Supporting VWWatercooled [Archive] - VWWatercooled Australia

The_Hawk

18-04-2010, 08:38 PM

How would you like your own personalised email account, free from any ISP?
Do you max out your PM box?
How would you like to support the community you know and love?

For $25/year you will get the following benefits:

* That good feeling that comes from knowing your helping out our community.

* Larger PM Inbox
Sick of maxing out your PM inbox? It will be much harder now with an increase to 500 messages.

* Custom Email address
Don't want to be tied to your ISP? Want an email address that shows your community spirit? Your choice of name at either .com.au or .com with full webmail support (http://www.vwwatercooled.com/mail).

* Coloured Username and Customisable Usertitle
Your name will appear in orange to show everyone your support plus you will be able to change the text that appears under your name to anything you like.

Click here to subscribe. (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/payments.php)

(If you would prefer to pay by direct deposit rather than Paypal, shoot me a PM)

Anyone who signs up will receive a free VWWatercooled.org.au sticker!

Lorenz

19-04-2010, 08:58 AM

Nice one Aaron, good idea :D

Peter Jones

19-04-2010, 09:08 AM

Beam me up Scotty!

Glad to contribute.

Pete

maca

19-04-2010, 10:04 AM

For only $25 per year, you can count me in :banana:

Done and dusted.

The_Hawk

20-04-2010, 03:21 PM

Excellent. Many thanks to those who have signed up so far.

WEDEL.1

22-04-2010, 07:50 PM

Preen59

22-04-2010, 07:54 PM

I can't understand why we are selling membership, when we have openly refused sponsorship. Are we really struggling financially?

* Larger PM Inbox

aussieveedubbers give 999 to every member (free).

Maris

Asked the hard question there, Maris. Nice work.

I didn't want to cause an argument, but Maris has a good point and i'd like to hear the answer to it. :)

Stephy

22-04-2010, 08:36 PM

...I like stickers...
Can my name be pink pleaseeeee :)

Preen59

22-04-2010, 10:00 PM

So gay.. :P hahaha.

The_Hawk

22-04-2010, 10:24 PM

I can't understand why we are selling membership, when we have openly refused sponsorship. Are we really struggling financially?

* Larger PM Inbox

aussieveedubbers give 999 to every member (free).

Maris

We are an ever growing community, with that growth does come higher costs to operate. For reference we get well over 1.3 Million hits a month and push in excess of 80GB of traffic. The move to have supporters of the forum was born out of the repeated request from various individuals asking if they could contribute a few $$ to the forums.

As for sponsors, there are very few who have been denied their request for sponsorship, in most cases we are looking for people who have something to offer our community which is something related to what we are about. This means the Avon lady would probably not be accepted as a sponsor ;)

For the moment we are still well above water financially, but if (when) our current arrangements are no longer adequate the next step up is quite a bit more expensive, something I'd like to be more prepared for since it's not in the all to distant future. Ideally we would like to keep the forum banner ad free too.

Preen59

22-04-2010, 10:35 PM

Thanks for the explanation, Aaron. :)

This means the Avon lady would probably not be accepted as a sponsor ;)

I dunno.. I reckon some of the Mk5/Mk6 people would be interested... :wasntme:

WEDEL.1

22-04-2010, 11:09 PM

Tim

22-04-2010, 11:12 PM

Aaron, at least have the conviction of you decisions....you have denied the sponsorship of many VW Dealers, and now to make up the shortfall, you want the member to pay up....that's not on!

The Ënthusiest should be protected from any costs for participation in this Forum. This Forum is VERY important to promote "New(er)" Volkswagens, and to promote a "Brotherhood" among these Members.

Maris

relax man!

He is just asking people to show their support. Its not compulsory. Your vwwatercooled experience wont change if you dont contribute!
I see it as just a chance to put something back into the site that so many get so much out of. I think its a great idea.

WEDEL.1

22-04-2010, 11:28 PM

Sorry, but this should NOT be happening...

Bug_racer

22-04-2010, 11:30 PM

Aaron, at least have the conviction of you decisions....you have denied the sponsorship of many VW Dealers, and now to make up the shortfall, you want the member to pay up....that's not on!

The Ënthusiest should be protected from any costs for participation in this Forum. This Forum is VERY important to promote "New(er)" Volkswagens, and to promote a "Brotherhood" among these Members.

Maris

I agree

hang on , why are posts being deleted here ?

There should be a rule of no forums sponser and moderator . This is unfair on any business that is denied sponsership without a valid reason . This forum is biased and deletion of posts shows it .
And Aaron , Im still waiting on that explanation ?

Oneofthegreats

22-04-2010, 11:46 PM

I see it as just a chance to put something back into the site that so many get so much out of. I think its a great idea.

Got to say it Tim & you know I can't help myself (this is not directed at you in any way at all, cause I know you were behind it 100%. Just using your quote)

I remember in a galaxy far, far away that one bloke took it upon himself with an idea to provide a bbq for all to see & feed upon with all contributions forwarded to a rapidly growing forum to help in any shape or form

Wonder what ever happened to that idea?

