The Future Of Otib

[Dolman Block B]

[Guest]

I think some people are getting confused here. The subscription idea would purely be an optional thing. You wouldn't have to contribute, but if you did you'd get access to option features like a no holds bared forum or something like that.

You wouldn't have to pay to access the forums you already see..

It was a muted idea because it works well on another forum that we host - thefootballforum.net

[DolmanDudess]

Not keen on paying a subscription and wouldn't want those annoying pop up adverts either.

Does it really cost thousands of pounds, and is that anually the money has to be found????

We could get the club to pay to advertise on here, shirts, tickets, offers etc?! Or maybe local businesses, shops and pubs around the ground etc?

Somehow, and I don't want to knock anybodys efforts, but I feel this is the beginning of the end of OTIB.

I agree with everything you have said that Mary.

I am in no way, shape or form paying to use this site. I pump enough money into Bristol City FC without having my own leisure time on the forum using up my pennies aswell.

I don't mind advertising as long as annoying pop up's wont be all over the place.

And as RedM Said, this is surely going to be the end of OTIB. No one is going to want to pay!!

[Guest Cary Grant supported City]

try a pay pal donate to forum link, i'm sure people will donate some funds instead of

being asked to pay a subscription.

How do you manage to keep the Subsider site free then Ciderhead??.

Could we get free hosting elsewhere??.

I don't mind advertising as long as annoying pop up's wont be all over the place.

Wouldn't pop-up blockers prevent adverts from being seen anyway??.

You don't get nout in this world without paying for it and cant see how say £20 or £30 a year would hurt anyone.

If it goes to improving this site to, then so be it.

Think most people are fed up paying that sort of money to watch City play week in, week out as it is!!.

Whilst it appears that an overwhelming majority of respondents reject the idea of paying a subscription for OTIB, I wonder if any would consider paying a small subscription to a over 18's, less moderated forum, within OTIB?

The forum could be a singular forum or perhaps contain a couple of sub forums, it might encourage those who get fed up with the school holiday posts - "where do you sit", "what cars do the players drive" etc etc.

How would you police this sort of less moderated forum as people could lie about their age just to register!!.

[sheps]

Hi Guys..

I think OTIB could still be run without introducing a subscription fee for members - which sadly will definitely kill OTIB.

At the time of writing this post:

We have 3,711 registered members

Most users ever online was 906 on Nov 21 2005, 11:23 AM

Of those 3,711 members - how many run there own businesses / are friendly enough with the boss to enquire whether their company would be interested in sponsoring OTIB?

If we say the costs for hosting OTIB are about £6000 - (suggested in a previous post) - if 120 of those 3,711 members were to ask their bosses / companies they work for to sponsor the site for e.g. £50 per year and at the top of every page a 'rotating banner' was displayed - showing the companies that have sponsored the forum with links to their website - OTIB could remain free for visitors AND companies sponsoring the site would be (hopefully City Supporters)

Also, maybe with the club's permission - in the match day program a page could be dedicated to displaying the OTIB sponsors logos? Creating even greater value for their money?

From a marketing / company perspective - a £50 sponsorship fee is not too much, which would even allow the smaller companies to advertise on here to.

Think of OTIB like the website: http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/ - where a student sold pixel ads to raise enough money to see himself through Uni without a student debt!. Selling a pixel at $1 made it attractive to everyone and raised him $1million dollars!

What do people think?

Sheps

[DolmanDudess]

Wouldn't pop-up blockers prevent adverts from being seen anyway??.

Quite true... Sorry, it's been a long weekend

I'm still not paying though

[Dolman Block B]

Hi Guys..

I think OTIB could still be run without introducing a subscription fee for members - which sadly will definitely kill OTIB.

At the time of writing this post:

We have 3,711 registered members

Most users ever online was 906 on Nov 21 2005, 11:23 AM

Of those 3,711 members - how many run there own businesses / are friendly enough with the boss to enquire whether their company would be interested in sponsoring OTIB?

