State of AFN (2020)

[420Forever]

Just got here and just got into autos. Grown photos on and off for over 20 years, so I'd say I know a "fair" amount. I lurked for a few weeks before joining last night. Just from my short spell here I can tell this is my kind of community with an abundance of knowledge. I definitely have no problem tossing a couple of bucks (all be it monopoly coloured Canadian money!) At this site to help keep it chugging along. I've certainly wasted more money on useless things let alone something that's actually gonna give back!

So far from what I've seen...great site, and great community guys and gals. Can't wait to become a bigger part of it.

___________________________________________

Done! Already well worth it! I certainly got $25 worth of info off of here before I even signed up, so I probably still owe you guys!

heya @Algonquid and to afn! ppp

 

[GeorgeCloney]

heya @Algonquid and to afn! ppp

I like the name...
Is that British aboriginal currency?
Welcome

 

[420Forever]

I like the name...
Is that British aboriginal currency?
Welcome

...um, u sure u quoted the right person there george ppp

 

[Algonquid]

I like the name...
Is that British aboriginal currency?
Welcome

Lol. No. I’m just an almost 50 year old kid that spends a lot of free time in the backwoods canoeing/camping and a lot of that time is in Algonquin Park. Lol. Was just combining Algonquin and kid. Didn’t even catch the quid/money thing or I definitely would have stolen your premise!!!! Lol. Thanks for the welcome.

 

[Mossy]

Just wanted to say THANK YOU ..everybody.

You have given us Breathing space...




2019 was the worst year I have ever put in on AFN.
Partner issues..server issues..money worries..I can't say that any of us Seniors have not considered just walking away.

Starting 2020 in debt..with no way to pay..and continuing site snagging issues was soul destroying...

Coming back to members to get Support really was our Last Hope...and you Did it Brilliantly......... ..Thank You.

You have given us the chance to pay someone to optimise site..get rid of all the snagging issues..and once we are on an even keel..we can look at ways to fund our own costs.

You gave us Breathing Space.........Thank You.

 

[bakEQuatorial]

I don't have such amazing stories on how I found AFN. I pretty much went on Google and found AFN. I posted a thread and received a great deal of help. So many experienced growers chimed in and helped me complete my first ever grow of any Living thing. Since then, I've tried my best to be a good member here.

This place is a gem. I don't care bout cliques. I believe we are ALL in the cool cliques lol! I don't even care about the favoritisms. I do see it but just choose to ignore it! Instead of feeling pissed about it, I choose to see it as the guy/gal putting in the time and effort to network and make friends. I didn't! Such is the way in real life too.

Will contribute once wallet recovers and I find a way to donate anonymously. Not just on the platform but on my statements too.

 

[Mossy]

This place is a gem. I don't care bout cliques. I believe we are ALL in the cool cliques lol! I don't even care about the favoritisms. I do see it but just choose to ignore it! Instead of feeling pissed about it, I choose to see it as the guy/gal putting in the time and effort to network and make friends. I didn't! Such is the way in real life too.

I Always Think of AFN as a Family...and there are always members of a family you prefer to keep company with.

Hubby tells his kids...I'll Always Love you..you are my children..but it is up to you to make me Like you..

We are all Human and we tend to prefer people who are Nice to be around..



we always have the ones who kick off at family events......and the Grumpy old uncle who sits at the back of the room moaning.. who we try to avoid...that is just Family..the World over...

 

[hecno]

..I'll Always Love you..you are my children..but it is up to you to make me Like you , I have to remember this , For people like me that live remote AFN gives me a extended family with the same interest , being in a non legal country I don't have to many people to talk to about our passion . I still think we should have a donate button , I for one would be more than happy to keep donating as I can and I think so would a lot of members , It is our way of looking after the site as we know it . It gives us a Little bit of ownership to keep it the great site it is ,

 

[growbot]

View attachment 1153528



To put it bluntly, AFN has grown beyond the size of a hobby forum and requires decent hardware, hosting, and security to keep the site going.

