Yesterday we welcomed our 12,000th member. That pretty much equates to 1000 new members per year since we turned the lights on in December of 1999. Granted, a large portion of those 12,000 are not active as people come and go from the website as their interest comes and goes. But we still have a thriving community of active posters and interesting topics. I guess we'll go ahead and continue for another year.

I haven't had to make a public plea for contributions to the site maintenance fund in probably over a year. I want to thank the members, in addition to our Authorized Vendors, who continue to contribute to the site fund. Your generosity has kept the site going. Every donation, whether large or small is very much appreciated. The maintenance fund has gone up and down with sporadic contributions over the past few years, but in general the trend has been in a continuous downward direction. We are currently not in a danger zone fund wise, but I predict that by June or July, should the trend continue, I'll have to get on my knees and get the begging can out to solicit more contributions. I bring this up not to spur a rush of contributions now. I don't like having an excessive amount in the site maintenance fund. Rather, I'd like the periodic contributions to at least maintain a stable, comfortable level of support for site operations. So IMO, smaller, spread out contributions by more members is more desirable than starting a huge contribution drive and ending up with far more than we need in the bank account.

Again, we are currently in 'ok' shape. As a reminder, this site operates on a not-for-profit user-supported basis. As owner/administrator I take no compensation (profit, salary, etc). The moderators are all volunteers. And we do not receive any special perks from any of the Authorized Vendors above what is available to the general membership. Everything contributed goes toward maintaining the site (server fees, software fees etc, up-front-captial for site projects like website stickers, etc).

As we enter the new year, please consider contributing a small amount periodically.. or pick a month of the year (perhaps your birth month) and make your contribution then. With our level of activity, if everyone chipped in a small amount occasionally, we would be in far better shape, and I won't have to beg, or feel self conscious about having an exorbitant amount in the site's bank account.

Have a happy and safe new year.
PaulC