If we say the costs for hosting OTIB are about £6000 - (suggested in a previous post) - if 120 of those 3,711 members were to ask their bosses / companies they work for to sponsor the site for e.g. £50 per year and at the top of every page a 'rotating banner' was displayed - showing the companies that have sponsored the forum with links to their website - OTIB could remain free for visitors AND companies sponsoring the site would be (hopefully City Supporters)

Also, maybe with the club's permission - in the match day program a page could be dedicated to displaying the OTIB sponsors logos? Creating even greater value for their money?

From a marketing / company perspective - a £50 sponsorship fee is not too much, which would even allow the smaller companies to advertise on here to.

Think of OTIB like the website: http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/ - where a student sold pixel ads to raise enough money to see himself through Uni without a student debt!. Selling a pixel at $1 made it attractive to everyone and raised him $1million dollars!

What do people think?

Sheps

Great ideal sheps. Contact the admin people to suggest mate

[sheps]

Great ideal sheps. Contact the admin people to suggest mate

Arny - who are the relevant 'admin people'?

[Milo]

Hi Guys..

I think OTIB could still be run without introducing a subscription fee for members - which sadly will definitely kill OTIB.

At the time of writing this post:

We have 3,711 registered members

Most users ever online was 906 on Nov 21 2005, 11:23 AM

Of those 3,711 members - how many run there own businesses / are friendly enough with the boss to enquire whether their company would be interested in sponsoring OTIB?

If we say the costs for hosting OTIB are about £6000 - (suggested in a previous post) - if 120 of those 3,711 members were to ask their bosses / companies they work for to sponsor the site for e.g. £50 per year and at the top of every page a 'rotating banner' was displayed - showing the companies that have sponsored the forum with links to their website - OTIB could remain free for visitors AND companies sponsoring the site would be (hopefully City Supporters)

Also, maybe with the club's permission - in the match day program a page could be dedicated to displaying the OTIB sponsors logos? Creating even greater value for their money?

From a marketing / company perspective - a £50 sponsorship fee is not too much, which would even allow the smaller companies to advertise on here to.

Think of OTIB like the website: http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/ - where a student sold pixel ads to raise enough money to see himself through Uni without a student debt!. Selling a pixel at $1 made it attractive to everyone and raised him $1million dollars!

What do people think?

Sheps

Good idea. Could this low level sponsorship form part of a shopping forum? In other words, where you can buy on-line via the link otib generates revenue and can be a free ad, but where the product / service cannot be bought on-line there's a £50 per annum sponsorship charge?

For clarity, the £6,000 refers to the estimated saving to the Club which covers both hosting costs and time no longer spent by Club employees in moderating the site. As all moderators are now volunteers this cost does not need to be recovered (although setting aside a budget for the moderators to meet over a sociable pint or two might be a nice way for otib users to thank them).

[sheps]

Good idea. Could this low level sponsorship form part of a shopping forum? In other words, where you can buy on-line via the link otib generates revenue and can be a free ad, but where the product / service cannot be bought on-line there's a £50 per annum sponsorship charge?

For clarity, the £6,000 refers to the estimated saving to the Club which covers both hosting costs and time no longer spent by Club employees in moderating the site. As all moderators are now volunteers this cost does not need to be recovered (although setting aside a budget for the moderators to meet over a sociable pint or two might be a nice way for otib users to thank them).

I've found on other websites that I've created and inserted ads so that my sites receives a commission for generating the sale to not being that great a revenue earner.

People will definitely click the link to find out more, but more often than not, that's as far as there visit / purchase goes.

Therefore, by offering only a £50 yearly fee for a banner add to only be displayed at the top of OTIB, it ensures that the Company / Business is only paying £50 for an ad that will get view by numerous visitors for a year.

Whereas if there is an ad that only pays OTIB on commision could pay more - the real likelhood of that happening is quiet low, which results in OTIB getting nothing for displaying an advert.

From a management perspective, I'd prefer to have the money already sat in the bank account rather than hoping for payment via commission.

If we did have 120 companies paying £50 a year - and there's £6000 in the account and were paying less for running costs, OTIB could offer those companies that sponsored the site for the first year a discount for the second year of advertising?

This then opens up more options when trying to recruit sponsors:-

1) 1 x 1 Year banner ad at £50 per year

2) 1 x 2 Year banner ad at £80 per year

If there were 'highly generous' sponsors who wanted to purchase more than one ad, so that the chances of being displayed were higher than the others you could offer another discount:-

1) 2 x 1 Year banner ad £ 85 per year

2) 2 x 2 Year banner ads £ 150 per year

The options are endless.... but all options will certainly help raise the finances to pay for OTIB and keep it free!

