airliner-civil-aircraft-modeller.com

by **tor lives** » Sat May 23, 2015 9:12 am

OK guys,
Time for a frank chat.
I am concerned about the future viability of the A/CAM site. After having made several pleas over these past months for new forum members, our membership numbers have remained static at just over 100. This can't go on. We have tried several strategies to bolster Forum membership numbers including riding the site of the paid membership requirement, and introducing the A/CAM Facebook page to give the site a wider exposure, this however has had limited success to date. I am considering one or two other potential options to bring people to the site, including some advertising in ModelArt magazine etc, but that obviously comes at an additional cost to the monthly financial outlay of maintaining the site.
I have decided to give things until after Model Expo, (which will give us one more opportunity to promote the site), and then, if things don't improve, some tough decisions will have to be made.
Guys, I would hate to have to wrap up the site.......it has proven to be a great little site with a core group of fiercely loyal and committed members. There is none of the argy-bargy and keyboard-conflict that seems to afflict other sites, and that has made for a very pleasant place to be, with a real feel of comradeship and friendliness amongst our small group. It would indeed be a shame to loose this. I knew full-well when setting up A/CAM that we would only ever be a small SIG/ niche group, (we were never going to be another AMI, Hyperscale, or Britmodeller in size and diversity-of-modeling interests) .......but I do however need us to be a larger group then we presently are if the monthly financial outlay and continued site maintenance is to be justified.
TOR

by **tor lives** » Sat May 23, 2015 12:35 pm

About a half hour after above posted we got another new member.
Welcome Airscale, thanks for joining us......it's great to have you here.
TOR

by **DesTROYer** » Sat May 23, 2015 2:34 pm

I don't know what your overheads are Ray, but when I ran the Australian 501st legion forums a few years ago, the costs were not very high at all. We never payed membership fees, we had a full licence for the forum on the sight and only really had to pay hosting and domain name fee's once a year which were never more that around $150.00. When time came for payment, we asked for donations from the members and most people were happy to chip in. Granted that was 5 years back, but things shouldn't have changed that much.

by **tor lives** » Sat May 23, 2015 2:46 pm

About 8 to 10 grand to set up the site, (including such ancillaries as logo design, domain name purchase/establishment, site construction, extra security features, Paypal interface, phpBB forum License etc), and about 1300 bucks a year for site maintenance, management, domain fees etc. It should be remembered that the forum is just one element/feature of the site, (even though the other areas don't seem to be used that much by the membership)
TOR

by **DesTROYer** » Sat May 23, 2015 2:57 pm

Ouch. I guess it helps when you have talented types that can look after many of those things for you.

by **tor lives** » Sat May 23, 2015 3:10 pm

Hi Troy,
I am not complaining as I knew what I was getting into when I developed the site .....and it is indeed my pleasure to provide a platform for loyal and dedicated A/CAMers such as you good self, who make amazing contributions to this site every week, (and for that I truly am grateful Troy....thank you). It's just with only 100 or so members, I have got to consider weather A/CAM continues to represent value for money because, quiet honestly, a year down the track, I thought we would have more members. The answer of course is to get more sponsors, and this is on the cards....but the site has to be of value to the sponsors, (ie: max exposure of their brand and product), before I can expect them to outlay $$$$. Morally.... I will not accept their money until I can guarantee this.
TOR

by **F-27pax** » Sat May 23, 2015 7:09 pm

Ray, thanks for putting your cards on the table. I am concerned, as I am sure that many others of us are, that setting up and keeping this site running is costing you so much. You say that you were aware of the possibility of the current problems when you decided to set up the site, but now that the site is up and running it would be a pity to have to abandon it because of the ongoing costs. It seems to me that it is unfair on you for the rest of us to expect you to bear all the cost and the concern of keeping the site running.

I gather, from your comments, that the source of income you are contemplating is an increased membership which would make the site more attractive to sponsors. I also gather, from your comments, that you are contemplating spending even more money on things like advertising to increase numbers in order to make it possible for you to keep the site going. I'm wondering how successful this approach to the problem would be and whether it would be worth the attempt and added expense.

I really know so little about things like web site and forums, and the environment in which they operate, that I really can't offer any suggestions about how to improve the situation by increasing membership. If the problem is ongoing costs the only suggestion I can make is for a dozen or so of us to help by contributing to the financial burden necessary to keep the site viable. For me, in the past year I have gained a great deal, materially and in terms of encouragement and learning, to make it worth while for me to make a larger contribution than the original fee of $25 to keep the site going. I would like to kick in $100 or so to make my contribution and, if we can find a few others among our number to make similar contributions, that might make it possible to keep the site going while it builds up a reputation and inertia to make it self supporting.

Would this be an acceptable option to you and would there be another dozen or so of our number to make similar contributions for the coming few years. I know that for many $100 is a fair amount and might be difficult to justify in the family budget, but perhaps the investment would prove worthwhile for enough of us to find the money that would take some of the pressure off you, financially at least.

Comments?

Leigh

by **tor lives** » Sun May 24, 2015 9:33 am

Hi Leigh,
All I can say is thank you so much for your heart-felt and most generous post and offer, I am indeed humbled, deeply appreciative, and touched by your offer of financial assistance to ensure A/CAM continues. I must say that your post has swayed my thinking......I will now pull out all stops to make sure A/CAM survives and prospers into the future. Knowing that A/CAM has such dedicated and committed members is all the inspiration I need to keep this site well-resourced, well-funded, and, most importantly, running.
I of course could not possibly accept the amount of money that you are so generously offering, but I will never forget the fact that you offered.
The last 24 hours has seen four new members join A/CAM, (very encouraging indeed), and that's really all I needed to see.
If that trend continues things will be fine.
Thanks again Leigh for your concern and kindness, it will always be remembered.
TOR

by **hrtpaul** » Sun May 24, 2015 10:53 am

Nice work Leigh. Much like Leigh, I've learnt heaps here and it would be a shame to see this awesome little site go. Ray, anything you need mate let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'll donate to keep the site running for sure. I see it as a part of my modelling expenses and we all know (including my better half) I have no dramas spending money on modelling :lol: