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A new newsgroup lugnet.admin.finance has been created for the discussion
and brainstorming of LUGNET financial aspects. Previously, this had simply
been a webpage placeholder at <http://news.lugnet.com/admin/finance/> one
level above the Donations info page.
CHARTER/PURPOSE
===============
-> lugnet.admin.finance (group):
LUGNET financial aspects: ideas, goals, fundraising, volunteering,
resource procurement, etc.
lugnet.admin.* (hierarchy):
LUGNET-specific groups (about LUGNET)
MOTIVATION
==========
We would hereby like to open up the floor for discussions and ideas -- an
online brainstorming session, if you will -- about how we can take LUGNET
to the next level -- from a part-time hobby site into a serious full-time
adventure. Running a site as popular as this is truly a full-time job, and
then some.
At present, both of us are holding day jobs. When we began LUGNET, back in
1997-98, we were living off of savings and squeaking by, taking odd jobs and
selling LEGO to folks online. Three years of that landed us both in debt,
however, requiring us to re-enter the traditional workforce and effectively
preventing us from committing the same amounts of time that we were able to
spend in the early years.
Suzanne has been filling the role of general site administrator since last
summer, in her spare time, while Todd has been working behind the scenes on
various daily and weekly maintenance chores, in his spare time. Dan and Jenn
Boger and Steve Bliss and Joshua Delahunty and others have also volunteered
huge amounts of their spare time and energy into keeping things running and
improving behind the scenes.
Where we need to go from here is to solidify the financial foundations of the
site and find a way to create a full-time employment position for Suzanne as
general administrator, so that things can move forward in a serious way.
Additionally, it would be very attractive if we could find some way to
financially compensate the community's hard-working volunteers.
LUGNET's Membership system has worked well -- and continues to work well --
in keeping LUGNET alive at a basic subsistence level; getting the ISP bills
paid is no problem. But the Membership system isn't a model that supports
a full-time administrative position -- not without there being significantly
larger numbers of adult fans out there.
So we need to get creative.
And we invite you to offer your thoughts.
In a perfect world, The LEGO Company would recognize what LUGNET has done
for it by contributing meaningful amounts of cash periodically. The LEGO
Company has shown very little interest in this, however.
Clearly, it is up to us the community to keep the dream alive. Getting to
the next level is not going to be easy. Yet, looking back, getting the site
off the ground in the first place five years ago once felt like an impossible
dream. We are grateful for all the support shown us over the years through
the site's seemingly countless growing pangs, through our own personal life
tribulations, and through the past few months of uncertainty.
--
Todd & Suz
LUGNET Co-founders
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