It was stomped out with total stupidity from worry warts & health junky's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tim

22-04-2010, 11:48 PM

Got to say it Tim & you know I can't help myself (this is not directed at you in any way at all, cause I know you were behind it 100%. Just using your quote)

I remember in a galaxy far, far away that one bloke took it upon himself with an idea to provide a bbq for all to see & feed upon with all contributions forwarded to a rapidly growing forum to help in any shape or form

Wonder what ever happened to that idea?

It was stomped out with stupidity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hahahaha man if your next post doesnt contain positive content im gonna thump you!

(and then run very fast)

Tim

22-04-2010, 11:55 PM

Sorry, but this should NOT be happening...

I think everyone is capable of making their own judgement. And if someone wants to contribute they should be able to. Its no different to selling watercooled stickers really.
My only concern is that if vwwatercooled are not yet a legal entity then they should look at doing so ASAP if this is the path that we are headed.

Oneofthegreats

22-04-2010, 11:59 PM

hahahaha man if your next post doesnt contain positive content im gonna thump you!

(and then run very fast)

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/04/rennstimpygif-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/04/positive_attitude_flat2-1.jpg

http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/images/imported/2010/04/calmingpositiveattitude-2.jpg

Tim

23-04-2010, 12:04 AM

either that chick has hairy arms or that dude needs to cut his nails

Guest1306

23-04-2010, 07:14 PM

As a dealership we were denied the opportunity to Sponsor and or Advertise on VWWA.

As a member, I have personally signed up to contribute my $25 to the forum.

As a dealership which is active in its assistance and contribution of the forum, may I just say that if the opportunity should arise in the near future to sponsor the site, then we, Wangara Volkswagen, Perth: WOULD BE INTERESTED.

static1800

23-04-2010, 07:45 PM

Aaron, at least have the conviction of you decisions....you have denied the sponsorship of many VW Dealers, and now to make up the shortfall, you want the member to pay up....that's not on!

The Ënthusiest should be protected from any costs for participation in this Forum. This Forum is VERY important to promote "New(er)" Volkswagens, and to promote a "Brotherhood" among these Members.

Maris

This is in no way a forced paid membership, it is a donation to our community to help it grow and continue to run. No one gets a super secret paid members only area or anything like that, it's no different that having a paypal donation form that a lot of sites have but we are giving some rewards for peoples kind donation.

Not sure what the issue with this would be?

Jmac

23-04-2010, 09:48 PM

relax man!

He is just asking people to show their support. Its not compulsory. Your vwwatercooled experience wont change if you dont contribute!
I see it as just a chance to put something back into the site that so many get so much out of. I think its a great idea.

Sorry but im with Tim here.I think its a good idea. And by the way my inbox be full?????Never!!! hahahah im sure a few members will have a chuckle at that. I hate deleting stuff from my inbox. Give me more PLEEEAAAAASEEEEE. Im in Aaron for sure where do i sign?????????? And im happy to contribute to the site anyway sponsor or not.
I pay money for the same thing on a Scottish site, and it has 10 times the members, they are in no way financially in trouble but they do pretty much the same thing as Aaron has proposed really. Ive been a member with them since DOT. I happily donate just to help out really. I realise there is other sponsorship gripes here and i truly hope they can get ironed out. We really need to have a network and not a void to get on here. The more sponsorships and services the better IMO. I do a lot of diagnostics mobile and i network with other diagnostic techs in all fields and really guys its the only way we can make our day go smother. i cant understand why anyone with genuine VW interests or Genuine Vw services get refused sponsorship, but its not for me to go there.
Jmac
Jmac

Kiel_GTI

23-04-2010, 11:10 PM

I'm with Maris here. If dealerships such as Wangara VW are being denied the *chance to sponsor the forum why are forum members being asked to contribute for extra features. If sponsorship was granted to some third parties such as dealers then couldnt all members have these extra features for free?

edit: *said membership but meant sponsorship

Tim

23-04-2010, 11:29 PM

Im not 100% certain but arent dealers free to post up specials after they register as a dealer?
Doesnt sound like they are being denied anything. Sounds like they are getting sponsorship privileges for free to promote their participation.

Stephy

23-04-2010, 11:30 PM

This is in no way a forced paid membership, it is a donation to our community to help it grow and continue to run. No one gets a super secret paid members only area or anything like that, it's no different that having a paypal donation form that a lot of sites have but we are giving some rewards for peoples kind donation.

Not sure what the issue with this would be?

Sorry to be a stickler - but you should probably be careful calling it a "donation"... Just call it a membership +sticker and no one answered my question if i can get my name in pink.... :)
(worked with the tax man for waaayyy to long sorry)

Blitzen

24-04-2010, 09:14 AM

Are we able to claim this on tax??

Arctra

24-04-2010, 09:33 AM

Are we able to claim this on tax??

VWWatercooled is not a registered charity, so no. Stephy got it right when pointing out should probably just be called a membership to avoid confusion.

manol

24-04-2010, 11:04 AM

Jesus Christ, you are a bunch of dilapidated, old, worn out dubbers.

