Silver, Gold, Platinum (nahh, lets make it bike related)

[FJ Steve]

Shit....I thought this place had gone quiet after CS took a plunge....then Elmo put his hand up for some of that back handed lovin'...and he got served.

Now this. Jerry Springer...eat ya heart out.

Deej, Tys, Hewie, Klink and all the backroom folks....luv ya work.

[Melkor]

I count myself as one of Deej's personal friends. As I'm sure a lot of you have either guessed or know, I was here since the inception of PE.com and subsequently the creation of PSB. Deej asked me to be the very first staff member, and from there PSB has grown to be the sixth biggest motorcycling site in Australia.

No small feat.

Deej has been fundng PE and PSB from inception. Initially it was a bunch of about 20 guys shooting the shit (so to speak) and making times to get out and watch the backpackers do some stunts on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

PSB has gone from a little server, with a modest bandwidth, to a state of the art server with huge bandwidth. The hack of 2007 from the Russians, and then the despicable lowlifes that inhabit other forums brought us Tyson, who has now crafted the PSB you see before you today. Probably one of the most polished websites I'm fortunate to visit and participate with.

It's no secret the staff and admins your see before you are a bunch of friends. The moderators are a selected group of dedicated PSBers who are also generous enough to offer their time to moderate this forum. There are both significant accountable and non-accountable costs to both the running of this site and the support provided by the people who work behind the scenes.

All this is provided to you free of charge.

The supporter program has had a chequered history. It was brought in once to try and cover some of the expense of running this site but the abuse of some subscribers resulted in the program being scrapped. People felt that if they had paid money they had the right to do as they liked.

Do me a favour and buy and drink at any local drinking establishment, then throw that drink in the barman's face. Do you think you will have the right to stay?

PSB supporters was canned, because we, the staff, were sick of the "but I'm a supporter and I deserve....<insert here>".

After a long debate and many Hogsbreath steaks and coffees the PSB supporter system was eventually re-instated. This time there was the guidance of the wise Dubs "sweet sweet cup of fuck all" in return for your support.

Some members chose to support.

Some did not.

Platinum support was introduced.

Some upgraded.

Some did not.

Regardless, with both subscription and advertising PSB now can operate without the financial support of the site's initial benefactor.

There are problems. Problems I've not seen on other sites that I put down to the very fact that this site is not just a forum, but a local community made up of members who know and socialise with each other.

Some people will get on. Some will not. Some will choose to treat the site with contempt and others will embrace PSB as their portal to a desirable social network.

I've meet some great people through PSB. lifelong friends that I hope to spend many many days with (even if I did chop you up through Point Walter Drive Hewie ).

I leave you with a concept that I think you should consider. While my political views have wavered between slightly left and slightly right, with a firm stance in socialistic Westminster values I believe that the very best form of internet governance is that of a benevolent dictatorship.

Believe that the staff will always try to make a decision that they believe is in the best interest of all the members of this community.

If not, you have an option.

There is a red X in the top right of your browser.

[harns]

just managed to get through this thing from start to finish. first of all; good job and thanks for all the continued effort to all the site developers managers and supporters ill start supporting as soon as i get out of financial drought! it just goes to show that good deeds arent appreciated nearly as much as we would all like them to be

[Insane]

getting back on topic.. (and copying Munky buns Idea)

<no tag> =non subscribed
R-N = gold
R-E = platinum
R = corporate

All PSB soldiers carry a 2nd tag for their rank.

In saying that..
I am currently seeing... Supporter, supporter +, staff +, admin +, sponsor + and no tag..

These tags.. ForTheWin

As a benevolent dictatorship.. my vote is worthless but my opinion accepted and respected..


To offer my opinion further, I was offended at the "temporary" tags, where I was referred to as a Pillion., -- freeloader, non supporter..
I have not paid a subscription and as such did not buy any form of tagging, but to show I don't support PSB, to display me as a free loader is outrageous..
I have my key tag, stickers, shirts and even a Teddy Bear.
I wear my shirts proudly, identifying myself with this community.
Enough said.

[XSorXpire]

How about we all go to Deej's favorite coffee shop in South Perth and buy a gift voucher for a coffee so he doesn't have to buy coffee again for over three years by way of appology and not rasie this topic again.

[Rider]

I dont like the cross next to the supporter tag I feel like i am being opressed my a religus institution

[XSorXpire]

Opression can stop with contribution.

[Fozzy]

Originally Posted by XSorXpire

How about we all go to Deej's favorite coffee shop in South Perth and buy a gift voucher for a coffee so he doesn't have to buy coffee again for over three years by way of appology and not rasie this topic again.

Hahah I can Just imagine the look on the staffs face when 1000 people go in and by single coffee vouchers and then Deej going into the same coffee shop every day for three years and handing over a voucher for 1 coffee.

[Rider]

Originally Posted by XSorXpire

Opression can stop with contribution.

very nice comeback... *takes my hat off to XS*

[Spuddy]

Wow - with the closure of the Elmoh thread, all the whores migrated here?

