Keep OJ Alive?
Tue, 08/07/2012 - 1:04pm
Just got our server bill.
Invoice Number 397299
Core VPS - olivejuicemusic.com (08/20/2012 - 08/19/2013) $203.40 USD
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Sub Total: $203.40 USD
Credit: $0.00 USD
Total: $203.40 USD
Anyone care to help? You can make a donation from this page if you like. Thanks!
http://www.olivejuicemusic.com/content/about-oj
Wed, 08/08/2012 - 1:03pm
#2
I have to admit it's hard for
I have to admit it's hard for me to think of letting it go. But at this point it's really getting hard to afford. I can't help but feel like I'd be letting certain people down. It was difficult enough ending the distro. This website represents a lot of hard work. And it really does feel amazing when I hear that someone got turned onto something through the site. Just the other day I got Facebook message from a girl in Chicago thanking me for the info about the band Snip Das. She said that they inspired her to do her own music and that she really appreciated the site. But even here there is irony that she decided to express it to me through FB and not the board. I wish she would have. She might have connected with more people who liked Snip Das. She might have inspired others?
A lot of energy and good discussion has gone on here. But it does feel like Facebook has really cut into the open forum discussion thing. Now it's not a matter of dealing with opposing views or internet trolls. You just "unlike" them. Not that I'm totally condemning FB. But, I still appreciate all the contributions that are given here. It's a trip to reflect on some of the past discussions that took place. I know there are a lot of lurkers here still. I would encourage you all to contribute. I still believe there really is something special about open public forums VS closed networks like FB.
The success of Scenes or movements or whatever you wanna call em is an interesting topic unto its self. I had a similar conversation with my friend just last night about Kansas City and why it's not more popular in general.
Wed, 08/08/2012 - 6:28pm
#3
I am not a facebook member
so I use this board maybe more than some (and maybe less than others).
I have gotten a lot out of it and hopefully have contributed a lot as well.
I suppose it'd be more honest and accurate for me to say that it is something I am willing to no longer have available to me if it means contributing money.
PS Matt, what about just going to a way less expensive site and setting up a message board?
Are not some of the basic ones less expensive?
PPS Can you save all the info for the current site so that you have it all built and ready to go if you should retire it and then decide to reintroduce it in the future?
Fri, 08/10/2012 - 4:30pm
#4
My vote would be to keep it
My vote would be to keep it alive in some form, at least for another year, and see what happens. But perhaps there's a way to make it cheaper to maintain? I'm personally too broke to vote with my wallet. As it is, I just moved out of my apartment because I can't even afford rent. I've never been this poorly off financially. (At the same time, it is strangely freeing....an adventure might await. But I digress.)
You could collapse the archive of it into your Schwervon site, and maintain a web domain name that points to that archive as if it is a separate entity. I would think this might only cost $10 or $25 per year.
It seemed to me that when the message board moved to this current format, it gained and lost something. The trolling and hurt feelings seemed to go WAY down (=good), but it also became just inconvenient enough to post here that it probably discouraged people.
It was the mild energetic step of having to log in each time and remember the password that slowed me down, personally.
I'd be very sad to see it disappear. We're in a lull, for sure. I'd try to find a creative solution that is not so extreme.
Fri, 08/10/2012 - 6:49pm
#5
Thanks
Some very good points here. Good stuff to think about. The one thing I can address right off is, Steve, there should be an option to remember you password and username so you don't have to keep signing in. If you are using a home computer or laptop and get annoyed with logging in you might want to give that a try. I'm not sure how long it lasts but it should keep you signed in as long as you visit the forum now and then. Not sure what the time limit is but I've gone for years without having to log back in.
Fri, 08/10/2012 - 5:47pm
#6
how come
how come no one ever talks about music on here!? or when ever people do no one seems to care/comment! i mean i know its a forum for all types of stuff- politics- whatever but its olive juice MUSIC! idk i guess i only have been on here for a small time compared to how long its been around but i feel like even when i first started there were alot more people talkin about shows they were playing, artists they've seen, or projects they were working on!
p.s. facebook sux
Fri, 08/10/2012 - 5:51pm
#7
Very Good Point!
