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I love IIS and am willing to help it survive. Donation just sent. I think astronomy in Aust needs something like IIS lest we become atomised and lose interest in this wonderful hobby. I don't say much but I do visit regularly and truly enjoy the images, the news and the chat. I also imagine that the imagers appreciate somewhere to showcase their work.
It seems to me that the financial aspect can be solved pretty simply, either by some sort of fee or a regular donation drive. Just look at the response to this SOS. The thing is that I, and apparently many others, were not prompted by the Donation button that we scroll past every day. So Joe's suggestion of a regular email to the effect "OK folks, time to pay the bills. We need $XX in the next fortnight." might be sufficient. Personally I'm happy to pay a subscription but I can see the arguments against one.
The other issue is work to keep the site running. I'm retired and so have a bit of time and would be willing to assist, if I have any relevant skills.
I'm a member of a small, some might say tiny, astronomy club. A few people contribute to the running of the club but at any one time most of the work is carried by 2-4 enthusiastic members. There is a slow but regular turnover of leadership and in this way the club has survived for >60 years. I used to go to a bluegrass jam (I'm a very, very poor musician and they were very tolerant.). It was run by one bloke and after 16 years, during the COVID shutdown, he decided that he had done enough (and he had). Now people strum at home and, if they are like me, are doing less and less of that.
I don't know if we need an 'IIS Society' - there are overheads to running a society that perhaps we don't need - but it seems that we need some sort of structure/arrangement so that the site can outlive the individual. Any thoughts?
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