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Jean Thibodeau




Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada
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PostPosted: Mon 06 Sep, 2010 11:00 pm    Post subject: Yearly Donation Drive         Reply with quote

Yes it's that time of year again or even a little later than usual.

This site depends on donations to help pay for server and hosting costs and for the occasional special features like contests and prizes.

Without donations the costs would have to be supported entirely by Nathan and over the years even with donations he has put in much more money in than what donations generate, and this is not counting the thousands of hours put in designing and maintaining the site.

For those like me this is almost my second home and I get a lot out of the site in knowledge, entertainment and friendships.

A lot of you old or new members also get a lot out of this site and if it disappeared it would leave a big hole in your hearts and minds.

So as the title says this is a Donation drive Topic so don't be too surprised if I do my best to encourage donations big or small. Wink Laughing Out Loud I will try to make it entertaining and/or interesting but if others wish to contribute ideas or motivation for others to contribute please help me out: A little humour is welcome, guilting people into contributing is not something Nathan wants or would find acceptable, so encourage donations but don't make anyone who doesn't want to contribute or hasn't available funds to contribute feel badly about it.

To get down to it just contribute what you can afford and if many people contribute $10 it can end up being more than only a few of us giving larger amounts.

1000 people giving $10 each would give the site $10,000 which would easily surpass the contribution totals of previous years. 100 people giving $100 each would also generate the same amount and a mix of a few larger contribution + the smaller $10 ones would mean something in between in numbers of contributors and amounts given by each contributor.

Oh, just to get things started I just donated $100 ......... ( remember no guilt trips here. Wink Razz Laughing Out Loud Cool ) But I always believe in putting my money where my mouth is. Wink

Will be getting into this a bit more later but personally there are a lot of good things I would never have known about or done if I hadn't discovered " myArmoury " or Nathan hadn't started it all by himself ( he did and has a small team of moderators and other people who where involved early on: But no Nathan / No "myArmoury" would be here now ).

Some of the good things:

A) Interesting people to discuss arms and armour.

B) Friends made doing (A)

C) Makers I would never have heard about including Albion, A & A, Tinker, OlliN, Michael Pikula and others from whom I haven't had custom projects with but I know of and can appreciate their work and may be have a project made at some time in the future.

D) I wouldn't have known much or anything about period swordsmanship and reading here for years helped prepare me and be willing to join a local group, lesduellistes.com , and would have missed out doing 4 years of sword training and making new friends.

E) All the features and resources available on this site in addition to the Forums.

So without " myArmoury " I figure life would be much less interesting for me. Wink Laughing Out Loud

NOTE: In addition to contributing money if you can please contribute stories about how this site has helped you in any way in increasing your knowledge and/or exposed you to resources you would probably have missed otherwise.

There are a few reasons for this: Makes this Topic more than just raising money and much more interesting than just me bumping up the Topic every couple of days i.e. you are also helping with the fund drive by keeping this site up front and an interesting read. It also is good for Nathan to hear that people are getting something they value out of this site: Nathan needs the cash to fund the site but he also needs the feedback to keep him motivated to put in those hundreds or thousands of hours needed to keep the site going ..... it's also a nice way to thank him.

Anyway, I have to keep some things for later and not risk running out of " VERBOSITY ".
Wink Razz Laughing Out Loud Cool

The Donation Button is at the bottom of Forum Home Page


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Colt Reeves





Joined: 09 Mar 2009

Posts: 466

PostPosted: Tue 07 Sep, 2010 1:07 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Quote:
A little humour is welcome, guilting people into contributing is not something Nathan wants or would find acceptable...


It's ok, some of us will guilt ourselves into it. *Points to new "Donating Members" tag* Now that I have that I can tell other people they should too. Laughing Out Loud

But seriously, I too can say that this site was a major factor in all that I know concerning historical weapons, WMA, and such. There are a couple of things I'd like to stress.

1. This place is a huge goldmine of info, and unlike most mines, it keeps getting bigger. Concerning the forums part, I have been coming to this site for about a year now and I can't even keep up with the flow of incoming new threads, let alone make any headway on the 500 million pre-existing threads. Real tip of the iceberg type thing. That search function may not work quite as well as I'd like, but it comes in real handy if I'm dying to know something and don't want to sound like a real newbie by asking questions.

