Would you pay $5.00 to be a member of MCC (read first, then answer)

As a new member I would like to say hello!

I do not think that a $5 fee would be earth shattering and there are validd points on both sides. Personally, I would probably pay for it.

However, I think that it would be best to not to charge a $5 dollar fee for access to the online community. Some of the reasons (and some have been mentioned above) is that it will disclude some people. Not nescassarily a large amount of people, but whenever a fee is imposed there is no way around it. That's just how it is with everything.

Some people have mentioned "lurkers" that do not contribute or people who are not being serious. I may have a solution. (may have already been mentioned, but I did not read all of the above posts) First you could make it so people could not attend events or have a restricted profile or such until they contributed in the forum, lets say 10 quality posts. It's easy enough obtain, but still requires an amount of effort that might not appeal to lurkers. This sort of forum posting method is used by the free web hosting industry and it works quite well. As for the people who are not serious/not active, simply delete their account after a month of inactivity.

I think right now a fee would not be smart, especially since you already have membership levels, giving people the option to pay for MCC the way they see fit based on the benefits of each level. If you are having money issues you could try banner ads, they provide a level of income with no real work, if it does not violate the groupsite terms of service. (there may be ads already, but I'm using ad block on firefox so I don't see them)

I just thought I'd put my 2 cents in.

There are too may Free options out there to pay $5.  You can shroud the reason in "Keeping serious people", the fact of the matter is, even with reducing the membership in half to 2000, MCC would generate 10 grand/month or $120K per year not bad for the Terry Bean retirement fund but I see no benefit for the general membership.

I wish you well but if it goes to ANY CHARGE per month, cancel my membership

Take a lesson from Jay Leno. Give the unemployed people a break. No fee untill you are employed.

This is a fascinating discussion.

I have read each and every post with great interest. I must say, some of them have warmed my heart while others have steamed my clams. I shall bring up the latter first.

I find it interesting that Charles Findlay wrote twice about how against it he is even after I wrote THIS on his behalf when learning of his running for state rep. I did that for the same reason I do most of the stuff I do, cuz it seemed like the right thing to do.

Fred Levine's post today was the one that really got me because I spent a couple of hours on a Saturday in April tracking down and coordinating with the President of the HRAGD so he could have an HR professional for an interview he had with Channel 4 that Monday. I really appreciate you worrying about my retirement account Fred. Thanks.

And yet I will still greet you both warmly and ask how I may be of assistance next time our paths cross.

The reason I suggest that participation will go up is because I could afford to actually particiapte myself. For those of you who don't know me, I know how to make good connections. It would make my day to be able to respond personally to EVERYONE's personal objective and ASK. 90% of them would turn into a very solid opportunity for both the asker and introduced. I don't say this to sound arrogant or full of myself (thanks for those comments too) I say them because like each and every one of you, I happen to be good at what I do. I am a connector.

For those of you who suggested just go ahead and cull the group...How do you think that happens? There's no Group Culling Genie. It's a manual process. Someone has to take TIME to do that. Should they do it for free?

To Bridget, Linda, Natalie and Fred St. Amour, thank you so much for your kind words. Even though I haven't read them since they came in, they stuck with me.

To Dean, who like Bridget, understands what this takes, I appreciate your openess and interest in hearing more before deciding.

Thanks to all of you who have weighed in. Contrary to Susan's belief, the decision was not made and still isn't. I will tell you those who I admire and respect thought it was a good idea. Interesting how that worked out, isn't it?

$5.00 isn't a lot of money. It's just not. Each and every one of us wastes $5.00 a month if not a heck of a lot more than that.

Not only will this $5.00 be used to make Motor City Connect the best it can be (online, face to face and FOR our community) it will impact others.

I envision a portion of it going to charity and I would love to see a MCC scholarship fund. We could do so much good. It does cost money to maintain the site and it would be nice to have some help do that. Both Charlie and I work full time jobs in addition to this.

I love Motor City Connect, what we do and what the group stands for (MCC FAQ) and that won't change. It's fascinating to me that there are more people involved in this thread than there are group members than 98% of the sub groups, especially the Blood, Sweat and Gear group. This makes me wonder if we all have our priorities straight.

For those that wonder, there would be a trial time so people could make the decision as to whether or not to join. We would also substantially lower the cost of face to face meetings, which is a good thing.

I appreciate your taking the time to read this and welcome you to share your thoughts either here or directly with me 248.224.1326 or tbean@networkedinc.com. I am here. I am here to help. I am here to help you. And always will be.

