Printable View
Quote:
Arthur Charles Herbert Runcie MacAdam Jarrett, you have been convicted by twelve good persons and true of the crime of first degree making of gratuitous, sexist jokes in a moving picture.
Quote:
Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.
I have spoken. All depart.
Ooh flashbacks....
New colours not so nice. Not seen this scheme since Win3.1
I find it interesting that many of you that were here years ago still lurk around this forum. Hoping that it'll be active when you come back for a look or something. But just lurking around does nothing. If you posted once every time you came back for a look, maybe monthly, or however often you came, this forum could actually pick back up. It has the users to be an active forum, which is shown by posts like this, but only a few of us are actually doing something about it.
I suppose the real question is why anyone would want to ' volunteer ' their time, energy, and expertise to a site that has only commercial interests...why work for a company for free while they profit off of your contributions?Quote:
this forum could actually pick back up
We, in return for our ' free ' contribution to this commercial site, aren't even allowed to link back to our non-commercial ' ad-free ' forum ( TAZforum ) that doesn't have financial interests.
It's been a standard of forums that those who contribute, or have contributed, are given a token of appreciation for that contribution ( links back to their own sites in their signatures ). Some benefit for contributing for ' FREE ' to a commercial enterprise.
I've worked with charities for 35 years...I have no problem volunteering my time, energy, skills, to help out charities...this is not a charity...this is a commercial enterprise.
metguru...simple question...
why would you want to invest your time, energy, and expertise for free to a commercial site whose only interest in you is how you can benefit them and their vested financial interest?
Name me one commercial Company that you would do that for. People started doing it on the Net because of the novelty of it...it's no longer a novelty. Online companies like QuinStreet are just like any other company...the time you invest is no different than the time you invest in where you work and get paid...
this is not a charity...this is a commercial enterprise.
People volunteer at commercial, profit making enterprises frequently.
There are volunteers at profit making health care organizations such as the 13 that are in the Fortune 1000. Then there are the volunteers at professional sports (an oxymoron) events.
So you wouldn't want to be a volunteer inside the stadium at the next Super Bowl or World Series or Stanley Cup or Daytona 500, or ...
I voluntarily take time out of my busy schedule to help complete total strangers because I enjoy it.
While I’m researching for solutions to other people’s problems I pickup tid bits of usefully information along the way. I generally learn something new every day just from reading solutions that other co-members have posted.
I don’t care in the least bit if some company is making some bucks for profit and or money to off set the time and effort they’ve thrown in. And I’m certain that the 17 year old kid that has troubles getting his pc to read the DVD he just inserted also doesn’t care if some company is making some money. In fact, he’s probably very grateful that the site(s) are there where he can get some help for the incredibly low price of FREE.
Then there’s the part where the solution to a DVD reading issue will be the same regardless on how a site is run.
Several years ago I was laid off from a job and was unemployed for six months. I found a job at Monster.com and ended up posting on their forums for an additional three years… I did it in part because I was grateful that the site was there. But the main reason I continued posting on the Commercial Enterprise site was it sucks being unemployed and maybe I could help a fellow HUMAN BEING to not go through what I went through…
Same thing applies to the Prostate Cancer forum I moderate. I’m sure the owner is raking in more money from his ads then it costs to run the site. Is he is a bad guy for putting the money in the bank – I DON’T THINK SO… In fact I know he isn’t… The amount of help I received from other guys that had been down the road before me was worth its weight in gold.
To me, sites like AO could only be called a Commercial Entity in “vain” if they charge HUMAN BEINGS money to ask their questions or post their opinions;)
Yes, but they're doing it because they are benefiting from it...usually people volunteer at commercial enterprises in the hope they might get hired, or gain valuable experience that they can apply to other job opportunities.Quote:
People volunteer at commercial, profit making enterprises frequently.
There are volunteers at profit making health care organizations
I've been in the charity sector for a very long time, I presently act as a coordinator for a Nationally Registered Charity ( of which about 90% of my time is presently donated )...I am fully aware of why people volunteer, I've recruited volunteers.
Sorry, wrong...there is no fundamental difference between this and any other business or commercial venture...the only difference is that, in the beginning, it was a novelty.Quote:
To me, sites like AO could only be called a Commercial Entity in “vain” if they charge HUMAN BEINGS money to ask their questions or post their opinions
This site depends upon the members ( commercial resources ) to drive traffic, to increase revenues...to position itself into a greater bargaining position to sell ad space...derive higher CPC from mainstream companies...
you apparently failed your Economics 101 class. ;)
You can try to sugar-coat it...but it is what it is.
Why do you think Twitter and Facebook are so popular? Because people are not only allowed but encouraged to advertise their products and services. The contributing members benefit from their contributions.
Do you think they'd still be popular if they stopped that? Not a friggin' chance. One of the reasons forums are dying is because they are living in the past...when they could get members just on the novelty aspect of being there.
Commercially-based forums still operate like they were still back in 2003...rub the dirt from your eyes, times have changed, the novelty has worn off. ;)
And exactly how are commercial businesses different from "charities" or other "non-profits" that are continually marketing and selling stuff at grossly inflated prices to support their exorbitant payrolls and administrative costs? I could name a few that spend 80 cents of every dollar received on fund raising, but I won't. Many charities spend over 40% of revenue on marketing and administration.
An old report from the Cancer Prevention Coalition about the American Cancer Society states that for every $1 the ACS spent on direct service, approximately $6.40 is spent on compensation and overhead. Similar reports have been published in The Wall Street Journal. I'm not singling out the ACS, I just happened to have a report in my "do not contribute" file. There are many other names in that file as well.
The bottom line is that most large charities are not much different than commercial enterprises. The only real difference is that they don't pay taxes.
So you’re demanding something for YOUR efforts. What does that make you? Greedy???
The warm fuzzy feeling I get when someone writes back and states they’re going to name their next child after me is good enough for me for the time I put in. And I’d get that same feeling if I put the time in on your site.
Speaking of the past – what was the event that turned you around. I’m guessing that once upon a time you posted to help PEOPLE.
If I were in your shoes, I’d be smacking myself in the head for not having ads. The three sites I post on that are owned by individuals are supporting themselves from their ad revenue. One of the guys stays with me for a few days on his two month vacation to The States. It can’t get much better then to be able to tour the world while running your own business.