2. The forums are what keeps me coming back, but that isn't everything here. Although there isn't as much iceberg hidden underwater here, there is a lot of useful and interesting information in the Features, Reviews, and other stuff you can find at the top of any part of the site. I think I've learned quite a bit just by blundering through the Reviews section, which intially doesn't sound like it would teach you much about anything but the weapons in question. The Features are even more full of information.

FYI: It was Bill Grandy's Call to Arms: The German Longsword article that really got me interested in the ever-popular German Longsword. It kind of surprises me to think about it. If Nathan didn't have the website and Bill hadn't done that Feature, where would I be now? Hmmm... I guess I'd probably have no hand-and-a-halves and be trying to figure out Viking sword and shield as per the Hurstwic site. Another great website I found only a bit before myArmoury.com, but I digress.

Anyway, the point is that myArmoury.com had a major effect on what I've done in the past year or so (I don't recall just how long I lurked before signing up so I can't give a accurate timeframe here) and I wouldn't have the same toys and the knowledge base I have now if it didn't exist. If the site went down I'd be bummed.

So, in conclusion, thank you for this excellent website Nathan. And to the rest of you: Donate please.
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Jean Thibodeau




Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada
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PostPosted: Tue 07 Sep, 2010 1:34 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks Colt and these are the personal stories I was wishing for as they are interesting in themselves apart from the goal of raising funds for the site.

Just a note on the fund raising goal: There is no " fat " in the number it represents the actual minimal costs of paying for the hardware that hosts the site and doesn't even come close to having any left over to pay for Nathan's time or any prizes Nathan offers in contests from time to time.

Nathan does this because he wants to and if he had to pay himself for the work put in annually it would probably be in the high 4 figures or even in the 5 figures ...... but then we usually don't cost our time put into a hobby we love it is interesting to think how much it would cost to pay the yearly salary of someone doing the work.

Oh, and I would also be " bummed out " if the site went down.

Just for fun I was thinking about what 10 cents a day would cost annually to someone who visits this site daily and the math is really easy first grade stuff: 365 days X .10= $36.50 a year ! Now $36.50 cents is not a huge amount of money over a year, so giving $10 shouldn't be a hardship if one has a a job or steady income and reasonably secure in still having the job.

Lets see skip a few lattes and donuts for one week or one movie without buying popcorn and send in the saved $10 bucks or so as a donation.

I'm again this year putting emphasis on numerous small donations since this makes it spread over the maximum amount of people without it being to much of a sacrifice.

Oh, if somebody really rich wants to give an outrageously large amount I also don't mind. Wink Razz Laughing Out Loud

( NOTE: No obligation to do so, but if you send in a donation post a little something about what you like about the site and/or what motivated you to donate or a little about you if you are a first time poster or post rarely ).

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Jim S.





Joined: 17 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Tue 07 Sep, 2010 7:59 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jean Thibodeau wrote:

( NOTE: No obligation to do so, but if you send in a donation post a little something about what you like about the site and/or what motivated you to donate or a little about you if you are a first time poster or post rarely ).


I was definitely motivated by guilt to make a donation. Not really....well, yes really. Big Grin I have gained much over the years from myArmoury. Much beyond just information relating directly to swords. I appreciate what Nathan, the Staff and other Members have contributed to my knowledge.
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Scott Hrouda




Location: Minnesota, USA
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PostPosted: Tue 07 Sep, 2010 11:40 am    Post subject: Re: Yearly Donation Drive         Reply with quote

Jean Thibodeau wrote:
Yes it's that time of year again or even a little later than usual.


Thanks for the heads-up Jean. Big Grin

I doubt there is truly a way for me to place a dollar amount on the value of information I've personally received from myArmoury. Just skip a lunch or two at work and put those dollars to work here.

...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped. - Sir Bedevere
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Christopher Finneman




Location: Sartell Minnesota
Joined: 20 Mar 2006

Posts: 159

PostPosted: Tue 07 Sep, 2010 3:59 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Where does one donate?
Proudly it stands until the worlds end. The victorious banner of love.
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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team


myArmoury Team

PostPosted: Tue 07 Sep, 2010 4:38 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Christopher Finneman wrote:
Where does one donate?


