Bob, I stand corrected ...
* IDCC is BY FAR [ONE OF] your most prolific board[S] - I didn't look at every one, but from the many I surveyed, IDCC was by far larger than the others. So, there a handful with several times the posts. I stand corrected am I am glad about it.
* "renewals; not new subscribers; vast majority of the people ... will never subscribe" - the fact is most subscribers start as non-subcribers. Everybody does. You may be underestimating the value of your free population. Also, ad revenue and other (tbd?) sources of revenue that derive from the free population must continue to be an important part of your business model.
* "The "experience" here for free members is already quite rich" - Agreed, however, you are hearing from me and some others that on some popular boards, without intrinsic self-directed CONTENT management tools, the experience is RUINED by the 10% or more of non-investing agenda posts. Again, you must be careful to not underestimate the significance of a few complaints to the owners. I have expended much more time on this issue with you than most others would care to provide to you for feedback.
* "The money for our new $8k database server isn't growing on a tree" - Bob, I want I-Hub to succeed. You have the best board I have seen and the best value-added features. If you are not over the hump yet and your business model is in doubt, then I would be glad to become a subscriber, not because I need (or want) the power features at this time, but because I want I-Hub to succeed and if my membership would make a difference to you, just let me know. I would still want filtering to be a free feature for all, even if I did become a subscriber, because I believe intrinsic filtering is in the long term best interest of the boards and the site.
* the Ford analogy just doesn't make sense to me. I see a conceptual difference between value-added features (options that some users find worth paying for) and essential tools (intrinsics e.g. filtering or a transmission) that everyone needs to have in order to derive a good experience. To me, filtering is in the category of a needed tool to reduce or eliminate the garbage from non-investing agenda posts that can and do RUIN the experience for some users. And, these free customers are the users that you want to enice to subsrcibe as they become more frequent and informed about the site. Of course, some free customers never will subscribe and you need to serve them value as well (a loss leader if you will) for the overall success of the site. Surely, you don't think there is no need for the free customers.
* We may just disagree on how we think about your business and we may differ on the value of the free users to the long term health of I-Hub. I respect your opinion, and I have put a lot of energy into giving you my perspective as a good customer of your business. So, if it is OK with you, let's not debate any more. I think we understand each other's perspective.
Truly Best Regards,
Corp_buyer