Speaking of...here's an album that I can't stop listening too.
Sat, 08/11/2012 - 9:35pm
#8
Surely a Kickstarter campaign
Surely a Kickstarter campaign would easily fund the OJ board for years to come - if all that's needed is a few hundred bucks - people raise thousands and thousands all the time with Kickstarter.
Is there anybody out there who has created a Kickstarter campaign before who might be able to assist such a thing?
And to Steve, yes, there's an automatic username/password saver here for me, I don't know why it isn't showing up for you - Everytime I go on the OJ board I DO have to sign in, but the username and password are already typed in for me, all I have to do it hit the "login" button. Maybe there's something in your personal internet settings/preferences that has been set to not preserve passwords/cookies/whatever?
Maybe somebody else can explain a solution to this better than I can... but it's totally fixable and possible -
Mon, 08/13/2012 - 8:33pm
#9
Interesting
It's an idea. I've never done a Kickstarter campaign. I don't think they're a bad idea necessarily. I've contributed to a few but I always felt slightly uncomfortable about doing one for myself. It also looks like a fair amount of work. Not sure what I'd have to offer in the way of "incentives" aside from just keeping the site going?
A separate question: Would people like it if I continued to include new band profiles even if it doesn't really mean anything in the way of selling their stuff on the distro? I've thought about asking some people that we've encountered on tour. It would be for purely promotional/archival purposes. I had always hoped that this could be a place for people to network for touring and gig swapping but I don't see a lot of that kind of action? The board seems to be the main function of this site at this point and it appears to be mostly just for discussion? I don't mean for it to sound so self indulgent. I love the input and suggestions.
Do most people think it would be cool if OJ was just a messageboard? Is that what it is to most people?
Sun, 08/12/2012 - 11:21pm
#10
deleted
deleted
Tue, 08/14/2012 - 10:16pm
#11
Promoter/Touring resource?
I wonder if there's a way to make OJ into a touring resource for booking contacts, or any other relevant touring info? Good restaurants, where the food co-ops are, lousy houses to sleep at, any other such info... and of course an open-source booking resource could be a good way to increase/share contacts for everybody.
I have no idea how constructing such a thing would work.
I do like the idea of more and new bands being continually included on the board - even if there are no longer items for sale, it's not a bad thing to have OJ be something of an index/encyclopedia of our "extended community" or whatever you wanna call it. And of course each artists' page could easily have links to their own websites/Bandcamp pages/whatever, where they could sell their own merch as they normally do.
What, you may ask, if the difference between this idea and Myspace or Facebook etc?
Nothing really, except that it's a much small pool of people - the "antifolk" scene, or the OJ community, or both, or more, or whatever.
Of course it's not like I'M about to devote my life to making all this stuff happen... just a couple ideas, in case someone else has hours on their hands and nothing better to do...
Wed, 08/15/2012 - 7:52am
#12
Some of the greatest things
Some of the greatest things this world has ever known/done/seen have been created by people with "just a couple ideas...." with "hours on their hands and nothing better to do..."
Please don't sell it so short.
Wed, 08/15/2012 - 4:10am
#13
You should figure out a way to keep it
FB and the lack of a distro has basically killed this board, but its still a better forum than FB will ever be, and less fucked up in every way. The switch has mainly meant that nobody is saying anything substantive on line about any of this stuff, which is too bad. Im actually thinking of following Barry's lead and getting off FB. Well, Im not off it yet...
But if there is some cheaper way to keep this, you should because you never know it could come back to life again, especially if it continues to be a way to learn about new bands--Jeff's right about that. Also thats a good idea to link it more closely with Schwervon so that while popularizing yourselves you could popularize this site as well (and vice versa). And it would also help if certain kinds of bands were promoting that this is where they go to talk about stuff and learn about each other (hint hint Mr. Lewis).
Wed, 08/15/2012 - 8:59am
#14
If this did increase traffic
and proved helpful to a bunch of folks you could offer ads--like zines do--just people promoting their new show or whatnot.
