge, the ISP / hosting fees were substantial, and the % of contributing members was low. I’m fairly certain the amount of interest in freedom yachts is far less than woodworking, so the operating costs should be reasonable.Long story short - I think running some google ads and/or finding some relevant commercial sponsors (brokers, sailmakers etc.) to cover the operating costs may be the way to go. You have to look at ads on the yahoo site anyway… From a logisitcal standpoint, perhaps we need some initial investors to put up some funds to get it started, then pursue advertising once the traffic is up. Of course this would be run as a non-profit - we’d only need as much advertising as required to cover the costs. If you look at tractorbynet - I feel they’ve done a respectful job of incorporating the advertising.One concern I have is can we export the accumulated
knowledge from the yahoo groups to a new site? Any technological or intellecual property barriers?Anybody got stats on how much “use” the yahoo group site gets - that will drive the operating costs…I’m quite happy to take the lead on this effort - also I’m willing to pony up some money to get it off the ground - It is certainly worth it for the education & entertainment value.oh and www.freedomyachts.org is available :-) Stephen Deweyhttp://www.linkedin.com/in/stephendeweyFrom: George Huffman <thatboatguy2@…>To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comSent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 7:36:08 AMSubject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum
driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone
already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available
that would work.
What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and
a much more user friendly format.
The steps (as I see it) would be:
Purchase a URL
Select a forum software and personalize it for our use
Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL
from somoene like godaddy)
Upload to the new server
Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)
Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following
positions
Site administrator
Forum Moderators
Tada!
We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another
day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of
an association would be simple to implement.
Posted by george huffman (thatboatguy2@…>)
I certainly wouldn’t (and couldn’t ) do anything to stop the group here. I also would not require any contribution to participate in a freedom forum. Big difference between pay to play and pass the hat. I’ll be risking my own money (looks like an initial investment of 120 dollars for two years) and if people want to participate they will. If they don’t they wont. The floor is open. Go have a look at the Pearson 365 board created by Rich Boren. It’s a great site and is managed with minimal fuss and with minimal expense. Pearson Yacht ClubThat’s all I’m going to create. George— On Wed, 12/3/08, esfogel@… <esfogel@…> wrote:From: esfogel@… <esfogel@…>Subject: Re: [FreedomOwnersGroup] New Forum for Freedom Owners?To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comDate: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 9:55 AM
Let me offer a suggestion. Go to Sailing Anarchy and see what they’ve done. They have a news page, a store, a classified section, and a number of forums. It’s all very informative. And it’s all free. How do they do it? They sell an awful lot of advertising space. The advertisers support the virtual community and the virtual community supports the advertisers. As you note, Freedom owners spend a great deal of money on their boats. That’s a great pitch to potential advertisers. They’re always looking for markets. Another site that has done well without charging is the Nonsuch owners group. It’s incredibly well run. But whatever you decide to do, some due diligence will serve everyone well in the long run.----- Original Message -----From: “Stephen Dewey” <stephendewey@ yahoo.com>To: FreedomOwnersGroup@ yahoogroups. comSent: Wednesday,
December 3, 2008 8:50:20 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada EasternSubject: Re: [FreedomOwnersGroup ] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
The old saying holds true - you get what you pay for…I’m a moderator on a tractor forum http://www.tractorbynet.com (click on the forums tab) It is run as a commercial enterprise. They use vbulletin software (costs $100 per year to lease, more for phone support). Of the various forums I visit, I feel it is the best user interface. http://www.vbulletin.com will show you all the features.Passing the hat for donations is often contentious. Many feel that the internet should be “free”. On a woodworking forum I visit - www.sawmillcreek. org they tried for many years to be a user supported community, but ultimately failed as the popularity grew & they had to take on advertising to cover their operating costs. The suggested donation was
$6 a year, but the amount of traffic is huge, the ISP / hosting fees were substantial, and the % of contributing members was low. I’m fairly certain the amount of interest in freedom yachts is far less than woodworking, so the operating costs should be reasonable.Long story short - I think running some google ads and/or finding some relevant commercial sponsors (brokers, sailmakers etc.) to cover the operating costs may be the way to go. You have to look at ads on the yahoo site anyway… From a logisitcal standpoint, perhaps we need some initial investors to put up some funds to get it started, then pursue advertising once the traffic is up. Of course this would be run as a non-profit - we’d only need as much advertising as required to cover the costs. If you look at tractorbynet - I feel they’ve done a respectful job of incorporating the advertising.One concern I have is can we export the accumulated
knowledge from the yahoo groups to a new site? Any technological or intellecual property barriers?Anybody got stats on how much “use” the yahoo group site gets - that will drive the operating costs…I’m quite happy to take the lead on this effort - also I’m willing to pony up some money to get it off the ground - It is certainly worth it for the education & entertainment value.oh and www.freedomyachts. org is available Stephen Deweyhttp://www.linkedin .com/in/stephend eweyFrom: George Huffman <thatboatguy2@ yahoo.com>To:
FreedomOwnersGroup@ yahoogroups. comSent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 7:36:08 AMSubject: [FreedomOwnersGroup ] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum
driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone
already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available
that would work.
