• In case most of you have not noticed, I made changes to the donation amounts as well as the durations for all of the paid membership levels. Things are winding down here, and this seems to be the most prudent way to deal with the "end of life" period of this site.

    Contributor level members - $10 per 30 days
    Sponsors - Eliminated
    Benefactor level members - $25 per 30 days
    Endowment level members - $50 per 30 days

    Account Upgrades Page
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

What happened to BOI????

With this potential and probable change that is coming, it makes me wonder what we, as members of this community could do to keep things rolling? It would be and is a shame to lose, such a valuable resource.

Wayne
 
I agree, it is a terrible shame to lose such a resource. It protects so many people. I read of the trouble with costs and became a small contributor, most I could afford as I had lost my job.

I hope something can be resolved prior to Jan 2010!! :ack2:
 
I myself am currently laid off work and i am a contributing member so if i can do it so can you , people if you want the BOI to stay then time to pay up , if not the valuable BOI will no longer be here to protect people from scams and bad dealings ....
 
TheVipersHouse said:
I myself am currently laid off work and i am a contributing member so if i can do it so can you , people if you want the BOI to stay then time to pay up , if not the valuable BOI will no longer be here to protect people from scams and bad dealings ....
Click to expand...

Not sure if you were talking to me, I am a contributor, I don't think anyone who has not contributed can see this section
 
I really hope that if you do decide to let go of the BOI that you sell it to someone else who will keep it going... It has it's pros and cons but in the end it's a much needed source of information for our industry.
 
I almost forgot to say... thanks Rich. I know you have sacrificed a lot to provide this forum to us and I will always have respect for you for that. No matter what.
 
Well, I'm certainly getting a lot of emails about this. Might be some good come from this afterall, if a bunch of people discover THIS forum and what it was put on this site for..... :rolleyes:
 
WebSlave said:
Well, I'm certainly getting a lot of emails about this. Might be some good come from this afterall, if a bunch of people discover THIS forum and what it was put on this site for..... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That would be great news! I am also on Pangea and there is talk over there about it! I made the mention there of contributing...:)
 
dragonlvr64 said:
That would be great news! I am also on Pangea and there is talk over there about it! I made the mention there of contributing...:)
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I guess maybe I was misunderstood. I was talking about this FEEDBACK forum here where this thread is posted. Members may get the answers to their question right here. Emailing me is not going to be as productive, I'm afraid....
 
I took some time to go back and read some of the opposing positions in the many threads that started back when paid participation for the BOI was first discussed. Although some of those positions were based in
some sort of principle in the individual perspective to a few that were opposed the majority just wanted their free ride at all costs. Frankly, I was and still amazed at the volume of members who were content to just lurk and read the BOI and not care. They still had the ability to search the forums and research sellers and buyers along with viewing the new threads from those that were supporting the site.
Even with the change, Rich gave those that were subject to a BOI thread the ability to post and respond for free. Those that wanted to post had the option of supporting the site for what, $10.00 minimum. That’s not ten dollars a week or month but a whole year. Nope, it wasn’t good enough for many
. Same names lurker around day in and day out researching buyers for years but when it came down to it they figured they let someone else help keep the resource open.
When it was pointed out that it would help cut the bogus registrations by providing a sort of verification for posting on the BOI, Nope wasn’t good enough. Many would rather whine and complain about fake registrations then actually help curtail it. Instead most opposed suggested charging for the classifieds instead. When that was tried later, the same opposition.

When it was pointed out the cost of running this site and potential litigation for Fauna with the nature of the posts on the BOI, Nope that was Rich’s problem. To many people still wanted to use all the resources of this site without contributing to keep it a float.

Let me take a moment to state that I know I’m preaching to the choir here. Most that actually take the time to read this particular forum have supported Fauna in many ways over the years. Auctions, memberships, driving the membership base, etc.. There are a lot of you here as well so don’t take offense when I state many or majority users.

While I believe in the value of this site and support the principles behind the BOI, I don’t think that this should be a burden on Rich’s shoulders that has the potential to destroy his financial future, his quality of life.