Wed, 08/15/2012 - 6:22pm
#15
It's hard for me to imagine
It's hard for me to imagine people paying to advertise their gigs when I don't even see people posting their show in the "events" section or using the open blog much (which is featured on the front page... probably the most viewed page of the entire site.)
Wed, 08/15/2012 - 9:16pm
#16
Yeah.
Speaking for myself I am just throwing some ideas/thoughts around.
I guess you need to ask yourself what you'd like to do and then execute accordingly.
Thu, 08/16/2012 - 12:54am
#17
It's all good. Honestly, I
It's all good. Honestly, I really appreciate it. I love brainstorming. It's very helpful. I very much appreciate your input here Barry.
Sun, 08/19/2012 - 9:02am
#18
Facebook sucks. I find plenty
Facebook sucks. I find plenty of reasons to use it, but the main one is my kids. I can share their lives with family and friends who are online. And Sidewalk...I have this crazy notion that it connects me with people .
I say..
BOARDHOST. Bring it back, Matt. I love what you did with this, but it couldn't hurt. Buy the domain "ojboard.whatever." I checked and it looks like it's there. Should be $15-25 to do it. Make it direct to a boardhost page. Link to this site if you want to keep it. Or take this site down for now. You can always invigorate it down the line, you have the files.
Go back to basics for a while! As long as you have the domain names and they link to something remotely active or up-to-date, that's what's important.
My two cents.
Bee K
Mon, 08/20/2012 - 8:52pm
#19
The more i think about it
the more I can only recommend hosting a simple message board (like what Ben is suggesting I believe) where the template is offered and you simply customize it.
Tue, 08/21/2012 - 12:27pm
#20
I'm in the process with Dibs
I'm in the process with Dibs right now in looking into cheaper hosting options. I went ahead and charged the fee for the year on my credit card but I think if we can downgrade our service I might be able to get some of the charge pro-rated. It's annoying but the site may be down for a short period while we do something called a migration. I don't totally understand it all. But after this I think the hosting fee will be a lot cheaper. I'll keep you posted. Dibs, as usual, is saving my ass with a lot of free technical advice and help. By the way I just mastered his new solo acoustic album and it sounds amazing. He's the next John Fahey!!
Tue, 08/28/2012 - 7:21pm
#21
great thoughts from all
I was surprised to read all this! Some great comments here.
Matt and I are working on switching the site over to a cheaper plan right now - it should be up next week with no change (except the downtime...). Thinking about the future of the site is a great idea though. Part of me thinks that maybe there is more happening on the site than people really want.
Like - the artist profiles are great to keep, but they could be a little more of an archive. Regulars aren't using the artist profiles. But new people might, so it's probably worth keeping.
But I guess the big questions are - who is the audience, and what is the goal for them? Is the primary function for regulars to have discussion? Or is it for strangers to find new music? Is it a group blog - and if so is it mainly an expressive outlet for writers, or for an audience of readers? It can be any of these things, but right now maybe the site isn't sure what the people want.
Anyway, it's cool to see this discussion happening - would love to hear more of everyone's ideas.
Thu, 08/30/2012 - 6:33am
#22
Very interresting discussion
I agree with almost everything said before. Like many people, OJ sort of changed my life at some point. I was reading the message board every day three years ago. I guess now I'm just too busy, starting to work and stuff. But I love to go there like once a month and see what's cooking! I find it important that some of it stays on line. I understand that the price might be too important, so, yeah, a light version would do. Do you still need donations? Is the link still active?
You know, a few years back I donated a rinky dink amount ($5?), and may again, but almost no one responds anymore when I have a question.
I emailed you and you agreed it's not used like it used to be.
24 views and I am the first responder.
How many of those viewers sent money, or are going to?
The Olive Juice Message Board has been an integral part of my life for over a decade.
(Can you imagine what it would be like to read some of those old threads now?)
Let it go. (Don't renew.)
I have a tiny bit of doubt as to the wisdom of that suggestion, but just tiny---if that even.
Whatever you decide, thank you for hosting the board for so many years.
http://barrybliss.info/