There is SERIOUSLY, nothing wrong at all with having a 'membership' feature. I have gotten a lot of out of this site, so I decided to put a whole $25 (:rolleyes:) towards the running of this site.

I see that they have recently upgraded to Vbulletin 4 which isn't cheap, and probably took a lot of time to design, plan and execute to ensure there was minimal risk of data loss.

Time = $$$, and I acknowledge that so therefore I like to reward people's efforts.

I'm sure there is a good reason why dealers have been refused sponsorship in the past, but I know that even the business sponsors pay a pretty meager sum to be a sponsor.

People like Maris really need to get off their high horse and realise it's a community, a tight one where the members do heaps for each other (moderation issues aside). You all spend a lot of money on your cars throughout the year, what's $25 to reward time and effort?

TL DR; People are tightasses, I support a membership system to help contribute.

alex g

24-04-2010, 12:58 PM

Bring on the sponsorship and advertising(banners)from connected and related companies, there is always a lot of chat about supporting local companies and buying australian instead of offshore, i think its a great way to promote local companies and keep us connected with what they are offering.

Golf Loon

24-04-2010, 01:40 PM

This all came about to cover costs such as VBulletin upgrades and hosting, which are increasing as the forum grows exponentially.

I am happy to kick in $25 as an appreciation of the work that Admin, mostly Aaron puts in and the endless hours of work that go into keeping this place running.

Guest1306

24-04-2010, 01:58 PM

At 6,715 Posts, I think your membership fee should be about $100,000 :-)

peedman

24-04-2010, 02:03 PM

Should introduce a pay per post system. U pay 50c per post now wouldnt that be fun haha!

Tim

24-04-2010, 02:06 PM

Should introduce a pay per post system. U pay 50c per post now wouldnt that be fun haha!

Id happily pay money to shut some people up :D

Guest1306

24-04-2010, 02:08 PM

Id happily pay money to shut some people up :D

I'll second that.........

Phalynx

01-04-2011, 08:49 AM

Just on this thread (I notice it's quite old)...

I'm happy to pay $25 to help contribute to the site as I get a lot out of the forum in the way of laughs and advice even though I don't post much. I've found the majority of contributors on here to be decent and reasonable people as opposed to some forums where there are some complete nutters who need to take an anti-rage pill.

With regards to the email address you get I have a few questions:

1) Is it your forum username that's used or can you choose any name?
2) Can you access the email from a mail client via POP or IMAP or is it webmail based only?

noone

01-10-2011, 01:09 PM

AusScare

02-01-2012, 05:28 PM

I was disappointed to renew my yearly contribution earlier this week, today I see advertising for Westfied malls. I understand the need for contributions and advertising from Sponsors, but seeing a generic banner add made me question why I renewed my contribution.

The forum probably runs Google Adsense which runs its ads off search habits and remarketing.

VWW probably only gets like $1 per click if that.

Download Adblock Plus, it will remove most online ad banners.

clicht

14-03-2012, 08:31 AM

very happy to contribut $25, given the amount of information and assistance I have already received -- just joined up :)

The_Hawk

19-04-2012, 01:16 PM

With regards to the email address you get I have a few questions:

1) Is it your forum username that's used or can you choose any name?
2) Can you access the email from a mail client via POP or IMAP or is it webmail based only?

You can have anything you want for your email as long as it's available. It supports POP, IMAP as well as webmail.

I was disappointed to renew my yearly contribution earlier this week, today I see advertising for Westfied malls.

I understand the concern and it's something that is being addressed. Those ads are disappearing to be replaced with real sponsors.

The forum probably runs Google Adsense which runs its ads off search habits and remarketing. VWW probably only gets like $1 per click if that.

I wish we got $1! I'd be clicking on those ads all day then retiring!

very happy to contribut $25, given the amount of information and assistance I have already received -- just joined up :)

I'm glad you're getting something out of the community.

Back Door Shenanigans.

11-05-2012, 12:32 PM

Any chance you could give the supporters (will be soon) the ability to post unlimited pictures in a thread over the current 20?

The_Hawk

11-05-2012, 03:13 PM

That limit is a global and can't be changed for a single usergroup... that said I might consider increasing it for everyone, although wouldn't want to make it unlimited.

calibrated

28-05-2012, 09:09 PM

Can the stickers be purchased on their own? not particularly interested in a larger PM box, or email address.

Candyman

28-05-2012, 09:21 PM

I did recently buy a years supporter status - how is the sticker organized ?

The_Hawk

29-05-2012, 08:58 AM

Can the stickers be purchased on their own? not particularly interested in a larger PM box, or email address.

Yep, stickers are all available separately: Merchandise | VWWatercooled Australia (http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/merchandise/)

I did recently buy a years supporter status - how is the sticker organized ?

You should have received an email with all the relevant details, although with the Nationals weekend and all the lead up activities I'm running about a week behind in processing but should get back on top of everything in the next 24 hours or so. If you are concerned just send me an email or PM and I can confirm.