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Jul 17, 03
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Debate: Paid Memberships
 PAID MEMBERSHIPS? Ok people, the ultimate FnK related debate if now in session, the issue paid memberships for exclusive benefits. Ohhhhhh, yeah this one is a goodie. So please try to read over all the information before you comment. :) FnK had been around for many ages now, marking our 3rd year this September (I believe). As we have grown over the years we have adapted to meet costs of running a website by advertising through it. The idea of charging all our members was never nor is something we will ever do here at FnK. This is more a subscription service. What's in it for me?! "Soooooo, what the hell is a paid membership? A paid membership would be a small cost to you that would unlock a bundle of different perks. Some of these could include:
Acsess to contributor only forums A new smaller set of forums with only paid membership allowed users. I have heard a few people talk about how its just too busy here with random uselessness. Quiet forums where only the l337* hang out sounds good to me. (* l337 or leet; to be elite) Unlock FnK Journals/Online DayOrganizer Just a few cool features in motion, DayOrgainizer is a cool little add on that allows a user to mark dates to be reminded of, things to do, works with the calendar to for event reminders, also includes a note pad to save quick info. The FnK Journals is pretty self explanatory. No advertisements! As I pointed out a little earlier, advertising on FnK isn't anything new and probably isn't going anywhere for awhile. So if you just cant stand the fact that almost every page pushes you to check out that party next weekend. This feature could be the real seller. Cost & Payment details Ok so I have done allot of talking about what it COULD be, this doesn't mean what it will be.. if anything. Now I haven't really touched on the paid part. How much would this cost? Personally I don't know what this would be worth to anyone.. if anything.  So how could we sell this. Annually, semiannually, monthly? The first cost that came to my head was $2 a month. I mean who can't afford $2 a month. Paid annually thats about $25 a year. This in noway should be costly, it should merely differ between who post, and who participate in the community.How would you pay? Easiest way would be via PayPal () PayPal is an online banking systems that work hand-in-hand with your credit card. Also memberships could be paid to FnK Preps and bought that way. Maybe in stores? Other thoughts, concerns Target members? I wouldn't expect anyone to ever join FnK and purchase a membership, what would be the point. Most new members post and leave, or troll it up. Target members would be select users who really enjoy and have tapped into the real community that is FnK. Would this effect regular users? Not in the least, no significant changes would occur to how you use the website, or how anything works. Certain limitations would still remain (ie. gallery space limitations, advertisements, ect) But FnK would run as it always has whether you became a paid member or not. Examples? This is a very widely used idea on many larger message boards. For example you may check out The Edge forums at OverGrow.com. They have a subscription service (same idea) that includes a few of the features I listed.. as higher prices too. () Ok to I have rambled on and on about all my thoughts. Now I wanna hear what everyone else has to say. Have ideas on new features that could be added for paid members. Suggestions on prices, payment methods? Or dislike everything I just said for the last 500 characters? Post it up. -Myles FnK Admin 
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Jul 17, 03
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This is a very understandable thing as F&K has grown a ton even in the short time that I have been a member. It could grow to be even more powerful with the help of more advertising and "contributing members" as you put it Myles.
I would also suggest adding that any contributing member would receive a free F&K email account ie: kraig@form-kaos.com. In addition, you could speak to the various record stores, clubs, etc. about discounts, VIP passes, etc. that could be given to select contributing members. Kinda like clubvibes.com does... they have the right idea. You could do a ton with this, however it will be interesting to hear the overall feedback of the average F&K member on paying $25/year for "elite" access. Peace.
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Jul 17, 03
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fnk email, how did I ever forget! thx kraig :silly:
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Jul 17, 03
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just re-read that. larger avatars is a baaad idea. i say, keep them the same size, but let people use flash or php with them. or if you insist on it, only increase the dimensions to the maximum allowed *without* changing the minimum size of the table spacing. one large avatar'll throw everything else on the page out of whack.
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Jul 17, 03
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Jul 17, 03
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more thoughts: giving paying members their own forums will segregate the community to a degree. if you want to retain actual readable content on the main board (and encourage further people to pay), then you should keep things as they are. otherwise, all the good content might go to the private forums, with all the fluff ending up in the public ones. or vice-versa. either way, it doesn't make for a very strong community.
