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Input Roundtable for Growing Sawhorse and Supporting Members

You need to also provide an invoice. Nothing gets paid from my city without an invoice. I can't use paypal for a credit card but I could send a city check via snail mail with an invoice. Times are getting better and budgeting for memberships is easier than a couple of years ago.

Group rate for company employees might be another idea
 
Come on hate to say

Unless a dept has a lot of employees $ 35 a year for a city,

If a city cannot afford that, they need some better bean counters
 
$ : $ : $

Some AHJ's do not want their Inspectors \ Code Officials
to learn or know too much........Might conflict with the
interests of The Money Train.

$ : $ : $
 
cda said:
Come on hate to sayUnless a dept has a lot of employees $ 35 a year for a city,

If a city cannot afford that, they need some better bean counters
Click to expand...
That would be $35.00 X 5 employees = $175.00 for the city. The larger the membership cost for membership to an organization the more it is scrutinized. I have a line item for dues & memberships and between ICC, IAPMO and NFPA and a few other it pretty much eats it up
 
Non-retention can be for several reasons but I can't imagine to many individuals walking away cause they where not satisfied with the forum to the respect of questions and answers and the varying points of view offered. Some may have changed jobs, lost jobs, just do not want to pay the money. The later being lazy & foolish, one has to invest in themself...

As we all know, questions do not always present at one time so allowing a latitude of questions & trolling is needed in order to draw the person in to see the continued and variety of assistance and benefits this site offers. Remember, we left ICC cause of the restrictive nature that was implemented although some of the discussions went a lil over the top.

What about joining forces, maybe a building code, engineering or even home inspector website that isn't doing well but has a reasonable group.

Or placing a section for engineering, etc... and see if we can draw individuals.
 
For a small fee (plus travel expenses, some beer and a bottle of Wild Turkey) I will be happy to visit your department and communicate in a reasonable and clear manner to your peers and management how valuable this forum is, and stress that it is imperative they join and become members post-haste.

I can be very convincing, and have experience in public speaking to unreceptive clients ( I used to be a Jehovah's Witness).

I'm sure ICE will come along as well, and simply harangue people to death, until they either submit or lock themselves in the garage with the motor running. That stuff works itself out.

You can PM me.

Brent.
 
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I've got a better idea, we use the ultimate blackmail tool the ADA! Jeff sends out form letters to every building department in the country citing the same old laundry list of violations, we make a settlement offer to accept at least one membership or we file an ADA lawsuit.
 
There is talk of getting building departments to spring for multiple subscriptions but one in a hundred inspectors will follow through.

Go after the little operators that are desperate for help. But force them to pay. What the Hell...we paid and will do it again. Don't insult me by thinking that you get to ride for free. If you need this place then you need to pay for it. If you don't need this place then I guess you wouldn't miss it.

As to inviting the contractors.....they would all be saying "Hey wait a minute, that's my work".

Can't have that.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
conarb said:
I've got a better idea, we use the ultimate blackmail tool the ADA! Jeff sends out form letters to every building department in the country citing the same old laundry list of violations, we make a settlement offer to accept at least one membership or we file an ADA lawsuit.
Click to expand...
Well conarb the idea is to get the word out there. You certainly know the saying, a picture is worth a thousand words...take a close look at Brent....that picture is all of the words in the English language....and then some.
 
Words like Muy Bueno, великолепный, bien accroché, bedövning, kama Mungu, 偉大なる師, 모든 사람 보다 더 나은, and النبي العظيم.

Brent.
 
Gonna play devil's advocate here (I know, I know ... as an Architect I'm the "Devil Incarnate" anyway!), but I think we (as Sawhorses) need to focus on what's more important - just "paid members" or "paid PARTICIPATING members".

Way back (and I do mean WAY BACK - like 1986) when in the days of DOS, there was an awesome piece of software called "XTree" - simply elegant, straight-forward, easy to use, a MUST for everyone from just north of a Newbie to true geeks! The problem was that everyone and their brother/sister could just copy it and run it (long before being able to check stuff over the Internet). They came up with an ingenious (for the time) plan - blanket amnesty! No prosecution, no hounding - simply send them a screen print (screen shot for today's crowd) of your Xtree start screen, a check for (as I recall) $49, and you'd receive a legal current disk along with a full registration. They cornered the market - it was a no-brainer to get "legal". Now after that, they still had the problem of getting all of their new "customers" to upgrade - which didn't happen in the numbers they hoped for, and eventually they sold out, etc., etc.

