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How Can We Help GetDPI Stay Alive

Pixeltook

New member
The sponsors will be back. A contribution from members will be the best thing to keep things going, I'll put my hand in my pocket. I'm sure if we all look around the expertise will be there too. I'm going to ask in my IT dept and see who can help, if others can look at their people resources, it should go a long way to keep things going.
 

JohnBrew

Active member
Unfortunately not having GetDPI in my photographic life will be a change. It is the third site I visit every morning following the weather and one news site.
I would be pleased to donate whatever is necessary to assist in keeping this place alive.
I cannot thank Jack, Guy and Bob enough for their tireless and timely work. They will be missed as will everyone else whose posts I look forward to reading and whose images bring me great pleasure.
 

biglouis

Well-known member
I would be more than willing to pay a monthly or annual membership fee.

Perhaps the money raised could be used to hire someone, or a service company to handle the technical/maintenance aspects?

A carrot for such a company could be to allow some advertising onto the site (rather than sponsors) which would be a benefit to them.

Just thinking out loud. Like a lot of people, I would be sorry to see this community go. I can't think of another photographic community like it. People here have never been mean or trolling which is rare on the interweb.

Put up a paid for membership model and I would be willing to contribute.

LouisB
 

Geoff

Well-known member
As Bob said, it isn't just about money, though more could solve it. The site costs are not that significant — about $2000 to $2500 annually to host and maintain. The real issue is the background labor and attention required on a daily basis -- and Bob and I are tired of doing it gratis. It requires somebody(s) with forum software prowess to approve and vet new members and approve posts daily from new members until they hit 10 or so -- which is how we keep spammers to a minimum, and yet you see the ones that still make it through even with that. Then it requires somebody with web skills to manage all the site software updates and patches, and then manage malware or hack attacks that can come almost any time day or night. In short, it takes somebody being on deck pretty much 24-7. So that’s the real issue for us: we're tired of doing it and there simply isn’t enough money to outsource those tech parts…

We would be totally open to handing it over to a consortium of folks that want to take all of that on to keep GetDPI alive. We've had a few basic offers to take it over, but they would move the site to a subscription/ad model or merge it with their own existing site -- in the hopes of getting all of our members active on their forum, so they can reap the ad and subscription revenue. In short, it would become all the things we never wanted the site to be...

We love the members -- you've made GetDPI truly a unique community. But we don't see a clear path for us to gracefully depart and keep the flavor the same...
This site is the first one on the list to visit. Best of all.

Is there a way to see where the most traffic is, or (in a slim down mode), which forums are the most important to keep open? I don't mean to set off a brushfire, but if there are 20 forums all about the same activity - that's one model. If one (say MF) takes say 50% of the traffic, that's something else... Maybe this could help in figuring out next version of GetDPI which hopefully can't close....
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
This site is the first one on the list to visit. Best of all.

Is there a way to see where the most traffic is, or (in a slim down mode), which forums are the most important to keep open? I don't mean to set off a brushfire, but if there are 20 forums all about the same activity - that's one model. If one (say MF) takes say 50% of the traffic, that's something else... Maybe this could help in figuring out next version of GetDPI which hopefully can't close....
The number of sub-fora do not add appreciably to the hosting cost. By far, our biggest space suck is the image gallery. But regardless, you pay a base cost to have your site hosted, so in reality even the gallery does not add significant cost -- and let's not forget this is a photography forum :cool:
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
I have already posted somewhere else in this forum that I feel very sorry seeing it going down. I still feel exactly the same!

I hope sincerely this forum can survive!
 

Smoothjazz

Active member
There is no other site where you can find such great and current information regarding medium format photography. This forum has been a great resource for me, and I really hope it can continue. I also subscribe to the Luminous Landscape forum, which went to a subscription model awhile back; I believe it is one dollar a month. My thought is to have a basic free subscription, at least to allow some new photographers on board without any barriers, and after a time period, add a low fee continued subscription rate.
Thanks for everything that has been done here over these many years!!


The number of sub-fora do not add appreciably to the hosting cost. By far, our biggest space suck is the image gallery. But regardless, you pay a base cost to have your site hosted, so in reality even the gallery does not add significant cost -- and let's not forget this is a photography forum :cool:
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
To all of our supporters,

First off, thank you very much for the outpouring of support you've shown us in these trying times -- it has truly been appreciated. In fact, it was your outpour of support that caused Bob and I to search more diligently for a viable alternative to simply pulling the plug... We think we have found an appropriate partner to not only keep GetDPI alive in its current style, but also allowing it to keep moving forward for the next several years.

With that, I would like to introduce Olaf Sztaba, editor of "Medium Format Magazine." We are in the beginning stages of transferring GetDPI site management to his team. Olaf's main goal in taking this over is to keep GetDPI alive, and moreover to maintain the community activity in its current form, which was of key importance to us. Additionally, Olaf has the resources to upgrade our aging vBulletin site platform to the more modern cloud version, which was a larger undertaking than we wanted to tackle. Please join me in welcoming Olaf to the GetDPI family, and stay tuned for more details as we put it all in place!
 

vieri

Well-known member
To all of our supporters,

First off, thank you very much for the outpouring of support you've shown us in these trying times -- it has truly been appreciated. In fact, it was your outpour of support that caused Bob and I to search more diligently for a viable alternative to simply pulling the plug... We think we have found an appropriate partner to not only keep GetDPI alive in its current style, but also allowing it to keep moving forward for the next several years.

