OSF Contributor

[SidewaysBird]

I'd be more than happy to pay £12.

[RFChris]

While its not exactly constructive i;d have to say that i really don;t mind which rooms as I'll be more than happy to pay the £12. I owe OSF a lot more than that, so its a bargain.

 

Chris

[Posse]

Or shall we just have it that if you want to pay £12 a year you can and nothing changes? I'm not fussed really it would be just nice to some money on the osf bank so we can get another nice banner for shows and one for shows that you guys have sorted out else where.

[Vista]

While its not exactly constructive i;d have to say that i really don;t mind which rooms as I'll be more than happy to pay the £12. I owe OSF a lot more than that, so its a bargain.

 

Chris

 

Ditto, when are you planning on having it up and running?

[Vista]

Or shall we just have it that if you want to pay £12 a year you can and nothing changes? I'm not fussed really it would be just nice to some money on the osf bank so we can get another nice banner for shows and one for shows that you guys have sorted out else where.

 

We could have done with an Old Skool gazebo at the Devon RSOC show, everyone else was tucked up nice and dry while we huddled under the canopy at the dog burger van.

 

I got told "phew you stink of burgers and engine oil" when I got home . I hadn't been near an engine so Fook knows what they were cooking them burgers in 1/4lb with valvoline dressing maybe

 

Loathe as I am to say it, I suspect if it was completely voluntary with no benefits, then it's possible that it would only be the hard core users that pay it and that might not go far enough to provide what you need.

[MK5]

whilst its a great idea to keep the whole site open to everyone it doesn't exactly give people the incentive to pay...

 

we need a carrot... keeping some of the forums private does that

 

how about a sticker/keyring that is an exclusive design that only contributors can have?

 

there needs to be obvious "benefits" to becoming a member

 

"family" subscription would be good as there's 3 of us here

 

[Posse]

that's a great idea Gail but i can't just buy say 10 ill have to by a load whos paying

[Guest cortinamad-gonetoo]

so if you pay £12 will you get into all the rooms as i cant get into some now and its free (ie the adult room)

[Posse]

This is what im asking m8 i did'nt just want to do what i wanted i thought i would ask you guys.

[Vista]

Just a thought, if there are subscriptions being paid do we not become a club rather than a forum? Are there any implications to that that we're not considering?

[bomber1]

woo there the top has changed at me . anyway posse if the site needs money for banners etc u need to do the member ship thing. ie if dont pay u dont see. tbh ill pay the membership fee but dont expect a doodgy keyring ect cos ur then paying out on unesecery things. alll we need is a membership number that when buying goods from sponsors etc we can quote the number and get our discount

maybe do a sliding scale for couples/familys ie £20/25 respectivley

[MK5]

that's a great idea Gail but i can't just buy say 10 ill have to by a load whos paying

 

we would be when we subscribe... you wouldn't have to send out keyring/stickers straight away... see how many subscribers you get...

 

i had 20 stickers done with my forum name (12" wide) and they were £1 each - also got a big gold sticker for my car for free...

 

i can pm you my contact if you like...

[emu]

Good plan boss

 

I dont really know whether rooms should be shut off to non-contributing members. I think that if you were to restrict access then some of theforum needs to be kept open to general veiwing so that people can 'try before they buy' so to speak. Is it possible to make the forum 'read only'?

 

Some people have suggested making classifieds open to contributors only. What about some method of giving paying members priority veiwing of items for sale? And maybe special deals, such as those fromt the sponsors should be contributor only. Take, for instance, the adrian flux deal (Is that still going?? must mention it at renewal this year!!). I wonder how many people joined the forum, got potentially a pretty big, discount on their insurance, yet have never posted?

[ZetecVan 2.0]

Thank you all for your input. From chatting with the boss, here's what we are proposing.

 

1. We will not take any rooms away from you. All rooms you currently get you will still get. We may make the over 18s room a contibutor only room. Anyone currently with access to that room will continue with their access.

 

2. If you like, you will get a keyring or tax disc holder when you contribute. No, it's not a big item, but if you want something big (ie: more expensive), the price of the contribution will have to go up accordingly. The contribution monies will be used to keep the site running.

 

3. You will get a discount on merchandise. The discount will vary depending on the item.

 

4. We will be negotiating discounts on products from other suppliers for contributors.

 

5. Contributors will get first refusal on tickets for shows/events where there is an OSF stand.

 

6. All the above will be announced in a new contributors room. This room won't be for chit chat or gossip. Just discussion of contributor issues and benefits.

