01-20-2023, 12:25 PM
OK folks; let me give it to you straight up. We started Big Blue over 14 years ago when we broke free of what was once The Gauge, and eventually, Zealot which quickly became riddled with ads. We did so with the promise that we would never allow advertising nor take on a sponsor, and so far, we’ve lived up to those promises. There is nothing that will ever make that change, so keep that in mind.
We’ve supported Big Blue all these years from out-of-pocket when necessary, donations, sales of contributed train gear and by holding auctions. We’ve been successful enough to keep things running and so Mikey and I kind of let things ride as they were, not that we were flush with cash, but because we don’t like leaning on our members when we could get by with what we had. Well, our renewal just came up and we had to empty the treasury to keep us going, literally. Our costs went up a good 10% and so we are at best, broke. We have reached the bottom of the cookie jar, only a few crumbs left!
Membership has dwindled over the years as it has throughout most forums, but there are still enough people here interested in what Big Blue has to offer to continue running. We have a lot of wonderful information here and some very talented modelers eager to help, no membership fees for anyone, but it’s no surprise, GoDaddy and the Internet folks just won’t give us a free ride regardless.
Where are we going with this? I’m sure you can guess; we have a year to get our treasury back up so when the bills come due, we can pay them. If we can’t make the rent, we’re going to be thrown out on the street without delay. Big Blue will cease to exist and all this valuable information will be lost, and we don’t want that to happen.
Out-and-out donations are super, and are always very much appreciated, but we like to give back too when we can, so we’re going to try to open a fund drive all through this year and do our best to make it a fun fund drive. That might include:
Got any ideas that we can use to generate some cash? Bear in mind that we have no assets to sell outside of our personal collections.
We are good for this year, that’s been taken care of, but like chipmunks, we have to start storing up for the future. Mikey and I just cannot support Big Blue on this level on our own, and it’s not fair to ask us to. We all benefit from Big Blue, so if you can help, please do so. We would rather shut down than to renege on our promise to you... Seriously! So put your thinking caps on, let us know if you have any new ideas or comments on those presented here, and especially if you have any items you want to donate or volunteer to decorate. We can furnish the decals or artwork if need be. Don’t be afraid to PM us with ideas or post them in this forum that we especially opened for this occasion. Even a spark of an idea can wind up being just what we need.
We have the whole year to get this to happen, we’ve not asked for help for a few years, so please help now. The more we get now, the less we’re going to have to bug you in the future. The time has come, rise to the occasion. Help keep Big Blue “Gauged and Running”, and we all become winners.
Mikey (ngauger) & Don (ezdays)
We’ve supported Big Blue all these years from out-of-pocket when necessary, donations, sales of contributed train gear and by holding auctions. We’ve been successful enough to keep things running and so Mikey and I kind of let things ride as they were, not that we were flush with cash, but because we don’t like leaning on our members when we could get by with what we had. Well, our renewal just came up and we had to empty the treasury to keep us going, literally. Our costs went up a good 10% and so we are at best, broke. We have reached the bottom of the cookie jar, only a few crumbs left!
Membership has dwindled over the years as it has throughout most forums, but there are still enough people here interested in what Big Blue has to offer to continue running. We have a lot of wonderful information here and some very talented modelers eager to help, no membership fees for anyone, but it’s no surprise, GoDaddy and the Internet folks just won’t give us a free ride regardless.
Where are we going with this? I’m sure you can guess; we have a year to get our treasury back up so when the bills come due, we can pay them. If we can’t make the rent, we’re going to be thrown out on the street without delay. Big Blue will cease to exist and all this valuable information will be lost, and we don’t want that to happen.
Out-and-out donations are super, and are always very much appreciated, but we like to give back too when we can, so we’re going to try to open a fund drive all through this year and do our best to make it a fun fund drive. That might include:
- Holding auctions
- Holding sales of donated items
- Just regular cash donations
- Holding someone hostage for ransom (won’t happen)
- Buying lottery tickets with the last remaining few bucks we do have (can’t happen)
- And lastly, some bright ideas coming from our loyal members (needs to happen!)
Got any ideas that we can use to generate some cash? Bear in mind that we have no assets to sell outside of our personal collections.
- Got some duplicate pieces of gear that you’d like to donate that we can either sell or auction off?
- Have any memorabilia lying around that it’s time to let go of?
- Would you be interested in decorating a car with the Big Blue logo so we can auction it off?
- Would you be interested in bidding on this or anything else if we were to hold auctions?
- Can you suggest what we could auction, such as prototype (collectable) items, or books?
- Want to buy in as a partner? (Just kidding)
We are good for this year, that’s been taken care of, but like chipmunks, we have to start storing up for the future. Mikey and I just cannot support Big Blue on this level on our own, and it’s not fair to ask us to. We all benefit from Big Blue, so if you can help, please do so. We would rather shut down than to renege on our promise to you... Seriously! So put your thinking caps on, let us know if you have any new ideas or comments on those presented here, and especially if you have any items you want to donate or volunteer to decorate. We can furnish the decals or artwork if need be. Don’t be afraid to PM us with ideas or post them in this forum that we especially opened for this occasion. Even a spark of an idea can wind up being just what we need.
We have the whole year to get this to happen, we’ve not asked for help for a few years, so please help now. The more we get now, the less we’re going to have to bug you in the future. The time has come, rise to the occasion. Help keep Big Blue “Gauged and Running”, and we all become winners.
Mikey (ngauger) & Don (ezdays)