It's Just Five Dollars!

its a mindfuck. no one really got an explanation of what's going on in the back end of this project. so it's a simple misunderstanding I'm sure. It would be cool to get to know the people pulling the strings "up there", and what mission control looks like. We are all trying like hell to do our own part, I spend many nights getting little sleep, to work all day at doing my own part.

Let us know what is going on, I grokked this because it's an important issue if you guys are broke and need a hand or something, but let us know what you need a hand with. I know some drupal, and am up for learning more. I'll be growing a surplus of food this summer so you guys are welcome to that. I also live pretty close to nyc and my cousin lives in Brooklyn and would probly let you guys live there for real cheap because he's short on money too. Let's make this thing work. We have the best and brightest here on evolver. Let's find out what we wound up with, who's really on here and what we all can do, and want to do. You guys should sit down and watch Grant Morrissons talk @ the disinformation conference some years back. Important things have been said about taking a step back for some perspective in times of tension. peace..

"Life's a garden, dig it"

For those individuals who still seem to have a problem understanding the simple & practical issue at hand here, maybe I can just pose a few questions to clarify:

Do you use evolver?
Do you enjoy and / or benefit from evolver?
Would you like to see this social networking / blogging site continue?

If you answered yes to at least (2) of those questions, then pay the goddam motherfucking membership fee and stop whining.

Budgets are relative, but in general - money is tighter for everyone....so you're not the only one dealing with cutbacks. The bottom line is if we don't step up and contribute, evolver will be no more. I suppose it may take extinction for those people to realize what it was they actually have here.

'Under your black eyes honey, right beneath your nose
A curse on all creation, every single thing you know
White smoke, white light….white marble on the floor
It would only take a few seconds of darkness to figure out what’s in store'

Chris, thanks for the supportive comments -- which I really appreciate.

I think that part of the reason the community doesn't realize how much effort RS/Evolver takes, and our need for cash to sustain it, is that we didn't broadcast it publicly. We've been trying to make it work as a (semi-) traditional indy media company, and we kept our operations opaque, as media companies tend to do. It felt a bit self-indulgent to me to let folks know just how relentlessly our tiny team of 3 full-time and 3 part-time people has to drive itself in order to keep up with all we've got going (daily publication, Spores, regional groups, promotion, Evolver.net blogs, books, Intensives, events and retreats, etc.). Personally, my days are so jammed that I don't even have time to write posts or comments...

Not to mention the time it takes to attract financing, so we can keep the operation growing.

But it's been clear for a while that Evolver isn't ever going to be a traditional media company. The way the community has come together around RS/Evolver makes this a new kind of animal. In many ways, we're merely the facilitators of a conversation -- the keepers of the forum, where everyone can convene. No one should underestimate how much time, energy, and dedication this requires. But, at the same time, it's the most personally rewarding effort I've ever been a part of. Just mind bogglingly beautiful.

Still, I have a new baby (almost five months old) and expenses to pay. For the past three years of 60 hours work weeks, I've barely been paid. The real unsung hero of Evolver has been my wife, Carmel, who has subsidized this operation with her day job.

The trick for us now is to establish a revenue stream to support basic operations, to ask the community we've been serving to enable us to keep things in motion. Daniel has suggested some of the possibilities that we're exploring -- which includes a donation button. But whatever we do, it should be a program that does more than, in effect, put out the donation cup. Folks should pay to help build the movement, take Evolver to the next step, so it can continue to grow into an effective force for change.

I've had my hands full the last couple of weeks, and haven't been able to post here about what we're concocting. But I've cleared out time over the next few days so I can offer some ideas and see what other evolvers think.

I love this forum and the passion of the people who are taking part.

Maybe it's time to just throw in the towel here and move along.

Growing a community by begging for money is not evolved, it's business as usual. If you want money, you organize a leprechaun hunt, pure and simple. Do you have any idea how much you can sell a pot of gold for nowadays?

There are many other perils and pitfalls for people like ourselves in even attempting to work together. If the CIA, FBI, or the Men in Black haven't already infiltrated the leadership of this community by now, they will soon enough. Really, if you think about it, who is to say that any one of us isn't an undercover operative just ready to spoil a perfectly orchestrated Utopian community at the most opportune time?

Maybe the most evolved thing to do right now is to hold a vote whether or not the people running the Evolver site should hang up their website smock's once and for all and call it quits. If they don't get the financial support soon, they are going to have to close their doors anyway so why not give them the heads up now so that they can move on to bigger and better things?