Pass the Hat Initiative

[horati0nosebl0wer 19661xp 0]

I had a thought and I’d like the input of you my fellow hobbyists. I propose an initiative, call it the Pass The Hat Initiative, and have it be a fund set aside for giving somebody hard on their luck a chance to keep their subscription here. I have no idea how to organize it. I certainly have no clue as to the legal requirements or ramifications of doing so but I’d like to set out the idea as I believe there’s going to be a rough time ahead for us all. Keeping a light on and giving people a key to step in out of the cold would be ideal for spirits gone low from the weight of the world. What are your thoughts, feelings, concerns, criticisms and the like? Maybe this thread could get some traction and even some Discord discussion if anyone cross pollinated it.

[sundancer 43074xp 0]

I love the idea. Things that should be in place for this could be things like:

• CoG Gift Membership from the OTT Store. So that you buy *one* year/month and not have to worry about automated re-subs
• For current CoGs: an option at the “unsubscribe” page with something like “I can’t afford this, please apply gifted sub if available”
• For non-CoGs: an option after the trial expires to either go “full member” or use a gifted sub
• “Background check”. This is the bad part. Because people are the Wurst[tm] there should be someone (or some kind of committee) that looks out for people who spend a lot on hobby stuff but then go for the free sub.

Other then that I can’t think of any simple way to do it without getting into real legal territory with “who owns who what money and who checks the bills”

[templar007 52378xp 0]

I like the idea of Hobby Bros helping out one another.

 

But I agree that it would be a legal headache.

And…….

The moment the project starts there will be those that need it and those that want it.  Every month someone will be asking , “Why was that person chosen over me”?

 

Would there be criteria that people would have to submit?  Doesn’t the UK and EU have new protection in place for protecting folks info?  Not to mention the rest of the world………this site is still an ‘International Heaven’ for hobby-folk.  What would the vetting process be like?  How would ‘the community committee’ pick?

 

At the end of all of this I just wonder………………..Warren and Lloyd have always said that the price of membership is just the price of a ‘coffee’ once a month.  It is incredibly inexpensive.

 

[sundancer 43074xp 0]

Warren and Lloyd have always said that the price of membership is just the price of a ‘coffee’ once a month. It is incredibly inexpensive.

Me, having been on the literal receiving end of governmental benefits, can say: that’s a coffee you don’t buy when you are dependent on money from the government. Not even once. I don’t know how that works in other parts of the world but here in Germany once you’re getting money from the state budget is as tight as it gets. To illustrate: if you have an additional small paying job you need to tell the officials and it gets deducted from your benefits. At that point CoG membership could cost 1, 5 or 20 GBP it would be unaffordable.

But in general it’s a can of snakes (not even worms) to open if we look at it from the “people are bad m’kay” perspective. That being said, there must be a way how we could make that happen.

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 1]

A contribution button to OTT. OTT could then randomly give away a monthly (?) subscription to whomever submits their name to a monthly raffle. Honor system and done in private. OTT would benefit as well, since the marginal cost of another subscription is much less than the income the contribution would generate.

Dunno if OTT particularly needs the funds, but OTT could have a local event where they auction off unwanted stuff in storage or offices, and participants can drop off models, games, etc. they’re willing to give the proceeds of an auction to OTT. If the auction of an item or lot is enough for a subscription, the donor receives a subscription. The company’s product gets a shoutout. The FLCS long ago had comic book auctions and they were *really* fun and a good way to reduce inventory.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19661xp 1]

Hmm.. the legal issue is something to consider as those do tend to be sticking points. Not a lawyer and its a different country with different rules. Leave it to them to hassle over minutia.

The anonymity is a good idea and having the rando-raffle award will keep the rage over “why didn’t I get it?” to a minimum. It’ll happen but its about as bad as any time a drawing is made for Weekender and other contests.

The gift could also work with named CoG beneficiaries. Would there need to be the vetting there or not? Thinking about if there were multiple gifts to one person it might be a thing. *shrug* Thinking caps still on and ponder this some more.

[hobbyhubParticipant 4169xp 0]

I seem to remember that people could donate Backstage Passes back in the day, might have been during the Global Financial Crisis, and people could apply for those donated passes.

 

I also know that it ended at some point – forgotten why.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19661xp 1]

Hmm.. that’s a good idea, though it goes back to @sundancer with the point of “People are the Wurst”™ and how the system could be abused. Eh, I guess it goes to just being free of concern once you commit to the philanthropy

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