My point is are we more worried about simply getting "market share" - ie, "paid members" - or are we more concerned about someone who will pay to be a member AND truly contribute? For Jeff, I think the first concern is "paid members" as the more that pay (even if it's a discounted rate) the less comes out of HIS pocket. For we who are already Sawhorses I think it's safe to say that we would prefer those who pay AND contribute.

To me the real question is, what is the lowest cost that everyone and his/her brother/sister (or, for Brent - kilt aficionados) would pay just to get the full content and what is the maximum that they would pay before they would say "it ain't worth it".

I used to be a (non) paying member of another codes group hosted by Imad Naffa, before he passed away. Shortly before his passing they went to a "subscription" type of membership and it was WAY over what I could afford, and once I was locked out what was left for me to view wasn't worth visiting any longer. To be honest, it's probably been almost 8 years since I've viewed their forum and while I miss a few of their posters, I appreciate THIS forum and posters much, MUCH more!

So I ask, all of you (my fellow Sawhorses, supporters, etc.) - what are WE looking for? If it's just getting revenue in maybe Jeff should lower the cost to where it's not much more than buying coffee at SturBuck$ daily, and we don't have much more participation than we do now but the site is making money. If we're looking to add inspectors and building officials and architects and engineers and drafters and contractors and ... who will also participate, we need to determine at what price-point is it NOT worth their paying for (and price it JUST below that)?

For me, this site has been invaluable - and ICE's posts are worth the price of admission, just to see what he's uncovered NEXT! I've learned much about what you (the BO's and Inspector's) are looking for, differing opinions and interpretations on code sections, and even whether fonts make a difference in we Ark-ee-tec's drawings (shameless plug for another thread!). All of what I've learned will help me in the future as I continue on my "stump the plan checker" game! ;-)

Just my (never) humble Ark-ee-tec's thoughts!
 
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MtnArch said:
Gonna play devil's advocate here (I know, I know ... as an Architect I'm the "Devil Incarnate" anyway!), but I think we (as Sawhorses) need to focus on what's more important - just "paid members" or "paid PARTICIPATING members".Way back (and I do mean WAY BACK - like 1986) when in the days of DOS, there was an awesome piece of software called "XTree" - simply elegant, straight-forward, easy to use, a MUST for everyone from just north of a Newbie to true geeks! The problem was that everyone and their brother/sister could just copy it and run it (long before being able to check stuff over the Internet). They came up with an ingenious (for the time) plan - blanket amnesty! No prosecution, no hounding - simply send them a screen print (screen shot for today's crowd) of your Xtree start screen, a check for (as I recall) $49, and you'd receive a legal current disk along with a full registration. They cornered the market - it was a no-brainer to get "legal". Now after that, they still had the problem of getting all of their new "customers" to upgrade - which didn't happen in the numbers they hoped for, and eventually they sold out, etc., etc.

My point is are we more worried about simply getting "market share" - ie, "paid members" - or are we more concerned about someone who will pay to be a member AND truly contribute? For Jeff, I think the first concern is "paid members" as the more that pay (even if it's a discounted rate) the less comes out of HIS pocket. For we who are already Sawhorses I think it's safe to say that we would prefer those who pay AND contribute.

To me the real question is, what is the lowest cost that everyone and his/her brother/sister (or, for Brent - kilt aficionados) would pay just to get the full content and what is the maximum that they would pay before they would say "it ain't worth it".

I used to be a (non) paying member of another codes group hosted by Imad Naffa, before he passed away. Shortly before his passing they went to a "subscription" type of membership and it was WAY over what I could afford, and once I was locked out what was left for me to view wasn't worth visiting any longer. To be honest, it's probably been almost 8 years since I've viewed their forum and while I miss a few of their posters, I appreciate THIS forum and posters much, MUCH more!

So I ask, all of you (my fellow Sawhorses, supporters, etc.) - what are WE looking for? If it's just getting revenue in maybe Jeff should lower the cost to where it's not much more than buying coffee at SturBuck$ daily, and we don't have much more participation than we do now but the site is making money. If we're looking to add inspectors and building officials and architects and engineers and drafters and contractors and ... who will also participate, we need to determine at what price-point is it NOT worth their paying for (and price it JUST below that)?

For me, this site has been invaluable - and ICE's posts are worth the price of admission, just to see what he's uncovered NEXT! I've learned much about what you (the BO's and Inspector's) are looking for, differing opinions and interpretations on code sections, and even whether fonts make a difference in we Ark-ee-tec's drawings (shameless plug for another thread!). All of what I've learned will help me in the future as I continue on my "stump the plan checker" game! ;-)

Just my (never) humble Ark-ee-tec's thoughts!
Click to expand...
I agree with your points.

