Patrick

Here's the thread that Danielle mentioned: http://www.karateforums.com/share-your-facebook-url-vt37408.html But, please feel free to post your Facebook URL here instead. This is me: http://www.facebook.com/patrickokeefe This is KarateForums.com: http://www.facebook.com/karateforums Thanks, Patrick

Great to hear.

Hey all, I really appreciate all of the replies to this thread and the general understanding of the need to generate some revenue. I've been managing online communities for 10 years now. It's something that I'm very passionate about. So, I'll try to explain how all of this works. Running an online community is a job - whether it be your profession or a labor of love, it's still a job that has to be taken seriously. Online communities take time to run and, in general, the larger they are, the more time they take to run. They also take money to run, if they are to have long term stability, though it doesn't have to be a lot of money - depending on your definition of a lot of money and the size of the community itself. Most people don't have a deep understanding of what it takes, behind the scenes to keep a community like this running smoothly or, even more so, a community larger than this one and the time it takes to do so. And that's perfectly fine and, really, how it should be. On this site, I don't want anyone worrying about that stuff, but me (and, to some extent, the staff ) as that's what I'm here for. I just want members to talk, share and enjoy themselves. There is so much more than what you see, though. As an example, this site is coming up on 9 years in May. 9 years times 365 days is 3,285 days. Let's say that, conservatively I've spent an hour a day on this site overall on average, including time I was away, etc. 3,285 hours divided by 24 hours is 136.8. I've spent at least 136.8 days of my life (that's consecutive 24 hour days) on this site. It's probably more than that, but you get the idea. Before I'm done, I expect I'll have spent more than a year of my life working on just this community. At the end of the day, it's hard to ask someone to dedicate a large portion of their life to something that does not help them to accomplish their life goals as a person. That is the point where communities stop being maintained or cared for because you have to make a choice between running it and going to get a "real job" to actually further the lives of you and those who depend on you. JusticeZero made reference to this. In simple terms, with many communities (including this one), there would be no community if there were no ads - and there would be no ads if there were no community. They both need each other. Ideally, you can combine both so that you can accomplish your life goals, while also doing something that you love (assuming running your online community is what you love to do). For that to happen, there has to be money. If I love something and I enjoy something, I want the person or people behind it to be successful in life because that, in turn, generally means that the thing I love will be more successful, as well. Deciding whether a community is one of the "good ones" is certainly in the eye of the beholder as everyone likes different things. But, the more people that consider a community a good one, the more it takes to run it. Derwentbob makes a great point. For the most part, I don't think ads have an impact on whether or not a community is a good one. With this sort of thing, there are two ways to generate revenue. You can either get it from the people who use the site (premium memberships or TV licenses as DWX put it , paid access, micropayment systems, merchandise) - or you can get it from the people who want to reach the people who use the site (advertisements in many forms). Or you can do a mix of both. But, for any somewhat large community to have long term stability, the money has to come from somewhere, like any operation. People can pay for a website's expenses with their personal income, if the site is small enough and they have a good job, and that'll be fine, if that's what they want to do. But, for many, it can be difficult to have that be a drain, who might want to put the money toward something else. And in those cases where there is a "real job," the community has to be a secondary thing, professionally. Your "real job" has to take precedent because it is what is paying your bills and (hopefully) moving you forward in life. While there are some people for who it is all about the money and for who this is a numbers game, I find that the majority of people who run online communities care a great deal about how the money is made, including myself, and agonize over ad placement and finding the right balance between maximizing the "inventory" that the site can offer and creating an enjoyable user experience. I've run this community since day one; no one cares about it more than I do. I turn down so many ads here at KarateForums.com, both based on their format (no pop-ups, no pop-unders, no InVue ads, which is what GeoGiant referred to, no ads that automatically play audio, no ads that automatically expand, etc.) and content (no ads about tobacco or alcohol, no ads featuring risque content, such as ads that focus on a woman's chest, etc.). Whenever we take adjustments or test new things, it's not something that I take lightly. I am willing to try new things, however, as I believe that, without experimentation, we never learn anything and we never get better. So, I guess, in summation, what I am saying is that running a community is like any other responsibility or job in life. It's hard work and, it's hard to continually do hard work for someone, if you aren't being paid for it. It is my hope that everyone here is doing what they love to do, that their job is a labor of love for them. I know that's not always possible - real life is real life - but that is the ideal, so I implore you to make small changes that put you closer to a job that you love. At the same time, when you reach that point, you also have a reasonable expectation of being paid for your efforts and that extends to all undertakings, including managing online communities. I hope that this sheds some light on how this all works. Thanks, Patrick

