CycloneFanatic

Jeremy · 02-27-2007, 10:08 AM

CycloneFanatic - Huge 'Things' Ahead, Help Needed

As many have probably noticed, I've been somewhat absent from posting smaller recruiting tidbits and cyclone related info to the front-page the past few weeks. The reason is simple; I'm taking advantage of the slow time of the year to get things ready for the future of the site. We have a lot of potential and I'm just making sure we don't let any of it slip by.

Now that we're well past the one-year mark here on CycloneFanatic, I want to take a quick minute to discuss the very exciting future of the site, as well as announce a new quarterly drive.

When I started CF I made a promise to never charge for any content, and I back that promise up again today. I have no intentions of ever charging for anything on CF, but that means that I need your help in making sure things progress smoothly into the future. With that in mind, I would like to start a new quarterly donation drive that will help fund the site and keep new features and content flowing in.

While I've never requested any sort of funding in the past, there are a few new things that I'm working on that will require some significant investment on my part; both monetarily and effort-wise. With the exciting new features and projects that I'm working on for CycloneFanatic, funding from members would be needed and greatly appreciated. We're yet to reach our full potential here on CF and with your help, we'll be well on our way.

While not all the details are final, some sort of prize or possible donation levels may be set up with rewards for certain amounts of giving. We can have similar rewards for those that contribute with content rather than money, because it takes both money and content to have a thriving site. Hopefully this new quarterly donation drive will help ensure that we continue to grow. An organized donation drive won't only help ensure a bright future for the site; it'll also help the members track exactly what's needed.

While I don't want to announce the new "things" I'm working on for the site just yet, I will say that nobody will be disappointed whatsoever. Not only will the new features be significant, they'll also be incredibly useful and popular. More on that later on:)

Personally, I couldn't be any more excited about the future of the site. We have great members, a solid technological foundation, greater resources than ever, and a more organized structure than at any point in the past year. To some it may seem like things are somewhat slow right now (albeit far busier than most sports sites in February), and that's simply because it's the calm before the storm. The only question is; are you prepared?

Thanks!
Jeremy Lind
CycloneFanatic.com

Jeremy · 02-27-2007, 03:13 PM

No comments? Hopefully everybody else is as excited as I am for the future!

isugcs · 02-27-2007, 03:16 PM

I can't wait!

cyclonekj · 02-27-2007, 03:19 PM

No mention of Project X?

Kyle · 02-27-2007, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by Jeremy

No comments? Hopefully everybody else is as excited as I am for the future!

YAY FUTURE!

crash_zone · 02-27-2007, 03:54 PM

....the future means getting a job.....*shudder*.....

redrocker · 02-27-2007, 04:03 PM

lets go future, lets go!

ISUFan22 · 02-27-2007, 04:07 PM

Project X or Future X? Which is it?

Heck, I don't care...as long as www.cyclonefanatic.com remains to exist, it's all good. :)

247cy · 02-27-2007, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by Jeremy

No comments? Hopefully everybody else is as excited as I am for the future!

Will CycloneFanatic's "Huge 'Things'" look anthing like Jessica Simpson's?

Then, yes, I am excited.

tec71 · 02-27-2007, 08:48 PM

For those who can then donate. Every little bit helps I'm sure. With that, let me be the first to say Jeremy that for what I do I would be willing to put up with some advertising, just because it might help you out with the costs. Of course I'd love not to see the annoying pop ups but some solid banners or frames with ads would not be unreasonable. I would guess that there would be some entities that would be excited to have this target audience.

isu_bub · 02-27-2007, 09:04 PM

Keep up the good work Jeremy!

SlyCy · 02-27-2007, 10:54 PM

Hey Jeremy, although a lot of generalizations, it sounds great!

I just found out one of my other favorite message boards, (besides CF) iowaoutdoors.org which a guy started grass roots, similar to you, just announced he sold the site. I hope you never sell the site, it's good stuff!

SeattleClone · 02-27-2007, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by Jeremy

CycloneFanatic - Huge 'Things' Ahead, Help Needed

While not all the details are final, some sort of prize or possible donation levels may be set up with rewards for certain amounts of giving. We can have similar rewards for those that contribute with content rather than money, because it takes both money and content to have a thriving site. Hopefully this new quarterly donation drive will help ensure that we continue to grow. An organized donation drive won't only help ensure a bright future for the site; it'll also help the members track exactly what's needed.

How about donation $$ = +REP? Just an idea, and maybe you already do this, I'm not sure because I haven't donated yet...maybe I should try this out...

ISU_phoria · 02-28-2007, 12:08 PM

Jeremy,

Have you ever considered allowing advertising on your site? Considering the number of hits CF gets, I'm sure you could find some advertisers who would be willing to pay to advertise......as long as it doesn't become obnoxious, you could use avdertising to cover your overhead and still provide a free site to the CF crowd.

Just an idea.

C.John · 02-28-2007, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by ISU_phoria

Jeremy,

Have you ever considered allowing advertising on your site? Considering the number of hits CF gets, I'm sure you could find some advertisers who would be willing to pay to advertise......as long as it doesn't become obnoxious, you could use avdertising to cover your overhead and still provide a free site to the CF crowd.

Just an idea.

I'll second Isu_phoria's thoughts. If you could obtain a few sponsors that would agree to unobtrusive ads, then I would suggest you go for it. As long as you do not allow pop-ups, I can't see many members complaining.