Buses - The Economy - BCM

[John316]

I know for a fact, that some message boards aren't free (unless they are government subsidized ). We used to know some folks that had a board (far bigger than this one) and it cost good $$$ to keep it going. I am grateful to MAK for keeping this open. We are subscribed to the BCM, and will continue to be, for now.

I might add that there are a lot of free services for the boards out there. Our freinds had their own server for it, and custom software. I don't know what MAK is using. Everything might be free... I don't know.

That's my .02.

God bless,

John

[Songman]

"Cody; the 38 bucks a year doesn't bother me, I just don't see where the benefit is for me and if MAK wanted to keep the subscribers he would reduce the rate on his electronic magazine it cost him no handling, postage, or printing but he wants the same price for it as the hard copy and the electronic news papers I subscribe to the cost is about 1/3 of the copy, the magazine supporting this board is a bunch of bull Dr.Dave operates one with no support along with many others   "

So Makwminewhatever, let me take a wild @$# guess here. I'll just bet you are one of the volunteers that helps to keep this BB going. Right? In fact you'r probably the guy who does the most work,for free, of course. It always amazes me how some people look at other peoples businesses and decide that they make too much money. How do you know how much it costs to run a BB? Just because someone else does it for no cost doesn't mean everyone does/can/want to. The other person may have reasons why he chooses to absorb the costs(he probably feels good about helping others or some other reason no one knows about) But don't insult the rest of us by suggesting theres is no cost in keeping up a BB or distributing the magazine electronically. The only thing saved there is the paper and the cost of mailing. Perhaps by doing that MAK is able to achieve a satisfactory return on his investment that he is not able to get with the hard copy version.

If you don't like the magazine, then don't buy it. If you don't think there is value in the BB don't come here. But don't badmouth the magazine owner and then turn around and take the stuff he gives for free.

Thats rude and ignorant.

Fred M.

Fred, you probably shouldn't throw out insults without knowing what you are talking about. I don't have a dog in this fight but I can tell you that other than startup costs, there is no cost to keeping a board like this up. And the same with distributing a magazine electronically. I do both for Eagles International as well as five other entities that I am involved with. Other than the minimal startup costs, it doesn't cost anything on an ongoing basis other than actual storage space of the site. All the ones that I volunteer to do, I do for free so if it were an expense my wife would be screaming. I don't know who MAK uses for web storage but if he is paying very much on a monthly basis he should shop around. There are so many great storage options out there now that no one should be paying high monthly fees. The company I use offers a plan with a one time startup fee and no ongoing monthly costs. With all the traffic this site has, the GoogleAds probably help with what little ongoing costs there should be here. I know GoogleAds don't pay much but there really should be no ongoing costs.

We sure are losing good people around here lately. 

Now as far as the magazine goes, I totally support anything that supports this hobby. Do I have a subscription to BCM right now? No. Why not? Because I subscribed for a year and there were three main series articles that ran the entire length of my subscription. For me it wasn't helpful. There are people out there I know who want to know every little thing there is to know about sine waves and the science that makes them work. But for me, I just want to know the basics of how to convert my bus. To me, over a one year period, I would have liked to see many aspects of bus conversion introduced. Two continuing articles on power, and one year long article about a couple touring Alaska just didn't keep my attention. I found myself only looking at the centerfold each month. So when it was time to renew, I didn't. That doesn't mean I have any ill will towards the magazine, and none at all towards Mike personally. I have spoken with Mike on the phone several times over the years and always found him friendly and helpful.

I say all this to say that just because someone doesn't subscribe to the magazine and makes true statements about this forum not being dependent on income from the magazine to exist does not equal "slamming the publisher". If the publisher wants this forum to be a part of the magazine and require subscription to participate, that would be easy enough for him to do. But I tell you, this would be a lonely place. And I can also tell you that this forum being free to all is the best advertising BCM could ever hope to get. We had the same discussion when I was setting up the Eagles International forum. At first it was going to be for club members only but I said that we would be missing a huge chance at getting new club members by keeping it closed. Over 2/3s of the members of the forum are not members of the club. That is a lot of new Eagle owners who have gotten involved that would not have been there before.

I'm sure that Mike knows that owning BCM is a business. It is a separate entity from Mike Kadletz, the man. He can't take it personally just because someone chooses not to subscribe. Looks like other people here need to learn that same thing for the peace of this forum.

[luvrbus]

FredMc, we are all volunteers on this board by passing on information to each other you lashing out at Davenport was uncalled for.I have been a subscriber to BCM for over 16 years and I have known Mike for the same amount of time but choose not to renew this year.It would be very interesting to find out how many of 1900+ members here subscribe to BCM,and if you have a problem with members here using the board without subscribing to BCM say the word and I will stop.For software upgrades you can download this one for free, and I feel bad about Cole I was the one that ask him to come help some of the guys here with Don being so busy now with the 2 stroke engines oh well live goes on.     good luck

[Dreamscape]

Gee Whiz, I just noticed that makemineatwostroke is now a guest........Bummer....His knowledge about DD's will be missed by myself and others I'm sure.

Fred, What you said publicly about Makemine was uncalled for, you should have sent a PM and kept it private.

I hope Makemine rejoins in the furture.

We need to get along and share knowledge on this board that Mike makes available to us for FREE!

My 2 cents and a cup of coffe!

Paul

[Songman]

Just a little comment from the front page of SMF, the software this forum runs on.

Simple Machines Forum — SMF in short — is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes.

So like I said, the magazine does not pay for the forum. If anything, the forum with all of it's free members, helps pay for the magazine because of the ads.

[cody]

All right guys, sit down and behave, don't make me turn this post around lol.

[JackConrad]

Let's try to stay on the subject of this post.  One of your friendly moderators. 

[John316]

Right on Jack!!! Thanks.

God bless,

John

[JohnEd]

Jack,

One last one.

Songman,

So very well stated.  Excellent!

Guys,

How did this get so far out of hand?  What Paul said.

Luvr,

Please don't go Luvr.  If you do i'll have to hunt you down..... for info.

Be well all,

John

[circusboy90210]

Dallas, cody is on my side of the forum & he's looking @ me again. ;-)

[DaveG]

Just last night I signed up for a one time issue of BCM to decide whether or not I wanted print or electronic version. Then by chance I ended up talking to Mike on the phone this afternoon...what a nice guy and a tremendous source of information for our hobby. He also volunteered to send me a few back issues.

I am sure I'll be sending in a subscription, whether to support this board or just to build my knowledge library, I believe it will support the board.

As Mike is, so am I a small business owner and I can appreciate what he brings to the table (magazine or board).

Regarding bus sales, I have read a few posts regarding Easter and the stories/problems people have there, so I am certainly considering a purchase from Mike.

A new guy with no bus yet.

[Blacksheep]

Dave not totake anything away from MAK but I personally bought a bus from Easters and although they are not what I would call people friendly, you DO get a great deal as long as you lay ALL your cards on the table for ALL to see! If you go there looking for a warranty type deal, forget it. It's a cash and go type place but as long as you state up front what your expecting, that's what you will get and nothing more. If you buy a bus and expect more than what you bargained for, keep looking cause you won't get it from Easters. What you WILL get is a good price for a good bus! That bargaining is all done PRIOR to the the signing so once the paper is signed you get exactly what you signed for!

Ace, satisfied with the deal we got from Easters

[johns4104s]

WVaNative 

Sorry, but I dont believe your guy from St Louis, I think he lost them. I have also been a subscriber during all those years, whenever I had a problem with a issue they corrected it.

John

[Hi yo silver]

Alright, Don't make me stop this bus...

Dennis