Rich, this is just a thought I’m going to put out for consumption. If it comes to pass that there still isn’t enough support by the time your retirement approaches and it is still viable to keep Fauna running without the BOI maybe making it a closed forum to contributors with extreme prejudice is an option. I’ll explain what I mean in a minute. You have bent over backwards to be fair about this in the past. I don’t think you should have to do anymore. When you tried the memberships before like I stated above you gave access for people to defend themselves. Goggle still picked up the threads and they could be searched and read. If the BOI is going away and Fauna can still survive lock access completely to only contributors. Liability I think will be decreased because no one but contributors can read them or post. No freebees to the target of a thread. It would be a locked down club out of sight. Some may want to talk about the ethics of such and the intended proposes of the BOI. I say if it comes down to it I would rather have a change in the mission statement of the BOI instead of a loss of years of data that I find very valuable.

Hopefully, It will not come to that. I want to believe people will step up to the plate.

Plan Two-
Convince Rich that retirement is overrated. Walking on the beach, traveling…. pffff, boring. People retire, get bored, and die sooner.
Working your butt off to the day you die. :thumbsup: Now that’s quality of life. LOL
 
I haven't been contributing (so you can see non-contributors can see and respond to this forum) but am working on it (once I get Paypal set up).

In my case I didn't really feel motivated to become a contributing member because the features of membership seemed to be more directed to buyers and sellers, not to non-trading hobbyists. Once it was presented to me (via this thread and other threads where long time and obviously more involved members have been talking personally to Webslave/Rich.) that this site is held together by a single (and obviously very significant) person, rather than a large organisation, it started to feel more personal and important.

I wonder whether it would be feasible to have some sort of profile of Rich and how the site is set up / hosted somewhere prominent for new and incoming visitors, to make that clear to those of us who just wander in, and encourage small time hobbyists to contribute.
 
Dennis Hultman said:
[ If the BOI is going away and Fauna can still survive lock access completely to only contributors. Liability I think will be decreased because no one but contributors can read them or post.
Click to expand...

Dennis,


You are innocent. I like that about you, you don't think like a bad guy. If stuff was posted anywhere, there would be some who would leak the posted info for profit or malice.

There are in fact closed information systems. The famous Consumer Reports sells online subscriptions to its info.

But let's face it, few people are going to surreptitiously talk about published dishwasher info, it doesn't have the same capacity for debate as Scolaro's red dresses. And the fact is, Consumer Reports does have a huge legal fund to zap anyone who seriously tries to re-publish their results rather than a bit of fair use repeat.

Dennis, I surely want some solution, and you have a good head for ideas, keep them coming.
 
What I can't understand is why people don't contribute to keep this site up and going. I just looked at the past 24 hours and of the 1414 members that were online in the past 24 hours only 134 are contributing. That's over 90% who do not contribute. :shrug01: So my question to the 1280 or so of you who do not contribute, why not contribute? Is $25 bucks a year going to break you? Of course not, so again, why not contribute? Hell for a measly .06849315 cents a day you can help keep the BOI alive. It's not like Rich is going to be sitting back and getting fat off your money like Sally Struthers.
 
I feel that taking the BOI away so that it can not even be viewed by non-paid members will be a nail in coffin here.

I can understand the liability and cost issues, but if it is not open to the public then it might as well be disbanded, after all it is supposed to be a tool for the public to make informed decisions about who to deal with in the herping industry. Not just a private club that does not share secrets as to who is a dirt bag and who will back up a deal / promise they made.

So to me it seems like to function at all it really needs an all or nothing approach in my opinion.
 
Ok so I guess there is not really a point in contributing to view the BOI if it wont let me view the BOI.
 
I just contributed a couple days ago and now no BOI. I gotta say, if you take the BOI away for good, I would be rather disappointed and want my money back. Rich, I can understand the reason for your test.
 
porkchop48 said:
Ok so I guess there is not really a point in contributing to view the BOI if it wont let me view the BOI.
Click to expand...

From what I understand this is a temporary turn off of the BOI to let everyone know that if something doesn't change the BOI will be gone.

I'm guessing that means if the funds aren't there the BOI won't be either.
 
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