At the bottom of the forum homepage (myArmoury.com/talk), there is always a Donate button. Happy

Happy

ChadA

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Harry J. Fletcher




Location: Lost in Texas
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PostPosted: Tue 07 Sep, 2010 5:34 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I would be happy to donate a small amount since myArmoury has been more than tolerant of my unusual humor and remarks and I have gotten a lot of interesting information from it. I am hesitant to use Paypal since I have recently encountered a problem with it and would prefer to make a direct payment however to make a donation. Suggestions?
To Study The Edge of History
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Jean Thibodeau




Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 1:16 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Harry J. Fletcher wrote:
I would be happy to donate a small amount since myArmoury has been more than tolerant of my unusual humor and remarks and I have gotten a lot of interesting information from it. I am hesitant to use Paypal since I have recently encountered a problem with it and would prefer to make a direct payment however to make a donation. Suggestions?


One work around someone local to me who also didn't use Paypal was that I sent in his payment for him and he wrote me a personal check to cover it.

This works well if you know the person well and so does he/she and is generally local to you i.e. International checking can be problematic but for anyone in the U.S.A. could probably do this and send a personal check that would be easy to cash.

Oh, when I sent in the donation for my local friend I P.M. Nathan so that this person would be credited for the donation instead of me.

From previous years I think that receiving checks or other forms of payment are somewhat of a problem since the whole accounting system for my " armoury " to keep " myArmoury " funds separated from Nathan's funds for tax purposes is all based on using Paypal to keep things simple and manageable. ( If I'm incorrect here maybe Nathan can correct me or add to the information. This sort of issue seems to come up every year and the answer(s) might be found on last year's Donation Topic thread ).

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Jean Thibodeau




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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 5:47 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Good I see some early Donators have shown up and we are close to $500 with only a dozen or so of people donating so far.

I would also encourage makers and vendors who get good word of mouth here to donate also since a lot of their business and good reputation for good products or customer service is due to the membership talking about their purchases and custom designs: keeping this place functional is to their advantage and many are also some of our friends.

Think how much money good media publicity costs and this site does it for free: I can tell you that without mention of some of the better vendors or makers I have read on this site I wouldn't have even know they existed and even if I had found them through other sources or by accidental Googling, I might not have purchased without the good buzz read here.: Members stories here giving credible proof that the buying experience would be a good one.

Many makers or vendors have come here for valuable feedback helping them in making their offering more appealing to a knowledgeable customer base.

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Jean Thibodeau




Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada
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PostPosted: Wed 08 Sep, 2010 8:55 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Just a late evening bump. Wink

As with last year the Economy makes giving donations more challenging and for some impossible when survival takes precedence over hobbies, but those who are secure should think of giving that small donation to keep this place operational and to repay the benefits their derive from the site.

Referring to my previous post those makers and vendors who can afford a donation should do so since this site really helps with word of mouth marketing.

If makers and vendors do donate please feel free to post a comment about how this site may have helped keeping you in business and/or what you personally derive from the site in feedback for your products and in helping in the design of new products i.e. you can also contribute interesting stories about how you found out about " myArmoury " and how customers found you because of talk on the various Forums or reviews of your products.

The membership here are also motivated buyers who should have an interest in keeping good makers " fed " and supported by our orders: If we all stop buying they will stop being able to make. Wink ( In other words support our makers during these difficult economic times or risk losing some of the better ones ).

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Jean Thibodeau




Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada
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PostPosted: Thu 09 Sep, 2010 5:53 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Early morning bump. Wink

Oh, I just noticed that the most recent contribution ( at the time I'm writing this post ) is from a longtime member , Walter Neubauer, who has been a member for many years, since 2004 but has only posted twice in that time and I think should get special thanks for making a donation.

I find it laudable that someone who doesn't post often decided to help the site out with a contribution: I assume that there are many people like him who post very little or never posted but visit the site often enough to appreciate the wider content as well as reading the Forums and obviously are getting enough and care enough about the site to want to contribute.

Anyway, I noticed this and I really appreciated the generosity and I'm sure that Nathan is also happy with all the people who quietly appreciate this site.

( NOTE: As contributions and contributors are made I can't promise to thank each one of you individually or make a remark about every contribution but when I notice something nice or interesting to draw attention to I will certainly do so.

