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How Can We Help GetDPI Stay Alive

olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Olaf, can you pls. point out where it's located, I can't find it.

Another strange thing is when I typed "donate" in the search field at the right top I got this result (screenshot):


I don't think these adverts for free dating services (circled) belong on GetDPI. Never seen them before but they seem to be in the "group" area and not on the forum.
Thank you for pointing this out. In regards to the SUPPORT BUTTON you will find it on the right side of the home page (above Amazon and B&H links). Thank you for your support.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Re: Keeping GetDPI Alive and Thriving

DONATE BUTTON IS UP

Once again, I would like to thank you for your support, kind words and all the ideas and concerns you have raised with me in the last two weeks. I am listening. Also thank you for coming forward with your pledges of donations to help the website. Starting today you will find the DONATE button on the right side of the page. Your help with financing the website and the much-needed upgrades is greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Olaf! I will use the "Donate" button. :)

For me, I have no problem with people who are in the business discussing their work and offering services or products occasionally. What I find obnoxious is when they apply marketing and advertising promotional efforts to every post they make and then try to dominate the relevant threads with more and more of the same ... that, to me, means that they are only marginally interested in participating in the community and are really interested in 'developing' the community as a sales source.

It's a fine line. Most of the commercial-interest folks on GetDPI have handled this with courtesy and grace, with the occasional (and mostly forgivable) aberration. I've done business with several of the folks with commercial interest I met here. I have enjoyed the forum interaction, the business I did with them off-line, and the personal interaction with the person off-line as well. The forum interaction inspired me to trust them and consider their expertise credible, the business and personal off-line relationships have reinforced that.

The biggest risk, to me, would be to change the rules in such a way as to upset the balance of this cycle of relationships. That would change the culture of GetDPI and put it into an unknown state. Seeking new subscribers as well will definitely change the culture too. Olaf has to consider carefully just how much change and just how much culture shift is warranted to achieve the goals of the site ... which I take is to generate enough income from users and advertising to sustain itself ("not just be burden"), perhaps generate some profit, and to promote a thriving photographic community that shares knowledge, expertise, and photographs freely.

A tall order. The openness of this thread's discussion—including all the ideas, agreements, and disagreements—and Olaf's (as well as Jack and Bob's) personal interaction bodes well for a healthy future. Let's keep it going, allow that there will be some disagreements along the way, and not take them as intended personal affront. :D

I look forward to seeing GetDPI's transition and updates develop and blossom. Thank you again, Olaf!

G

No matter where you go, there you are.
 

SahotaR

Active member
DONATE BUTTON IS UP

Once again, I would like to thank you for your support, kind words and all the ideas and concerns you have raised with me in the last two weeks. I am listening. Also thank you for coming forward with your pledges of donations to help the website. Starting today you will find the DONATE button on the right side of the page. Your help with financing the website and the much-needed upgrades is greatly appreciated.

Done.

Thank you.
 

Knorp

Well-known member
DONATE BUTTON IS UP

Once again, I would like to thank you for your support, kind words and all the ideas and concerns you have raised with me in the last two weeks. I am listening. Also thank you for coming forward with your pledges of donations to help the website. Starting today you will find the DONATE button on the right side of the page. Your help with financing the website and the much-needed upgrades is greatly appreciated.
Done !

:thumbup:
 

Saxbike

Active member
DONATE BUTTON IS UP

Once again, I would like to thank you for your support, kind words and all the ideas and concerns you have raised with me in the last two weeks. I am listening. Also thank you for coming forward with your pledges of donations to help the website. Starting today you will find the DONATE button on the right side of the page. Your help with financing the website and the much-needed upgrades is greatly appreciated.
Done.
 

jng

Well-known member
I happily made a modest donation today. I don't know whether my contribution represents a drop in the bucket or drop in the ocean. In any case I trust that Olaf will let us know how things go and whether he has sufficient resources to support the site.

