Posted by Aaron Szabo on February 19, 2011 at 2:10 PM
As most of you know, there's been some new policies about having to pay the membership fee just to post images and comment on anything. I was a paying member, but I quit using it for a while and now really only use the site on a semi-regular basis. I've been talking (or complaining) to Jim Erhardt about the new rules and how some of forum members may not use it enough to pay the $50 fee or some of the younger people may not be as financially stable as the rest. Jim has actually surprised me in that now he has shared some new ways to obtain a free membership. Here a little statement from the link he sent me about how to Waive NPN membership fees:
"For any current member that has fallen on hard financial times, we will waive the renewal fee. When you receive the membership renewal notice and if you are caught in a tight cash-flow situation, just shoot us an email and let us know. Seriously, we will not let any member lose the enjoyment of their participation on NPN at such trying times.
Additionally, if finances are tight due to being a college student, we will do the same. For college students we will even provide a new membership free of charge. If you know any college student in this situation, please tell them to contact us.
Obviously, these policies are also an opportunity for the unscrupulous to take advantage. But we’d rather think that any such request is genuine until given reason to think otherwise. "
Hopefully we'll be seeing some more activity here and some more posts by young members that are good at photography, but are in college or can't spend the money on the $50 membership. I think Jim is being very generous and also smart because we've seen a huge decline in activity on this forum after the new policy came in place, and you can only blame some of that on winter. I'm sure that even if you wrote them and said you can pay $25 or so because you don't use the forum very often, they'd appreciate that. I hope no one thinks I'm cheap here. I'm just mainly into video production and filmmaking, so my level of involvement here is not as much as others. I thought this may be of interest to a lot of the members that have quit using the site because they weren't paying members. Some talented members have dropped off the map. I'd tell Jim thanks if you end up trying to get a free membership for whatever reason, or some people could offer a bigger donation if you have more to spare than others.
Posted by Mike Hall on February 19, 2011 at 3:36 PM
Thanks for the info. I have been a member for a few years and I did not update my membership this time around. Mostly due to the lack of involvement on my part and others. I enjoy everyone's images and really love the gatherings. I have to make cuts in my budget and this was one that had to go to the wayside. Maybe next year I will pay to become a member again. for the rest of you: Keep posting! I enjoy your stuff.
Mike Hall
Posted by Aaron Szabo on February 19, 2011 at 3:58 PM
I'm in the same boat Mike, but most of us that didn't pay to renew could not even post a comment, let alone an image. That's mainly why the forum has been slow. I can't say that I'll be super active here, but at least I can now post a comment if I want to...
Discussion
2 replies"For any current member that has fallen on hard financial times, we will waive the renewal fee. When you receive the membership renewal notice and if you are caught in a tight cash-flow situation, just shoot us an email and let us know. Seriously, we will not let any member lose the enjoyment of their participation on NPN at such trying times.
Additionally, if finances are tight due to being a college student, we will do the same. For college students we will even provide a new membership free of charge. If you know any college student in this situation, please tell them to contact us.
Obviously, these policies are also an opportunity for the unscrupulous to take advantage. But we’d rather think that any such request is genuine until given reason to think otherwise. "
Original link here: http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/bbs.cgi?a=vm&mr=62574&ns=1
Hopefully we'll be seeing some more activity here and some more posts by young members that are good at photography, but are in college or can't spend the money on the $50 membership. I think Jim is being very generous and also smart because we've seen a huge decline in activity on this forum after the new policy came in place, and you can only blame some of that on winter. I'm sure that even if you wrote them and said you can pay $25 or so because you don't use the forum very often, they'd appreciate that. I hope no one thinks I'm cheap here. I'm just mainly into video production and filmmaking, so my level of involvement here is not as much as others. I thought this may be of interest to a lot of the members that have quit using the site because they weren't paying members. Some talented members have dropped off the map. I'd tell Jim thanks if you end up trying to get a free membership for whatever reason, or some people could offer a bigger donation if you have more to spare than others.
Mike Hall