As promised, the LymeNet Board met over the weekend to discuss our plans for resolving our financial crisis and the many Lyme Flash issues.

Your response to our ``Subscription Plan'' for LymeNet was overwhelming and intense. The suggestions were all good and many were well thought out. But, in reality, no one was really in love with the subscription plan.

Therefore, we have decided to put the subscription plan on the shelf and have accepted Lou Bachmann's offer to once again run the LymeNet Fund Raiser. It begins tonight and will run through the end of September. He has also graciously offered to come out of retirement and moderate the Flash Boards. In his words, `` I`ll straighten things out, train a couple of moderators (many of you volunteered to do it, we have your e-mails) and gladly go back into retirement.''

LymeNet has been and always will be a place to express your opinion and listen to those of other's. I have not been listening. For this I sincerely apologize. As for the promised upgrades and improvements, which have as yet not been implemented, our dedicated team of volunteer system engineers have told me that all of them will be completed by the end of September, with the new faster server connection in place by the end of August.

We ask for your patience and forgiveness. We ask that you consider sticking with us, supporting us, and continue to meet and learn on the LymeNet site.

Like you, we are Lyme victims. We do know the stress this disease causes. We have the same physical, emotional, and financial woes that you have. We, too, want LymeNet to be a place where people feel comfortable and safe. LymeNet and the Lyme Disease Network began fifteen years ago as our way of paying back for the help we received when Lyme changed our lives in 1989. It has always been our intention that LymeNet would serve that purpose for others. People can come, learn, get support, and then do the same for the next person.

I have placed below our budget for 2005-06, which includes an explanation of how your donations are spent and why we have set a $7,500 goal.

I wish all of you Good Health.

Bill Stolow

Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey, Inc.

Operating Budget - 2005-06

Server Connection - $3,000/yr
Cable Modem LymeNet Office - $600/yr
Office Supplies - $400/yr
Gov't Fees - $100/yr
Domain Name (5) Fees - $100/yr
Donations/Ads - $500

Total Operating Budget - $4,700/yr

Capital Reserves - $2,800*

* In 2004 prior year reserves were depleted due to aging equipment replacement and shortfall of fund raising goals.

2004-05 Expenses not included in operating budget:
Equipment Replacement - $1,000 for DSL Modem replacement and onsite service call by NetCarrier.
New Server Purchase - $1,000
Software for New Server - $300

Total Funding Goal 2005-06 Campaign - $7,500*

Check will be in the mail tomorrow with amount I can spare.

Will try to send more later if improvements are made as promised.

This way those who could not afford to contribute directly could still help support the fundraising efforts if they purchased their supplements from Vitacost by linking from the Lymenet site.

Hey I think I see Tincup getting out that old fruit covered hat ...and look there goes TuTu dropping her drawers again

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!

quote:

---

Originally posted by bstolow:
To All:

As promised, the LymeNet Board met over the weekend to discuss our plans for resolving our financial crisis and the many Lyme Flash issues.

Your response to our ``Subscription Plan'' for LymeNet was overwhelming and intense. The suggestions were all good and many were well thought out. But, in reality, no one was really in love with the subscription plan.

Therefore, we have decided to put the subscription plan on the shelf

and have accepted Lou Bachmann's offer to once again run the LymeNet Fund Raiser. It begins tonight and will run through the end of September. He has also graciously offered to come out of retirement and moderate the Flash Boards.

In his words, `` I`ll straighten things out, train a couple of moderators
Ill help Lou treepatrol part time.

(many of you volunteered to do it, we have your e-mails) and gladly go back into retirement.''

LymeNet has been and always will be a place to express your opinion and listen to those of other's. I have not been listening. For this I sincerely apologize.

As for the promised upgrades and improvements, which have as yet not been implemented,

our dedicated team of volunteer system engineers have told me that all of them will be completed by the end of September, with the new faster server connection in place by the end of August.

We ask for your patience and forgiveness. We ask that you consider sticking with us, supporting us, and continue to meet and learn on the LymeNet site.

Like you, we are Lyme victims. We do know the stress this disease causes. We have the same physical, emotional, and financial woes that you have.

We, too, want LymeNet to be a place where people feel comfortable and safe. LymeNet and the Lyme Disease Network began fifteen years ago as our way of paying back for the help we received when Lyme changed our lives in 1989.

It has always been our intention that LymeNet would serve that purpose for others. People can come, learn, get support, and then do the same for the next person.

I have placed below our budget for 2005-06, which includes an explanation of how your donations are spent and why we have set a $7,500 goal.

I wish all of you Good Health.

