Financial Membership

[Mike-S]

2 hours ago, LeeM said:

 No, I think it's appropriate here mate 

 Well I'm not going to delete or hide any for sale or wanted posts Mike, including those that have been reported, as it's been going on long enough as far as I'm concerned. As mentioned a few times before, us moderators have no clue as to who is financial and who isn't, so we can't do anything about it unfortunately. 

 I suggest that if you've been on the forum for a while and have been a regular poster/contributor (we know who is who, and those who are only here to sell stuff) go for your life until this is sorted, as to be frank, it's frustrating to be receiving messages about it every other day.

 

Thanks mate. Unfortunately without being set as a FM the “create new post” option isn’t available, so I can’t make it anyway. 

[hugh]

7 minutes ago, Mike-S said:

Thanks mate. Unfortunately without being set as a FM the “create new post” option isn’t available, so I can’t make it anyway. 

Pm me the details and I’ll post it for you. 

[sleazius]

5 hours ago, TwoHeadsTas said:

Do we need to look at forming a group to buy PFA from Kerry and whoever else owns it? PFA has been a fantastic resource that we all love to frequent, and is clearly superior to just about every Porsche FB group out there, but I haven't seen any posts from Kerry etc for a long time (unless they are made under other names).  Perhaps their interest level in PFA has peaked and it is time to revitalise the management of it?  I have absolutely no idea as to whether PFA is currently a profitable venture, and stand to be corrected if this is an inappropriate post.  As we all know, things change, so there should be no shame in allowing things to move on......

Once upon a time I collected poker chips. Believe it or not the community around that at the time was immense, many times the size of rennlist. I was a member of the largest forum for over 10 years. One day the founder either died, got sick of it, or just ghosted. I never did find out what happened. The end result was the community fractured (tens of thousands of members), and 3 or 4 forums sprung up in its place. The interesting thing was the process took a year or so till it all fell apart for reasons similar to this.

Anyway, we’re a long way from that here yet, but we do need to keep an eye on it.

FYI - PFA would almost certainly be a love job. We’re too few members here for it to add up to much more than coffee money at best.

[Yeatesy]

I just got an email to advise that my payment from the 9th of June had been received 🙏 to those that tried to assist. 

[Mike-S]

Same here

@hugh thank you. 🏆 

[micknine01]

Paid via EFT today. I nearly didn’t, because the new colours and layout of the forum are horrendous… but here’s hoping that it improves over the next 12 months ! 

[Kerry]

 

Hi All. My name is Kerry, and… it’s been a while…

I might not post often, but people might remember that when I do, I don’t muck around, so maybe get a coffee, or a single malt.

So, to a comment made by TwoHeadsTas above… I totally agree that I have been MIA for quite a while now. There are personal reasons, however as you say “things change, so there should be no shame in allowing things to move on”.

But first, some context... The PFA is, by its nature, both a business - because of the formal structure required for it to run; and, a public online forum - a semi-autonomous organism that feeds and survives dependent on the input of its dedicated members, predominantly its financial members.

When I created the forum in 2009, the forum was so small this delineation didn’t really exist, or didn’t seem recognised anyway. We were a close crew with a passionate need find a voice outside the boring scene in Melbourne at the time, and to drive, and rabbit on about all cool things Porsche! Over the years the organism grew and developed in all sorts of ways, and much to our pride, beyond the digital platform. From one SMT a weekend, to many in multiple states. Cars&Coffees to HangarBangers. GoKart IROCs to family track days. Social Hill Climbs and multi-day tours. These, and our significant online presence, have all been the result of much hard work by many Ms, FMs, and not the least of which by various MODs both past and present. One in particular. I genuinely pay kudos to all these dedicated people as they have made the PFA what it is today, and has been over the years. A lot of emotion, time, effort and cost. I do not wish to labour a point here, but my partner, son and I have also contributed a substantial amount of these resources to the equation as well.

But this is also when the the question of “delineation” comes back out.

Again, apologies for stating the obvious, but in order to make the point…Ms, FMs, and MODs come and go, contribute or not, however they like, absolutely as is appropriate, and appreciated.

