Support Maple Leaf Up!

[Bob Carriere]

It is absolutely amazing what has been done by Geoff and what information has been accumulated through the efforts of MLU and Geoff's own sacrifice and contribution....... I do not know of anyone else who could have give so much, to so many, for so little....

However..... let's be adults about running such and exhaustive service as MLU.

Yes, Geoff has resisted having ANYKIND of levy or membership but last time I looked at my Calendar it said 2010..... the economy is not the greatest for anyone and to expect to be able to continue the same way for another 12 years is in my mind being irresponsible towards the MLU site and all the efforts made by Geoff. We all take it for granted until is it down... like Rich Payne just mentioned ....we miss it when we can't access it any more......

Let's not kid ourselves a number of us have been calling and emailing fellow MLU members as soon as the site was down asking ourselves what we could do .... not only to revive MLU but make sure that we have the necessary financial safety net to insure that it will continue to trive for another decade + with the guidance of Geoff.

I pay, quite freely and satisfied with the services, for my membership to OMVA..... I suscribe to US military magazine, I pay $35 a year to belong to the Ottawa Valley Woodturner club, etc..... and honestly I get ten times more information, enjoyment and camaraderie from the MLU site. I have made so many friends near and far......

I suggest we put in place a process to effectively collect and manage funds that will guarantee the future financial operation of MLU and remove the financial burden from Geoff's shoulders.... for now and forever......

Let's get off the tit guys.....

Let's free Geoff to continue to administer MLU and make it live up to its full potential.

Geoff ...... Thank you for bringing us all together.....we owe you a lot...... we can never repay you in full......

Let us do this for you.... for MLU.... for the hobby.... lets work to stay together.

Your friend

Boob
PS.... some immediate seed money is on it's way by Pay Pal.

[Rick W]

My contribution will be winging its way tomorrow.

[hrpearce]

I'm with Bob, many hands make light work.
With over 3000 members now if the average gift was $10.00 that should be a great help to Geoff, and everyone should agree this is a great sight to be a member of.
I live in the middle of nowhere and have made great contacts through MLU and the help I received through MLU from around the world meant my blitz ended up a lot better than it would have without that help.

[Phil Waterman]

Another bit of support has been sent from south of the Boarder.

Cheers Phil

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

This morning I ran a small study of our membership breakdown. Here are the results:

TOTAL MEMBERS................ 3021
NON-POSTING MEMBERS.... 2734
ACTIVE MEMBERS............... 1287

Non-posting members are all those who have zero posts; this includes approximately 400 on the latest ban list (the ones I've not deleted) as well as about 150 who are not banned but whose applications have not been approved due to suspect IDs and/or suspect email addresses. Normally some of these last will inevitably contact me to clarify their status, but few of these have in recent months. They may be spammers who just gave up (they're not on any spam list I use though) or they may be people who just thought it 'cool' to join but never intended to participate.

Of the Active Members, the following applies:

1 - 10 POSTS.................... 741
10 - 50 POSTS.................. 306
OVER 50 POSTS................ 240

Obviously, the ones above with more than 50 posts are our dyed-in-the-wool core, but I'd also include a great many of the 1 - 50 group there as well; many of them are newly-arrived and have demonstrated great interest but just haven't had the chance to be more chatty.

In the 1 - 10 group, many of the higher numbers are also new to the forum, but also haven't had a chance yet to become more mainstream. All are obviously interested, else they wouldn't have posted at all.

What I haven't got the time (or inclination) to do right now is run a study of last posting vs last activity dates in order to determine how often they jump onto the forum; having said that, I know for a fact that there's a significant number of folks who often come on here to lurk without signing in. It's impossible to say how many of these 'Visitors' we see everyday are actually members who simply don't log in, vs Outsiders who are reading and/or scarfing our copy and pics. These unfortunately we can't do anything about without making MLU a Members Only forum, something I've been loathe to do up to now. It may be necessary down the road.

Last point. Since I posted my appeal last Tuesday I have received a sum total of six (6) donations. You gentlemen know who you are and I thank you.

I believe that at least two more donations are on the way via snail mail. I will acknowledge receipt privately when I receive them, but thank you in advance.

Gentlemen, I truly hope that your 4.28% response to-date (of active members - if you include ALL members, the figure is actually 2.66%) is not indicative of how you see MLU and the Forum. Not much to show for twelve years' work, is it?

I simply ask you to place a value upon what you continue to experience here, and exercise your options accordingly.

Thank you,

Geoff

[Stewart Loy]

These unfortunately we can't do anything about without making MLU a Members Only forum, something I've been loathe to do up to now. It may be necessary down the road.

Geoff

Jif,

Do I get to put my donation towards a membership in the new forum?

We need to do something different, and soon.


Stewart

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Stewart Loy

Jif,

Do I get to put my donation towards a membership in the new forum?

We need to do something different, and soon.


Stewart

Of course. If this becomes necessary then those who have donated this year to-date would be automatically covered.

Incidentally, I received two more donations via PayPal between yesterday and this morning... thank you, gentlemen!