 

7. As Vista points out we may be classed as a club. Which means contributors will get a discount from some insurance companies (if you're not already a member of another club). Something for us to look into in more detail.

 

8. Family memberships to be confirmed.

 

9. The cost for these wonderful benefits is a piffly £12.

 

So, as you can see, if you don't want/can't afford to contribute anything you will still get full benefits of OSF as it stands. If you do want to/can afford to contribute you will get extra benefits.

[bmxdave]

How about a contribution pack? Something like a couple of stickers that comes to £4 or £5?

 

Instead of making already existing forums private, add new ones that are hidden, so no-one looses out and contributors gain. Something like a members chit chat and a members classified.

 

Ill probably pay up, but i think it we need to keep everyone happy as we'll loose numbers. Dont forget, some people dont come on here often, and wouldnt see it worthwhile paying for something little used. And closed the classifieds would result in many people not visiting here to look for cars to buy, and then seeing how great a forum it is and staying. Itd also mean thered be much less for sale in the first place due to less passing trade.

 

I dont mind what happens, just be carefull what you do because it could be detrimental to the forum.

[bmxdave]

Another thing, the idea of this being a club, i think , is a massively good idea. DO IT DO IT DO IT!!! Its so much better then most clubs in my opinion as they can be very single minded towards their cars. Thats why im not in a cortina or triumph club. OSF is very varying which i think is great.

[Posse]

good point but a lot of peps sign up just to sell there osf cars to avoid paying the eBay charges. But as mike has just said nothing is going to change at all all the site will stay the same.

[Vista]

An idea I had while thinking about it earlier, instead of restricting the rooms that non contributing members can use. How about restricting some of the site features to contributing members only? For instance the memberlist, search facility, background / skin choice, posting pics, avatar, sig pic etc etc.

 

So non contributing members have access to everything paying members do, but the site is more user friendly and fun for those that donate.

 

There's your carrot and there's still no stick. How does that sound?

[MK5]

good point but a lot of peps sign up just to sell there osf cars to avoid paying the eBay charges. But as mike has just said nothing is going to change at all all the site will stay the same.

 

how about charging all those people £1 to place an ad?

[ZetecVan 2.0]

An idea I had while thinking about it earlier, instead of restricting the rooms that non contributing members can use. How about restricting some of the site features to contributing members only? For instance the memberlist, search facility, background / skin choice, posting pics, avatar, sig pic etc etc.

 

So non contributing members have access to everything paying members do, but the site is more user friendly and fun for those that donate.

 

There's your carrot and there's still no stick. How does that sound?

 

Good idea but there's a limit to what the code can do (as it stands). It can only take payments and give access to 'hidden' rooms. It's something I can look at doing though.

 

The links at the top of the page are working. If you have a Paypal account, you can contribute and gain access to a hidden room...!

 

So what are you waiting for??

[Jimbob-Squarepants ©]

Right then... heres my view!

 

Darren, I will pay your £12, but not untill I have seen proper pic's of your motor... How's that????

 

Seriously, this is something which I will gladly pay... no question. Like Chris said earlier, it isn't about any help or advise that I may have gained. It is also about the nice people I have been lucky enough to meet along the way.

 

A mate of mine is a member of a site which is www.zsoc.com (yep, he owns a Fizz-Pop Zetec S), they have the same idea. For any meets info, technical info, people have to sign up. You could say that keeping the site as it is will not have much of an effect, because everything is still there.

 

I don't want to come across by sounding out of order, but the majority of sites I have seen that have a paid membership thingy have parts that are for members only.

 

But, this is only my oppinion, & I will gladly pay the £12 a year, even if there isn't anything in it for me. Keep up the good work... my life would be just a tad boring without OSF

[MK5]

 

The links at the top of the page are working.

 

what links? there aren't any on the silver skin

[MK5]

 

The links at the top of the page are working.

 

what links? there aren't any on the silver skin

 

i just switched to the black skin to subscribe and switched back again

[Twinkle]

i think to place an ad you should be a paid up member as we do get people who loin up and just use the site to sell stuff without going into other rooms and being part of the scene

[ZetecVan 2.0]

 

The links at the top of the page are working.

 

what links? there aren't any on the silver skin

 

I'll correct that at some point today.