My situation is that whilst I am involved, I am, whether I, (or anyone else) likes it, seen as a (some kind of) figurehead of the PFA. I am also seen, again, (rightly or wrongly) as some kind of commercial benefactor of the PFA. I’m not going to enter into a discussion about these opinions (suffice to say I have strident ones) but they have lead me to a very different place from where this journey started.

After a while, there comes a point where the effort vs reward vs responsibility equation doesn’t make sense anymore, and then you think, maybe it’s just best to take a step back for a while. Needless to say, it came.

Back to the ever-erudite THT… again, I agree. It may very well be time to pass the batten. But not quite yet. Looking around the old girl with fresh/er eyes I see a lot of rust around the A pillars and a puddle of horsepower sweat dripping on the garage floor.

 

So, what to do?

I noticed that these days the main traffic on the forum are the FMs, the die hards. I’m sure there are plenty of opinions about what is actually used, and what is dead weight (apparently the colour scheme). There are sub-forums which were ideas that just never got used, but for fear of stepping on members toes, were kept there…. Etc etc…. Maybe this is the time for a clean up and reset?

In the next week I will set up a new sub forum and will send a link in an email, or a PM (?) to each FM*. This place will give us a platform to discuss changes and improvements. I am conscious of the “decision by committee” quicksand, as well as the singular, shrill voice. It will probably become necessary quite early on to point out the significant restrictions that the parent forum software places on the design of the layout and functionality of the PFA, but hey, what would this process be without a bit of “well, welcome to my/Orlando’s world!” Maybe we should consider using the Poll option in posts with a minimum value to gain advancement of a suggestion? Maybe we could form a sub-committee to….. sorry

Anyhoo, I’m going to make a sub-forum. I’ll send out an invite. I’m going to ask for input as to how you guys think the old girl might be tarted up better. I’ll probs chip in one or two nuggets as well. Let’s see what happens, eh?

As for all issues with memberships etc, they are a plague and my existential crisis and I will be more than happy to address these in threads within this new sub-forum, thanks for you patience.

🍻

Oh, and Happy Fathers Day!

🍸🥃 🎈

 

* obviously "M" members will also be able to participate, but I’m not sending a link to everyone and causing a massive free-for-all discussion.

** thanks @sleazius, still here. 🥴

*** @Lucky Phil  thanks for posting this thread in the first place, fairly obvious I wasn't on the watch to see it, will be addressing the reasons why FM is good as a bigger part of grander plan above, have some good ideas I think but look forward to other's suggestions as well.

**** @LeeM 🍻🍻🍻 I might not agree with everything you say Lee, but thats why you're there. Cheers mate. I know I can rely on you for an opinion. 😆

***** @hugh where's me hamburger?! 🤨 We'll talk soon...

****** @Orlando thanks OhhJay! For someone who is knee deep in study you've carried the can while the old man has been off on leave. Very much appreciate it. Where's my father's day gift? 😉 😘

[pocketscience]

1 hour ago, Kerry said:

As for all issues with memberships etc, they are a plague and my existential crisis and I will be more than happy to address these in threads within this new sub-forum, thanks for you patience.

Why do specific issues regarding financial membership need to be discussed publicly? Personally I've intentionally cancelled my FM auto-renewal (in place since 2013) because for the past two years I've not been able to get those payments recognised. See above for my bleating. I know I'm stating this in the public forum, but this is literally the only forum I inhabit (albeit less of late because of well.. non recognition of payments) where receiving credit for payments is an issue. If this new sub-forum will some how magically fix that then great, but I don't see how that will be the case. There will need to be some significant shift in how payments are handled before I offer up any more coin. Sorry if I sound blunt and pissed, but it's been incredibly frustrating.

[TwoHeadsTas]

Thanks Kerry

Looking forward to future thoughts and developments 🙂 

[LeeM]

 😅 Yeah, always here gobbing off about something that might piss people off @Kerry

Cheers mate 👍

[sleazius]

Thanks @Kerry - had been holding off on renewing till you reappeared. Will do so now.

Cheers.

[Kerry]

22 hours ago, pocketscience said:

 pissed...incredibly frustrating.

totally understandable. 

[9fan]

I'm in for a hamburger with yourself Kez and Hugh, just to see your smiling face again !

[TwoHeadsTas]

@Kerry, I don't appear to have permission to see some new topics. 