I think you have stated it

The web site needs money to keep running. I feel the price to join is cheap.

The other is getting question contributors,

It seems we are having trouble doing both.

Solution ?? Things have been tried

Good news is we are still here
 
Once upon a time there was a bar - when someone used specific cuss words you had to put money in a jar. amazingly enough some people just stood there cussed a while and happily paid in. The jar contributed to a chosen charity or to a bar b que hosted by the bar.

So would anyone pay to get their question answered. For example I am stumped about a plumbing issue - I post the question and a popup says would you like to confirm by a $1 contribution? Then another popup that says you can do unlimited postings if you are a sawhorse. Or the opposite for seeing the answers.

On the old IdoubleC formum I used to get tired of always hearing from the same people. This site however has been a much better forum and I am willing to pay my sawhorse fee so that I can continually learn. The site is very valuable to us "small" juridictions.
 
So, the former Northern Colorado Business Report, renamed itself Biz West sometime last year'ish....anyway this is what they are doing, I am subscribe to the printed version, so this will not effect me. But you get updates, with teaser headlines via emails twice daily. I click on them regularly to see an article, but this will obviously cut down on their lurkers, sucking up bandwidth.

Paid subscribers to the print edition will continue to enjoy full access to current content accessed through their desktop computer or mobile device. If you are a current paid print subscriber, please click here to sign up for free access.

Those who are not paid print subscribers will receive access to a limited number of articles per month — currently set at eight — after which they will be asked to subscribe.

Readers seeking greater engagement, including access to our downloadable lists, directories, archives and more might want to consider BizWest Unlimited.
 
Conarb provided a link to this website. As soon as it opened up it froze up. The message says that my browser kills ads and if I want to see their website, I have to allow ads. So there I was, I could see stuff but I couldn't go anywhere. I was already inside a thread so I could get an idea if I wanted to investigate further. Well I don't know how to "allow ads". The website didn't look interesting enough to ask someone to make my computer allow ads so see ya.

I showed you this because it might work with getting people to pay. Your message could say. "You can see what we do but if you want to get inside I need a dollar a day or $45 dollars for a year."

 
I forgot about that, I followed the appraisal site for years and they instituted this policy, I stayed away for about 6 months then relented and sent them the money, so it does work, I guess I better go back and post the pictures I wanted you to see.
 
I have been a Union Carpenter for over 20 years in mostly Commercial and Industrial work. Things in life happened and needed to be home and stop traveling. I applied for the bldg. Insp. position and got it. Been behind the desk for just over a year. I stumbled across this forum and have been a frequent visitor. Being able to use this site to find answers has been very helpful. I decided to become a Sawhorse today because i was able to see the value of it and wanted the perks of the subscription. My dept. head probably wouldn't allow me to pay for the forum because it not a requirement for any of my certs. I believe it is and if I wouldn't have been able to see how valuable it was i probalbly wouldn't have paid. $35 out of my own pocket isn't gonna kill me and I believe it's worth just took a while for me to decide.:-D
 
my250r11 said:
I have been a Union Carpenter for over 20 years in mostly Commercial and Industrial work. Things in life happened and needed to be home and stop traveling. I applied for the bldg. Insp. position and got it. Been behind the desk for just over a year. I stumbled across this forum and have been a frequent visitor. Being able to use this site to find answers has been very helpful. I decided to become a Sawhorse today because i was able to see the value of it and wanted the perks of the subscription. My dept. head probably wouldn't allow me to pay for the forum because it not a requirement for any of my certs. I believe it is and if I wouldn't have been able to see how valuable it was i probalbly wouldn't have paid. $35 out of my own pocket isn't gonna kill me and I believe it's worth just took a while for me to decide.:-D
Click to expand...
Glad you are with us.

Those black and white books are just to confusing, and you run into the one event a year you never have seen before, and the code is yea maybe this way, no maybe that way!!!
 
Wow, a 2 year gap since last posting?

The site has filled a gap left by our departed friend and has brought out some very "interesting" characters.
Yes many of us are old but we keep coming back because we can never know enough.
Being a sawhorse is a privilege and an honor to support "our" site.
 
An idea would be to offer a 6 month or one year free membership to new members. This should lead to many signing up and paying after the free period is up. CBOA just started this up with new CT licensed code officials, we are hoping this will increase our membership.
 
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