How to pay dues to SMC?

[Shiraz Balolia]

Since I am new here and would like to contribute on behalf of the company, could someone fill me in on the following:

1) Who is responsible for maintaining this site?
2) How does one go about contributing financially to SMC? I tried the "donate" button and there does not appear to be a way of sending funds.
3) What is the hierarchy at SMC - in other words, besides the moderators, is there another party that makes decisions?

Thanks,
Shiraz.

[Scott Coffelt]

In the header column you should see a donate button. Just click that and it will lead you the rest of the way.

[Dan Racette]

I think that contacting keith outten would really be the best bet.

[Jerry White]

Shiraz,

I was just browsing over in the Support Forum and I notice there is a thread on the donate function not working.

The Saw Mill Creek support administrator is Aaron Koehl. If you go to the Support Forum, you can reach him by clicking on the button in the lower right of the screen.

By the way, I have enjoyed your recent input to SMC. I hope you will stay with us!

[Keith Outten]

Since I am new here and would like to contribute on behalf of the company, could someone fill me in on the following:

1) Who is responsible for maintaining this site?
2) How does one go about contributing financially to SMC? I tried the "donate" button and there does not appear to be a way of sending funds.
3) What is the hierarchy at SMC - in other words, besides the moderators, is there another party that makes decisions?

Thanks,
Shiraz.

Shiraz,

The donate button isn't working right now, we lost our original sponsor, Hampton Roads Online, and I have taken over hosting SMC in my workshop. The donations link will be changed shortly, I can't accept credit cards but you can use PayPal (sales@northwindassociates.com) or send a check to the address below if you would like to donate funds toward our monthly expenses.

As the Founder and Owner of SMC I have assigned Aaron Koehl as our System Administrator. Aaron is responsible for both the server administration and the forum software. Aaron also has the last word concerning implementation of our TOS and changes to our Forums.

My wife Jackie Outten also has Admin responsibility, keeps the books and pays the bills. Jackie also is very active helping our Members when she can with username and password issues.

All of our Forums have Moderators assigned to assist our Members with problems and provide the necessary hands on guidence when necessary to keep things working as smooth as possible.

Most importantly our Members share in the overall administration in that we are a Self-Moderated community. Every message that is posted publicly is reviewed by our Members to assure it is in accordance with our TOS and meets our Community standards.

When we lost our Primary Sponsor last month we became a Member Supported Community. We don't collect dues or subscription fees, those who are able to donate are encouraged to do so, as long as we can pay our monthly expenses SMC will continue. Of course all of our Members contribute in one way or another, the information contained in our Forums is the real jewel here and the friendship that flows is a real nice bonus as well.

SawMillCreek Woodworkers Forums
c/o Northwind Associates
8770 Little England Rd.
Hayes, VA 23072

.

[Peter Gavin]

Shiraz,

I got the impression from one of your other posts that you are a representative of Grizzly Machinery. Pardon me if I'm wrong. If so, however, you might think about becoming a contributor to the Manufacturers forum.

Thanks

Peter

[Shiraz Balolia]

Keith - thank you for your response. I sent you a PM before I read your reply here. You will be hearing from me.
Thanks,
Shiraz.

[Lars Thomas]

Peter, you might recognize Shiraz Balolia better as 'S. Balolia', the main man signing the Open Letter in the front of the Grizzly catalog. Also, the creator of those beautiful guitars in the same catalog. Lars

[John Bailey]

Shiraz,

If you take a look at the "Stickey" post "OK Guys and Gals, It's time to get to work, time to donate." You'll see what happened recently when there was concern this site might close. The "Creek" community is like no other and the membership is awsome. Those posts will fill you in on the different ways to donate.

John

[James Ayars]

Keith, Thanks for posting the mailing address. I'll drop a money order this weekend. This really is one of the best forums I have ever participated in. To be able to have this much posting, all in a civil manner, must be an internet record.
James

[John Bailey]

Shiraz,

If you take a look at the "Stickey" post "OK Guys and Gals, It's time to get to work, time to donate." You'll see what happened recently when there was concern this site might close. The "Creek" community is like no other and the membership is awsome. Those posts will fill you in on the different ways to donate.

John

[lou sansone]

Keith, Thanks for posting the mailing address. I'll drop a money order this weekend. This really is one of the best forums I have ever participated in. To be able to have this much posting, all in a civil manner, must be an internet record.
James

I agree james ... great bunch of guys and gals. sometimes we differ... but hey that is what makes the world go round .

lou

[scott spencer]

Welcome aboard Shiraz. It's really nice to have you gracing the forums. You'll probably find that this is one of the friendliest of the big boards. :) Prolly something to do with the full name requirement, which happens to prompt actual photos, which tends to prompt good manners....I think. :rolleyes:

[Marc Langille]

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the heads up - I missed the original contribution campaign and would like to donate. Will send a payment your way within the month, after I deal with a refinance on the house.

Thanks again for bringing us all together on this site. It been invaluable....:D

Except for that slippery slope you folks talk about, and am now starting to experience...:eek:

Marc

[Mike Cutler]

Shiraz.

When you first posted, we were pretty invloved in a rather animated discussion.

Unfortunately, that lead to something that was less than the "normal" greeting to a first post by someone that is new to the board.

I would like to rectify that by saying Welcome to SawMill Creek Shiraz.


