Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

jamesnyman wrote:

My question is, how much does it cost to run the Shakuhachi Forum for a year, including Ken and Brian's time? If we had a ball park estimate, then each member could contribute on sort of a self imposed sliding scale according to their means and wishes.

James,

Good question.

At the end of the year, the Google ad revenue comes close to covering the cost of the server package necessary to run the forum. So, we're pretty square there.

Time and labor is another thing. It's a part time job with wildly varying degrees of time commitment depending on the situation. In that sense it's difficult to say how many hours of labor it requires other than "a lot." A partial reimbursement is the most realistic possibility.

Chris Moran wrote:

is there a paypal process where a forum member can sign up to make a donation by voluntary subscription month-to-month? So if people want, they can just give whatever amount they want to per month and it's automatically charged to a member's paypal account?

Anyone else like that idea?

That is a good suggestion Chris. There are monthly fees required to use that Paypal service which may or may not defeat the purpose. Nevertheless, it is something worth looking into.

Any donation that a member feels inclined to make is gladly accepted and much appreciated.

That being said, I feel most comfortable with the new Buy/Sell/Trade forum donation method. This way, those who profit directly from the forum are asked to donate. That seems fair. 

KL

How's this for thinking outta' the box?    Every serious member of the forum who reads it daily, like me, and where the forum has become an anticipated page of my life, is mandated to buy at least one shakuhachi from Ken within the next five years at a cost dependent on their annual income.    We not only support a living shakuhachi artisan maker, but ensure that the forum will stay in the black for the next five years.   New plan after that!   All previous buyers who are daily readers are exempt already.         In Brian's case,  we either buy one each of every shakuhachi CD he has published within the next five years,  or we supply him with a bottle of Bombay Sapphire once every two weeks.    Whaddya' say?   

Thanks for the information Ken and Brian. I already have a shakuhachi by Ken and all of Brian's CDs, but will continue to donate small amounts to the Shakuhachi Forum on a regular basis because like PBS and NPR, the forum has become a of my daily life and we should all support the things we love to keep them healthy.

Yes, of course, based upon the merits of the flute!    I concur with Jamesnyman,  I  have purchased a very nice Taimu this past year and have purchased all of Tairaku's CD's, and I listen to NPR daily.  Good idea , James, and  I will donate quarterly to the forum to keep it fertile.     To prevent the rise of alcoholism among the forum members, I now retract the offer of bi-weekly Bombay.  Happy New Year, Folks!

Last edited by mrwuwu (2010-01-06 22:03:43)

rpowers wrote:

mrwuwu wrote:

To prevent the rise of alcoholism among the forum members, I now retract the offer of bi-weekly Bombay.

It may be a bit over-optimistic to think you can prevent it; at least you won't be personally responsible.

I think those are called conscriptions.

Me, I'd like to plan a trip up to S.F. that revolves around checking out Mujitsu's workshop, Lark in the Morning's store, The Exploratorium, and a Lawrence Ferlenghetti reading at City Lights. Mm mm!  And I fully intend to buy a real bamboo shakuhachi within the next five years from somebody.  Although the wooden 'table leg' keeps sounding better the more I play it...funny how that happens.  Lack of a few thousand dollars around is a great motivation to play what one has around in an assiduous manner. 

On a separate monetary note, Chris, I think that one can set automated PayPal payments, so even if the forum doesn't set it up, you can, "client-side".