What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and
a much more user friendly format.
The steps (as I see it) would be:
Purchase a URL
Select a forum software and personalize it for our use
Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL
from somoene like godaddy)
Upload to the new server
Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)
Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following
positions
Site administrator
Forum Moderators
Tada!
We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another
day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of
an association would be simple to implement.
I’ve implemented several forums and find that PHPBB is very easy to
work with and loaded with features. It’s free and has a active
support forum for questions/problems. An example of a forum using it
can be found at http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewforum.php?f=46
As far as web hosting sites, I currently have well over 1 GB of data
in 2 sites that I manage and adding a low volume forum like the
Freedom owners would be nothing. My own personal site gets over
250,000 visitors a year and I don’t begin to come close the the 8GB
bandwith limits of my account.
I would be glad to implement the forum and host it on my on www.pair.com hosting site. I’ll even pony up for a domain name and
anyone wishing to contribute towards it can ship me a few bucks via
paypal.
As far as moving the existing forum data, I don’t see any way to do
it other than manually, which would be a huge effort. I’d just leave
it for postarity.
Posted by george huffman (thatboatguy2@…>)
Post what in parts? heh heh George— On Wed, 12/3/08, lolaltd <lolaltd@…> wrote:From: lolaltd <lolaltd@…>Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: New Forum for Freedom Owners?To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comDate: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 10:48 AM
-Hi all,
I may have missed something here…but could you post it in parts?
Posted by george huffman (thatboatguy2@…>)
Hey Geoff,I agree that moving the data from here would be hard and not worth the effort. Indeed this group will no doubt continue as some just prefer the email list interface. I hope we can work together to make a great new forum with great features. I also agree that PHPBB is the way to go. I’ve emailed you off list to see if we can work together on this. I’ve personally seen the idea brought up a couple times here and then simply let die. I was told that it was brought up several times even before that. This time something will get launched. I hope it floats! :)George— On Wed, 12/3/08, Geoffrey Schultz <geoff.freedom@…> wrote:From: Geoffrey Schultz <geoff.freedom@…>Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: New Forum for Freedom Owners?To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comDate: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 10:17 AM
I’ve implemented several forums and find that PHPBB is very easy to
work with and loaded with features. It’s free and has a active
support forum for questions/problems. An example of a forum using it
can be found at http://www.phpbb. com/community/ viewforum. php?f=46
As far as web hosting sites, I currently have well over 1 GB of data
in 2 sites that I manage and adding a low volume forum like the
Freedom owners would be nothing. My own personal site gets over
250,000 visitors a year and I don’t begin to come close the the 8GB
bandwith limits of my account.
I would be glad to implement the forum and host it on my on www.pair.com hosting site. I’ll even pony up for a domain name and
anyone wishing to contribute towards it can ship me a few bucks via
paypal.
As far as moving the existing forum data, I don’t see any way to do
it other than manually, which would be a huge effort. I’d just leave
it for postarity.
