[Theforum] sponsorships

Luther, Ron Ron.Luther at COMPAQ.com
Tue Apr 30 09:47:59 CDT 2002


Hi Gang,


Hoping not to add too much 'noise' ... but this is starting to look like a 'vote' ... so I thought I'd weight in:

+1 on retaining independence, editorial control, our own biases, and restricting Adrian's dancing to local beevolts.   ;-)


On Money:
If anyone hasn't heard me say it before, "YES", I am in favor of accepting money from < _damn near_ > anyone.

*** Do our SC or BoD chimps need to get their ischial callosities [1] in gear to 'define' *WHO* we are willing to accept money from?  [Some, (me for example), might take offence at accepting money from the KKK or the Illinois Nazi's and putting anything at all related to them on our site. Others might be offended at sponsorship from a Baptist church or a beef products company, 'Oscar Meyer Evolt?'.]  Granted - the first example might be a 'no brainer' ----- but where do we 'draw the line' and who draws it? {Yeah - 'we do' -- but should we have a 'Monkey Voodoo' group take a swag at drafting a version first - or just hash it out here?}

[By the way, I think the 'fiduciary responsibility' section that I think usually gets written in to the job description portion of a BoD directorship would cover stuff like insuring that evolt doesn't become soooooo dependent on cash from one single source that it would jeopardize our existance if that source were to pull that sponsorship.  {'natch - that's pretty hard to do when you are just starting this rolling.}]



On 'Products':
I know I've suggested and I think Ron D. {or maybe someone else} also suggested the "executive sponsorship / sustaining member" kind of wallplaque section like you see in a community theatre. [2]

It's slowing sinking in ... but between Aardie's note and Lach's ... I'm beginning to think that we need to define our 'product catalog' ... what we're willing to offer and for how much ... and then have Adrian take that back to the folks that expressed interest.

I had been thinking of a logo/link at the bottom of the home page but I certainly hadn't thought of selling footers.

The 'sponsoring evolt tips on their own site' is pretty cool - but in terms of the necessary infrastructure to actually do that - I think we're a long way off.  Too many pesky questions:  Does evolt 'own' my tip? [*cough*Wired*cough*] If evolt 'sells' my tip to a sponsor and an end user of the sponsor's site fries his computer trying to implement my tip ... how much of my wood chuck's chuck could they sue me for?


We also have some finance and billing issues to consider folks, if a 'sponsor' agrees to installment billing - who sends out the bill?  Who duns them when they are late?  How long do we wait until we 'pull their information'?  If they host tips and don't pay ... what do we do?

I know it's a PITA ... but putting the time into a long-ass charter and bylaws now would (I think) cut down on confusion next Tuesday. [3]


RonL.

[1] Once a docent always a docent.  ;-)
[2] Oooooo! Internationale spellinck!
[3] Lame 'Wimpy' reference.




More information about the theforum mailing list