BearGreg said:
GreyBear did run this site as a labor of love but he also did it to make a profit.
We run it to donate to Cal athletics. 100% of the profits. We now spend a lot more on the site than he did and the ads help support that.
That said, we will remove all of the pop-up ads starting next week.
Let me again give the owner(s) / operator(s) of this site some unsolicited advice, as someone who goes back to the Go Bears mailing digest days:
- Get rid of the stupid premium boards and reunite the community, which you've managed to sever down the middle. The Cal community is not large enough with withstand being severed down the middle.
- You have dramatically overpriced your product. Make the annual membership fee mandatory and lower it to $39 per year + optional donation. My guess is that many would choose to pay more. Emphasize that you donate profits to the University. Current students should get free membership.
- Explore other sources of revenue or reduced costs. For example, if you do donate profits to the University, why in the world is the University not providing some resources to you, such as free hosting? I'm sure you've already looked into that and they probably said "no," or whatever, but that just doesn't make sense. You are doing the athletic department a big service by hosting a large fan site like this one. Also, perhaps Bear Insider members should get 20% off concessions at sporting events. Have these avenues been explored? If the University and the athletic department are unwilling to work with you, then why in the world do you donate any profits to them? Tax reasons?
- Improve the website user experience, as others have pointed out. Currently, it's insulting..
- Do a better job of enforcing the rules. There is no reason Dodgers and Giants should be discussed repeatedly for years and years on the board. The only reason that thread is tolerated is because at least one of you is a big Giants fan. That doesn't reflect well on you. Note I am making a huge distinction between one-time temporary OT posts, which I like, and repeated crap that I have to wade through each time I browse the board. And I hate both the Dodgers and Giants. It doesn't help unite the community to allow that type of thread.
- Do a better job of giving the fans on this website "a voice" in communications with the athletic department. That will build goodwill and help demonstrate your value. For example, get a concrete response as to why the championship banners and retired jerseys aren't hanging from the rafters at Haas. There are too many things that we Cal fans are left to speculate on.
I've been saying this for 3-4 years. Best of luck.