Accusations against this "dieing" BB and members

[angelsmom10]

I'm one right up there with birol with posts mainly in the campfire section. I do not really like to post my opinions in the CG Review as that is really one's person taste. When we first got our PU, we camped at a SP very near us as since our DD's were teens and really never alone in the house for any length of time, we wanted to be close..."just in case" although MIL lives within a few miles of our house. We totally enjoy this CG and camp there quite frequently. About our 2nd or 3rd trip with a group, we were talking about CG's and we brought up this CG and one of the other people really downed us and the CG saying how terrible it was and how the trash cans in the bathrooms NEVER got emptied (the time they had discussed happened to be over a holiday weekend and also, who stands in the bathroom looking at the trash overflowing). I just felt so out of place and put down because we loved this CG and this person made such a to-do about how bad this CG really is. Since it is a matter of opinion, I just don't like to express myself very often because it is like...beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How often are you in the bathroom anyway...as long as we don't have "pit" bathrooms, I could care less.
 
 
By the way, this happens to be the CG that we have taken the teens to for the past 3yrs and they have not had a bit of trouble or complaints about it. In fact one of the guys we always have to tease as when we camp, he gets upset when a fly lands on his plate or sandwich and has to either turn the plate around or even pick off the piece of bread that the fly lands on... by the end of the weekend, he's in with the crowd and lets it go about the fly landing on his plate or sandwich. We do try to keep the area clean and set up a screen tent to keep the flies to a minimum, but you're camping what do you expect.  I guess this part will explain a lot... he had never camped in his life till 3yrs ago when he went with us.... he talked about the great time he had and his parents decided to get a motorhome (he says it's not very big). Apparently they just did this last spring and we asked him to find out when his parents wanted to camp or if they even wanted to join us last year when we took the teens out and his response.... we only got the motorhome to travel on vacation they drive it to the hotel and stay there (in the hotel)... did not get it to camp in:confused: ...what's the point was our response.

[2manytoyz]

Oh, you've opened Pandora's Box now!

Honestly, the magazine is a fair price.  It is thin, but I have been buying it for years as it is a niche market.  The forum is overpriced.  It's twice that of the magazine ($14.98 vs. $30 yr.).  In the magazine, research was done, articles were printed, and it was mailed to me.  With the website, I read articles from other paying members.  The only thing provided was access to the forum.  This same type of service is provided elsewhere for free.  Those are the facts.

Now, I want to say I've always loved this forum.  Great folks, fun stories.  However, if the access wasn't included with the subscription renewal, I wouldn't be here now.  Some of the stories posted on the forum end up in the magazine.  I have no problem with that if the forum was free, but having to pay to post stories that will make money for the magazine doesn't seem ethical to me.

I can fully appreciate that websites and bandwidth cost money.  I run several websites myself.  I have no advertisement, no banners, and make no money from them.  Judging by the number of posts here, bandwidth isn't an issue.

I would recommend to Dave and staff that they seriously lower the cost of access to the forum.  Make it a package deal with the magazine.  1 years access to both for $20.  If you feature someone's story, give them a free access for a year.  That would be incentive for some of us to send you technical articles.  

JMHO.  YMMV.

[garym053]

I have checked PUX and some of the other Pop-Up sites about 4 times in the last 6 months. I like PUT, both the board & the mag, and I'm here to stay. I like reading all your posts whether On Topic or OFF. It would be great to actually meet you all camping some day, although there's probably a pretty slim chance of that happening!

I'm not sure anything needs to be done TOO differently to attract new members. SOME change is usually good, although I don't see Drastic changes being needed. I agree with those who would like to see the Campfire section kept separate for Off Topic posts. That's the FIRST section I check! Then I check the Northeast Campground section, although with 20 to 30 below temps, very few of us up here in Northern New England are thinking of camping just now! Paying the oil bill ($1.60 / Gallon) is more important than making reservations! Then I check the Fix It section, Product Reviews, Polls, and Lastly the General section.

I hope all those considering not renewing change their minds, simply because I (and others, I'm sure) value your posts. Remember that (especially with the Magazine Subscription included), it doesn't take many rebates from the PUT store to pay for your subscription!

[Used 2B PopUPTimes]

I would recommend to Dave and staff that they seriously lower the cost of access to the forum.  Make it a package deal with the magazine.  1 years access to both for $20.  If you feature someone's story, give them a free access for a year.  That would be incentive for some of us to send you technical articles.  