Posted by george huffman (thatboatguy2@…>)
I am completely against a forum with any advertising or any commercial activity beyond a separate area for us to sell our own personal stuff in a fleamarket type setting. The total cost of a forum like what we would need is $120 for two years. I’ve already committed to spending that myself. If I get it back great. If I don’t… you will never hear me whine about it. George— On Wed, 12/3/08, esfogel@… <esfogel@…> wrote:From: esfogel@… <esfogel@…>Subject: Re: [FreedomOwnersGroup] New Forum for Freedom Owners?To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comDate: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 9:55 AM
Let me offer a suggestion. Go to Sailing Anarchy and see what they’ve done. They have a news page, a store, a classified section, and a number of forums. It’s all very informative. And it’s all free. How do they do it? They sell an awful lot of advertising space. The advertisers support the virtual community and the virtual community supports the advertisers. As you note, Freedom owners spend a great deal of money on their boats. That’s a great pitch to potential advertisers. They’re always looking for markets. Another site that has done well without charging is the Nonsuch owners group. It’s incredibly well run. But whatever you decide to do, some due diligence will serve everyone well in the long run.----- Original Message -----From: “Stephen Dewey” <stephendewey@ yahoo.com>To: FreedomOwnersGroup@ yahoogroups. comSent: Wednesday,
December 3, 2008 8:50:20 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada EasternSubject: Re: [FreedomOwnersGroup ] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
The old saying holds true - you get what you pay for…I’m a moderator on a tractor forum http://www.tractorbynet.com (click on the forums tab) It is run as a commercial enterprise. They use vbulletin software (costs $100 per year to lease, more for phone support). Of the various forums I visit, I feel it is the best user interface. http://www.vbulletin.com will show you all the features.Passing the hat for donations is often contentious. Many feel that the internet should be “free”. On a woodworking forum I visit - www.sawmillcreek. org they tried for many years to be a user supported community, but ultimately failed as the popularity grew & they had to take on advertising to cover their operating costs. The suggested donation was
$6 a year, but the amount of traffic is huge, the ISP / hosting fees were substantial, and the % of contributing members was low. I’m fairly certain the amount of interest in freedom yachts is far less than woodworking, so the operating costs should be reasonable.Long story short - I think running some google ads and/or finding some relevant commercial sponsors (brokers, sailmakers etc.) to cover the operating costs may be the way to go. You have to look at ads on the yahoo site anyway… From a logisitcal standpoint, perhaps we need some initial investors to put up some funds to get it started, then pursue advertising once the traffic is up. Of course this would be run as a non-profit - we’d only need as much advertising as required to cover the costs. If you look at tractorbynet - I feel they’ve done a respectful job of incorporating the advertising.One concern I have is can we export the accumulated
knowledge from the yahoo groups to a new site? Any technological or intellecual property barriers?Anybody got stats on how much “use” the yahoo group site gets - that will drive the operating costs…I’m quite happy to take the lead on this effort - also I’m willing to pony up some money to get it off the ground - It is certainly worth it for the education & entertainment value.oh and www.freedomyachts. org is available Stephen Deweyhttp://www.linkedin .com/in/stephend eweyFrom: George Huffman <thatboatguy2@ yahoo.com>To:
FreedomOwnersGroup@ yahoogroups. comSent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 7:36:08 AMSubject: [FreedomOwnersGroup ] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum
driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone
already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available
that would work.
What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and
a much more user friendly format.
The steps (as I see it) would be:
Purchase a URL
Select a forum software and personalize it for our use
Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL
from somoene like godaddy)
Upload to the new server
Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)
Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following
positions
Site administrator
Forum Moderators
Tada!
We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another
day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of
an association would be simple to implement.
I am also against advertising and in view of the number of regular users to this forum I cannot see any advertisers being interested anyway. The other forums mentioned, apart from the Pearson one are general forums and draw users who own many different boat manufacturers.
I am completely against a forum with any advertising or any commercial activity beyond a separate area for us to sell our own personal stuff in a fleamarket type setting. The total cost of a forum like what we would need is $120 for two years. I’ve already committed to spending that myself. If I get it back great. If I don’t… you will never hear me whine about it. George— On Wed, 12/3/08, esfogel@comcast.net <esfogel@comcast.net> wrote:
From: esfogel@comcast.net <esfogel@comcast.net>Subject: Re: [FreedomOwnersGroup] New Forum for Freedom Owners?To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comDate: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 9:55 AM
Let me offer a suggestion. Go to Sailing Anarchy and see what they’ve done. They have a news page, a store, a classified section, and a number of forums. It’s all very informative. And it’s all free. How do they do it? They sell an awful lot of advertising space. The advertisers support the virtual community and the virtual community supports the advertisers. As you note, Freedom owners spend a great deal of money on their boats. That’s a great pitch to potential advertisers. They’re always looking for markets. Another site that has done well without charging is the Nonsuch owners group. It’s incredibly well run. But whatever you decide to do, some due diligence will serve everyone well in the long run.
