[consulting] Drupal.org advertising proposals requested

Sat May 26 20:53:49 UTC 2007

On 5/26/07, Bill Fitzgerald <bill at funnymonkey.com> wrote:
>
> -1 for paid advertisements appearing on Drupal.org --

We will gladly accept negative proposals.  This is why we are reaching out
to the community to let everyone have a say.

+1 for a series of donor pages of organizations who pay to support the
> infrastructure/Association, with links to web sites of the
> companies/individuals donating --

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.

>From Kieran's email, it's hard to tell where exactly the ads might
> appear on the site, but any mixing of ads with content (specifically if
> it's context-related, for example having ads for hosting companies next
> to handbook pages on how to build a hosting environment) could blur the
> lines between content and ads, particularly in a multinational community
> where English isn't always the first language

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 Drupal.org users as well as the entire community.

> As soon as there are "responsible hosting and consulting practices,"
> which, as Kieran has said, are yet to be determined, it's pretty
> difficult to distinguish between companies who meet these standards (and
> there will need to be a screening process for these standards to mean
> anything) and companies who are Association Approved.

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.

I'm all for getting more money into the Association to defray expenses
> and support growth. The stronger the community is, the greater the
> potential for companies working directly with Drupal. Presenting ads
> alongside content is not the way to go. Donor pages provide a good
> middle ground -- recognition for organizations who put money into d.o
> and the Association, without diluting the quality of the content and the
> user experience.

I am hearing strong objections to content based ads.  Got it.

And yes, I'm ready to hear many people saying that ads can be ignored,
> that they're everywhere so we don't even notice them, etc. I still hold
> that screen real estate is valuable, and that people looking for content
> should be able to focus on content and not screening out unwanted visual
> noise.

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.

After all, 60 second page loads due to insufficient hardware is a pretty
negative user experience as well.

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.

Cheers,
Kieran

Cheers,
>
> Bill
>
> Kieran Lal wrote:
> > In 2006,  Drupal.org <http://Drupal.org> traffic increased 250%.  In
> > order to prepare for future growth of Drupal.org <http://Drupal.org>
> > and the needs of the Drupal community the Drupal Association is
> > looking into starting a paid advertising program.  We believe that
> > paid advertising that is relevant to the needs of Drupal
> > administrators, Drupal users, and the Drupal community can be placed
> > in relevant sections of Drupal.org <http://Drupal.org> and help the
> > Drupal community greatly by funding improvements and infrastructure
> > for Drupal.org <http://Drupal.org> websites.
> >
> > If you represent a company interested in participating please get in
> > touch via this email.  We are looking for proposals from:
> >
> > * Hosting companies that provide reliable, secure hosting of Drupal
> > web sites.
> > * Web development and consulting companies and practioners which
> > provide contributions back to the Drupal community.
> >
> > Advertisements on Drupal.org <http://Drupal.org> web sites will be
> > marked as paid advertisements and must meet responsible hosting and
> > consulting practices which are to be determined.  The Drupal
> > Association will not explicitly endorse any advertisers.
> >
> > Funds raised from advertising will go to the Drupal association and
> > fund infrastructure, and support improvements in Drupal.org
> > <http://Drupal.org> to meet the needs of the Drupal community.  The
> > Drupal association will also offer paid memberships to the Drupal
> > association, for supporters that do not wish to advertise but still
> > wish to support the Drupal project.
> >
> > Thank-you,
> > Kieran Lal
> > Drupal Association fund raising board member
> >
> >
> > --
> > To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
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>
>
> --
> Bill Fitzgerald
> http://www.funnymonkey.com
> Tools for Teachers
> 503.897.7160
>
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-- 
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
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