13 Years

[jerryd6818]

Edit: This thread is not intended to be critical of anyone. This is the discussion thread some have mentioned.

Come Aug 29, 2004 at 12:20 pm it will be 13 years since Bryan birthed this wonderful forum so many of us call home. During that 13 years he has been the chief cook and bottle washer at AAPK, never asking for one red cent from the membership to help financially support this unsponsored forum , never mind a dime for his time. Join, come sit a spell, enjoy the comradery and benefit from the wealth of information provided by AAPK and no one has been asked to help with the expenses. For 13 years AAPK has been totally free except for the stores where members (contributing to the health of the forum and members who don't contribute a single post towards the health of the forum) pay a pittance to sell their knives.

Bryan's altruistic attitude towards the forum while commendable, must be financially draining. 13 years and now he asks for a small amount of help and I see comments such as "getting in our pockets" (said in jest) and "asked to pony up to use AAPK" (not true).

Lets take a look at the membership fee levels.

FREE -- Still there for one and all. Ya just can't post a knife for sale and that is pretty much the same as other forums.

$20 Bronze -- For a YEAR at AAPK -- What is that? One case of beer. Ten Powerball tickets. Four cartons of ice cream and that's not even the premium stuff. A half tank of gas depending on where you live. One used pocket knife off eBay for your collection.

$30 Silver -- For a YEAR at AAPK -- A half carton of cigarettes. Fifteen Powerball Tickets. Dinner for two at Applebee's with no tip. One inexpensive pocket knife.

$40 Gold -- For a YEAR at AAPK -- Dinner for two at Applebee's with a tip. Half of a night at a mid-range Motel in some out of the way place. Oil change for your car. Not even the down payment on a Great Eastern knife. At that rate, you would have to save for three years to get one.

And how many will pop for one of those levels? I'm predicting less than 1% and that's being generous. How much will that help Bryan with AAPK expenses? I guess it's better than a sharp stick in the eye.

If you haven't guessed already, I'm for it but as always, everybody to their own.

[gsmith7158]

Jerryd you are a true wordsmith. It can't be said better.
I could probably get by with the bronze subscription because I really don't sell many knives but then I thought how many more of those $167 counterfeit knives would I have bought by now had it not been for the education that I have received here. A couple more of those and I could have paid ten years worth of dues. I
Owe AAPK a lot more than I will ever pay in subscription fees. So if I can help keep this beautiful thing going wit just a little more than what two twelve packs of New Castle Brown Ale costs ( and let me tell you that doesn't last a year) then I'll be at the head of the line every re- up.
I used to have a really good job, made big money, got plenty of time off and never gave a thought to how the boss was making out and all that faded away 6 years ago. I miss it. If I can help it that won't happen to AAPK.
So guys be your own guide after all you have other choices. Good luck with that!

[Grump01]

I don't see any reason why I need to pay, but give me a bit and my Gold will be there.

[jerryd6818]

That's the point Don. I didn't need to pay but I wanted to. I had been thinking of some way to help the cause for quite some time before this came into being but could never figure how the few bucks I had available could make any difference. I like this. I feel like I'm doing something and it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg.

[Mumbleypeg]

Exactly. I doubt I'll use any of the perks offered. I don't need a Premium Account. Haven't tried to sell a knife on AAPK, don't have a web site, and the only reason I need more PMs is I'm too lazy to clean out the ones I have. But I'm taking up space here, and enjoy the company of my fellow inmates. All of you! So I'm okay with paying a few bucks for the privilege.

For a long while I've felt simply saying "Thank you Bryan" felt inadequate. This provides a way to pay a little back. If Bryan can use the money to make AAPK better, or just to buy groceries in return for his time and talents, for me it's money well spent.

Ken

[tongueriver]

I'm on.

[zp4ja]

Well said JerryD.

I agree with you fully and appreciate you articulating what you feel. I agree with you 100%.

To add to what you have so eloquently stated and articulated...

Anyone ever consider what servers, storage servers, security, maintenance, upgrade, patches, etc cost? Every time we click our mouse, post a response or pic, that is programming, processing and storage. A lot goes into the correct response from a mouse click on the web. That includes all the stuff we enjoy for free and I might add, as JerryD said, still do if that if what we choose.

Not to mention the one man band we call Bryan spending hours on end maintaining it. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge all the Administrators that also contribute personal time to keep this forum great and in line as we all also enjoy for free if we choose. Sincere thanks to the Admins also, much appreciated. You all combined have families, daily lives just like we all do but put in the extra effort to all forum members, one poster or life long.

As long as the page appears no one is the wiser. This all takes money folks. Most get that.

I see this as not as what we are getting extra for a meager few dollars a year compared to all we spend on knives, as we have gotten so much for free thus far as members. We have traded and a few sold knives, made friends, had available research and forum members that are experts and non experts chiming in. Each member/visitor draws their own gratification in some way, shape or form from the forum whom would continue to visit, join, contribute, participate, lurk or leave if they wish.

If we did not enjoy it, not sure we would have members.

In my opinion, this is a donation/ contribution to past/ present and future expenses, efforts, benefits that we have all enjoyed on this forum.

It is not about what we get extra for our membership fee. If that is your thought, we respectfully disagree and I think you are severely missing the point, with all due respect, in my opinion. This is still a free site in case any missed that.

Jerry

[rangerbluedog]

HET!

Count me in!

[bestgear]

When I logged-on to AAPK yesterday I was not stunned to learn of the introduction of paid memberships as I too had seen the supporting banner on Bryan’s avatar earlier in the week. I was out-of-town all day yesterday with about 6-hours of windshield time so I had the opportunity to ponder the change and what it means to me. These are my thoughts.

