Deskthority "Club" Membership - Any Thoughts?

[Krogenar]

I just noticed this over at DT, and was wondering what people were thinking about it.

http://deskthority.net/deskthority-club-f38/

With the understanding that a number of people will immediately respond, "we're not DT, so who cares?" I would respond -- they have a good forum too, and if they do something new or different, we should seriously consider whether it would be a good idea for GH. Not surprisingly, I would be in favor of some form of membership program, if only to raise enough money to offset:

1. Server upgrades, maintenance.
2. Groupbuy support.
3. Community-sourced projects.

I don't know if I would go so far as to make GH a democracy -- nah, I wouldn't -- but I think this is a kickass enough place to donate $5-$10 per year in order to call myself a member. I've definitely gotten way more than that amount in terms of fellowship, knowledge and enjoyment. The DT implementation doesn't require membership to access their forum, and I don't think GH would or should, either.

So what would membership mean? I don't know -- maybe it would mean the right to vote in club decisions. Those votes wouldn't decide the direction of GH, or decide what happens (that's up to the owner) but at least it would represent the wishes of people who are fully invested in the club.

What do you guys think? If a 'membership' option were wise, what would it look like? And if it's not a wise choice, why not?

Aaaaaaaaand........ (dramatic pause) .... discuss.

[Pacifist]

how much do we get in donations every month so far?

[Krogenar]

how much do we get in donations every month so far?

No clue.

[HoffmanMyster]

I would be willing to pay a small fee every year to have a membership.  I've been on a few sites in the past that do something similar, where membership gets access to special perks (live shows, t-shirts, etc.) and that worked well for those particular sites and their models.  I have no idea if it would work for geekhack, but I would be in favor of pursuing something like that.

[Pacifist]

live shows 0.0

[eth0s]

I would pay to support this site.  But do we really need "members"?  Seems pretentious and unnecessary.  Plus running anything by committee is a disaster.  The mkawa dictatorship that we have now is not perfect, but it's better than a management committee, trust me on this one.  Also, I don't want to do any work, or have any responsibilities when I'm on GH.  I have enough of that already, IRL.  Although I am happy to give GH my money.  But, I wasn't aware GH needed money?  Does GH need money?  If yes, then a fundraiser would be a better idea.  I will kick in some $.

[tjcaustin]

Pretty sure there's more than kawa doing any decision making, tbh.

For the most part.

* tjcaustin eyeballs the Fiat section

[riotonthebay]

I'm quite new to this forum, but have already learned a ton from you all. I'd happily contribute some relatively small ($10-25) yearly amount without pause.

I don't necessarily think that perks that have real monetary value need be involved, e.g. t-shirts. I also don't love the idea of creating a separate class. A "GH Supporter" badge that you could put in a signature or something would be more than enough.

Edit: to be clear, I know that you can donate to GH already, but some kind of subscription service and a very small amount of ceremony around it would go a long way to getting more supporters.

[SpAmRaY]

I would pay to support this site.  But do we really need "members"?  Seems pretentious and unnecessary.  Plus running anything by committee is a disaster.  The mkawa dictatorship that we have now is not perfect, but it's better than a management committee, trust me on this one.  Also, I don't want to do any work, or have any responsibilities when I'm on GH.  I have enough of that already, IRL.  Although I am happy to give GH my money.  But, I wasn't aware GH needed money?  Does GH need money?  If yes, then a fundraiser would be a better idea.  I will kick in some $.

Isn't mkawa doing an auction right now to raise money?

Also I'd like to buy some posts instead of being in a club.

Or lets pay to be mods for a day!

[ninjadoc]

I just noticed this over at DT, and was wondering what people were thinking about it.

http://deskthority.net/deskthority-club-f38/

With the understanding that a number of people will immediately respond, "we're not DT, so who cares?" I would respond -- they have a good forum too, and if they do something new or different, we should seriously consider whether it would be a good idea for GH. Not surprisingly, I would be in favor of some form of membership program, if only to raise enough money to offset:

1. Server upgrades, maintenance.
2. Groupbuy support.
3. Community-sourced projects.

I don't know if I would go so far as to make GH a democracy -- nah, I wouldn't -- but I think this is a kickass enough place to donate $5-$10 per year in order to call myself a member. I've definitely gotten way more than that amount in terms of fellowship, knowledge and enjoyment. The DT implementation doesn't require membership to access their forum, and I don't think GH would or should, either.

So what would membership mean? I don't know -- maybe it would mean the right to vote in club decisions. Those votes wouldn't decide the direction of GH, or decide what happens (that's up to the owner) but at least it would represent the wishes of people who are fully invested in the club.

What do you guys think? If a 'membership' option were wise, what would it look like? And if it's not a wise choice, why not?

Aaaaaaaaand........ (dramatic pause) .... discuss.

They have a good forum and it helps offset costs. I joined, if only to keep them going. I've also purchased items from individuals on their site and payment was requested to directly go to a fund to keep the site going.

I don't care if it is called a membership or not but I would be happy to contribute funds to keep the board going. I'm on a few others that I had to do the same to offset the costs of running the board. If something was offered about the financial status of this board and how much was needed to keep it going I will be happy to contribute.