Bill Stolow

Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey, Inc.

Operating Budget - 2005-06

Server Connection - $3,000/yr
Cable Modem LymeNet Office - $600/yr
Office Supplies - $400/yr
Gov't Fees - $100/yr
Domain Name (5) Fees - $100/yr
Donations/Ads - $500

Total Operating Budget - $4,700/yr

Capital Reserves - $2,800*

* In 2004 prior year reserves were depleted due to aging equipment replacement and shortfall of fund raising goals.

2004-05 Expenses not included in operating budget:
Equipment Replacement - $1,000 for DSL Modem replacement and onsite service call by NetCarrier.
New Server Purchase - $1,000
Software for New Server - $300

Total Funding Goal 2005-06 Campaign - $7,500

---

Good News!!!!!!

Please forgive my financial background, but I've been through a few budget seasons and, before contributing or asking others to, I need to know the following:

(1) Why is onsite hosting, and all the attendant capital and operating/maintenance expenses, necessary? We've been told that offsite hosting would cost the same. Please could someone provide me with the relevant statistics so that I can ask WowBB if a service such as theirs could handle this board, and at what cost. I need to be convinced that there is not a (much) less expensive option to expensive hardware and a DSL line. It also would seem that Lymenet staff time could be better utilized on activities such as running a better board and, if so inclined, advocacy rather than technical support.

(2) What activities necessitate office supplies? It sounds like Lymenet is involved in activities beyond running the message board, and I am curious to learn what they are.

(3) What kind of government fees are being paid?

(4) Why are there five domain names? Also, $20/domain is high. There are less expensive options. I've seen as low as $4 out there. I realize this is a small amount, but we should be saving money wherever possible.

Please don't misinterpret my questions as criticisms. I just need to understand better the scope of Lymenet's operations, and the reason for the high cost of onsite hosting.

Thank you for your dedication and all your efforts on our behalves.

The Server Connection fee of $3,000, is that solely for Lymenet, or does that include server fees for the other "Lyme related web sites" mentioned in the earlier posts?

The DSL Modem replacement of $1,000, specifically what type of modem is this? My husband is an IT specialist and is currently setting up a server for a non profit org. He says typcially modems for this type of operation run around $65.

Also, New Server Purchase at $1,000, that is about twice the fees he has seen shopping around at Server Farms for his current project.

Doman name fees, $20 each for renewal sound about right. (Getting a new domain name can be cheap, but keeping it annually is a bit more.) But what other domain names are we reserving besides Lymenet.org? Or are these names pertaining to the other "Lyme related sites"?

Not trying to be argumentative, just seeing if we couldn't work together to shave these costs down. Every little bit helps.

I'm so glad this site will not go the route of subscription. I'll send what I can next month. Right now, things aren't good....and I will have tons of hospital bills rolling in soon...ugh!

But I want Lymenet to be there for others, like it has been for me. That's the most important thing!

Thanks Lou, Bill, Jenifer, etc!

Droopy Drawers signing off!

I made a donation (paypal) on Saturday.

I am still very concerned, and as Tabbys husband has pointed out, there are many other viable options at a lesser cost.

I also dont mean to be argumentative, but when we are dealing with patients not even able to cover the cost of seeing a physician (which is why many come here) then it seems wrong to ask them to support you finanically.

You made mention that your new DSL modem would increase the ability. Well a DSL line is old technology and with the number of hits per day you claim, we really need a redudndant T1 or T3 connection. We can obtain a partial T1 or Partial T3 for a fraction of the cost of a full server.

Further, if you are concerned about using a shared server to gain a T-1 connection, then you can always have the option to co-locate your server which you have full control over. In this option, you can colocate and hang the server off of a T line which is set up for the kind of traffic you claim to have.

If you continue to upgrade your DSL with the kind of growth rate you have, then within less than a year we will have issues arise again. It seems a long term plan needs to be in place to assure the quality promised, and that wouldn not be incorporated with continuing with the DSL equipment presently had.

Im sorry, but as it meets the eye, there is still something "not quite right" here to technically aware persons.

Since things will be changing up a bit with the advent of new equipment, could we PLEASE have some new fora? Right now EVERYTHING is posted in medical.

Could we have more specific fora such as: traditional medical, alternative medical, research issues, lyme related politics, doctor recommendations, and commentary, emotional support, off topic, etc.

The gross categories just don't work these days.

If you require paid email services, aren't you then forcing some people to pay a monthly fee for an ISP that they might not be able to afford, or shutting out people who cannot incur this cost? I'm not sure that this is any different from, and probably worse than, requiring a $25 registration fee.

