[Theforum] sponsorships

[aardvark]

> From: "Luther, Ron" <Ron.Luther at COMPAQ.com>
[...]
> +1 on retaining independence, editorial control, our own biases, and
> +restricting Adrian's dancing to local beevolts.   ;-)

clearly you've never seen me dance...

but yes, maintaining control is key, and i would never suggest we
give any of that control up...

[...]
> *** 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?}

i think we need to define that stuff, which is *precisely* why i
brought up the sponsorship framed as a general discussion... but
we still have an interested party, so timeliness may be a factor as
well...

[...]
> 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.

sort of a sponsorship catalog?  the gold plaque vs. the silver
plaque?

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

i don't like foreign logos on the home page... but on a sponsors
page, i do...

> 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?

in that case, we'd have to secure permission from every author...
and it wouldn't be every tip, just a sub-set... or an article... or
something...

> 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?

pay in advance?  send the nearest evolter over there with a bat?

--
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Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself
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