Subject: Re: Online communities and (gasp!) money From: steve@planetarynews.com (Steve Outing) Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 21:16:29 -0700

On 6/20/96, Joe Shea wrote:
>        Steve, I only saw a reposted blurb, so I don't know if it's true 
>that you asked that no advertisers be flamed.  Is it?
>
No, I said that if I set up a system where advertisers (whose message *fit 
within the topic charter of this list*) are able to post messages "sanctioned" 
by the list owner (me), then advertisers probably won't get flamed. If I 
accepted an ad that was considered spam by list members, *I'd* be the one 
getting flamed. 

I suspect everyone is getting tired of this thread, so I'm ready to break it 
off. (Besides, I'm escaping to the mountains for a few days.8-) I'll leave it
at this:

* I continue to seek funds for the infrastructure upgrade of the list (new 
list software). Address below.

* When I've got the new software installed and have more flexibility, I'll 
implement one of the models we've been talking about here. It'll probably* 
be a system where online-news subscribers will have two choices: (*I reserve 
the right to change my mind if something better comes to my attention. ;)

 1) Pay nothing to be a list member; but the price will be that your email 
address will be on a second list (online-news-ads) that will periodically (but 
not very often) distribute an advertiser's text info-mercial/ad. (Again, no 
Pepsi ads; just stuff you're likely to be interested in.)

 2) Pay $25 annual fee to the list. This gives you the *option* of not being on 
the online-news-ads broadcast list if you prefer. (Anyone who's already 
contributed is in this category, of course.)

This seems like a fair solution that recognizes a) there's no free lunch, and 
somebody/some organization needs to pay for ongoing maintenance and upgrades 
of the list; b) allows those who wish to pay nothing (or can't afford to write 
a check) to continue to use the list; c) serves advertisers who have a message 
they need to get to a sophisticated Internet publishing audience; and d) 
will allow me to end this obnoxious "pledge drive," since (I hope) advertising 
will substitute for that money. (List "sponsorships" -- which get you a banner 
on Web archive and other mentions -- will continue to be solicited. However, 
success with this has been pretty limited. I suspect this new strategy might be 
more successful.)

Sorry if I caused this discussion to drag on too long. Apologies to those who 
might be bored by it. I think the issues raised by our little debate, however, 
may play out in larger ways in the Internet publishing world. 

$25 infrastructure upgrade contributions ($200 corporate) are still invited. 
Send checks to:
Steve Outing
Planetary News
1067 Marble Court
Boulder, CO 80303
(Visa, Mastercard and American Express also accepted. Send name as on card, 
type of card, card number, expiration date, and amount to be charged.)

Thanks!

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Outing                                   Planetary News LLC
steve@planetarynews.com                        Boulder, Colorado, USA
owner-online-newspapers@planetarynews.com      voice: 303-543-7810
owner-online-news@planetarynews.com            fax: 303-543-1059
         Consulting services for the newspaper new media industry
           Read my Stop The Presses! column on E&P Interactive:
- ------- http://www.mediainfo.com/ephome/news/newshtm/stop/stop.htm -------


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