[Dana]

an open letter to speypages/speyclave readers and participants

Dear Friends,

As many of you know the Speypages has been around in various forms since the spring of 2000. From its humble beginnings as a place for my friends to get together to talk about speycasting, it has grown to become the #1 spey-related website with thousands of visitors each month from around the world. Through this time I have weathered many storms with one goal in mind: to provide spey aficionados with a complete, one-stop spot for all things spey. I think I have achieved this goal and I am proud of where the site is today.

But things are not well in speyland. As with all things on the web, the bottom line is money. Despite the hundreds of hours I devote to this site each month, I receive no income from it. Advertising revenue pays for web hosting and a limited amount of equipment upgrades, and that’s it. I publish a spey newsletter, but the amount of time I have to devote to running the site takes me away from that focus and so I can only publish a few articles a year, and so I keep the price of that down. Still, only a small number of speypages users subscribe to the newsletter so my income from that source is very limited.

I am now at a crossroads. I cannot continue to justify to my family or myself the time I must devote to the website with zero financial reward. Things need to change. I am looking ahead to 2005 and realize that I can’t keep things going any longer. Although I have wracked my brains over the past few years thinking up solutions, I have not come up with any that seem viable. So here I stand.

The solutions as I seem them are as follows:

1. turn the speypages/speyclave into a subscription site so that all users must pay a yearly fee to access it and participate ( think this approach would likely kill the site)
2. find alternate sources of funding my time and equipment requirements, either through major sponsorship or private donors
3. close the sites down

If anyone has any other thoughts about this or would like to help out, please contact me at [email protected] or [email protected].

 

[speyhead]

Dana

Option #1 and #2 are do-able, The third option must not be done.

This is exactly the very thing's that we as a new Clave are discussing at this very moment in time. Weather to enter the commercial relm or to keep it as a charity driven event. I have cast my vote for the latter in these discussions. I now know who will be my first recommendation to board of voters for our first donation..

Please let us all help Dana, I know option one and two can work.

Thanks Tom Hill

 

[Jacob]

#2

Sponsorship money i think is the best thing...

 

[Jacob]

i can allso say that #1 can work.... the problem for us living in scnadinavia is to get the money to the states....

 

[Skycries57]

How bout' buying hundreds of cheap shirts and hats and put a SPEY LOGO on them and sell them for a profit. I would be willing to pay for a hat or shirt that had a decent design. Good luck!
PS, don't even think about shutting down, I'd hate to settle to some other cheesy flyfishing/spey site.

PS: I'm sure you guys can set up a Paypal account to be able to receive funds from the US and around the world!

><>

 

[Neil]

NO to Spey Pages closure

Hi Dana.
Sorry dude,shutting down is not an option :tsk_tsk:
Seriously,there are alot of us out here that think you are doing a great job for the Spey community.
Where else can you get the kind of info thats on the site.No where.
I realize its a big endevour to devote time and effort to keep the site going,especially with a family to consider as well.
So,what are we going to do about it???
I for one dont have a problem paying for a subscription.(I thought this was already supposed to be happening).
Lets see if all the other members are willing to throw some money your way to help out.
We all know its worth it.So lets get cracking.
Maybe start a poll to see what all members have to say.
We all know the old saying.Stand and be counted.
So,lets get counting.
Regards Speyladdie. :smokin:

Awaiting further instruction where to send the membership funds.

 

[MJC]

***one!***

 

[o_clarki_clarki]

Dana

Check your email. I support anything except the closing of the site.

Vinnie

 

[Huckleberry]

Support Spey Clave

Hi Dana:
I've been a lurker mostly but I do enjoy the contributions of people from across the world tremendously.
Speaking of shutting the site down I'd hate to see this happen.
Although peple often shy away from discussing money matters why don't you give us the straight numbers so that we have an idea of what it costs to keep this site running.
Or let's say, if there were 1000 regular subscribers how much would each of us have to chip in per year or per month to keep this forum going?

I hope I'm not too blunt here but I don't see the point of discussing the merits of reels and rods that cost several hundred dollars and yet not mentioning the cost of running a website that we all enjoy and profit from.

Cheers,
Tom.

 

[Big K1]

Dana,

I am willing to pay a annual fee. I would hope that some of the rod and gear
manufacturers would also step up. This is the best way for them to reach
their target audience. Let us know how we can help, monetarily or other.
#3 is not a option we need to think about.

