The VeggieViews Raison D'être?

[Pickle Juice]

Hey Indian Summer, I was wondering if, when you have a moment of leisure you can't find a better use for, you might expound on why you started this forum, and what your goals for it are? Is it to be a small, intimate hangout for already close friends, or do you want to attract a larger membership?

 

[beancounter]

Hey Indian Summer, I was wondering if, when you have a moment of leisure you can't find a better use for, you might expound on why you started this forum, and what your goals for it are? Is it to be a small, intimate hangout for already close friends, or do you want to attract a larger membership?

He said earlier that he has bigger plans for this board than just a VB retirement home.

 

[Blobbenstein]

this is the veggie underworld.

 

[Second Summer]

Typical that I should find this thread at 11:25pm at night when I'm about to go to bed....!

I started the board because I wanted to help build the best online community for vegetarians and vegans the world has seen. This is not meant to be an exclusive club. I want it to be the place for everyone who adheres to vegetarian/vegan principles. And I want it to be a tolerant place where both oddballs and square heads are accepted. I want it to be a place for both casual talk / socialising as well as serious discussion of issues relevant to our flock. I want the site to be a resource for people in their struggle to become vegetarians / vegans. And I want it to be a resource for long-term vegetarians / vegans in their struggle to live life according to their convictions.

I have certain beliefs as to what works and what doesn't. First of all, this is a community, so I believe in involving the community in decisions about the organisation of the place. And doing all the work myself is not fair neither to myself nor the members, so I believe in sharing the burden of running the board. I want to give moderators real power to make decisions in my absence.

I don't believe a community is something you should try to make money off of. I don't like ads, so I hope we can avoid that here. So financially, my goal would be that the place pays for itself through member contributions. Realistically, that probably won't happen in a while. In the completely unlikely event that we ever receive more money than the running cost, I will probably use the extra money to buy extra software or donate the money to a worthy cause.

 

[mlp]

Do you have a mechanism for member contributions set up yet?

 

[Second Summer]

No, not yet. Life has been busy for me lately, but once I get these moderators appointed, I have hope that I can set it up.

 

[mlp]

O.K. - I figured you had been too busy.

 

[thefadedone]

I have certain beliefs as to what works and what doesn't. First of all, this is a community, so I believe in involving the community in decisions about the organisation of the place. And doing all the work myself is not fair neither to myself nor the members, so I believe in sharing the burden of running the board. I want to give moderators real power to make decisions in my absence.

Not only do I appreciate your entire post , but especially the bolded. It is very refreshing to be on a board with an admin who not only listens to the community's concerns, but also acknowledges and addresses them as well. Allowing us to actually contribute to the decision making process is yet another reason to make me truly grateful and proud to have this board and you as an admin.

Thank you Indian Summer!

 

[Exit]

This is similar to why I started Veggie Kisses. My big motivation, though, was creating a dating site for vegetarians that was run by a vegetarian and not some large company that might run a vegetarian styled dating site as part of their massive portfolio which also runs a variety of other dating sites.

I signed up on a website (I think Veggie Romance) and found out I was added to a pool of websites, including Star Trek Dating and also gay dating. I found my image on these sister sites and was appalled that they would do such a thing and found a checkbox deep in their options that by default posts your portfolio to their entire network of dating sites.

I started my dating site for vegetarians, but mind you, I coded the entire thing from scratch. It still is unfinished, but I was unable to accept payments for it (because dating sites are considered "adult" websites and therefore higher risk and finding a merchant account that will accept adult sites is difficult. I didn't want to rely on a third-party payment processor, so the site became a labor of love since I wouldn't see a dime. As such, it has been greatly ignored in terms of upkeep. Sigh.

 

[Envy]

This is similar to why I started Veggie Kisses. My big motivation, though, was creating a dating site for vegetarians that was run by a vegetarian and not some large company that might run a vegetarian styled dating site as part of their massive portfolio which also runs a variety of other dating sites.

I signed up on a website (I think Veggie Romance) and found out I was added to a pool of websites, including Star Trek Dating and also gay dating. I found my image on these sister sites and was appalled that they would do such a thing and found a checkbox deep in their options that by default posts your portfolio to their entire network of dating sites.

I started my dating site for vegetarians, but mind you, I coded the entire thing from scratch. It still is unfinished, but I was unable to accept payments for it (because dating sites are considered "adult" websites and therefore higher risk and finding a merchant account that will accept adult sites is difficult. I didn't want to rely on a third-party payment processor, so the site became a labor of love since I wouldn't see a dime. As such, it has been greatly ignored in terms of upkeep. Sigh.

Why wouldn't you use PayPal?

 

[beancounter]

Why wouldn't you use PayPal?

Paypal is great, but personally I haven't seen too many businesses outside of E-bay use it.

 

[Exit]

Paypal stole $1000 from me. I'll never use them again. Their policies favor the customer far more than the business - unlike a real merchant account where there is the charge back system that allows proper ways for a client to respond.