A New server for INGO?

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    Fenway

    no longer pays the bills
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    0   0   0
    Jan 11, 2008
    12,449
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    behind you
    INGO is running very slow at night because of the incredible amount of traffic we receive. INGO has relied on Site Supporters thus far to keep going and this site would not be possible with out them.

    A dedicated server for INGO will be pricey but something we will have to do soon. In an effort to help make this happen I was thinking we might be able to come up with some fund raising ideas for the transition.

    A board member brought up the idea of a silent auction. Maybe some INGOers would be willing to donate gear they no longer use. Maybe some of the trainers who post in the Tactics and Training forum would be willing to donate a class (Many are already Advertising Site Supporters :ingo:) and members could bid on the items.

    I'm opening this up for feedback.

    What say you?
     

    SmileDocHill

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    61   0   0
    Mar 26, 2009
    6,159
    113
    Westfield
    I am sure someone is a member of a gun club that is willing and equipped to host a benefit shoot. It could be a single event or several events, could be general or themed (like the WW2 shoot, or class 3 shoot). It could be as simple as an admission fee that goes to INGO server fund plus range fee if not on private property or donated by a gun club, hint, hint. It could end up being great fun for a good cause. It would be a great opportunity for people to shoot some guns that are outside of their normal area of interest. I am a WW2 history guy but I got to tell you I would love to pay a small fee to show up to a range where there were a number of full auto guns available to shoot (with knowledgeable owners to show me how to safely operate them.) I would reimburse the owner for the ammo shot so there wasn't a huge cost burden on them. People could show up with admission cost and money in small bills for whatever they felt they wanted to shoot and whatever weapons they have to allow others to shoot. Obviously the gun owner could ultimately decide if they didn't want someones grubby hands on their weapon.
    Every time I go to Wilbur Wright and other public ranges I meet at least a couple of INGO people who seem like the type that would love any opportunity to get together, chat it up, and learn about and shoot someone else's guns. In stead of potentially killing an already good thing like the ingo picnic by charging for it, just make new events that are specifically created for the benefit of the server fund.
    The people within the ingo community could get together and organize this for the benefit of INGO rather than it being an INGO function for liability purposes.
     

    esrice

    Certified Regular Guy
    Rating - 100%
    20   0   0
    Jan 16, 2008
    24,095
    48
    Indy
    I've got it!

    Since we're in the last week until NFA Day '09, let's block the driveway and force everyone to pay $10/person to get to the range!

    *evil grin* They'll pay!!! I know they'll pay! Ahahahahaha!
     

    techres

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Industry Partner
    Rating - 100%
    27   0   0
    Mar 14, 2008
    6,479
    38
    1
    I've got it!

    Since we're in the last week until NFA Day '09, let's block the driveway and force everyone to pay $10/person to get to the range!

    *evil grin* They'll pay!!! I know they'll pay! Ahahahahaha!

    Makes more sense than blocking it after they get in and forcing them to pay to leave. Most would happily stay and when their angry spuouses call they would just hand you the phone...

    Silent auction sounds good.
     

    MBG

    Plinker
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jun 2, 2009
    72
    6
    Indy-SW
    Fenway, contact me via pm or email, I work for a large datacenter and can offer you hosting for cheap/maybe free.

    I am doing a bulk purchase of some 1u servers in a week or so, I could let you in on that. I don't know what your current hosting solution is, but I Can tell you that some of the sites I currently host get more traffic that I would estimate that ingo does.(one got over 2.5 million hits a day during a recent event and my servers never missed a beat)

    The added advantage would be that the gear would be local and you could lay hands on it if need be. Our NOC manager is also a member here :)
     

    haldir

    Shooter
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 10, 2008
    3,183
    38
    Goshen
    +1 for MBG. Seems like a nice thing to offer up.

    I don't know if you have thought of just requiring sellers in the classifieds to be a site supporter or if that would be practical. I just checked the first 10 listed and 5 of them were already site supporters anyway.
     

    haldir

    Shooter
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 10, 2008
    3,183
    38
    Goshen
    I was just looking also. Is the INGO online shop open (I thought I remembered an announcement at some point). If it is, it is well hidden from notice. I would think selling hats and t-shirts could get some cash also. Perhaps selling cleaning kits, tools, etc. also.
     

    teknickle

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    May 4, 2009
    402
    18
    God's Country
    Sounds like you are far down the solution ladder, with a chance of going down the wrong path.
    Ah, time for the analogy.
    Let's say you attend a church looking to get some transportation.
    Say the pastor finds an old Amo-hauler with only 250,000 miles (passenger vans used by English to haul Amish to and from work and trips to Walmart). So he has the solution.
    Now he just needs the money.
    They decide to take in a bunch of donations to quickly sell off on eBay to pay the $5,500 for this van.
    Everyone agrees this is a great idea. Some members even sell their items off directly and hand the money in. People pour in the donations of clothes, furniture and some minor monetary donations. As the week rolls on, the sales don't seem to be going so well. The planning, shipping and getting not much money is kind of discouraging.
    Then on that last day, here comes Dewey Makecents (a CPA and church board member) zipping up in his new SmartCar.
    He beams as he brings in a check for $2,000 to just get them at their goal of $5,500.
    "Wow, how did you do it Dewey?"
    Well, I just got this new SmartCar and sold off my old clunker on eBay.
    "Great! $2,000 for the old clunker is a blessing to this church! what was it?"
    That old 2005 passenger van. Had over 100,000 miles and ever since I converted from the Mormon faith, I don't have all those yapping wives and kids to haul around.
    Then again, with all that child support I cannot afford gas, so spend $25,000 on the SmartCar.