With that, I would like to introduce Olaf Sztaba, editor of "Medium Format Magazine." We are in the beginning stages of transferring GetDPI site management to his team. Olaf's main goal in taking this over is to keep GetDPI alive, and moreover to maintain the community activity in its current form, which was of key importance to us. Additionally, Olaf has the resources to upgrade our aging vBulletin site platform to the more modern cloud version, which was a larger undertaking than we wanted to tackle. Please join me in welcoming Olaf to the GetDPI family, and stay tuned for more details as we put it all in place!
Hey Jack,

that is great news! I am working with Olaf as a contributor to the Medium Format Magazine, I know the way he works and I am really happy to hear that you guys got together and figured it out :thumbup:

Best regards,

Vieri
 

AlanS

Well-known member
That's great news Jack, I appreciate the effort you and Bob (and Guy) have put in to make this happen. I am sure all of us that make up the members feel the same.
 

pegelli

Well-known member
That's great news Jack, thanks for working these next steps.

With "Medium Format Magazine" taking a bigger role in managing the site does that have any concequences for the scope of the forum, i.e for the smaller than MF digital and film format forums?
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
That's great news Jack, thanks for working these next steps.

With "Medium Format Magazine" taking a bigger role in managing the site does that have any concequences for the scope of the forum, i.e for the smaller than MF digital and film format forums?
The intent is to keep the community the way it is.
thanks
-bob
 

olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
To all of our supporters,

First off, thank you very much for the outpouring of support you've shown us in these trying times -- it has truly been appreciated. In fact, it was your outpour of support that caused Bob and I to search more diligently for a viable alternative to simply pulling the plug... We think we have found an appropriate partner to not only keep GetDPI alive in its current style, but also allowing it to keep moving forward for the next several years.

With that, I would like to introduce Olaf Sztaba, editor of "Medium Format Magazine." We are in the beginning stages of transferring GetDPI site management to his team. Olaf's main goal in taking this over is to keep GetDPI alive, and moreover to maintain the community activity in its current form, which was of key importance to us. Additionally, Olaf has the resources to upgrade our aging vBulletin site platform to the more modern cloud version, which was a larger undertaking than we wanted to tackle. Please join me in welcoming Olaf to the GetDPI family, and stay tuned for more details as we put it all in place!
Thank you so much Jack and Bob for your warm welcome. I am very excited to be a part of this iconic community and becoming a custodian of its tradition of cooperation, exchange of ideas and friendship. With you direction and advice I am looking forward to make this transition smooth and fruitful. It is a very great pleasure to be here. Greetings to everyone.
 

olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
To all of our supporters,

First off, thank you very much for the outpouring of support you've shown us in these trying times -- it has truly been appreciated. In fact, it was your outpour of support that caused Bob and I to search more diligently for a viable alternative to simply pulling the plug... We think we have found an appropriate partner to not only keep GetDPI alive in its current style, but also allowing it to keep moving forward for the next several years.

With that, I would like to introduce Olaf Sztaba, editor of "Medium Format Magazine." We are in the beginning stages of transferring GetDPI site management to his team. Olaf's main goal in taking this over is to keep GetDPI alive, and moreover to maintain the community activity in its current form, which was of key importance to us. Additionally, Olaf has the resources to upgrade our aging vBulletin site platform to the more modern cloud version, which was a larger undertaking than we wanted to tackle. Please join me in welcoming Olaf to the GetDPI family, and stay tuned for more details as we put it all in place!
Thank you so much Jack for your warm welcome. I am very excited to be a part of this iconic community and becoming a custodian of its tradition of cooperation, exchange of ideas and friendship. With your direction and advice I am looking forward to make this transition smooth and fruitful. It is a very great pleasure to be here. Greetings to everyone.
 

anyone

Well-known member
Indeed great news. Thanks Jack and Bob to make this happen, and welcome Olaf! Looking forward to the forthcoming years.
 

MCTuomey

New member
Whatever ongoing costs need to be shared, fully onboard with whatever model is adopted going forward to address them.
 

D&A

Well-known member
I like many others here on Getdpi, am extremely excited of hearing the news of the continuation of this invaluable resource. Getdpi has always been a beacon for those who enjoy giving and/or receiving advice in a most congenial setting, where ideas and sharing of both photographic images and one's knowledge base elevates the platform above many others. The willingness of members to offer both financial support or technical expertise to keep this site going, speaks volumes.

We are all indebted to Jack, Bob, Guy, the moderators and those behind the scene all these years in remaining steadfast and working hard to maintain the quality of this website which resulted in the outpouring of support. Additional thanks also goes out to Olaf for stepping up with his support for continuing the Getdpi tradition and keeping the broad photographic representation of a whole host of various format camera system forums with along with ancillary forums that support the use of these systems. Thank you Olaf and all and look forward to what lies ahead.

Dave (D&A)
 

olafphoto

Administrator
Staff member
I like many others here on Getdpi, am extremely excited of hearing the news of the continuation of this invaluable resource. Getdpi has always been a beacon for those who enjoy giving and/or receiving advice in a most congenial setting, where ideas and sharing of both photographic images and one's knowledge base elevates the platform above many others. The willingness of members to offer both financial support or technical expertise to keep this site going, speaks volumes.

We are all indebted to Jack, Bob, Guy, the moderators and those behind the scene all these years in remaining steadfast and working hard to maintain the quality of this website which resulted in the outpouring of support. Additional thanks also goes out to Olaf for stepping up with his support for continuing the Getdpi tradition and keeping the broad photographic representation of a whole host of various format camera system forums with along with ancillary forums that support the use of these systems. Thank you Olaf and all and look forward to what lies ahead.

Dave (D&A)
Thank you so much for this warm welcome. My team and I are very excited to become part of this amazing community. I will be updating our progress as we go forward.
 
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