<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 5/26/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Bill Fitzgerald</b> <<a href="mailto:bill@funnymonkey.com">bill@funnymonkey.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
-1 for paid advertisements appearing on <a href="http://Drupal.org">Drupal.org</a> --</blockquote><div><br>We will gladly accept negative proposals. This is why we are reaching out to the community to let everyone have a say.
<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">+1 for a series of donor pages of organizations who pay to support the<br>infrastructure/Association, with links to web sites of the
<br>companies/individuals donating --</blockquote><div><br>Ok, we are planning on having Drupal association memberships that will include paid memberships with links, and promotion in exchange for their contribution. You will see a survey on this topic soon.
<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> From Kieran's email, it's hard to tell where exactly the ads might<br>
appear on the site, but any mixing of ads with content (specifically if<br>it's context-related, for example having ads for hosting companies next<br>to handbook pages on how to build a hosting environment) could blur the
<br>lines between content and ads, particularly in a multinational community<br>where English isn't always the first language</blockquote><div><br>This is good feedback, and proposals that address these issues are important. The idea of buy "hook_form_alter" on ebay now! ads is definitely not we are going for. Consulting ads in the consulting sections, hosting ads in the hosting forums, book ads in the training sections maybe a net gain for
<a href="http://Drupal.org">Drupal.org</a> users as well as the entire community.<br> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
As soon as there are "responsible hosting and consulting practices,"<br>which, as Kieran has said, are yet to be determined, it's pretty<br>difficult to distinguish between companies who meet these standards (and
<br>there will need to be a screening process for these standards to mean<br>anything) and companies who are Association Approved.</blockquote><div><br>I don't think we aim to offer a Drupal Association star of approval to advertisers, but we wouldn't want to approve ads from a hosting provider that was known to be negligent with security issues in the past.
<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I'm all for getting more money into the Association to defray expenses<br>
and support growth. The stronger the community is, the greater the<br>potential for companies working directly with Drupal. Presenting ads<br>alongside content is not the way to go. Donor pages provide a good<br>middle ground -- recognition for organizations who put money into
d.o<br>and the Association, without diluting the quality of the content and the<br>user experience.</blockquote><div><br>I am hearing strong objections to content based ads. Got it.<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
And yes, I'm ready to hear many people saying that ads can be ignored,<br>that they're everywhere so we don't even notice them, etc. I still hold<br>that screen real estate is valuable, and that people looking for content
<br>should be able to focus on content and not screening out unwanted visual<br>noise.</blockquote><div><br>This is all very important and I think advertising has been rejected in the past for many of the reasons you've outlined here. But not every one can donate direct cash in a meaningful way to support the Drupal infrastructure and so relevant and useful advertisements in specific regions may allow for these passive contributions.
<br><br>After all, 60 second page loads due to insufficient hardware is a pretty negative user experience as well.<br><br>If you want to wrap this email into a proposal I'll gladly submit it for consideration. I can also take it as is, because I think it addresses a lot of good points.
<br><br>Cheers,<br>Kieran<br> </div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Cheers,<br><br>Bill<br><br>Kieran Lal wrote:<br>> In 2006,
<a href="http://Drupal.org">Drupal.org</a> <<a href="http://Drupal.org">http://Drupal.org</a>> traffic increased 250%. In<br>> order to prepare for future growth of <a href="http://Drupal.org">Drupal.org</a> <
<a href="http://Drupal.org">http://Drupal.org</a>><br>> and the needs of the Drupal community the Drupal Association is<br>> looking into starting a paid advertising program. We believe that<br>> paid advertising that is relevant to the needs of Drupal
<br>> administrators, Drupal users, and the Drupal community can be placed<br>> in relevant sections of <a href="http://Drupal.org">Drupal.org</a> <<a href="http://Drupal.org">http://Drupal.org</a>> and help the
<br>> Drupal community greatly by funding improvements and infrastructure<br>> for <a href="http://Drupal.org">Drupal.org</a> <<a href="http://Drupal.org">http://Drupal.org</a>> websites.<br>><br>> If you represent a company interested in participating please get in
<br>> touch via this email. We are looking for proposals from:<br>><br>> * Hosting companies that provide reliable, secure hosting of Drupal<br>> web sites.<br>> * Web development and consulting companies and practioners which
<br>> provide contributions back to the Drupal community.<br>><br>> Advertisements on <a href="http://Drupal.org">Drupal.org</a> <<a href="http://Drupal.org">http://Drupal.org</a>> web sites will be<br>> marked as paid advertisements and must meet responsible hosting and
<br>> consulting practices which are to be determined. The Drupal<br>> Association will not explicitly endorse any advertisers.<br>><br>> Funds raised from advertising will go to the Drupal association and<br>
> fund infrastructure, and support improvements in <a href="http://Drupal.org">Drupal.org</a><br>> <<a href="http://Drupal.org">http://Drupal.org</a>> to meet the needs of the Drupal community. The<br>> Drupal association will also offer paid memberships to the Drupal
<br>> association, for supporters that do not wish to advertise but still<br>> wish to support the Drupal project.<br>><br>> Thank-you,<br>> Kieran Lal<br>> Drupal Association fund raising board member<br>
><br>><br>> --<br>> To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.<br>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>><br>> _______________________________________________
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</a><br>><br><br><br>--<br>Bill Fitzgerald<br><a href="http://www.funnymonkey.com">http://www.funnymonkey.com</a><br>Tools for Teachers<br>503.897.7160<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>consulting mailing list
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<br>-- <br>To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.<br>