Terry makes a good point. It must be hard to pull all the recent activity into context. Here is an explanation, please ask questions at will:
FIRST AND FOREMOST - there will be NO PROFIT TAKING from any of these fund activities in 2001.
The objective of the recent fund raising work is to use the least active season to set ourselves up through 2001. Once the action gets hot again in the spring (discounting Aussies and Kiwi's who are entering into the peak season now) we all have a hard time focusing on taking care of business - and I am the worst of the bunch!
Why do we need funds?
We need to cover hosting costs which will be around $720 this year, or $60/month. This does not include anything more than the ISP upgrade I will need in 2001 - like software, related costs like the scanners, mpeg converters, and other stuff I invested into last year.
I also feel we should provide fly lines of choice to all who contribute the "article of the month" in 2001. This is less than the hosting costs, but if we honor one article a month it will be $600 / year.
Then there are the raffle items - top of the line rods and reels, etc. Whatever's left over from the initial round will be used to fund chances for people to get something they normally wouldn't afford, or even if they could it is something they got by contributing to the cause. We'll make it something you can only get from the FORUM, for instance.
Lastly there is carry-over for 2002. The results of the final raffles will be put into escrow for 2002, and each year we should build the pot until the raffle is for a week in Belize with your wife, all expenses paid. We gotta start somewhere!
Why carry-over to 2002?
Because I DO NOT want to put everyone through this in November of 2001 to get set for 2002! We should have enough in the organization's account to avoid winter fund-raising activities. Otherwise we'll have to do it again! Not everyone thinks it's a bad thing to raise funds in winter, but building a rollover base is good business.
Then there's the mission of the site....
We are founded on regional intensity complemented by global connectivity. The priority for each should be 50/50. We will DEFINITELY pay attention to being the kind of awesome regional club that we were in 2000 - but we must network to become an alliance of regionally intense clubs spanning the breadth of the internet.
Sure each season is measured in visits to home waters - but our lives are measured by the breadth of the waters we get to sample. We should be parochial yes - but equally global.
When I was young my parents travelled all over the world (dad was a University professor and cancer researcher). As a result no matter where I stood I could feel the circumference of the Earth in the shadows of my shoes. Although I celebrate the span of my eyesight, I always feel the undercurrents of a Patagonian stream in Luis' images; the push of a glacial river on a steelhead journey, or the lazy waves of the Florida Keys lapping the mangrove roots.
I am not driven to put this kind of time and energy into a regional-only site - but what I envision is more than worth a lifetime's effort.
I hope you are all with me!
(more later)
FIRST AND FOREMOST - there will be NO PROFIT TAKING from any of these fund activities in 2001.
The objective of the recent fund raising work is to use the least active season to set ourselves up through 2001. Once the action gets hot again in the spring (discounting Aussies and Kiwi's who are entering into the peak season now) we all have a hard time focusing on taking care of business - and I am the worst of the bunch!
Why do we need funds?
We need to cover hosting costs which will be around $720 this year, or $60/month. This does not include anything more than the ISP upgrade I will need in 2001 - like software, related costs like the scanners, mpeg converters, and other stuff I invested into last year.
I also feel we should provide fly lines of choice to all who contribute the "article of the month" in 2001. This is less than the hosting costs, but if we honor one article a month it will be $600 / year.
Then there are the raffle items - top of the line rods and reels, etc. Whatever's left over from the initial round will be used to fund chances for people to get something they normally wouldn't afford, or even if they could it is something they got by contributing to the cause. We'll make it something you can only get from the FORUM, for instance.
Lastly there is carry-over for 2002. The results of the final raffles will be put into escrow for 2002, and each year we should build the pot until the raffle is for a week in Belize with your wife, all expenses paid. We gotta start somewhere!
Why carry-over to 2002?
Because I DO NOT want to put everyone through this in November of 2001 to get set for 2002! We should have enough in the organization's account to avoid winter fund-raising activities. Otherwise we'll have to do it again! Not everyone thinks it's a bad thing to raise funds in winter, but building a rollover base is good business.
Then there's the mission of the site....
We are founded on regional intensity complemented by global connectivity. The priority for each should be 50/50. We will DEFINITELY pay attention to being the kind of awesome regional club that we were in 2000 - but we must network to become an alliance of regionally intense clubs spanning the breadth of the internet.
Sure each season is measured in visits to home waters - but our lives are measured by the breadth of the waters we get to sample. We should be parochial yes - but equally global.
When I was young my parents travelled all over the world (dad was a University professor and cancer researcher). As a result no matter where I stood I could feel the circumference of the Earth in the shadows of my shoes. Although I celebrate the span of my eyesight, I always feel the undercurrents of a Patagonian stream in Luis' images; the push of a glacial river on a steelhead journey, or the lazy waves of the Florida Keys lapping the mangrove roots.
I am not driven to put this kind of time and energy into a regional-only site - but what I envision is more than worth a lifetime's effort.
I hope you are all with me!
(more later)