Renewed for another year.

[Dave Knight]

Nice renewal email, simple and easy.

What can you get for £12.00 these days?
☝️

A shed load of free advice and technical help by old skool fettlers and experts. Come on get your hands in your pockets, it keeps the club going. 

[Rally Pack 2000]

19 hours ago, Dave Knight said:

Nice renewal email, simple and easy.

What can you get for £12.00 these days?
☝️

A shed load of free advice and technical help by old skool fettlers and experts. Come on get your hands in your pockets, it keeps the club going. 

Free advice? You didn't get my invoice yet then? 😁

[accord83]

On 13/08/2024 at 16:06, Rally Pack 2000 said:

Free advice? You didn't get my invoice yet then? 😁

Serious Fraud Office are looking at that James, await the early morning knock on your door......😂😂

[Rally Pack 2000]

3 hours ago, accord83 said:

Serious Fraud Office are looking at that James, await the early morning knock on your door......😂😂

I never said I was being paid for "Good" advice! 😉

[Vista]

On 12/08/2024 at 20:29, Dave Knight said:

Nice renewal email, simple and easy.

What can you get for £12.00 these days?
☝️

A shed load of free advice and technical help by old skool fettlers and experts. Come on get your hands in your pockets, it keeps the club going. 

Thank you for your subs for another year. 

[BaileyMex]

Good work that man!

It all helps keep OSF going

[Farnsbarns]

I have to say, hopefully for the greater good, but certainly not to to be combative... I recently didn't renew. The reason is that there seems to be no value in membership. The OSF Cult section is dead and honestly have no idea what other advantage there is to membership. Maybe I'm missing something but if not, maybe the powers that be can consider creating a value proposition to attract and keep paid members. On the other hand, maybe not. Maybe I'm a minority looking for value in it and not finding any. 

[Rally Pack 2000]

2 hours ago, Farnsbarns said:

I have to say, hopefully for the greater good, but certainly not to to be combative... I recently didn't renew. The reason is that there seems to be no value in membership. The OSF Cult section is dead and honestly have no idea what other advantage there is to membership. Maybe I'm missing something but if not, maybe the powers that be can consider creating a value proposition to attract and keep paid members. On the other hand, maybe not. Maybe I'm a minority looking for value in it and not finding any. 

It basically pays to keep the site going which is very expensive to run. From that you get a lot of free advice, with many giving so much of their valuable time to help others. The level of support people give here exceeds any site you will find so a little contribution is really appreciated but not expected. Without the help I have been given here I wouldn't even have C Pillars for my car and soon door trims which a member has literally taken of their car to give to me. The value the kindness, generosity and friendship is incalculable.

[Farnsbarns]

As a web developer I know perfectly well this website can be run for about £5/month. There are better, off the peg, open source forum softwares available for free which could easily be hosted for £5/month. That said, paying something towards the site is fine but I think you'd find more people would if there was some kind of value in it. As it stands, free membership is identical.

I'm only letting you know what would make me contribute. I'm not complaining. 

Edited October 20, 2024 by Farnsbarns

[Rally Pack 2000]

1 hour ago, Farnsbarns said:

As a web developer I know perfectly well this website can be run for about £5/month. There are better, off the peg, open source forum softwares available for free which could easily be hosted for £5/month. That said, paying something towards the site is fine but I think you'd find more people would if there was some kind of value in it. As it stands, free membership is identical.

I'm only letting you know what would make me contribute. I'm not complaining. 

Actually I dont quite think you do. The archive and photo storage of this site after decades of operation are massive. In fact the site had to switch providers previously or face deletion of much of the archived images. The capacity of the site is much vaster than most realize. But any suggestions to cut costs would always be welcome. Also as previously stated there isnt an obligation to contribute but its always helpful. Remember too OSF is a social group that hosts events and attends car display days as well. It much more than just a web forum.

[Ray]

3 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

Actually I dont quite think you do. The archive and photo storage of this site after decades of operation are massive. In fact the site had to switch providers previously or face deletion of much of the archived images. The capacity of the site is much vaster than most realize. But any suggestions to cut costs would always be welcome. Also as previously stated there isnt an obligation to contribute but its always helpful. Remember too OSF is a social group that hosts events and attends car display days as well. It much more than just a web forum.

and to host those events and shows, the club has to have things like public liability insurance and stand/exhibit equipment, that all costs money, £12 a year is nothing imho, but as said by RP. no one is asking/forcing anyone to pay, its purely voluntary at the moment, but a lot of members dont even know what the cult is, as its not really advertised, perhaps if a lot more paid, then it may be able to be reduced, i dont know, but i do feel anyone attending shows and events under the osf banner, should be a cult member really, as they are using things like the insurance to be there

[Vista Estate]

@Ray & @Rally Pack 2000 have said it all.

There is so much support on this site it saves people loads of time and money so £12 is nowt as they say in gods country.

