A FORUM STATUS UPDATE

Needles & Grooves

Administrator
Moderator
Joined
May 20, 2019
Messages
24
Location
USA
Hello, N&G community members! This is an update for everyone regarding our current forum operating status and what our future looks like going forward.

200-gif.103334

Two years ago, we could not anticipate just how far the collective generosity of our community would take us. We're happy to announce that hosting-wise we are now paid through May 2023 after renewing our 2-year plan at roughly the same cost as our initial deal (be sure to thank @RenegadeMonster for securing this discount for us- it would have been significantly more without his work on that end)! Below, we've included an outline of all expenditures and revenues that our forum operations have incurred to date. We have not taken your initial and ongoing trust in us lightly, and we will continue to be transparent regarding our forum needs and spending. Thank you all for everything you have contributed to our community over these last few years.

-----
N&G Financials

Site Funds/Income:

Initial Go Fund Me Total: $3,229.11
Spreadshirt Earnings (as of 5/21): $338.71
Interest: $2.36
Funds Total: $3570.18

Site Expenses:

Site Hosting Costs: $2,320.84
Includes Site Hosting, Forum Software, Image Hosting, etc.
Other Site Costs: $189.87
Includes costs related to establishing a business account for our Spreadshirt/Paypal and a holiday merch gift to moderator staff.
Expenses Total: $2510.71

REMAINING FUNDS: $1059.47

-----

Regarding hosting related costs going forward, there will be some small-to-moderate expenses between now and May 2023 such as SSL certificate costs, ongoing image hosting costs, and forum software renewals/upgrades, but these remaining funds should be able to fully sustain us for the next two years unless there is something wholly unexpected that comes up.

That said, we will definitely need more funds come May 2023 at the latest. We've been fortunate enough from the initial Go Fund Me campaign to not have to rely on an annual drive or other income to maintain our forum access. Certainly another round of Go Fund Me as we near May 2023 is an easy and clear option, as well as community members supporting our merch store when possible in the meantime. In regards to our merch store(s), we are hoping to make more products and designs available to help entice your support through that stream, and in general make our merch options more desirable and easier to acquire. We are also open to suggestions of other potential funding sources as we move forward and the need for funding increases.

Other site news:
- @nolalady has been promoted to administrator. With @mcherry stepping away from the administrator role several months ago - a significant loss for our community overall - the need arose to fill her absence. Administrative staff unanimously agreed that @nolalady was a perfect choice to step in and help begin to fill the hole @mcherry's departure left us with while providing the community a fresh voice and viewpoint.
- Discussions of adding moderator staff, both permanent and rotating, are ongoing. Thankfully, our community does pretty well with self-moderation and the moderation issues that do arise from time to time are not usually significant nor require much time for staff to address. Right now, there isn't necessarily a /need/ for additional moderator staff, but we do feel our community could benefit from having a more diverse and global staff than we have currently, and could benefit from having more voices being available when community matters are raised. There is no timeline for this at the moment.
 
Hello, N&G community members! This is an update for everyone regarding our current forum operating status and what our future looks like going forward.

200-gif.103334

Two years ago, we could not anticipate just how far the collective generosity of our community would take us. We're happy to announce that hosting-wise we are now paid through May 2023 after renewing our 2-year plan at roughly the same cost as our initial deal (be sure to thank @RenegadeMonster for securing this discount for us- it would have been significantly more without his work on that end)! Below, we've included an outline of all expenditures and revenues that our forum operations have incurred to date. We have not taken your initial and ongoing trust in us lightly, and we will continue to be transparent regarding our forum needs and spending. Thank you all for everything you have contributed to our community over these last few years.

-----
N&G Financials

Site Funds/Income:

Initial Go Fund Me Total: $3,229.11
Spreadshirt Earnings (as of 5/21): $338.71
Interest: $2.36
Funds Total: $3570.18

Site Expenses:

Site Hosting Costs: $2,320.84
Includes Site Hosting, Forum Software, Image Hosting, etc.
Other Site Costs: $189.87
Includes costs related to establishing a business account for our Spreadshirt/Paypal and a holiday merch gift to moderator staff.
Expenses Total: $2510.71

REMAINING FUNDS: $1059.47

-----

Regarding hosting related costs going forward, there will be some small-to-moderate expenses between now and May 2023 such as SSL certificate costs, ongoing image hosting costs, and forum software renewals/upgrades, but these remaining funds should be able to fully sustain us for the next two years unless there is something wholly unexpected that comes up.

That said, we will definitely need more funds come May 2023 at the latest. We've been fortunate enough from the initial Go Fund Me campaign to not have to rely on an annual drive or other income to maintain our forum access. Certainly another round of Go Fund Me as we near May 2023 is an easy and clear option, as well as community members supporting our merch store when possible in the meantime. In regards to our merch store(s), we are hoping to make more products and designs available to help entice your support through that stream, and in general make our merch options more desirable and easier to acquire. We are also open to suggestions of other potential funding sources as we move forward and the need for funding increases.

Other site news:
- @nolalady has been promoted to administrator. With @mcherry stepping away from the administrator role several months ago - a significant loss for our community overall - the need arose to fill her absence. Administrative staff unanimously agreed that @nolalady was a perfect choice to step in and help begin to fill the hole @mcherry's departure left us with while providing the community a fresh voice and viewpoint.
- Discussions of adding moderator staff, both permanent and rotating, are ongoing. Thankfully, our community does pretty well with self-moderation and the moderation issues that do arise from time to time are not usually significant nor require much time for staff to address. Right now, there isn't necessarily a /need/ for additional moderator staff, but we do feel our community could benefit from having a more diverse and global staff than we have currently, and could benefit from having more voices being available when community matters are raised. There is no timeline for this at the moment.
I will moderate the fuck outta this place.

So will NIGHTMather.

But he might need some... supervision.
 
I will moderate the fuck outta this place.

So will NIGHTMather.

But he might need some... supervision.

This takes us from being all square til 2023 to, give or take, 148K in the hole based on estimated litigation and civil suit expenditures.

Thanks @RenegadeMonster and all the other mods/admins for everything you do here.
 
This one time I was an admin for FB vinyl group and one night I decided to boot everyone from the group. We had about 400 members and it felt pretty good to boot them all. After that I booted myself and had a beer.

I like this community the bestest. 🍻
 
IF I DON'T LEAVE IT ON MY LUNCH TRAY HOW WILL ALL THE "WISE GUYS" KNOW WHERE TO COLLECT ALL THEIR BLACKMAIL EARNINGS-er... I MEAN "SPECTACULARLY LEGALLY ACCRUED WEALTH"?
lose another retainer you can just have crooked teeth and see how you like it, mister fancy lawyer.
 
I wanted to know what the gif joke was so much that I went to google and found exactly nothing.

I'm gonna throw out that anyone that volunteers to be a mod on this thread... should not mod anything 👀 thanks @RenegadeMonster and all admin team for helping keep the digital roof over our heads.
Everyone I’ve ever met who wanted to be a cop was the last person who should have been given a badge.
 
Back
Top