I suspect that this would not be a problem for most people, but for enough people so that I don't think this is a good idea.

Keep in mind that even with paid accounts, there are often subaccounts available, so someone who is here with ill intentions can continue to reregister even with paid email.

The answer to trolls is not subscription fees or elimination of free email addresses. It is adequate and effective/assertive moderation.

I think a few computer literate people have raised some very good questions about operating costs - things that I really didn't think about. I realize that boards must cost some money, but $7500 still seems like quite a bit - I find it hard to believe that other health boards cost this much.

Since I've been a member here, I have never liked the idea of fundraising to support an internet site. Fundraising to support education, testing and awareness with national organizations is fine, but websites? Just my perspective. While people here have been extremely generous over the years, it just doesn't seem right to ask people who are struggling with health costs to contribute to the board. I realize that people will give what they want to, but I have yet to see another health board do this.

Why isn't this board partially supported by an organization like the LDA?? It seems like there would be money budgeted if this is seen as a primary lyme board.

Absolutely terrific...now LET's RAISE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!

Trout

Thanks for all the hard work.

I cannot put a $$$$ value on this site.
It has rescued me thru many difficult times as well as allowing me to meet some increadable people.

I will finacially support you.

I do have a question.
Will the search engine be up and running soon?

I too think we should look into sponsorship although it is important to remain independent. At first I liked the vitacost idea but on second thought I'm not sure it is a good idea since it will open the door to many companies wanting to be promoted here. I would rather keep Lymenet pure and not be in the position of appearing to endorse or promote a particular company or product.

My donation is on the way. Despite the difficulties here the last few months, LymeNet has been a key to maintaining my sanity while trying to recover. I'm glad we are getting back on track.

I just need to confirm the bandwidth (which I've asked the owners about), but WowBB was not even phased by 7,000 (and growing) members, 100,000 past posts, or 200,000 hits per day. They referred me to a board with more than 41,000 members, more than 63,000 topics, and more than 351,000 posts.

Cost to use WowBB hosting and software is less than $500 annually, with no additional maintenance or backup costs. This would save the $3,000/year cost of the DSL line, and would mean that many hours which board owners/admins have been spending to operate and maintain the board could be used on more productive endeavors, or just resting.

Since there would be few, if any, unexpected expenses, excess donations could be further contributed to research, education, and advocacy. Also, at such a low cost, it would likely be easier to get a corporate sponsor.

I realize that $1,000 has already been spent on a server which is planned to go online by the end of September, but if it could be sold for even half of what was paid for it, that would pay for one year of Lymenet at WowBB.

Here is the large board to which WowBB referred me to show what they are capable of supporting: http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/

You can get an overview of WowBB message board features here: http://www.wowbb.com/features.php

A feature which from which I know that I would benefit is the ability to go directly to the first unread post in a thread, eliminating the need to scroll through other posts in the thread that you've already read.

There is also a paid subscription feature which could be set up as a way to make voluntary donations. Members who have donated to Lymenet could then be recognized for their support by creating a special category for them.

For the record, I have no connection to WowBB other than I have set up three message boards using their software, two of which they are also hosting.

I hope that the owners will give serious consideration to my proposal, which I believe could provide tremendous benefit and cost savings to Lymenet members.

Respectfully,
Suzanne

Has anyone seen an exact breakdown yet as to the financials. Not the estimated budget, but how the donations have actually been used in years past?

If we could see these exact figures, we would have a better idea as to what areas we could save some money in.

Also, have we received a reply as to whether it is okay to seek donations from businesses/corporations?

Sorry, I might have missed the answers to these questions. My apologies if I have.

If so, could someone post the link to the thread(s) with the Administrators' replies?

Thanks so much

Targeting a member and calling Tree (who has donated enormous time and effort here to help others with over 5,000 posts) a cynic....

Or ANYONE here a cynic.. when they have legitimate concerns (especially when talking about THEIR money that you want) is not what WE do here.

Being derogatory and calling any of us names.. like naive... is quite rude and rather hateful... and TOTALLY uncalled for. See LymeNet Rule #4.

If clear answers were provided up front as requested by many members.. and accurately spelled out when they were posted (mistakes like 100,000 members?)... people wouldn't be left to wonder what is going on... and try to guess or figure it out on their own.

Instead of answering a question about how to pay using pay pal from another member who is ready to donate.. that post was completely ignored and Tree was attacked.