JMHO.  YMMV.

Good ideas

Charlie and I had a conversation today about lowering the price to $20 for both, now that we have our internet expenses under control.

[NightOwl]

Good ideas

Charlie and I had a conversation today about lowering the price to $20 for both, now that we have our internet expenses under control.

 :S This is SUPER news, Dave.  For one thing, it means the magazine and the board are on solid footing, and for another, it will be  a big help to your loyal readers with tight budgets in these challenging economic times!   What a great morale builder for all of us.   :S  :W

[MtnCamper]

:S This is SUPER news, Dave.  For one thing, it means the magazine and the board are on solid footing, and for another, it will be  a big help to your loyal readers with tight budgets in these challenging economic times!   What a great morale builder for all of us.   :S  :W

Does that mean it's going to happen, or we are just talking about it? :confused:

[B-flat]

That is good news and if it does work out it will be appreciated by many.

[NightOwl]

Does that mean it's going to happen, or we are just talking about it? :confused:

My GUESS is that this is probably going to happen since Dave is not a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy (like some of us. :eek:    )   He strikes me as the sort  of person who would not make a remark like this unless he was quite certain of being able to follow through on it.  

Actually, I am not surprised at the new rates he has proposed.  He made it clear from the beginning that did he NOT institute these fees to make a profit, but rather,  because the huge board we used to have was really costing big bucks     and was turning out to be a financial drain rather than a useful  adjunct to the magazine.

If  this works out as he mentions, we are all in for a fantastic bargain :W

[whitestar505]

All,

 
  All I have to say is give me the bill and let's get on with life. Life is to short and I rather be camping...

[NightOwl]

All,

 
  All I have to say is give me the bill and let's get on with life. Life is to short and I rather be camping...

Not everyone has a lot of disposable income right now, so this information means more to some of us than it does to others.  Believe it or not, there are actually  people who cant afford "the bill" for both the magazine and the board right now (about $50.00 annually)  so I imagine they will be very pleased with new rates.  

And THEN we will all get on with life and  go camping!    (Well, as soon as the weather is decent   )

[Used 2B PopUPTimes]

Not everyone has a lot of disposable income right now, so this information means more to some of us than it does to others.  Believe it or not, there are actually  people who cant afford "the bill" for both the magazine and the board right now (about $50.00 annually)  so I imagine they will be very pleased with new rates.  

And THEN we will all get on with life and  go camping!    (Well, as soon as the weather is decent   )

We've included the magazine as part of membership since last summer, currently $30 gets you both. We mailed out store credits to those who paid for the magazine and the Arvee Club. Most members/subscribers have redeemed their credits for stuff in the store.

We're carefully considering several ideas to boost both the magazine's circulation and the Arvee Club's traffic. We still remember the traffic jams that we had several years ago that "slammed" us with expensive internet fees and constant moderation of a handful of trouble makers. We read every post and have had very little moderation intervention.

[birol]

So, the cost will be 20 US (is that 20 Canadian for canadians ?) to get the magazine and access the forum ? Or is that 20 bucks each ? (Sorry for asking a dumb question)

[NightOwl]

We've included the magazine as part of membership since last summer, currently $30 gets you both. We mailed out store credits to those who paid for the magazine and the Arvee Club. Most members/subscribers have redeemed their credits for stuff in the store.

We're carefully considering several ideas to boost both the magazine's circulation and the Arvee Club's traffic. We still remember the traffic jams that we had several years ago that "slammed" us with expensive internet fees and constant moderation of a handful of trouble makers. We read every post and have had very little moderation intervention.

Sorry, Dave,  I must be  stuck in a time warp with the original figures where we paid for the magazine and then paid for the board on top of it--somehow I missed the announcement of the "combination" of fees.  

As several of us have commented in the past, the trolls are not missed and  the newer, smaller board is much faster, as well as dependably pleasant.

[Trlrboy]

Charlie and I had a conversation today about lowering the price to $20 for both, now that we have our internet expenses under control.

Give this man a round of applause.  Anytime you get a 33% cost reduction nowadays you have really done something.

[Garrett]

Did I miss something.  All I saw is they had a conversation about lowering the price. My DW and i have a lot of conversations but that sure does not make something a done deal.  So let's clarify this.  What is the renwal price?