[Dolman Block B]

Arny - who are the relevant 'admin people'?

Tom Furnish i think plus Adam.

If you send a personal e mail to either they will reply

[Maesknoll Red]

How would you police this sort of less moderated forum as people could lie about their age just to register!!.

Payment by credit card - you have to be 18 to have one.

[Milo]

Tom Furnish i think plus Adam.

If you send a personal e mail to either they will reply

I think you may have your Ed Furniss and Tom Ford mixed there. The Supporters Trust has taken responsibility for funding otib. This thread is presently the best place to put forward ideas - there's no need to write to 'admin people'.

[lukejones2]

I think you may have your Ed Furniss and Tom Ford mixed there. The Supporters Trust has taken responsibility for funding otib. This thread is presently the best place to put forward ideas - there's no need to write to 'admin people'.

Also Adam Baker has no role on this forum any longer other than that as a City fan who probably reads it on occasion.

[Dan C]

I think you may have your Ed Furniss and Tom Ford mixed there. The Supporters Trust has taken responsibility for funding otib. This thread is presently the best place to put forward ideas - there's no need to write to 'admin people'.

Can I just ask what would happen if not enough funds were raised from advertising/donations?

[Maesknoll Red]

Can I just ask what would happen if not enough funds were raised from advertising/donations?

This

[Ian M]

This

Out of interest, how does Pete benefit?

[Maesknoll Red]

Out of interest, how does Pete benefit?

He owns a book shop..........

[Guest]

Quite true... Sorry, it's been a long weekend

I'm still not paying though

We aren't suggesting that you have to pay. The suggestion was the ability to have a subscription based system that would be optional. You wouldn't loose any part of OTIB as it is, the suggestion was if you pay - say £5 a year - that you get additional features to the current set.

Therefore those that feel they want to help out, could. Those that don't wouldn't loose out on the current forums/threads.

[Dolman Block B]

I think you may have your Ed Furniss and Tom Ford mixed there. The Supporters Trust has taken responsibility for funding otib. This thread is presently the best place to put forward ideas - there's no need to write to 'admin people'.

Apoliges , will pass that on to the guy who asked the question

[Stoke_Gifford_Red]

Payment by credit card - you have to be 18 to have one.

While this may seem like a good idea, I am 18, and none of my mates my age have a credit card, and neither does even my cousin (20), her bf (22) or my uncle (45) who all are ST holders.

[elko]

Without wishing to sound heavy handed, we could adjust the forum rules so that all donations remain anonymous & any person posting a £figure ina thread will have it removed.

This is essential

[Northern Cider-Dude]

Can i just say, although alot of you seem against the idea of having affiliations with gambling, I just found this page here

This states that otib would get 20% of the net revenue of each new customer referred from otib itself. Now yes there would have to be a banner placed on the site, but is there anyway that this banner could only be placed in an area where over 18's go as suggested in earlier threads.

I'm all for keeping otib ad free on the main boards and wouldn't want gambling adverts placed where minors can see them...

however

Why should otib have such a stance about gambling ads, and to extent gambling threads. Look at the rivals homepage or the skysports homepage, both sporting websites that are reaping the rewards. Even bcfc.co.uk has gambling ads on it. Why are we so bothered?

[Stoke_Gifford_Red]

Can i just say, although alot of you seem against the idea of having affiliations with gambling, I just found this page here

This states that otib would get 20% of the net revenue of each new customer referred from otib itself. Now yes there would have to be a banner placed on the site, but is there anyway that this banner could only be placed in an area where over 18's go as suggested in earlier threads.

I'm all for keeping otib ad free on the main boards and wouldn't want gambling adverts placed where minors can see them...

however

Why should otib have such a stance about gambling ads, and to extent gambling threads. Look at the rivals homepage or the skysports homepage, both sporting websites that are reaping the rewards. Even bcfc.co.uk has gambling ads on it. Why are we so bothered?

