I thought I’d keep this idea separate from the “pay for signature line links” thread. Cuz…that’s a good idea too, and this is an additional opportunity for LF/FAOL to possibly get $$.
FAOL is totally a great COMMUNITY of folks, with daily helpful suggestions, stories, ideas. Its irreplaceable, and a main reason we each log in daily…or multiple times daily.
I was thinking about some of the other major assets FAOL has, and how unthinkable it would be to existing and future fly anglers if these things were ever lost.
One thing was all the fly patterns in the forums and FOTW archives. I know there’s somebody on here that has these all nicely saved/organized, and is willing to share.
Another is Al’s fly-tying lessons. Also, all the articles that have been submitted over the years…
Wouldn’t it be great to have a DVD/Multi-DVD Set of all the tying & casting lessons/articles, as well as all of the other various articles archived? Even if you’ve been around FAOL for years, and have looked through most of the stuff…Who wouldn’t want to BUY a set? I sure would!
FAOL could offer these for sale, make a profit, AND ensure that this info never gets lost. Seems like a WIN-WIN.
Just an idea, I have not concept of what kind of an undertaking this might be to actually get it done. But, if such a thing were made available, I’d buy not only for myself, but might also buy as gifts for other fly anglers I know, and recommend to other fly anglers, new or experienced. Can you imagine?
Dave, If I remember right, someone is working on cds of Al’s lessons.
I agree I would love some of the patterns, casting lessons, ETC. on cd/dvd. I wonder if it is possible to get them copywrited, with permission from the right people, to the sight, possibly another source of income!!
Others here might be able to answer this question better. Obviously, blank DVD’s are cheap. Not sure what it would cost to mass-produce vs. having someone create them one-by-one on a home computer, for example. It’d probably take somebody some time to organize the material in a logical/appealing way on the DVD. I suppose it could be as simple as “folders/subfolders/files”…or something more fancy.
Even though the info is available here for free, I’d still pay to have a hard copy.
Since the articles/patterns database continually grows, maybe every-other-year or so, “Update CD’s” for years 201x-201y could be offered for sale as well?
In the past Parnelli has produced an CD of the Fly of the Week for the previous year. If asked nicely, he might just do one again. As I recall they are free with the exception you have to send him a CD to cut it on.
Dr. Hugo Gibson (Thunderthumbs) has produced the first in a series of VIDEOS, which are the fly tying instructions by Al Campbell. He intends to produce the complete series for FAOL, and they will be archived here as well.
Hugo and I have also produced the first Podcast, with a little background on how FAOL got started. Both the Video and Podcast are at Ron Tidds waiting for him to finish up a huge, important project which pays the bills at his house. Ron has also been working (in his spare time) on cataloging all of FAOL and creating the new look. Just a update, all the goodies will still be here.
Everything which appears on FAOL is covered by my copyrights, which are both as the registered, trademarked FAOL, and me personally.
y’all are exceedingly noble. please do tell how all this affects those of us that struggle to pay the bills every month. those on unemployment, those that do well to have a mcdonalds job at minimum wage, those of us on fixed income, all of us that do feel good about promoting non profit causes. y’all sounding very elitist
i think this is a thread on how to keep FAOL functioning Wes, not a thread on how to help you make it through this economy. elitist? are you kidding me?
Seems like a good plan, you could break everything down into a yearly CD. Those who want it can purchase it, not a bad way at all to help fund the website in my eyes.
Man I am 47 yrs old and on a military medical pension, talk about struggle, I do my best, and owe no buddy any damn thing, I have my mortgage and that is it…
Elitists my butt…
Do some of you REALLY think it would be cool to sell ( no matter how noble the cause)material which was voluntarily submitted to FAOL? I’m sure the material such as Al’s etc. was submitted with no expectation of compensation and with, I’m sure , the IMPLICATION at least, that said material would be available in the same spirit ( FREE) in which it was submitted. That’s just MY opinion, I may be wrong.
Marco,
All the information would still be available for free on line. If, however, you’d like a complete copy of the info, on hard copy, where you can tool it around with you, without your computer, you could purchase a copy of it. If you want to haul your computer with you, you wouldn’t need the copies, and you could just send money!!
I think we’re just, right now at least, looking for ideas that can be used to raise some money to help the site, without hawking “stuff” … you know, the coffee mugs, t shirts, eye visors, salt and pepper shakers …
Betty,
Despite the response and suggestions so far, I suspect the demand for such a product would be VERY limited. SO limited in fact, that it wouldn’t even be CLOSE to practical for anyone to produce and sell at a price that would cover costs and produce a profit margin. And, since you mentioned “hawking” mugs, t-shirts etc , THAT’s a MUCH better idea eg. hats??? There is NO way ,in my opinion, the number of sales of the CD’s would even be 2%of the number of hats you were kind enough to volunteer to provide and sell.
Again, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.
