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Hey all,
Sorry it's been so long. Things haven't been good, and there are only so many times I can come on and tell people that. I know it's been suggested that I could come on and post and just not talk about that stuff, but the sad reality at this point is it's all that exists for us right now.
Your support during this period, both before and after it all "came out", has been wonderful, appreciated, and really our one saving grace.
It became clear some time ago that rather than having lots of people kicking in a little towards the site (well, towards me), our drives instead amounted to a small group kicking in a lot. I know I've rambled on at length before about the mixture of sincere gratitude and shame, but this gets harder to deal with when people whom I consider friends are having to go so long and deep out of their own pockets to help me keep my nose above water. We dodged a cataclysmic collapse of our domestic situation a few months back, and I've been extraordinarily appreciative of that, and remain so. We're on the cusp of another, and I've made several moves to try and handle that on our own, but as that approached, it became clear to me that I needed to really put some thought into what's "fair" and "right" with BP. I'm not sure that asking the same people to give, over and over, is right. Actually, I'm certain it's not.
My interest with the site has always been to keep it as low-impact as possible on everyone. For the users, which we all are, it meant being completely non-commercial. No fees, no ads, no in-your-face fund raising drives. For years, even as we grew by leaps and bounds, we also had virtually no expenses. Amazingly, the hosting and colocation was free. Obviously that changed recently, and while the company hosting us (entirely out of respect for my sorry state) gave us a ridiculously low rate, even a pittance is a small fortune from where I'm currently sitting. I am simply unable to sustain it, as I am also simply unable to support myself.
So as I considered this, I looked at how we've been bringing in money, for the new server for example, and for my basic needs when all that came out. What I felt, was that in an effort to avoid a moneycentric atmosphere, I've effectively created one by way of letting the funding drives turn into centralized and high-profile efforts.
What I believe at present is that under the right circumstances, adding banner-based advertising to the site will actually be less invasive in terms of the end user experience than the present method of user contribution. Moreover, it can provide (and quickly, with a base guarantee) an amount of money that would allow me to both sustain the site, and (I admit regretfully) fulfil my needs until the court process is completed, and/or when and if I have a diagnosis and therefore a treatment.
Enter a young advertising firm called SportsWar. Started by a guy who runs a UVA fan site with an approach strikingly similar to our own. Like us, his site is fiercely independent. Like us, he has a terrific group of people who interact there. Like us, they grew by way of an organic and community based process that involved user participation and consideration. And, like us, they grew to a point where the expenses could no longer be handled by one man. But, I'm straying from the point. SportsWar provides national-level, topical advertising for sites just like ours. Sites that want to be their own brand, don't want to answer to anyone, and want absolute authority over their own content and experience.
What this would mean is a standard banner across the top, and a tower banner across one side. What it won't mean, is music forced on you. It also won't mean interstitials, "pop-up" or otherwise interactive in-your-face ads. It also won't mean just any old ad. These would be companies, products, and services relevant to college football fans, and with some frequency, relevant to Ohio State fans, Ohio State, Ohio, Columbus, etc. We're not talking about joining doubleclick or 24/7 here, but rather a very, very selective group of independent college football fan sites who pool their resources and ability to meet their needs and enable future growth. It's not a network in the Scout or Rival sense, it's a community of communities, without any of the individual members giving up anything but a little space on their pages.
Am I rationalizing this? Or trying to sell it? I don't know. Maybe. Look, I don't now, nor have I ever wanted ads on the site. But you know what--I don't now, nor have I ever wanted to have to come to you, my friends, asking for money towards the site, and certainly not for me personally. I honestly believe the SportsWar opportunity to be the lower impact, less invasive opportunity between the two.
Which brings me to this post. I simply won't do it, until I've heard from you. Like anything else during BP's short life, this too is a community issue, and requires your input and perspective.
A couple points I want to close with. Nothing about BP, as a community, as a philosophy, is changing here either way. Nothing about what I believe, and how I operate, is changing here either way. I want to see BP carry forward, and the unfortunate reality is that it is tied to me, and is therefore skating on thin ice. I've turned away literally countless opportunities to sell or otherwise monetize the site. I don't mind stating flatly that many of them would have meant far more money than the SportsWar opportunity does, but none of them came with that familiar community approach, and absolute level of control over what we put on our own pages. I've been called "foolish" and "arrogant" for telling people I would rather close the site than ever see an invasive pop-up ad, or any of the other things (big in-your-face flash ads, forced streaming media, etc.) that drive me away from other websites. When I made these points to SportsWar, they responded with (I paraphrase), "that's fine with us, because we'd never put that garbage on our sites either." The people placing the ads are the same ones who run sites like BP. And in many cases, much bigger and older sites with deeper needs.
I do genuinely believe that this move will make BP less about money than it is now, and provide me a means of personal correction as well as enable more active participation and site improvement. It means no more fundraisers probably. And those who just can't stomach ads, who also know me, know that I'm not going to change anything about my "Your computer, you should have complete control of it" thread -- specifically the bit about HOSTS files. BP is, and by my absolute intent will remain free. We just have to be creative about how to meet its needs, and so I present the one and only ad concept that has met my approval to the point that I felt comfortable taking it to the admins, who in turn were comfortable enough to take it to you.
Finally, I am sorry I've been so absent lately. I suppose I'm sort of just letting days slip into weeks into months, just trying to get by and cope with various issues in pursuit of some sort of meaningful solution. There have been some developments. I ended up in the hospital last month, and after I saw the intern, she passed me off to her resident. After I saw him, he passed me on to the attending. And for the first time ever, a doctor heard the full scope of my issues and said "I'd be willing to bet a good deal that I know exactly what this is, and here's how we find out." Of course, "how" wasn't possible at the hospital, but we set it up, and with a little help from the courts, may soon realize that test. On the court front, we got a call from Congresswoman Pryce's office, and were told the court is in the process of scheduling a new date as soon as possible. We were also told, that even if this is finally our moment of approval, that it will take months to see relief. So while there's no good news, there's the clear and identifiable hope that perhaps good news is on the way. That, at least, is something.
One last time. This is a proposition made to me, which I decided to take to the admins. The admins in turn felt it was worth taking to you. A decision has not been made, that's the sincere purpose of this post.
Last edited by Clarity : 08-29-2006 at 04:53 PM.
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