That is interesting to note, and I bet the likes of those get a higher proportion than 20%, due to the fact that they are much bigger organistaions and can therefore negotiate higher rates. This would be a good idea, and personally I don't see the problems with having ads for such sites. However as a compromise surely no-one would complain if this was to be put on teh un-moderated 18+ area of the forum, if it were to be set up.

[Guest do you like apples?]

[Dollymarie]

i can't believe you are selling out. this is a fans forum for the people.

it's a disgrace.

Suggest a way to pay for it then, its not selling out at all, the Supporters Trust took it on so it was a fans forum run by the fans.

[bucksred]

Suggest a way to pay for it then, its not selling out at all, the Supporters Trust took it on so it was a fans forum run by the fans.

I don't have any ideas, but this will be the end of Otib, there may be a load of pony on it, but its certainly lively at times.

See the club are managing to dump on the supporters again though. Quite calculated of Mr L, Mr S, and the sidekicks.....dumping on a brand new ST.

But hey, i'm not Cynical at all me.

[thatcham red]

I don't have any ideas, but this will be the end of Otib, there may be a load of pony on it, but its certainly lively at times.

See the club are managing to dump on the supporters again though. Quite calculated of Mr L, Mr S, and the sidekicks.....dumping on a brand new ST.

But hey, i'm not Cynical at all me.

Why not re-visit this thread when you do have some ideas then?

Here is a great example of how supporters can pool collective ideas in an organised way to mange and keep going something that is of value to them and the club. One of the strenths of the Supporters Trust movement is that it puts in place a framework that allows fans with specialist skills (and those without) to input their knowledge and make things happen.

Let's look at how it works in this scenario:

Supporters Trust (BCST) approached by Club to run OTIB

BCST accept, not forced or dumped on, but actually think it's a good idea

BCST members and other fans volunteer their time to moderate the forum (and get verbally abused for their efforts)

Club free up paid employees time to do other things for the club and save on the hosting fees

BCST look to make the forum self funding by attracting new money from businesses who don't already support the club

The model considered to attract new money is advertising

BCST ask current members of OTIB to bring their experience of such things and help shape the advertising approach

Lot's of good ideas are generated and suddenly fans feel they can contribute to something for the fans run by the fans

Quite rightly (in my opinion) charging a fee gets discredited early on, however, low level advertising, sponsorship, shopping malls, donations all seem to have some merit

This gets tested and maybe, just maybe, we've all found a way to fund a forum without the club having to pay and fans only donating if they want to.

Everyone's a winner.

So, just how did the club dump on us again?

[bucksred]

Why not re-visit this thread when you do have some ideas then?

So, just how did the club dump on us again?

OK, to justify the comment.

How much does this here board cost to run? Thats my first question...its probably been posted, but I cant be @ssed to go through the waffle to get it.

Why did BCFC dump the board on the ST?

Is this a common occurance, the club, not running the official forum?

What are the legal niceities involved? Are the ST frontmen( I don't know the right term for it) liable if owt dodgy gets posted, a l the players incidents last season?

Do do have to have insurance to cover this?

Are there any other potential minefields involved in running otib?

A suggestion, again probably already done. How about finding a sponsor for it? A computer software company/games company/one of the clubs official sponsor(s)...BTR would be ideal, with links to their business

Is this a runner?

If not why not?

From where I'm sitting, I reckon, you, the ST frontmen were dumped on. I don't think Mr Lansdown cared much for the criticism, during the poor run, or apparantly Mr Tinnion. This on top of all the other stuff, two companies, it does make you exceedingly cynical. and yes I'm prepared to back the ST, when my personal reservations have been removed. This is the one I have left.

[Stoke_Gifford_Red]

Further to the idea of a shopping area, this website was brought to my attention by a person who spends a lot of time messing around with PCs (for want of a better nerd people will say he is a nerd). Basically it is a website that collates many different stores (including household highstreet names such as John Lewis, Amazon, M&S, ELC and Comet). The advantage with this is it professionally set up, with a search function. It also clearly says how much of the purchase price goes to the given cause (in this case Exeter City Supporter's Trust). Whilst there is obviously the fact that the company who run the website probably recieve commision from covering their own costs, this is probably made up by the fact that there would be increased sales from both the professional nature of the website and they are a large organistaion and so can probably negotiate better rates for their members due to their size.