A) What are your opinions of paying a nominal annual fee to be a member of the forum?
I personally wouldn't mind since I've been here so long, and have gained so much. But, I believe it would severely restrict the addition of new members.
B) Would you rather have a copy of the magazine in the mail, or an e-magazine?
I would like both. I've done this with our local newspaper and with the Wall Street Journal. I get a lot of magazines, and in many cases I actually want them for the ads. Articles on-line are great. Technology is now at a point where copyright and sharing can be a lot more controlled.
C) If you got the e-magazine, would you stop subscribing to the printed copy?
Absolutely not.
D) How to you feel about having a free membership that has limited access to content? This may be a "read only" version of the forum. It may mean being able to access some articles, podcasts, videos, but having to pay for selected e-information.
As I said above, I think that paid access to the forum would severely affect new users. But, for access to articles, podcasts, videos -- no problem. I think that would be good business.
E) Then, a "small" membership fee that has access to all the content, some of which is 'pay as you go', such as some of the e-information? This includes all privileges of the forum, including posting.
EE)Or, a "gold" membership, where you can have access to all the website, along with a "members only" forum where you get specific advice to specific problems from the top pros in the industry? This membership also includes a subscription to the magazine.
I think either of the above could work.
F) Finally, how much is this stuff worth? What should someone pay for a "medium" membership and what would you expect to receive. And, same question for the "gold" membership.
I have no clue. I don't think we have enough demographic information to know where the "pain threshold" might be. Having attended three of the conferences, I think that our members probably range from slightly above living paycheck-to-paycheck, to being very comfortable. To be viable and useful, we need that entire range of people.
I think you've hit on the main pet peeves about the forum -- posting photos and searching. One I'd like to add is that it sure would be helpful if we could see the postings while adding a new post.
My 0.02 about photos -- I probably post as many photos taken on a personal camera as anybody else on the forum. I do find it difficult compared to other sites where I can just click on it from my camera or computer. If I look at most of my neighbors with ponds, they are very computer limited. They are farmers, sales people, excavators, trades people, restaraunt owners, etc., where daily use of a computer is not required. Asking them move photos to another site, resize them, and then do a copy and paste is well beyond many of them.
As for hijackings and other subjects -- Sometimes the hijackings get a little crazy, and this may discourage lurkers from wanting to come in. I'm not sure how this could be controlled, other than we have to self-police ourselves. I wouldn't want to have to put the burden of controlling hijackings on the moderators. (Heck, they are as bad as the rest of us!)
As for non-pond subjects, I think that many of them fall into the "nuances" that Bob spoke about at the last conference, and also wrote about recently. I feel we need this kind of diversity as it relates to our homes and ponds. It keeps people coming back when the pond is frozen over.
Ken
