<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV><DIV>On May 29, 2007, at 1:47 PM, Dan Robinson wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; ">I thought I would point out (sorry if someone has already done this) that Craigslist obtains income entirely from a single source. They charge people to place "Help Wanted" ads on their site. That's it. It's like $25 per post. They bring in a lot of cash. So for proposals I would suggest -<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN><BR><BR>- You look at a similar model of asking people to pay for certain kinds of access to the community, and<BR>- That a "tip jar" with recommended "tips" for different things should be added to the site asap.</SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV>While not categorically against this idea, I'd like to point out that of primary interest here is that whatever is done ends up helping the community dynamic, and the community thrives on participation. Placing monetized barriers to entry for things like Drupal development work could result in some negative impact on the greater Drupal effort. We want people to participate, find help, provide help, collaborate on things as easily as possible, and placing a toll on any of that behavior will diminish that behavior, and then only the larger, well-funded organizations would be able to post RFPs or job listings, for example, while the low-budget endeavors could be left having to cope in the free-listings ghetto. That would be a shame.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>BTW, for accurate data points: Craig's list is free to post jobs for most all metro regions, with few exceptions. Posting a job in NY costs $25, in SF Bay area costs $75, per category listed. It's not a ton of money, but for the person with a $1000 budget looking to hire help, that barrier to posting could drive her elsewhere, away from the Drupal expertise to be found on x.d.o.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Laura</DIV></BODY></HTML>