I was asked recently by some of the readers here to make a wish list of things I needed, specifically for the effort to provide internet radio to AVfM listeners, and more generally, I think, for the scope of activism that originates from this site.
The bad news is that the list is long. The good news is that most of it does not involve money. And the really good news is that regardless of the response, AVfM, both website and radio, as well as register-her.com, will continue more or less as planned.
But please settle in for a bit as I map things out for you, this is going to be a tad lengthy.
First, the money for news releases and other promotions is still in the coffer for register-her.com. The technical work behind the site proved to be more complicated and time consuming than expected, but we are nearing completion (estimated at 3-5 days) and we will proceed as planned from there.
If press releases related to the site prove to be effective we will want to do more of them, but that will be determined as we develop some history on their efficacy.
As far as this site is concerned, the news is very good. We continue to kick ass with growth, and the new site is also near completion. I would estimate less than a week on that before we launch, but it might require just a little longer as the senior developer was out ill for a few days.
I feel completely safe in saying that when you see it you will be nothing less than astounded at the improvements. It is that good; slick, modern, polished and professional. The donation of technical expertise to develop the new site is worth many thousands of dollars and will almost certainly attract a lot of new readers.
The situation for the radio show is promising as well. As you can see by reading here, the set up and operation of the show will be accomplished with little out of pocket expense, but approaching it from a self-hosting angle produces the first item on the wish list; a new computer.
I have been winging this whole operation on $300.00 laptops that I replace once a year (when they last that long), which has served pretty well until now. And I am prepared to go on what I have, but there would be huge benefit if I had a some real speed and power to work with.
[box type=”note” icon=”none”]For the wish list I have chosen the iMac, spec’d with 3.4 GHz processor, 8 GB SDRAM, 1 TB ATA drive (I would have liked the 256 GB Solid State drive but that would have been another $500.00)[/box]
That would give me all the speed and power I would like but rings in at a cool $2,548.00. It would also serve our efforts well for some time to come.
Next on the list is images. I am sure most of you have noticed the new presence of large images at the head of most articles. The are all sized for aesthetic and design considerations that involve the upcoming new site.
Getting and using them is a bit tricky and expensive for sure. As AVfM grows we must be beyond reproach in terms of copyrights. We have removed ALL “borrowed” images from the site and replaced them with those obtained from a Shutterstock.com subscription that I bought after the last fundraiser.
That was $234.00 and it only affords me one month of the ability to download up to 25 images a day. I have developed quite a file, but the catch (as it is with all these services) is that I only have six months to use any particular image after I download it. After that my license to use them expires.
Many of those images will go unused, and as best as I can estimate I will be lucky if I can get two months worth of usable images from any one month subscription.
The other option on that is a one year subscription at $2,559.00.
Yuck. And that brings me to a good segue for the remainder of the items. Everything else on my wish list involves help other than financial. So first I will say that if there are any graphic designers out there, or photographers, please consider supplying my files with images (538 x 357 pixels – no white backgrounds) that would fall into the themes we address on this site. e.g. misandry, domestic violence, false allegations, feminism, etc. etc.
Of course with the new site coming, we would like those images to be very professional. This kind of support would possibly help avoid the 2 ½ K expense for a year of shutterstock.
Next on the list is the need for a volunteer coordinator. I regularly get offers for help to this site but I simply don’t have the time to work individually with a lot of people. It would be invaluable to have an MRA who understands the mission and the needs of AVfM to serve as a liaison between people who want to volunteer to donate images, music and technical skills, and myself or Dexter. This is the kind of work that could result in very big things happening that might otherwise slip through the cracks.
Next, when the new site launches I would very much like to have a news department. We tried this at MND with mixed results, but I still believe in the idea very much.
What this would involve is simple and would take about one hour per week. The news editor would simply take three relevant news stories per week, and write a brief summary on them with a link to the original source. For instance right now in Grand Forks, South Dakota the following very important story is happening.
[box type=”alert” size=”large” style=”rounded” icon=”none”]A male student has been found guilty of sexual assault by his university while the police have charged the woman accusing him for lying about it.[/box]
Just a couple of more sentences about that (written as straight up news, no opinion or commentary) and a link to the original source, and presto, we have a news story. AVfM readers can get the basic gist here, or click through for the details and the whole story.
Our very own news department in one hour of time or less per week.
Also, AVfM has a facebook page. A volunteer to manage that page and recruit members would go a long way toward our social networking efforts. If we do get a volunteer for that, they could also incorporate the reborn AVfM Radio into that when we re-launch.
So where would all this take us?
Well, what I have in mind is pretty simple. AVfM is growing on a formula that involves a relatively complete array of web based media; written articles, audio (radio) and video; the latter of which I have largely neglected due to time constraints. That is a shame since I have over 3,000 subscribers to my youtube channel and that is growing despite my inability to produce videos like I used to.
My ambition here is simple but time intensive. After the new site launches and the new radio program begins airing I want to divide my time between a weekly radio program, writing on this site, producing regular videos again – and promoting and managing register-her.com.
Thank the stars that Manuel Dexter and Keyster are working side by side with me on this or it could not be done. And it still can’t be done as well as it could be without some additional help.
But I have a feeling we are very, very close here to establishing a rhythm of solid, consistent production of MRA material, as well as many more assertive efforts to fuck their shit up.
I know, it is a pretty big list, but personally I think it will result in a huge amount of bang for the buck over the long term.
Whatever the response to this appeal, I want to extend some seriously humble thanks to all of you. Your reaction to the stunt by BTR took all the sting out of it and made it actually turn into an opportunity to regroup and come back with a vengeance.
Whatever happens, that is exactly what we are going to do.
Addendum
I have also just been advised that with the size of the AVfM database, and the greatly added functionality of the new site, that we need to acquire Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting. That will run about $480.00 annually with our current hosting company, which is doing a very good job for us at the time.
