Quote:
Originally Posted by kalon
Would you consider Discord? It has pretty much all you want except it is chat rather than forum-based, and is a couple of hundred dollars annually. You would miss out on ad revenue but that doesn’t exist by your own report. Or partner with an existing server, like mine (Lonosham Observatory) or Bintel’s, but then you’re risking diluting your brand…
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Probably a generational thing, but I dont really 'get' discord as a replacement for a forum - I do enjoy some of the informal live events/group chats we do on the ASV planetary Facebook group, so I guess discord could function in a similar way?
In terms of IIS, I guess the bottom line is that Mike is not obliged to keep IIS going if he lacks the motivation to do so. I am more than happy to donate to keep it going for another year at least
I was thinking though that I really only use the classifieds and look at the DIY forums - You are lucky to get more than one or two replies to gear related questions here, but that is to be expected as there is just not enough of an audience to be able to compete with the likes of CN when it comes to questions about gear in particular.
Excluding local stuff like classifieds, I guess you have to consider what the value is of an Australian focused Astronomy site
Not saying it shouldnt exist, but I guess look at the things that would make people want to post/visit here? Obviously there is that fact that we are in the Southern Hemisphere and have different targets and priorities. It could probably be more of a hub for all the astro societies for events, but I dont know if that is something that could be achieved.
I dont really like the idea of a site being beholden to ads and vendors, because that leads to censorship of posts that are critical of products/vendors, so I would support a yearly donation, just like astrobin.