Be Connected-

Terry Bean

Thanks for your efforts and you openness on all opinions Terry.  I know what it is like to put your everything into something and it is hard to remain unbiased yet I feel you do just that.

Ted, I think that is a great idea.  If a $5 fee is implimented, I think that the unemployed should be able to waive that fee until gainful employment is found.  Hopefully, that would not be too difficult to administrate.

Keep up the healthy discussion all!

Don't mess with a good thing....! 

Leave well enough alone.

Those that want to participate...will! 

Those that want to lurk...let 'em lurk!  You never know when they will have something great to contribute, so why lock them out if they don't wish to pay the fee??

Barb

Good morning all MCC members:

I too have been reading all the comments posted over the last week or so and felt it was time to voice my opinion. First I appreciate the fact that so many people took the time to weigh in on this subject; it's not important weather you are for or against the idea but that you were able to voice your opinion.

The personal attacks on Terry or Charlie are not fair; the idea to charge a modest $5.00 per month to cover the basics like someone's time to produce a venue that connects 4,000 people for the purpose of building your business is a bargain.

I was one of the members that suggested to Terry that a $5.00 fee should be considered, to insure that the momentum that's already in place continues. Through all the postings I haven't seen one person offer to assist by volunteering time to administer the MCC site; it's always easier to let someone else put their time and effort into it.

In closing please consider: this is a site built to connect people to each other that will lead to assisting with careers and business development. Use the site; reach out to people that you can assist so that in turn they can assist you with who you really want to meet. One referral could make this whole discussion a moot point

I, too, was one of the members recommending a modest membership fee.

I agree with Walt that the attacks on Terry and Charlie are unwarranted.

And, I would love to see any one of the folks who want the all benefit of this group without having to invest anything other than their own criticism to step up to the plate and take over the management and facilitation of it... without pay.

Who's first?

Nothing to see here, these are not the droids you're looking for:

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/index.htm

Just a little flame warrior humor.

I haven't been able to attend a lot of events due to schedule problems, but the few I have attended I have been immensely impressed with Terry and Charlie.  The attacks people have made on them are totally unwarranted.  They give so much of themselves

and I for one am thankful that they do all they do for us.   Thanks

Terry,

My "belief" was originally that this fee was going to take place September 1st no matter what.  I went back and editted my reply about ten minutes after it was posted as this groupsite does not allow a member to delete a response.

I'd still like to know some of the planned improvements that a fee based site will offer.  Will we have webinars, downloadable white papers of information, Net G type training sessions availabe from you and Charlie for those of us who are unable to attend the live functions due to work schedules?

Please don't consider this a personal attack from me.  It is not.  I simply would like to know what the plans are for the fees. 

Another possible way to aleviate some of work load could be to appoint admins and moderators like other forums.

I would be willing to help you out some producing content if you request it.

I haven't yet read ALL of the comments, so Im not sure if this poing has been made yet...I would have to disagree on the fee and limiting the number of members. Even if a person doesn't participate often on the blogs they are still another set of eyes when they read the emails to possibly have an answer to a specific Ask.

When people get specific on their ask there may not be many people who can hlep, but always getting the word out to a larger number of people increases the odds!  

That's asking for a LOT from MCC for only charging $5 a month.  Getting one good connection can be priceless.  It's Terry and Charlie's leadership that bring these type of people together.  We are so blessed!  IF $5 is too much, maybe you can consider that is WHY $5 is too much (it's a lack mentality).  MCC can help you with that "Lack" mind set and support you into becoming all you want your business to be.  That's what AWESOME leadership does.  I feel SO blessed and have gotten SO much out of MCC.  It's already been life changing just by a few of the contacts.  Put out good supportive energy and you will get it back.  You get out of what you put into something.

AMEN!  LOL!

Terry, candidly, I am not sure that charging $5 per month will create the long-term effect of participation among group members that you are seeking.  I am sure many of us have been a part of a networking group or two that charges a fee and, while we may go to the first few meetings, eventually we stop going.  For many, including myself, this boils down to a question of time.  While I would love to participate more, particularly the face-to-face meetings, my clients must come first.  Before I move forward on any suggestions as to how we can increase group participation, I would like to have you define what you mean by this.  Are you looking for increased discussions online?  Greater attendance at the face-to-face meetings?  I would be happy to brainstorm further with you if you want to give me a call.