John
 

rayyan

Well-known member
GetDpi is my most visited photography ( or other content specific ) site.
Jack and Bob have done a wonderful job setting up and keep the site running.

I have gained enormously by being a member at this site. Technically sure, but most importantly for the friends I have made and never met in person.

Let’s do our small part each to keep it running.

Best of lucks GetDpi and thank you.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
DONATE BUTTON IS UP

Once again, I would like to thank you for your support, kind words and all the ideas and concerns you have raised with me in the last two weeks. I am listening. Also thank you for coming forward with your pledges of donations to help the website. Starting today you will find the DONATE button on the right side of the page. Your help with financing the website and the much-needed upgrades is greatly appreciated.
Done! I may have missed it, but is there a way to make this an automatically recurring monthly donation?

Gary
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
Hi Olaf, can you pls. point out where it's located, I can't find it.

Another strange thing is when I typed "donate" in the search field at the right top I got this result (screenshot):


I don't think these adverts for free dating services (circled) belong on GetDPI. Never seen them before but they seem to be in the "group" area and not on the forum.
Careful there. That could end up being a lot more expensive than medium format digital

:ROTFL:
 

pegelli

Well-known member
Careful there. That could end up being a lot more expensive than medium format digital

:ROTFL:
Just checked, these strange posts are still there, so if anybody has any money left after donating to GetDPI, subscribing to Medium Format Digital and buying their Dante approved new system they can still spend it there if they're really desparate :LOL:
 

Tim

Active member
Donate Done, I had no idea how much, but I figure if we all do a small amount it adds up
 

kit laughlin

Subscriber Member
Donated.

Can those who have written, "I could never support a paid site" PLEASE explain why? Do you expect admins to give time and effort gratis? Do you give your own expertise and time in your own fields for nothing? Honestly, I simply do not understand this attitude, and would like to.

Some points: I belong to FredMiranda.com, as many here do, and I am a member there. Fred's model is simple: if you want to upload images, you pay a modest annual subscription. If you want to sell gear there (and a huge number of people there do) then you need to upload images. Images cost money (I run a medium size, 3,000 member, site myself, and have a good idea of the time and money involved), so if you want to sell your gear, you pay the subscription. A very large number of members do. The same model can work here: someone who only wants to read threads would not have to pay, and people who want to upload images, whether for C&C or gear for sale, would. Simple and elegant.

I have bought and sold gear here, and feel that the combination of being able to see whether someone is a 'Jill-come-lately' or a member whose writing and images I have known over time (and hence being able to know whether an item on offer is likely to 1) be real, and 2) looked after), is priceless. I have only bought and sold here and on FM, with zero problems, over many years. Compare this to ebay. Is this alone not worth an annual subscription?

I have not visited here for over a year, but a colleague on FM pointed me to this thread. I know that Guy M is no longer involved (he posts a great deal over at FM) and Bob and Jack, having run this site for a long time, have other things they need to concentrate their time on. The baton needs to be passed—who has the skills to do this?

Update: I skipped from page 2 to here, so missed the entrance of Olaf, from stage left—Welcome, Olaf.

My remarks about considering Fred Miranda's model are still relevant, I believe. And I also believe that the Teleb model of 'skin in the game' applies, too: if the upload image cost is reasonable and you want to show your images or sell gear, many people will do it. Fred's site is currently $59/annum, $99/two years, but because I decided to support the site years ago, my renewal is half that. So, if such a model were enabled, a 'thank you' to current members might be $20/annum, and new members a bit more. And current members' pricing could stay at whatever the starting point is, again in recognition of the forum only being what it is because of them.

My question about why some posters will not even consider a paid model (whatever form it takes) remains. After all, we have all spent tens of thousands on gear over the years (some way more than that!). A modest amount per annum to cover the essential aspect of learning how to use one's gear better, and to learn the myriad aspects that go to making a better image, seems reasonable to me.
 
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