A while back in this thread, there was a discussion about PSB being a business. I personally think PSB could and should turn a massive profit. This is just IMHO, but it is why I buy the branded keytags, hoodies, shirts, and the jeans when they arrive. I'm probably going to put a big order in with the cafepress website. Then I'm going to enjoy those things.

Furthermore, when that PSB Cafe gets started up, they can charge twice as much as anywhere else for a cup of coffee and I will pay it with a huge smile on my face because the day that those that deserve it get monetary reward for all the work theyve put in will be a very sweet and long awaited day as far as I am concerned. Perhaps there should also be a PSB Shop where you can buy merch in person. And jack up the prices, I understand that you like to supply things at a fraction of the price you could get them elsewhere, but the quality and the service for everything I spend money on psb-related is so amazing that I wonder just how far this could go if it branched off as a business venture.

I'm aware theres probably a reason why its not already this way, and I'm aware that its not my decision to make.

Also: there have been discussions in other threads about PSB being a riders club or an online forum. I'd like to register my opinion, for what its worth. I know that PSB started as an online forum only, but with the events, rides, and activities that get organised officially by the committee and un-officially by members, the offline IRL aspect of this community has grown in such a way that I believe the forum to be just an online aspect of a very real life community - we have people putting psb 'business cards' on bikes, stickers on cars and bikes, people walking around wearing the logo, and people walking up to strangers on bikes, asking if they were part of PSB. Is there a problem (legally or socially) with calling us a club?

I want to finish off by saying how much I appreciate this forum and the work that goes into it, and the community as a whole. Thankyou, every single one of you. This place, with all its ups and downs, never fails to give me warm fuzzies.

[Roller]

^^ Spuddy, that was very well said and I hope that most of the members (Paid or not) feel the same way, I have met some great people on this site as well and I know for a fact I wouldn't have had that opportunity if PSB didn't exist or work as well as it does.

[fin]

Kudo's for being so transparent about it all, it's not required of you in any way to have to "explain yourself", especially from my current angle of being a non-supporting member[fixed], but its appreciated and a good read.

Originally Posted by Deej

Wow, turn your back to deal with the real world for a few hours and look what happens in the virtual.

Much said here so I thought I would just to clear a few things up:

...

[thro]

Hmmm 2c.

Whilst I don't personally care what tags are on my account, I think that tagging people according to payment will create division to some extent whether it was intended or not. Its human nature to attempt to classify stuff (be it colour/race, sex, age, or whatever), and tags just give people an easy option to do so.

Not sure what the solution is, i'd be inclined to just make features available and abandon tags altogether - if they're not meant to be discriminatory, then why have them at all (people will find a way to have a cry about whatever tags are there no doubt)?

If you *do* want the tags to create division or classify people, fair enough May as well just put $ signs next to their account.


Only reason i haven't signed up yet is because i'm lazy and paypal is despicable (won't work with my account last 2 times i tried). Where do i send the money order? Just tried to put an order in and the only option was paypal :|


Maybe also make psb merchandise available only to (paying) PSB members? Or maybe charge more for it for non-paying members?

[Roller]

Is it just me or has there been a slight increase in the Supporter numbers over the last few days? This can only be a good thing.

I don't think it's because of the tags but more the people on PSB want to help and and make sure that we have this site available.

You don't have a top ten site in the country by mistake.

[Dubs]

Originally Posted by thro

Hmmm 2c.

Whilst I don't personally care what tags are on my account, I think that tagging people according to payment will create division to some extent whether it was intended or not. Its human nature to attempt to classify stuff (be it colour/race, sex, age, or whatever), and tags just give people an easy option to do so.

Not sure what the solution is, i'd be inclined to just make features available and abandon tags altogether - if they're not meant to be discriminatory, then why have them at all (people will find a way to have a cry about whatever tags are there no doubt)?

If you *do* want the tags to create division or classify people, fair enough May as well just put $ signs next to their account.


Only reason i haven't signed up yet is because i'm lazy and paypal is despicable (won't work with my account last 2 times i tried). Where do i send the money order? Just tried to put an order in and the only option was paypal :|


Maybe also make psb merchandise available only to (paying) PSB members? Or maybe charge more for it for non-paying members?

as has been said Thro, the admin, staff and section mods never ask for supporters, its a give if you like system.

I explained it similar to someone else last night - some ppl give in different ways by adding valu to the board, by purchasing merch or just by showing up on rides and events

none of the staff pay out on ppl for not becoming a paid supporter its the peer pressure

Dubs

[Hewie]

Originally Posted by thro

Not sure what the solution is, i'd be inclined to just make features available and abandon tags altogether - if they're not meant to be discriminatory, then why have them at all (people will find a way to have a cry about whatever tags are there no doubt)?

Neither do we mate .... we remove the tags completely .. people whinge (which we have tried in the past)

we change them .... people whinge

we give everyone one ... people whinge (where they never had one before)



The tags have never meant to be discriminatory .... the problem is like many things on the internet people put too much stock in them

And that about wraps this up.