    Wow. Amazing. Was there a point to the story?
    Not really, I just like practicing my typing.

    But seeing as how there are members on this board that might own hosting companies, or do support work for said companies, maybe you should throw out a simpler question:

    "Hey, is there anything we can do to handle the traffic coming in?"

    Let's start there and see what turns up.
     

    teknickle

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    May 4, 2009
    402
    18
    God's Country
    I know that my post isn't going to make much sense (after seeing all the other posts that happened before my post)
    But to be fair, only the 1 reply was up from esrice before I started typing and then walked away from 'puter for a minute (wife had question about laptop in living room).

    Anyway, I think MBG may have something for you.
    If not, I do own and manage some distributed server farms (with failovers, but they are off slow T1's).
    One friend of mine owns a hosting company that 2 years ago upgraded FROM an OC-48.
    Those boxes can handle some traffic.
    I have some other stings I can pull, but I would want to know numbers before asking the favors (like is it 4G a month traffic needed or what)
     

    Chefcook

    Shooter
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    Oct 20, 2008
    4,163
    36
    Raccoon City
    We seem to have quite a few members with bikes, how about an INGO ride and shoot poker run. If we could get guys from say 3 gun clubs interested we could ride from one club to the next and shoot a couple mags at each making the targets playing cards. At the end of the run the guy with the best hand wins and gets half the pot, the other half goes to INGO. Charge say $10 per shooter. I am a member at FCVCC get someone from say MCFG and Martinsville those 3 clubs would make a nice 100/150 mile circle starting from Indy...
     

    bwframe

    Loneranger
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    93   0   0
    Feb 11, 2008
    38,170
    113
    Btown Rural
    Sounds like some very helpful offers above.

    My :twocents:.

    First of all make it very easy for anyone to send payments securely 24/7 with a charge card. The same way we all regularly pay our bills and make online purchases, including confirmations.

    I would suggest INGO raffles.
    Work with INGO advertisers (and potential advertisers, deals to be made here,) to get desirable items to raffle at the best price. Yes, I'm talking guns, expensive guns. For example, $20 tickets, only 100 sold.
    Then promote, promote, promote. If done well, you could have a successful monthly raffle promoting the site, the participating advertiser and the winners.
     
    Last edited:

    Mgderf

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    43   0   0
    May 30, 2009
    17,877
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    Lafayette
    Sounds like some very helpful offers above.

    My :twocents:.

    First of all make it very easy for anyone to send payments securely 24/7 with a charge card. The same way we all regularly pay our bills and make online purchases, including confirmations.

    I would suggest INGO raffles.
    Work with INGO advertisers (and potential advertisers, deals to be made here,) to get desirable items to raffle at the best price. Yes, I'm talking guns, expensive guns. For example, $20 tickets, only 100 sold.
    Then promote, promote, promote. If done well, you could have a successful monthly raffle promoting the site, the participating advertiser and the winners.

    I think this is a GREAT idea, but I would be willing to just send in a cash donation in addition.
    I'm already a site supporter, but I feel this site is worth the extra effort!
     

    shooter521

    Certified Glock Nut
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    May 13, 2008
    19,185
    48
    Indianapolis, IN US
    First of all make it very easy for anyone to send payments securely 24/7 with a charge card.

    Mike/INGO has a Paypal address. It's really easy to give him money. ;)

    I would suggest INGO raffles.

    Ain't gonna happen. We looked into raffles extensively during the whole "INGO Glock donation" episode, and came to the conclusion there was no way to do it easily (i.e. without wading through a crapload of red tape) and legally.
     

    clt46910

    Master
    Emeritus
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    0   0   0
    Dec 4, 2008
    1,633
    36
    Akron Indiana
    I got some stuff laying around I would donate if you wanted to go the auction route. More then willing to donate even some new knifes if needed.
     

    BIG TIM

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 15, 2008
    498
    16
    Fountaintown
    How about a firearms training course with all proceeds to benefit INGO? I am sure that with all the talented folks around here, a well qualified trainer could be found.
     

    Griffeycom

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Dec 20, 2008
    1,017
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    To those suggesting a Silent Auction: You may want to check in the legality of that too without an Auctioneers license. The laws may be similar to the raffle issues INGO Ran into. I know that silent auctions are different than live, bid calling auctions but just to be safe!
     
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