Good idea for a topic, JohnASE. Thanks for starting it. Patrick

Welcome aboard, Mac. Glad to have you.

Check out this great video where New York City is taken over by old video games: http://www.urlesque.com/2010/04/09/short-film-pixels-old-video-games-new-york-the-one/ Via Digg.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. Patrick

Welcome back, Brian! We missed you. Patrick

Thank you for the submission.

http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/04/lucasfilm-developing-star-wars-comedy-series.html Will you watch? Via Digg.

Not kidding at all! Haha. Very deserving. Thanks for the kind words about the community. Patrick

Glad that you enjoyed it, Bob. Thanks, Patrick

Welcome aboard, RyanG. If you ever are unsure of anything, please feel free to ask me and I'll be glad to help. Good luck with the test! Thanks, Patrick

Welcome to KF, AustinG010. Patrick

Happy Easter. What's your favorite Easter candy?

Thanks for sharing, everyone. If it was the teacher's birthday, maybe they still should have received a cake. lol. But that is pretty good. Patrick

lol, that is pretty mean.

Hello, KarateForums.com recognizes one member every month as the Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. The April 2010 selection is... JohnASE. Congratulations!

So, what were your favorite pranks for April Fools' Day 2010?

It's not really being gullible as much as it is the original message striking the right balance between absurdity and believability. And then, of course, me carrying on the act and staff members replying, etc. It would be natural to be dissatisfied with such a change. Plus, not everyone who falls for something will admit they did, for various reasons. Those that do should be proud of their honesty. Thanks, Patrick

You might be surprised how much closer it is to reality at some other sites, Lupin1. Thanks, Patrick

Please read: http://www.karateforums.com/april-fools-vt38411.html I hope that everyone had a fun day. Thanks, Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. Today is April Fools' Day and, as we've done in the past, we decided to have a little fun here with the Moving Our Focus to Street Tested Martial Arts announcement. Something that we've always specialized in here at KarateForums.com is the ability to welcome you to our community regardless of the martial art that you practice. People who may not be welcome at another site, just because the loud participants of that site don't like their art, will likely be welcome to participate here. The practicality of an art is of importance, just as it's important to realize that your idea of practicality will not be the same as someone else's. Sometimes people are asked if they've actually used their art. This is a harmless question, yet it's also used sometimes to make someone feel lesser. One thing that I've noticed throughout my (nearly) 9 years of running this community is the number of times the word "street" gets mentioned. It's almost a meme. As a non-martial artist, it's been interesting to view this phenomenon. And so, we decided to poke fun at it. I hope that this proved interesting. I appreciate everyone who participated and was a good sport. If anyone feels odd or takes any offense to it, I apologize to you - but, this is that one day a year. Everything returns to normal now. I hope that you had fun today. Thank you for your time and for reading this message. Sincerely, Patrick

Once again, I just wanted to clarify that these videos should not showcase "attacks" - only legitimate uses of one's art in a situation that depends upon it. Any criminal activities are inappropriate and will not be accepted. As far as my own qualification, suffice to say, I'll be exempt to it as I still need to be able to run the site. Thanks, Patrick

Thanks for the replies. The date is definitely April 1, says my calendar. It's a funny day, I know. As far as this becoming a reality website, that wouldn't be my exact terminology. I would say it is just a focus on street tested martial arts. I guess some would take that as reality, so sure. A video of you bashing someone's face in is not what we want. A video of you utilizing your art in a situation where it was needed, yes, that is what we want. I appreciate your thoughts, GeoGiant. I'm sorry to hear that, but it's understandable. Thanks again for the replies and questions. Sincerely, Patrick