April 21, 2005

Support Your Amateur And/Or Hobbyist And/Or Stand-Alone Reporter And/Or Journalist

Our Very Occasional Pledge Break

We're going to briefly take the opportunity presented by Chris Nolan's description of stand-alone journalism to pitch another quasi pledge break here.

With the likely loss of a party interested in a site sponsorship, the launch of a Communique spin-off, and the challenges which come with a relocation, it's time once again to remind our readers that it is their financial support which permits us to work this site as a full-time enterprise.

Many of our readers already make the occasional donation, or have signed up to make regular monthly contributions. Anyone who doesn't, but has the interest, can visit our donations and contributions page for details.

Those of our readers who represent larger local entities or one sort or another and who enjoy the satisfaction of supporting local creative efforts may instead want to look into a site sponsorship, which would give them prominent and sitewide placement at a monthly cost which comes close to making up the financial gap under which we continue to operate.

As always at moments such as this, it's difficult for us to not suffer a sense of hubris in making direct appeals for financial support. While we've been reasonably silent on the matter for the past several months, the reality is that while the November shutdown (which in the months leading up to it indeed did appears to be inevitable at the time, and wasn't merely some sort of scare tactic on our part) was averted, we in essence have been lurching from one two-month period to the next.

Not that we don't appreciate the vast distinction and difference between the avoided November shutdown and the above-mentioned lurching. The latter is far preferable to the former, of course.

Nonetheless, we must forge right through the discomfort of self-perceived hubris and make the requisite public and direct appeal for additional support on top of the continued support from our regular and occasional financial patrons, for which we are ever grateful.

So, please take a moment to ponder whether or not you can assist the financial health of Portland Communique, and to examine your networks of contacts for potential site sponsors.

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled amateur and/or hobbyist and/or stand-alone reporting and/or journalism.

Posted at 12:09 PM | PermalinkComments (6) | TrackBacks (1)
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Comments (6)

  1. Jack Peek on 23 Apr 2005

    If you really look at Criminally insane group home placement next to grade schools in Portland, and other places ,I'LL SEND A HUNDRED BUCKS.

  2. The One True b!X on 23 Apr 2005

    Why don't you do it? Take up the umpteen offers to set you up with your own blog, and start reporting on that. It's your pet interest, so why aren't you doing it?

    I'll tell you why. Because it makes you feel better to be able to simply yell about how it's not being reported. If you went out and did it yourself, who would you get to yell at?

  3. Jack Peek on 23 Apr 2005

    GEE, your not up on the goings on yet about that...MORE LATER!

  4. The One True b!X on 23 Apr 2005

    By "more later" you had better mean you're going to go off and start your own site, because under no circumsances are you allowed to start turning this site even more into your own personal bulletin board, without regard to rhyme, reason, or the topic at hand.

  5. Tenskwatawa on 23 Apr 2005

    -
    Blogs-of-a-feather, (my interest would be political ones), could join in guilds or trade alliances where, from a user's p.o.v., it would work like this.
    I send one of them, or a central account, a lump donation which would be apportioned to the guild member sites as I visit them according to the minutes I visit them.
    There are further refinements and details -- to be continued ...

    The main thing for me is to get away from sending many different small contributions. Which never seem to balance in proportion with the different values to me or times I spend for different sites.

    It's like PayPal except the sites would have some coordination and/or agreement among themselves.
    -

  6. Tenskwatawa on 25 Apr 2005

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    You say 'nuisance,' I say 'prescience.'

    Okay, new idea, phone cards with Blog Guild points which accrue at sites visited, which can redeem their accrued points for 'donations to keep the site operational,' i.e., cash money. From the well of the guy who sold the cards.

    I don't know if this link works all ways, the story is on the AP wire.

    http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Internet-Sweepstakes.html?oref=login

    CASPER, Wyo. (AP) -- [So-and-so] and dozens of others have bought long-distance phone cards that are loaded with sweepstakes points used to play casino-type games -- and win cash -- on the Internet Cafe's computers.

    Operators say it's a legitimate business promotion plan, no different from instant-win twist-off caps on a soda pop bottle. However, authorities claim it is gambling, and therefore illegal.
    ...
    Customers can either buy Internet time by itself, or a combo deal -- $5 for a 100-minute phone card, one hour of Internet time and 100 sweepstakes points. Those points can only be used to play games on the cafe's computers.

    -

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