As others have stated, it really is a great bunch of people here. All walks of life, and all parts of the country.
In the thread that John Bailey refered to, an impromptu fundraiser was organized/initiated by John Bailey. People responded with what they could afford to contribute. No heavy handed guilt trips involved, just send what you could afford too, and if couldn't, well that was cool too, because family comes first.
Some of the post were pretty funny. Keith had stated that $5.00 per member would be more than enough, and people paid for themselves, and five or ten of their friends.Pretty cool I think.:cool:

Once again though, Welcome to Sawmill Creek.

[Rob Blaustein]

That whole campaign somehow eluded my radar, but I have rectified that with a donation. Thanks to all at SMC! And I (and you) should thank Shiraz whose post made me aware of the whole funding issue--yet another reason why we should welcome the voices of company owners/execs. Though there may be potential for what some would view as free advertising from time to time, I'm not put off by it and have the confidence that our moderators will, for the most part, keep that sort thing at bay. Just reading several posts by Shiraz, Dino and Steve Gass has convinced me that the upside far outweighs the downside.
-Rob

[Aaron Koehl]

Welcome,

It looks Keith answered your questions. I am the administrator of SawmillCreek, the guy behind webmaster@sawmillcreek.org, and the one that gets to make decisions concerning the board. ;)

[Shiraz Balolia]

Shiraz.

When you first posted, we were pretty invloved in a rather animated discussion.

Unfortunately, that lead to something that was less than the "normal" greeting to a first post by someone that is new to the board.

I would like to rectify that by saying Welcome to SawMill Creek Shiraz.


Mike - Thank you for the welcome. Don't worry about the initial ruckus. It was my decision to jump into a pool of sharks waiting to shred me to pieces! http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon7.gif Now that I am here, and my wounds are healing, I must say that it is a nice forum with a lot of bright people and very accomplished woodworkers. Also nice to have some metalworkers. I really like the format of this site. Good job Aaron.

Rob, Scott and Aaron - Thank you.

[Jim Becker]

Shiraz, I think one of the best ways for you to contribute to SMC are some occasional threads on your guitar building activities...with lots of pictures. I think I mentioned it in "that other thread", but it's worth saying again. Many of us are quite interested in that beautiful work...even keyboard players! ;)

[Steve Wargo]

I second the guitar posting threads? While I've not ever built an instrument I do play the violin, and have always thought of building one. I've seen some of Shiraz's guitars in Custom Woodworking Business magazine (I think it was that one). Very nice. So how about a few pics eh?

[Alan Turner]

Shiraz,
I share shop space witha guitar builder, and so am learning a bit as I go along. Do you use a CNC to shape any of the parts?

[John Bailey]

Shiraz,

Although I've not done a guitar, I've built many a mountain dulcimer and could see a guitar in the future. So, any insights would be more than welcome.

John

[Shiraz Balolia]

Jim, Steve and John - I will post an article I wrote that was published in Custom Woodworking Business a couple of years ago. It was building a steelstring guitar. That should get the juices flowing and later, time permitting, I will post more shots of some intense work. I will start a new thread for the article.

Alan - I used to do everything using regular woodworking machines and a pile of custom jigs that I had built. I then invested in a nice CNC router with an 8 position tool changer that I now use for making many of the parts. Although I have done many, many inlays freehand, I now do most of my inlays using the CNC to save time. For me, time is my biggest enemy - so many hobbies, plus running this little business.

[Randy Denby]

Shiraz, I agree with Jim . I would really like to see some of the makings of a guitar or two! I am 48,and I've been woodworking for about 30 years, guitar playing for 32.( I play left handed) It would be great to actually build my own guitar .How does a person get working knowledge of this? Did you go thru an apprentice program or just jump in?
Glad your onboard!

[John M. Cioffi]

Shiraz,

Welcome to SMC- the Greatest forum in internet history!!!

It is nice to have you as a regular contributor. I would like to see more tool companies become personally familiar to our ranks,instead of hiding behind the scenes.
Thanks for your contributions.
John

[Shiraz Balolia]

Shiraz, I agree with Jim . I would really like to see some of the makings of a guitar or two! I am 48,and I've been woodworking for about 30 years, guitar playing for 32.( I play left handed) It would be great to actually build my own guitar .How does a person get working knowledge of this? Did you go thru an apprentice program or just jump in?
Glad your onboard!

Randy - I am self taught. You know how it is - if you have a passion for working with your hands, then you will find a way to make it happen. I did read several books and took a couple of factory tours to see exactly what is involved before I started on the first one. The book to buy is "Guitarmaking" (392 pages). It tells you about most of what you need to know although you will need to figure out many things on your own if you have never built one before. I also studied the bracing patterns of the old Spanish Master builders and information about different woods before coming out with my own bracing pattern.

John - thanks.

[Michael Cody]

Kieth, I suggest you setup a subscription service @ paypal.. might not like the name, but basically it allows us to sign up for a small amount to be sent to SMC each month. Ellis over @ woodcentral does this and it works well. Doesn't have to be a whole lot but it give a cash flow stream that is budgetable.

[Jason Tuinstra]

Shiraz, I agree with what Mike said earlier about the lack of normal "greetings" due to the infamous post run wild. Sorry 'bout that.

Regardless, I just wanted to say it's great to have you around and your unquestionable skill adds to the mix . But don't think that because you're a big company guy and all that the pic police won't pull you over if you don't keep us satisfied with tons guitar pics! :p :D :) They're ruthless :p !

Seriously, a warm welcome to SMC! I trust you'll find it a great place to hang out when you can.