Re: [GSAS-board] Web site stuff (sponsors)

[Shango Los <shango@shangolos.com>]

I agree with you Erik.

I think that having a separate sponsor page is a great way to go.

To be even handed about it though, we cannot really judge the sponsors'
generosity in exchange for a banner by past results because they have never
gotten any sort of decent banner placement before.  While doubtful, it is
entirely possible that with some sponsorship placement that is finadable on
the site, we may have more luck with donations because we can send them a
link and say "see, this is where we'll thank you."


On 2/28/09 3:42 PM, "Erik Olson" <erik@thekrib.com> wrote:

> On Sat, 28 Feb 2009, Shango Los wrote:
> 
>> I'm going to skirt this a bit.  I agree that that the colors to the logo are
>> not to my liking either, however!, I don't really think it matters all that
>> much.  There are a lot of folks who have different tastes than I.  If we
>> were a for profit company I would put on my 15 years of brand strategy hat
>> and give a dissertation but <shrug> I'm just glad to have someone like Phil
>> willing to do the very important work of the flier creation.
> 
> ...Which is why I didn't make any comments about the logo on the flyer.
> Figured Phil was enduring enough criticism about the log jokes and other
> minutea to bug him about it.  But a web redesign is a bit more permanent.
> 
> 
>> I think it makes sense to put the sponsors on the front page or make a new
>> section called "sponsors."  If we want them to consider our needs I think it
>> makes sense to consider theirs.  I wouldn't want my sponsorship to be hidden
>> if I was making a donation, especially if it was a significant as some of
>> the folks do.
> 
> I DON'T think we should consider ourselves so beholden to the sponsors
> that we put all their logos on our main page.
> 
> They are a bunch of manufacturers and local stores, most of whom send us a
> few items of merchandise that isn't moving for them once a year, in
> response to a lot of letter-writing and arm-bending that club members have
> to do.  There are some notable exceptions, such as A Place For Pets (Kevin
> goes out of his way to help out the club).
> 
> If you look at who's supporting the club right now, it's the MEMBERS.
> It's members donating or selling their interesting old hardware, fish
> spawns and plant cuttings at the little auctions every month & also the
> two big ones.
> 
> Consider last year's general auction, for instance.  Let me show some
> numbers:  The club *netted* about $1460, about half of that from items
> SOLD by members. (Two of every three dollars spent were from split items,
> but you also have to count that seller gets 60% back.)  We don't know
> exactly how much, but there is also a fair amount of income from donations
> members brought in.  That means the club only brought in $500-600 due to
> donations from stores and manufacturers in the last year.
> 
> I'm estimating that the club brings in between $5000 and $6000 for its
> annual operating budget, between memberships, the two auctions, and the
> micro-auctions.  This means that the manufacturer and local store
> donations accounted for about 10% of our total operating revenue last
> year.
> 
> I do think that's worth a listing of the donors, and it's worth a separate
> thank-you/sponsor page with logos and links.  That is what I
> think Phil is proposing.
> 
> But I do not think it's worth increasing the length of our main page by
> 50%, nor do I like the implication it will have that we somehow endorse
> all the products shown.
> 
> 
> Finally, look at some other aquarium club websites.  Which ones can you
> navigate through?  Which ones are a tangle?  For instance, here's a
> listing of some clubs on the east coast:
> 
> http://northeastcouncil.org/nec/
> 
> The majority of them do not have sponsors plastered all over their main
> page.  The better ones (in my opinion) have an easy navigation menu on the
> left side, including a "SPONSORS" page.
> 
>    - Erik




-- 
Shango Los

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