(1) What has been said about building, updating and maintaining a community forum site is 100% true; it takes time and money. As in most hobbies, time is given generously, ask anyone that ever restored a vintage automobile and then sold it. But it takes real money to host sites with the kind of storage demands that AAPK must generate and I’d venture a guess that the 3% commissions paid on knife sales doesn’t pay the monthly bill.

(2) Tiered memberships are interesting to me because they inherently create a caste system that may not be driven by the need for increased member services. Some have already purchased gold memberships with stated good intentions even though they don’t intend to use all the member services at that tier. Some have continued to post with no “Supporting Membership” banner indicating that they are still pondering the introduction of paid memberships or have decided that free-is-for-me. I wonder how many people will take notice of the type of membership their e-friends paid-for (or didn’t pay for) when reading or responding to a post, human nature is a funny thing when it comes to things like that.

(3) I’m a non-subscribing member on the large knife forum site but probably only visit it a few times a month. I never considered subscribing for a variety of reasons but mostly because it felt like a community that I wouldn’t want to be a part of. I also felt like the “policing efforts”, threatening content posts and “banning for life” efforts depict the polar opposite of where I want to spend my time and money.

In short, AAPK has been my e-home for over 1,900 days. While my contributions to the forum may not be as prolific as many others (0.21% of all posts / 0.62 posts per day), I think of my contributions like the story of the boy that was saving starfish.

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.” The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.” The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

To me, we all can help create positive change, but if you’re like me, you sometimes find yourself thinking, “I’m already really busy, and how much of a difference can I really make?” I think this is especially true when we’re talking about addressing massive social problems like tackling world hunger or finding a cure for cancer, but it pops up all the time in our everyday lives, like supporting AAPK when asked for the very first time in 13-years. So. when I catch myself thinking that way, it helps to remember this starfish story. You might not be able to change the entire world, but at least you can change a small part of it, for someone like Bryan.

[edge213]

Tom,you win "Post of the Year".

[treefarmer]

Tom,
!
Treefarmer

[XX Case XX]

Well said by everyone...

__________
Mike

[313 Mike]

Just wanted to chime in with my agreement with the sentiments being expressed here! I consider myself lucky to have haphazardly stumbled across this place 7 years ago, and am grateful that I did...

[Quick Steel]

A great story Tom. Thanks for sharing. In regard to non-supporting members I think it is imperative that no judgement be made. We have a good sized membership. For some $20 may not so readily be available. Perhaps money is needed for medications or for the support of a loved one.
Some will be lacking employment at this time; there can be other understandable reasons. I am optimistic that a good number will become supporters when they are able.

[RalphAlsip]

AAPK provides value to me in many ways and like many others I'm very happy to contribute to AAPK even if I don't utilize the incremental benefits.

If I had the choice, I would not display my premium account status. Bryan and others that are responsible for administering AAPK are the only folks that I care about knowing my account privileges.

[Quick Steel]

RA: Good comment. I agree.

[jerryd6818]

I'm with you Texas Jerry. I would like the choice to display my membership status or not. Seems like it would be an easy piece of code to include but then what do I know, I'm a hardware guy. Or maybe just the ability to turn the badge on or off and leave the verbiage in small script under the user name as it is now.

[zp4ja]

To each own and I respect that.

However, if given the opportunity or option to display mine or not, it is staying right where it is, proudly displayed.
The visibility will likely assist in informing folks that there are options to donate to assist the site.

In fact, if given the option to increase the badge size, I will do so to a level just below semi-obnoxious.

Jerry

[FRJ]

Good one Nevada.

As for me, I ain't much fer banners.

[peanut740]

To each own and I respect that.

However, if given the opportunity or option to display mine or not, it is staying right where it is, proudly displayed.
The visibility will likely assist in informing folks that there are options to donate to assist the site.

In fact, if given the option to increase the badge size, I will do so to a level just below semi-obnoxious.

Jerry

I agree.It will shame some into donating.I have only listed and sold one knife in the advertising section and felt a little guilty knowing guys with stores pay 3%.I really don't have the time or know how to maintain one.So maybe now I will post a few for sale once in awhile and be guilt free!

[edge213]

I like the banners. It might entice someone to upgrade upon seeing them.

[CheckSix]

It's all good! Happy to help! I enjoy the relationships I have here and the combined knife knowledge of everyone is 2nd to none!

Carry on!

[gsmith7158]

I don't know what's going on here but I have noticed that there is a Definite bias against the Silver level membership and I'm going to have some one from the Congressional Silver Caucus look in to this.

[Mossdancer]

The way I figure it a major investment of less than 11 cents a day seems a pittance for more entertainment value than can be had for many 100"s of times the amount. Wear that gold banner as an important part of the rest of your life. Just today I made a new acquaintance. Bill Norton of Phoenix Arizona. Look him up and say hi. You guys and gals may not realize but you meet folks from all over the world right here on AAPK. Also today I was out looking for knives and a fellow told me he saw me at the Eugene Knife Show. Thanks for the biggest town hall in the world Brian.
moss

[QTCut5]

It will shame some into donating.

Hmmmm That doesn't sound right. I may be wrong, but I think shaming people into donating is not the intent or purpose of the banners. That does not seem consistent with the AAPK "vibe" or philosophy to me.

I'll gladly donate to this noble cause just as soon as I have money in my PayPal account; however, personally, I agree with those who expressed a preference to have the banners be optional.

So, if I subscribe at ALL THREE levels, will I get one of each banner under my name? (or is there a restriction on the number of subscriptions allowed per member?)

~Q~