All contributions and contributors are appreciate even if all don't get special mention. Wink Big Grin )

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Jean Thibodeau




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PostPosted: Thu 09 Sep, 2010 9:16 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Late night " Bump ". Too tired tonight to think of something more substantial to write but remember even the smaller donations add up if enough people do it.

The donations seen to be averaging at $40 at the moment and we are over 12 donors at this time.

$546 is not bad considering that this drive has only been stated a few days ago.

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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team


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PostPosted: Fri 10 Sep, 2010 6:07 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Don't forget you can also help by upgrading your membership!
Happy

ChadA

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Philip Montgomery




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PostPosted: Fri 10 Sep, 2010 1:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Yearly Donation Drive         Reply with quote

Jean Thibodeau wrote:
Yes it's that time of year again or even a little later than usual.



I just made a very modest donation, and I encourage everyone else to give what they can. I love this site. I have learned so much here. I am fascinated by the forums, the resources, the great store of knowledge residing in the membership. This is a great place. Thanks to everybody who makes this place happen.

Philip Montgomery
~-----~
"A broken sword blade fwipping through the air like a scythe through rye does demand attention."
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Jean Thibodeau




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PostPosted: Fri 10 Sep, 2010 6:28 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Philip thanks: All donations are appreciated and I also appreciate your posting as it's much more interesting when people let us know why they donated and why they like and support the site. It's a lot more interesting than my just bumping the Topic and it helps keep thing moving.


NOTE, Teaser: There will be some things to watch for on this donation drive soon to make thing more fun to participate. Wink Wink Wink

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Scott Hrouda




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PostPosted: Fri 10 Sep, 2010 7:15 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Jean Thibodeau wrote:
NOTE, Teaser: There will be some things to watch for on this donation drive soon to make thing more fun to participate. Wink Wink Wink


Oh boy! Jean is giving away his Michael Pikula Early Partizan Spear ... TO ME! Eek! Wink Laughing Out Loud Laughing Out Loud Laughing Out Loud

In all seriousness, a little donation, membership increase, or both are cheap and easy to do.

An Upgraded membership is $25 dollars per year. That's $2.08 per month or 7 cents a day. Two bucks a month. Tell me the last time you were able to have this much fun and learn so much for two bucks a month? For comparison, I recently took my children to the county fair and $20 worth of amusement ride coupons lasted 15 minutes. Eek!

...and that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana shaped. - Sir Bedevere
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Jean Thibodeau




Location: Montreal,Quebec,Canada
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PostPosted: Fri 10 Sep, 2010 7:24 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Scott Hrouda wrote:
Jean Thibodeau wrote:
NOTE, Teaser: There will be some things to watch for on this donation drive soon to make thing more fun to participate. Wink Wink Wink


Oh boy! Jean is giving away his Michael Pikula Early Partizan Spear ... TO ME! Eek! Wink Laughing Out Loud Laughing Out Loud Laughing Out Loud

:


No not my Partizan Spear, are you insane. Razz Razz Big Grin Cool

This is why it's called a teaser, I'm not talking ...... ( a first there. Laughing Out Loud ).

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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team


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PostPosted: Sat 11 Sep, 2010 11:31 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Wow, already over $1000. That's incredible.

The generosity of this site's membership never ceases to amaze me.

Happy

ChadA

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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin


myArmoury Admin

PostPosted: Sat 11 Sep, 2010 12:30 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

I stand here in awe of the generosity. Really, well, I'm sitting, but you get the idea.

I already paid this year's hosting bill out of pocket, so all this help really, really eases the personal strain. As Jean knows, I was hesitant to reach out to the community. I kept putting it off. I really appreciate his encouragement and him stepping up and doing the donor-drive and for personally sponsoring a new contest:

I just posted up a new contest related to the donation drive. I normally would have waited until Monday since that's when all our updates normally publish, but I couldn't wait. The outpour of help was too much and I couldn't wait.

Please make sure you guys go look at the new contest and for those who have contributed be sure to enter the contest to make sure you're in it to win it.


Ready, Set, Donate!

A New Contest

For those who have already contributed, make sure you go enter the contest. Maybe you'll win!

There's anther contest waiting in the wings that will happen quickly after this one finishes.

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