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Jul 17, 03
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I think it's a very interesting concept and I really like the fact that it's totally the decision of the member. I think the site will always have it's core crew and this option gives allows us to stay snug. It also permits us the ability to bank-roll several projects in order to create some crazy features. The question at hand is will there be enough positive features for someone to want to contribute? It's definitely a neat idea and I'd like to hear some more comments relating to it.
fORM
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Jul 17, 03
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yeah i don't really like the idea, but im hesitant to give my reasons because i don't want everyone to think its some kind of conflict of intrest thing.
im not against making money, because paying for the server sucks. finding new revenue streams is hard. i think you have a good price point at least. i think you should move towards things that make contributors stays more fun (photospace, journals, email address, no ads, big giant fucking gold stars next to usernames) but things like a 'members only forum' would just create two levels of user. anything that you create that devides the two userbases by even minimal amounts is going create static. a message board website is a tricky thing to add value to, because even though you pay the bills, almost all of the actual day to day content content is generated for you by your users. it's a tricky line to walk making those users your customers, because you have to be sure not to negatively affect them in any way, they're the reason people keep coming back. pissed off users = worse content = worse website. just a few thoughts.
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Jul 17, 03
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Servers are expensive. Software is expensive. Bandwidth is expensive. Stages are expensive, parties and all the other stuff is expensive.
You guys are doing a great service and I hope you come up with a way to be able to do it and not pay for it out of your own pocket anymore. While this would probably hurt my pocketbook more than anyone else's (lolz. :D ) , my suggestion to you would be to DITCH the subscriber forums and ding PROMOTERS $10.00 per month to post promotions in the promo section and restrict any replies or posts to those who paid the fee, while being brutually vigilant against people who post in the wrong section (insta-delete). People could request special favours for free parties if they bump the F&K name on the flyer. I dont know how other promoters feel, but you'd definitely have my money. My two bits. Keep up the good work!
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Jul 17, 03
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hey snyx didnt you used to rag on lx and how it was going to charge its members?
anyways... exactly how much do you spend on this site? ie, lets see the monthly (or yearly) costs of 1) domain name 2) database 3) webspace john 2899131
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Jul 17, 03
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:moon:
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Jul 17, 03
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hmnn..
I've got a few ideas/suggestions assuming you guys are throwing parties in the near futures. (I'm not out to lunch, just run with me for a sec) =) 1) Make it similiar to a golf membership. Pay a one time 10$ registration fee, and 5$ a year to renew the lease. For official members: -unlimited photospace and pm space -email address -5$ off any FNK event. -a colourful/snazzy/extremely glossy official fnk member card with your nick in bold letters -and more For FnK: -5 a year -no cap on memberships -motivation for members to attend parties 2)Official FnK Stock Just run with me here.. Start with 1000 shares, and 1000 shares only. Offer 500 to the open public/fnk members. Sell each share at 20$ each. The 500 remaining shares are split between the "up and ups" The 10,000$ would be used to finance the first of many parties to come. -FnK would throw parties regularly and make profits to maintain site. -shareholder would encourage growth and a positive place(introduce Referral Program - reeping rewards for highest referrer) -shareholder would have direct imput of future lineups. -shareholder would promote parties -shareholder would have a direct impact with site changes and suggestions. The holder off the share has the option to sell the stock whenever he/she wishes to. Holly shit thats brilliant. I better be on the executive board!
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Jul 17, 03
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 also fnk is alot more complex then server bills bud. software licences are hundreds each, and run yearly. we also wanna purchice new software, thats addition yearly costs. aside from the website, we wanna throw parties, host club events, make more clothes. these are just a scratch on the things we would like to do with fnk.
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Jul 17, 03
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what kinda software are you buying?
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Jul 17, 03
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^^ vbb costs money every yr and so does gallery
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Jul 17, 03
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vbb isnt free? i had to help my friend set one up for a project we did in school and we didnt have to pay for it.. in fact i think its probably still up
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