I'm not sure how many of you know this, but we don't have any actual employees on the forum; everything about the site has been volunteer ran since day 1 (9+ years ago.) Everyone has donated their time, energy, efforts, and spirit to trying to make what we have here today.

This wasn't really ever setup to be a business; we've never spent a dime (not one penny, ever) on advertising for the forum, it's 100% organically grown and it's through offering forum space to companies and vendors that we've afforded to keep the site going, afloat, to try out new things, and ultimately stay going this long.

We seemed to have hit some snags the past year+, ran into some obstacles we weren't prepared for, and honestly made a few decisions we thought were going to be for the best, but turned out to not be the right thing to do. But we're trying to listen and trying to get back to what everyone loved and enjoyed, and it sounds like that's just keeping this simple (and we're super cool with that.)

We want to take the emphasis off "trying to make this a business" and instead focusing on "make this community driven, community inspired, community ran" means that we're not in the pocket of these people sending us stuff or testing stuff with us (not that we EVER were (not once, not ever, not in the history of this site) but needing to the keep the lights on is a real struggle sometimes.) AFN is home to a lot of people. We had considered even closing the doors once before, but we had so many people tell us "no, that's not the right thing to do." Honestly, the support recently to keep this going has been relentless. And that's pretty awesome. We have some really great, amazing people here, both staff and non-staff, that know that we are just hitting some speed bumps on our way through this obstacle course and finding our way through it all.

To feasibly pay the server hosting, license renewals, backup storage, etc, $2000 is about a close average of an annual operating cost. That doesn't include service work, "what if's," etc. No incidentals. And will just go up as the needs of the site increase. I would like to get us a specialist to look at optimizing our server and forum setup as well, we can talk about the laggy pink elephant in the room, and if we can figure that out, then we'll do it.

We've setup a GoFundMe (which gave us the greenlight when we asked them if we could do this as a canna forum,) if anyone would like to donate towards this cause.

Donate to AFN Community Campaign, organized by Jordan Harker

The Autoflower Network (AFN) is an online community forum that provides a friendly environment fo… Jordan Harker needs your support for AFN Community Campaign

www.gofundme.com

At present, this would keep the site going annually, 100% community sponsored, not vendor sponsored.

We want to be transparent with what comes in and goes out too. That way there's no accusations or "is this really going for what it's meant for." Then this is what is, this is what we brought in, this is what went out, no one is bullshitting anyone here.

Before anyone starts raising the flags and banging the war drums, AFN is -NOT- in any way at risk of shutting down or closing our doors. Instead, we're trying to get back to why this forum was created. For learning, for sharing, to have a just chill place for people to grow at. Putting the science to the anecdotes. Having a place we can always call home because you know it's consistently this "good vibe of the tribe" kind of place.

We appreciate any consideration and everyone that helps make this community what it is. There's not much of a forum without the community members and that's what has always made us shine, our strength in diversity!

Thanks for listening!

It's this kind of transparency which will actually get me to donate, no BS is appreciated for sure. Gonna scope out that gofundme page now.

 

[MrOldBoy]

..I'll Always Love you..you are my children..but it is up to you to make me Like you , I have to remember this , For people like me that live remote AFN gives me a extended family with the same interest , being in a non legal country I don't have to many people to talk to about our passion . I still think we should have a donate button , I for one would be more than happy to keep donating as I can and I think so would a lot of members , It is our way of looking after the site as we know it . It gives us a Little bit of ownership to keep it the great site it is ,

I feel same way - could even be a a “novel donation amount” like hum, leave me think a minute - ah yes I got it ...... ...... $4.20 a month or every 3 months or even a yearly donation ..... Button is a great idea btw .....

In other News AFN goal of $2,000 is over 75% of the way there - good job all ......

Now need we a couple BIG BOYS to step up to the plate and get us up and over our goal OR even one more small donation to keep this train a moving.