Before the administator makes things worse and angers more people.. you may want to speak with him???
http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/Forum3/HTML/013337.html

tbrown
Administrator
Posts: 9
From: Raleigh, NC
Registered: Oct 1993
posted 09 August 2005 01:22
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is discouraging that no matter what you try to do as a positive step will eventually be negated by some cynic who will invariably find something wrong.

Who would really be naive enough to think that all 6882 registered users would really donate $25 to total tens of thousands of dollars in net donations for LymeNet?

Further, who really believes that if such a strange thing were to happen that we have such poor ethics and would actually keep that money?

Sheesh...

```````````````````````````````````````

The above was in response to the following...

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by bstolow:
To All:
As promised, the LymeNet Board met over the weekend to discuss our plans for resolving our financial crisis and the many Lyme Flash issues.

Your response to our ``Subscription Plan'' for LymeNet was overwhelming and intense. The suggestions were all good and many were well thought out. But, in reality, no one was really in love with the subscription plan.

Therefore, we have decided to put the subscription plan on the shelf and have accepted Lou Bachmann's offer to once again run the LymeNet Fund Raiser. It begins tonight and will run through the end of September. He has also graciously offered to come out of retirement and moderate the Flash Boards. In his words, `` I`ll straighten things out, train a couple of moderators (many of you volunteered to do it, we have your e-mails) and gladly go back into retirement.''

LymeNet has been and always will be a place to express your opinion and listen to those of other's. I have not been listening. For this I sincerely apologize. As for the promised upgrades and improvements, which have as yet not been implemented, our dedicated team of volunteer system engineers have told me that all of them will be completed by the end of September, with the new faster server connection in place by the end of August.

We ask for your patience and forgiveness. We ask that you consider sticking with us, supporting us, and continue to meet and learn on the LymeNet site.

Like you, we are Lyme victims. We do know the stress this disease causes. We have the same physical, emotional, and financial woes that you have. We, too, want LymeNet to be a place where people feel comfortable and safe. LymeNet and the Lyme Disease Network began fifteen years ago as our way of paying back for the help we received when Lyme changed our lives in 1989. It has always been our intention that LymeNet would serve that purpose for others. People can come, learn, get support, and then do the same for the next person.

I have placed below our budget for 2005-06, which includes an explanation of how your donations are spent and why we have set a $7,500 goal.

I wish all of you Good Health.

Bill Stolow

Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey, Inc.

Operating Budget - 2005-06

Server Connection - $3,000/yr
Cable Modem LymeNet Office - $600/yr
Office Supplies - $400/yr
Gov't Fees - $100/yr
Domain Name (5) Fees - $100/yr
Donations/Ads - $500

Total Operating Budget - $4,700/yr

Capital Reserves - $2,800*

* In 2004 prior year reserves were depleted due to aging equipment replacement and shortfall of fund raising goals.

2004-05 Expenses not included in operating budget:
Equipment Replacement - $1,000 for DSL Modem replacement and onsite service call by NetCarrier.
New Server Purchase - $1,000
Software for New Server - $300

Total Funding Goal 2005-06 Campaign - $7,500*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

$7500.00 is the goal.
300x$25.00=$7500.00

Now according too Lou B
Administrator post Oops ... Tom Brown must have mis-spoken when he said "100,000 registered users", the LymeNet Flash has exactly, at this minute, 6876 registered users. I "think" Tom meant to say "over 100,000 user posts on the LymeNet Flash forums".

6876x$25.00=$171,900.00

$171,900.00 minus $7,500.00=((($164400.00 left over)))

IP: Logged

mlkeen
Frequent Contributor
Posts: 869
From: Pa
Registered: Jun 2001
posted 08 August 2005 20:14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks tree for giving info on members and amounts.

Can someone kindly post where money is to be mailed and how to pay on Paypal.

Thanks

Mel

I emailed Tom this AM but, based on Tree's replies, Tree responded and did not take it as a slap in the face.
We're just seeing some frustration here.
Can you help calm things down?
I'd appreciate your help and support ... OK?

Thanks,

quote:

---

Originally posted by tickedntx:
IMO, it is a bad idea to eliminate registration with free email addresses. Some people do not have their own computers, perhaps are accessing from a friend's home, library, or internet cafe.

If you require paid email services, aren't you then forcing some people to pay a monthly fee for an ISP that they might not be able to afford, or shutting out people who cannot incur this cost? I'm not sure that this is any different from, and probably worse than, requiring a $25 registration fee.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lou B:
TC & Tree,

I emailed Tom this AM but, based on Tree's replies, Tree responded and did not take it as a slap in the face.
We're just seeing some frustration here.
Can you help calm things down?
I'd appreciate your help and support ... OK?

Thanks,

---