MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT MIGRATION - PLEASE READ

[Gary Lewis]

Mark - You are now on the list.  Thanks!

Visiting home?  How are things there?

[Dorsai]

Boy, you all sure have been busy since I checked in last!  I've been super busy the last year or so, but plan to get back to my truck, this forum, and all of you over the summer as much as I can.

Needless to say, please put me down on the donor list, Gary - as valuable as this forum has been to me, I'd be happy to chip in any reasonable amount (and then some) to keep the party going.

[ratdude747]

Put me on the list. I thought I already said so, but I don't think I actually ever did.

[Gary Lewis]

Matthew & Larry - You are both on the list.  Thanks!

Everyone - I called at 4:00 today, a Friday before a holiday, and didn't get to talk to anyone at the lawyer's office.  That's not really a surprise, but the fact that I've not heard from them for a full week suggests that they don't think we qualify as a 501C7.

Given that I'm researching how to do this otherwise, and it looks like Bob is right - I don't have to pay taxes on gifts.  (But the giver can't claim it as a tax break either.)  So I'm thinking that I'll set up a separate bank account and all the gifts will go into it.  I'll keep track of income and show the aggregate on the website as well as the outgo.

By doing that we won't have the $500 one-time lawyer's fee, won't have to set up a company so won't have to have to nail down a name for the company, don't need a board of directors, don't need to vote, etc.

But I still want to hear from the lawyer to know for sure.  So I'll chase them again next week.  But in the interim I'm laying plans.  But that would mean we don't really have to change the name, or can change it to whatever we want.  

[firefire]

Hi.
Did not know what was going on with the Bullnose Forum before this evening.
Have mostly been reading " projects ".
This post should be at the top of the list.
Thanks for all the work you and your helpers put into this forum.
Sign me up as donor.
Greetings Stein

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Stein!  You might take a look at this post in How To Pay - If You Want To Do So.  But if that doesn't work for you please let me know.

As for the post being at the top of the list, that's one of the problems with the Nabble software.  But once we are on InVision it'll be different.

[firefire]

Hi.
In Norway I am a member of a forum called  " kammeret.no  " . Its a forum about firearms, hunting and such. And it is actually " run " by the company you plan to move to. In kammeret you can see an  alternativ for sponsorship.
It is a banner. Brownells.no. Brownells has their own post or what shall I call it where they can promote their products. But you have to go there at your own will. Not disturbing at all.
Greetings Stein

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Stein.  I see the banner, and once we get to Invision I can put a banner up like that one.  But there's no way to put one up on Nabble, so we will have to wait to do that.

[firefire]

Yes.
Hope you get the funding you need to move 🙂.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Stein.  We are close.

[viven44]

Maybe someone has asked this question before, but I really don't mind the few quirks of this forum and a random thought came to mind.

You had mentioned that the owner of nabble was planning to discontinue support and may pull the plugs. I was wondering if an alternative to migration would be use some of the funds to "persuade" the owner of nabble to continue supporting nabble and add the features we want. It is not chump change that we are paying the new party and maybe he'd consider it. Maybe he is too proud like me to ask for money but really deserves it. I'd be happy to delete this comment if you say its too late and inappropriate.

[ArdWrknTrk]

This platform is glitchy and full of holes, as well as at the capricious whim of the owner.

We've already been through this (perhaps before you got here)
That's how our joining process got borked!!!

I'm done.
I can't speak for anyone else, but having to open with an apologetic note to every new member makes me want to curl up and die every time.

[Gary Lewis]

Two problems with that.  First, I've had that discussion with him and he doesn't want to continue to support Nabble.  So we'd be on a platform that will some day have a terminal problem with no support.

Second, there are features on Nabble that don't work and cause us problems.  Like there is no reliable way to email someone nor a way direct message someone.  And the joining process is both broken and awkward.  We have to manually accept newbies, and it doesn't take them to the New Members Start Here folder and confine them to it.

We are within striking distance of Invision and I'll be announcing very soon that the move has started.  We just need a few more contributions.

[thelastkeg]

Any idea how many active members there are?  I guess by active I mean folks that log in pretty regularly?

I contributed only $30, but maybe that wasn't enough?  You need $2,050 one time, and $1000 annually.  I'm assuming that means you'll need to pay $3,050 to make the move and cover the initial year up front.  So if 102 people paid $30, that would cover $3,050.  Then after the first year, 100 folks paying just $10 a year would cover the annual costs.  This seems very doable.

I'll contribute more if needed.  What's the deadline?  Also, thinking about church fundraisers - our youth group routinely sells shirts and stickers and stuff like that.  I'd gladly buy some bullnose swag, like stickers, maybe a hat if it was for a big head, and the prices could be inflated to allow some of the proceeds to go to website costs.  I wasn't sure if we had anyone on here that does that sort of thing.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

We have stickers and license plates.
Tee shirts are probably going to have to be done by one of those online print-on-demand kinda places.
Who wants to sit on a bunch of S or XXXL tees, with the $, space and postal requirements that entails???

[Gary Lewis]

Only you and I (and my hairdresser if you are old enough to remember the commercials) know how much you contributed.  

As for active members, no idea.  Nabble doesn't provide any stats, but Invision does.  We'll know when we get there.

But we only need the $2050 to do the migration.  The $1000 is the annual cost is made up of monthly Invision fees and annual Weebly and GoDaddy fees.  I've been covering the Weebly & GoDaddy fees but with the addition of the $55/mo Invision fees it is time to get help.  So we can do the migration if we get a bit more and then we'll stump for the maintenance costs.

As for selling things, that gets into truly being a business.  I don't know how to do that, but maybe someone does?

[Gary Lewis]

Jim is right, we aren't set up to handle selling tee shirts and hats.  I don't want to have to stock and ship things like that myself.  But if there is a way to set that up automagically where someone orders a cap for $20, it gets created and shipped behind the scenes, and we get $10 I would consider it.

However that might mean we need the next level of the Invision platform since that gets the commercial or store application.  And that costs another $30/mo so we'd have to be doing pretty good business to make that worthwhile.

Anyway, check out the thermometers!  We now have $1475.30 towards migration, so we are just ~$325 from the goal.  And $180 towards maintenance.  WE ARE CLOSE!!!  

[BigBrother-84]

For those who jump here directly, here are the thermometers.

[Gary Lewis]

We made it!  As of now we have $2050.30 in the Migration fund and $180 in the maintenance fund.  The latter is enough for three months of the $55/mo Invision fees but we will need to get more to cover the rest of the year as well as the annual Weebly and GoDaddy fees, so please don't quit with the generosity.

I'll be getting with Invision to kick off the migration effor ASAP.  No idea how long that will take, but I'll let you know what I hear.

[vjsimone]

Hello Gary & Club,

Please add me to the donor list.  Let me know how to send funds (I don’t use PP).

So, I have been busy getting myself slowly moved to western North Carolina. Still turning wrenches as needed. I’m riding my MC in and around the Appalachian and Smoky mountains from time to time. I’m on my way to Newfoundland in a few weeks for the rest of the summer to visit family & friends.  Cheers !!  Vinny...