 

[nu-to-spey]

site

Sent you an email---can't see why most people wouldn't pay an annual donation to an excellent site---most spend a lot of $$ on toys so why not some $$ for education/entertainment.

I'm in

 

[prairiespey]

Dana-

I just knew my first post about Spey casting for catfish would send everyone running for the hills)) they have a adipose fin does that help?
What about a two level setup- the basic free forum for those getting interested and looking for sound info or direction to get going - perhaps with a more streamlined and limited set of topics and a subscription area that was a bit more intense/advanced/in depth, that also acted as a repository for articles etc. for those already afflicted and un-curable.

I have to say both your site -Speypages- and the forum are a remarkable resource and I appreciate the fact they must take up valuable energy to maintain and expand- I do hope you find a way to keep it going.

 

[Gillie]

I think that most would be willing to contribute. Perhaps you could set it up where the subscribed members could post but non-members would still be able to view. This would allow people to preview the forum and decide whether to get involved.

I would also hope that sponsors might be able to chip in a bit more. I have to be honest that when I read this thread I was surprised. With the number of sponsors you have I would have thought you were actually making money off this deal.

I know that I personally have started to provide business to two of your sponsors after discovering them here.

Hope you find a way to keep things up and running

Gillie

 

[Klem]

No shut down

You're doing a great job for the spey community. I will support any fee to keep the site going. Just keep it open. Klem

 

[mattzoid]

Dana,

Don’t devote any more time to the site. I certainly hope your not addicted to anything online about a two handed rod like me. Just walk away and let your moderators contact you if they need help. Otherwise, let the damp thing run by itself.

Also, I don’t mean to pump up your Canadian head, but screw the small time pdf newsletters. Force Amatto (or anyone if he is crazy enough to blow you off) to publish your book. You have done more than enough work to write your book and compete with Simon. So what if you take a little of his revenue. I know you have enough video to do your own DVD. Go all out and make us a new Steelheaders bible.

I’m dying to buy a Speypages shirt, hat and underwear. I’d love to have a bumper sticker reading, Spey casters do it with longer rods,” with a Speypages logo in the corner. Christ Dana, if you opened a storefront on this site, you could put every other online store out of business. Everyone and I mean everyone comes here first before they buy so why not let them buy it here?

A beginners section where anyone can post or access. Then a silver membership area with a real modest fee that no one could be disappointed about where they could access archives and post etc. Modest fee like 5 US bucks, not Canadian, times what a thousand people a year?

Then you could have the Golden Member area with a not so modest fee where the guys who have been here a while could cuss each other out and not get banned.

Or you could shut down the site and not make a dime.

 

[QuebecSporting]

Dana....

Count me in for Sponsorship.........

I want a rotating banner on Fly Talk!!!

Send me the details!!!!!

Ann Smith

[email protected]

 

[Hammer]

`Don't devote any more to the site"

the man would never HAVE devoted himself to it if he didn't believe in it,,,and with family to attend to as well as what seems like more than most people would even consider to attemp to acheive in the two-hander arena i doubt he's really WANTING to walk away,!,,I'll back ya's,,,but the best solution SHOULD come from the moderater's side of the counter=do what it takes to make it a good thing,,for you,this `fishing thing' is supposed to be about smiles!!!!!,is the site able to take membership donations?,seems fair to me :biggrin:

 

[speyflyman]

How much, Dana?

Dana, please don't even consider shut down! This is a very great source of fellowship and info to all of us. You know the member base and how much $ is needed to make this operation viable and have your family's blessing on your time spent here. How much (shooting from the hip) $ would each member have to contribute on an annual basis to keep it going? Best, Stiver

 

[Rob Estlund]

Promo Items

The Hats, T-shirts, etc. idea is worth looking at. I'd buy some if they weren't cheesy.

Other, more expensive items could also be sold... Fleece (with speyclave logo), packs, warm hats, vests, etc.

 

[fredaevans]

A 'fee site' is not that unusual. Steelheader.net has..

several. Most deal with a State by State update/postings of what's going on fishing wise.

You might want to e mail "Marty" and see how he's got it set up. There, as here, I'm more than willing to drop the dime(s).