[Vista]

9 hours ago, Farnsbarns said:

As a web developer I know perfectly well this website can be run for about £5/month. There are better, off the peg, open source forum softwares available for free which could easily be hosted for £5/month. That said, paying something towards the site is fine but I think you'd find more people would if there was some kind of value in it. As it stands, free membership is identical.

I'm only letting you know what would make me contribute. I'm not complaining. 

It costs more than that. And as Ray says, the public liability insurance comes in at a good price too.

As to what you get? You will now find that you can't add attachments or photos to messages, your message count is reduced, you no longer get discount on merchandise or club event tickets. Is £1.00 per month alot? I don't think so.......but as others have said, it's voluntary.

[Vista Estate]

@Vistain my experience you don't get much for nothing today and often what you get for nothing isn't worth having unless it's from a good friend or in the case of classic cars a club member.

£12 is mega cheap for club membership, particularly when it's one with so many members who have been there and got the t-shirt. 

Other clubs cost loads more.

One thing is the same for all clubs though, if you are prepared to get involved you get more out.

The fact that it's voluntary is a credit to the club in my view.

Keep going Scott we need OSF to continue.

 

[Rally Pack 2000]

9 hours ago, Ray said:

and to host those events and shows, the club has to have things like public liability insurance and stand/exhibit equipment, that all costs money, £12 a year is nothing imho, but as said by RP. no one is asking/forcing anyone to pay, its purely voluntary at the moment, but a lot of members dont even know what the cult is, as its not really advertised, perhaps if a lot more paid, then it may be able to be reduced, i dont know, but i do feel anyone attending shows and events under the osf banner, should be a cult member really, as they are using things like the insurance to be there

I went to a display one weekend years ago and there was a space beside the RS Owners club and I went to park beside them and they asked me to go somewhere else as they didn't want people to think there was an association with me and them cause their insurance wouldn't cover it. They are really paranoid about it. The insurance company would make them jump through hoops! Things are even worse now.

[Johnny Boy]

I think I may have lapsed, how do I know when its due ?

[Vista]

1 hour ago, Johnny Boy said:

I think I may have lapsed, how do I know when its due ?

You should get a reminder email two weeks before it ends but often they get intercepted by spam filters

[BaileyMex]

As said above, various costs associated with running OSF (not just the website) all cost money and all mount up. The site is free to join, and free to get years and years of valuable experience and help when something on your OSF goes pop or stops working, or even just for general help and advice or chat.

Scott spends hours of his time looking after OSF and isn't on a yearly wage and getting paid for doing so, full time day job plus running OSF, so people contributing £12 a year simply keeps it all going.

When we started OSF way back in 2003, there were LOADS of forums out there and lots of Ford ones too, over the years since social media exploded, many of them do not exist anymore as people left to use smart phone apps etc. OSF is still going, and with a little help here and there with some additional memberships being a paid for, it certainly helps pay for all of the above.

Totally optional of course, but rather than what do you get for it, more of a contribution to keep OSF going really. Like any Old Ford, it needs maintenance 😁

Maybe we need to rename it to OSF Contributor rather than Member?

[accord83]

I've only been a member since 2007, don't contribute much of value, but have gained lots of benefit for £12, the price of 2gallons of fuel, a year. Unlike certain social media clubs using Facebonk, OSF is self Policing, W⚓s either FIFO.  It's a bargain.

Edited October 24, 2024 by accord83

[stephens_xpack]

Struggling to understand how some still push against the £12 a year. Bottom line I suppose one-day the site will cease to exist if contributing stops. Would you rather the site be here or not? No one mises £1 a month, but if hundreds contribute that becomes hundreds of £'s a month, all needed for all the reasons already mentioned.  No brainer, but some will just not buy in to it for some reason....🤷‍♂️

[Vista Estate]

2 hours ago, stephens_xpack said:

Struggling to understand how some still push against the £12 a year. Bottom line I suppose one-day the site will cease to exist if contributing stops. Would you rather the site be here or not? No one mises £1 a month, but if hundreds contribute that becomes hundreds of £'s a month, all needed for all the reasons already mentioned.  No brainer, but some will just not buy in to it for some reason....🤷‍♂️

It's the same the world over with clubs.

If you put something in you always get something back in return.

You may not like what you get back but you can at least say you did your bit and then have the opportunity to change/ influence.

Clubs of all types rely on this to thrive and survive.

Do your bit so OSF can last another 20 years 🤟

YKT.

[Jerrytom161]

Renewed for another year , don’t remember seeing a reminder e-mail , but tbh i never check spam or junk mail  i will from now on . 
 

[Vista Estate]

Hey @stephens_xpack you've started a stampede! 🤣

[Ray]

8 hours ago, Vista Estate said:

Hey @stephens_xpack you've started a stampede! 🤣

@stephens_xpack, wheres your mate @Munch

[stephens_xpack]

11 hours ago, Ray said:

@stephens_xpack, wheres your mate @Munch

Let's gang up on him....😉