Would appreciate being able to give some feedback on the future of the Forum, as I've been involved for a fair few years now 🙂 

cheers

Peter

[Stepo]

I don’t have permission either TAS, I’ve been a financial member for close to 10 years and on the forum for longer. 
This year I actually got an email about payment, I checked my bank and it was automatically deducted on the 29th of Aug but store says pending and status now moved to member…..I can understand why people get pissed off

[sleazius]

12 hours ago, Stepo said:

I don’t have permission either TAS, I’ve been a financial member for close to 10 years and on the forum for longer. 
This year I actually got an email about payment, I checked my bank and it was automatically deducted on the 29th of Aug but store says pending and status now moved to member…..I can understand why people get pissed off

I suspect this issue arises due to the fact that you have to manually check a paypal account to see if payment has been made, and then manually change people from member to FM. I run events in a different space and its a pain in the arse. People get the shits constantly, the only way to avoid it is to make sure you're checking it every day.

[Kerry]

14 hours ago, TwoHeadsTas said:

Would appreciate being able to give some feedback on the future of the Forum

Hey Peter... Absolutely, thats what this whole thing will all be about! I haven't described the timeline well enough above. Later this week I will make this forum public and everyone will be able to contribute. I spent a couple of hours yesterday setting it up, writing an outline of what it is all about for those not privy to the above. 

As for memberships, this will all be covered in this forum.

[wilson59]

I don't have permission either . I feel like I am missing out 

[JWM]

On 04/09/2022 at 14:06, Kerry said:

In the next week I will set up a new sub forum and will send a link in an email, or a PM (?) to each FM*.

Maybe I’m wrong and I’m not in it either 😂 but I interpreted this as it’s coming some time in the next week … 😉

[Kerry]

16 minutes ago, JWM said:

Maybe I’m wrong and I’m not in it either 😂 but I interpreted this as it’s coming some time in the next week … 😉

interpreted right, hopefully late this week though. I think I will make the forum live this week, and then send out the message to all FMs next week once we've had some people through. There won't be any advantage in being in early as everyone will have the same chance to post and comment. I'm writing a couple of posts today to get each section started... there are three sections (sub-forums) so far... 'Outline & Scope'  'Suggestion & Discussion Points' and  'Work in Progress' .  Just had a pretty amusing time writing a starting point discussion post about Censorship. HA! What a pisser! Anyhoo, standby....... I want @hugh and @LeeM to have a quick look over it before it goes public, but I'll give you lads a yell probs on Thursday. 🍻

[LeeM]

 You 'sure' you want my opinion @Kerry? 🤔😁😉

No worries mate 👍

[Kerry]

26 minutes ago, LeeM said:

 You 'sure' you want my opinion @Kerry? 🤔😁😉

No worries mate 👍

Ying & Yang @LeeM Good & Evil....... need I go on?  🤫

[LeeM]

2 hours ago, Kerry said:

Ying & Yang @LeeM Good & Evil....... need I go on?  🤫

 😅😅 Carry on 👍

[OZ930]

I’ve just been made “M” today despite a Paypal auto deduction on 28 August. 

A PFA subscription invoice has been generated for you. ••• IF YOU ARE ALREADY A FINANCIAL MEMBER who used PAYPAL to subscribe, PLEASE IGNORE THIS EMAIL as your subscription will automatically be debited from your paypal account on the date shown below. IF YOU PAID BY EFT: PLEASE PROCEED TO NEXT STEP. NB: If you wish to cancel your PAYPAL subscription please do so through your PayPal account. 

 

 

[Stepo]

39 minutes ago, OZ930 said:

I’ve just been made “M” today despite a Paypal auto deduction on 28 August. 

A PFA subscription invoice has been generated for you. ••• IF YOU ARE ALREADY A FINANCIAL MEMBER who used PAYPAL to subscribe, PLEASE IGNORE THIS EMAIL as your subscription will automatically be debited from your paypal account on the date shown below. IF YOU PAID BY EFT: PLEASE PROCEED TO NEXT STEP. NB: If you wish to cancel your PAYPAL subscription please do so through your PayPal account. 

 

 

Same here, as @sleazius mentioned, if no one checks payments a M stays as M or FM gets moved to M.

If no one checks, would be better if FM stays as FM until the software or person checking can verify if payment has been made, maybe it’s more complicated 🤷‍♂️