----- Original Message -----From: “Stephen Dewey” <stephendewey@ yahoo.com>To: FreedomOwnersGroup@ yahoogroups. comSent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 8:50:20 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada EasternSubject: Re: [FreedomOwnersGroup ] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
The old saying holds true - you get what you pay for…I’m a moderator on a tractor forum http://www.tractorbynet.com (click on the forums tab) It is run as a commercial enterprise. They use vbulletin software (costs $100 per year to lease, more for phone support). Of the various forums I visit, I feel it is the best user interface. http://www.vbulletin.com will show you all the features.Passing the hat for donations is often contentious. Many feel that the internet should be “free”. On a woodworking forum I visit - www.sawmillcreek. org they tried for many years to be a user supported community, but ultimately failed as the popularity grew & they had to take on advertising to cover their operating costs. The suggested donation was $6 a year, but the amount of traffic is huge, the ISP / hosting fees were substantial, and the % of contributing members was low. I’m fairly certain the amount of interest in freedom yachts is far less than woodworking, so the operating costs should be reasonable.Long story short - I think running some google ads and/or finding some relevant commercial sponsors (brokers, sailmakers etc.) to cover the operating costs may be the way to go. You have to look at ads on the yahoo site anyway… From a logisitcal standpoint, perhaps we need some initial investors to put up some funds to get it started, then pursue advertising once the traffic is up. Of course this would be run as a non-profit - we’d only need as much advertising as required to cover the costs. If you look at tractorbynet - I feel they’ve done a respectful job of incorporating the advertising.One concern I have is can we export the accumulated knowledge from the yahoo groups to a new site? Any technological or intellecual property barriers?Anybody got stats on how much “use” the yahoo group site gets - that will drive the operating costs…I’m quite happy to take the lead on this effort - also I’m willing to pony up some money to get it off the ground - It is certainly worth it for the education & entertainment value.oh and www.freedomyachts. org is available
Stephen Deweyhttp://www.linkedin .com/in/stephend ewey
From: George Huffman <thatboatguy2@ yahoo.com>To: FreedomOwnersGroup@ yahoogroups. comSent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 7:36:08 AMSubject: [FreedomOwnersGroup ] New Forum for Freedom Owners?
Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forumdriven by one of the open source software available? Has anyonealready purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few availablethat would work. What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, anda much more user friendly format. The steps (as I see it) would be:1. Purchase a URL2. Select a forum software and personalize it for our use3. Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URLfrom somoene like godaddy)4. Upload to the new server5. Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)6. Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the followingpositions - Site administrator- Forum Moderators Tada! We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for anotherday but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members ofan association would be simple to implement. George
Posted by george huffman (thatboatguy2@…>)
Oh sorry Lola,I didn’t realize you were talking about the data here in this group. I’m a little slow like that sometimes… heh heh In that regard there is zero to worry about. The data here isn’t going anywhere so long as the the group owner dosn’t delete the group (unlikely). Anyone wanting to access the information here can still do so easily. It’s not a case of either/or but rather another option for sharing information. George— On Wed, 12/3/08, lolaltd <lolaltd@…> wrote:From: lolaltd <lolaltd@…>Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: New Forum for Freedom Owners?To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.comDate: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 11:31
AM
— In Hi again,
Here is another LOL
Can the info be put on a disc, and those who want to buy it can?
Hi George,
I think it’s admirable for you to undertake such an
endeavor. I’d just be careful with what you’re wishing for. This
Yahoo group is working pretty well without much effort or any
cost. Before you start, you might want to give the group a bit of
time to digest this and offer opinions. Managing a website/forum
will take some time and effort, never mind the money.
Just my 2 cents.
Good luck.
TW
At 08:07 AM 12/3/2008, you wrote:
\
Lance,
In the absence of any negative input I’m going to go ahead with a plan
on Friday the 5th. You will certainly have my nomination and vote for
admin/moderator at the new site. I have a hosting company lined up
that would meet our needs and cost us $5 per month. I think we can
swing that in a group that talks about hundreds of dollars for fuel
filters. I’ll risk my own funds, pass the hat after it’s all up and
running, then hopefully turn the torch over to someone who will be
around solid internet connections because we plan to shove off as soon
as the house is ready to rent and boat is ready to cruise.
Anyone want to take a crack at it? Simple web site with a forum
driven by one of the open source software available? Has anyone
already purchased a URL in anticipation? I’ve seen a few available
that would work.
What we would get for a few bucks would be a lot more file space, and
a much more user friendly format.
The steps (as I see it) would be:
Purchase a URL
Select a forum software and personalize it for our use
Purchase server service (could be done as a package with the URL
from somoene like godaddy)
Upload to the new server
Pass the hat to cover cost (paypal is the easiest way)
Elect a couple of people from our group to fill the following
positions
Site administrator
Forum Moderators
Tada!
We can leave the question of a formal owner’s association for another
day but with a Forum already in place a separate area for members of
an association would be simple to implement.
George
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12/3/2008 9:34 AM
New Forum on the way! Through the generosity and technical know-how
of Geoff. He is going to set it up on his server space for starters I think. Any who wish to participate may do so when he posts the
link here and the first topic of discussion will be what domain should
we purchase (again Geoff has offered to purchase the domain).
I’m sure Geoff will be along with more details soon.
I have a hosting company lined up