OPN New Equipment Fund Drive ______20000 | | Pledges | | OPN From Local | | MEMBERS Businesses | | ______15000 _| |__15000 _|$|__14000 | | _|$|__13000 | | still _|$|__12000 | | We're^trying to raise _|$|__11000 | | $40,000 so we can grow _|$|__10000 _| |__10000 to over 100 phone lines _|$|__9000 | | and serve 5000+ members. OPN BOARD _|$|__8000 | | & VOLUNTRS _|$|__7000 | | Our plan is to raise _|$|__6000 | | half from OPN members ______5000 _|$|__5000 _| |__5000 like yourself and then _| |__4000 _|$|__4000 | | match your contributions _| |__3000 _|$|__3000 |$| with funds from business _|$|__2000 _|$|__2000 |$| sponsors and volunteers. _|$|__1000 _|$|__1000 |$| _|$|__0 _|$|__0 _|$|__0 Please Pitch In! /$$$\ /$$$\ /$$$\ \OPN/ \OPN/ \OPN/ GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS ABOUT NEW EQUIPMENT FIRST, THE BAD NEWS: As you are no doubt aware, the system has been unbearably slow during peak hours lately even if one is lucky or persistent enough to get on-line at all. What can I say? In every human endeavor, there is a general principle that says you only get out of something as much as you put in. There is no free lunch. And, I'm afraid there is no free net to the extent that somebody has to pay for it for it to exist at all. True, (yes Virginia) there IS a free net in the sense that many people who can't afford to pay are allowed access to nearly all the same on-line resources available to those who contribute to OPN. We at OPN are justifiably proud of that and we have no intention of ever changing that. Our reason for existing, the reason that a score of volunteers are spending 10-20 hours a week of their spare time making OPN work and the reason that our three underpaid staff members are willing to work for so much less than they could get elsewhere is because OPN is making sure that society doesn't get divided into information haves and have-nots. At least not here in Eugene and the surrounding areas. So, the bad news is that while many people have been generous, we suspect that many other people who CAN afford to contribute simply haven't yet. Maybe at 2650+ members we're losing some of the small town comradery that goes with a smaller membership. Maybe people think that as only one of 2650 people, their contribution won't make a difference. That's not the case, everyone's contribution helps, but perhaps it needs to be said from time to time so people don't forget. Maybe people have been meaning to send in a check at the first of "next month" or misplaced their postage stamps. Whatever the reason, member donations to the New Equipment Fund have been relatively low. Anyway, contrary to suggestions we're getting from some members, we won't deny access to people who don't pay and we're not going on any witch hunts to find out who doesn't pay that really could afford to. We are what we are. What we are lately is "working our backsides off to keep this system running and growing"-- putting in time and money well beyond what is comfortable for us. And we're asking you to be one of us, to be one of the public service movers and shakers in this world and in this town that make community projects like OPN possible. This is more than just a plea for your money (though keep in mind it is that too :-). We need your time and energy as well: * We need volunteers to serve as ask-a-nerds on-line to help answer people's questions. * We need a few good writers to create documentation to help members learn how to use the OPN system. * We need people to answer the phones in the office now that the new office is set up. * We need people to help mail statements once a month, to help other local non-profit organizations get on-line. * We need computer technicians to refurbish old PCs that have been donated to OPN * We also need more old PCs to refurbish and distribute to needy organizations. * We need you to help your friends get their computers set up (or let them use yours if they don't have one) and train them to use the e-mail, news and gopher software. * We need you to educate yourself more and share your knowledge with others. There is so much work to be done, but the potential rewards are immense. GOOD NEWS (DID YOU FORGET? I DID SAY THERE WAS GOOD NEWS TOO WAY BACK THERE :-) The good news is that we managed to raise $22,000 for the new equipment fund. We are very grateful to Symantec and TCI for their generous support and hope their generosity will eventually inspire the on-line membership to contribute more as well. Eben Dobson (OPN board member and liaison to OPN's business sponsors) and I have a friendly competition going on as to whether big donors or grass-roots contributions can raise more funds for OPN. We need both, of course, but my role is to be the cheerleader, if you will, for the grass-roots side of the equation. At half-time the grass-roots team is way behind, I'm afraid, but momentum is building in our favor. There are many more of us at the grass-roots level and if we all contribute just a little more we can win! "Winning", as I see it, is making OPN "belong" to the community it serves and inspiring everyone who uses EFN to be responsible for and help nurture this project. Anyway, the OPN board has now approved a growth plan that allows Clif, our system administrator, to buy equipment at the rate of one phone line and modem for every 40 members and one CPU and terminal server for every thirty phone lines (new equipment funds permitting). This is the proportion we had in November. We are now about 50% overbooked. Anyway CLIF HAS NOW ORDERED 30 MORE PHONE LINES, 30 MORE MODEMS, ONE MORE TERMINAL SERVER AND A SPARC-10 COMPUTER (2.5 TIMES AS POWERFUL AS THE CURRENT COMPUTER) and all this new equipment should be installed and available by late March or early April. (Yay, team!) So, help is on the way. We'll be almost doubling the number of phone lines and tripling the CPU power. By the way, all new modems will be capable of up to 28.8K speeds. So, we have secured new equipment that will allow OPN to grow to about 3,000 members. I estimate that's only until April 15th. We'll need more funds to allow Clif to grow the system to 5,000 members, so please donate now so access won't have to get bad again after the new equipment is in place before the next upgrade. ... ONCE AGAIN, THAT NUMBER IS FLASHING ON YOUR SCREEN... Please take a moment and mail a check today (payable to "Oregon Public Networking" or "OPN") to: OPN, Attn: New Equipment Fund PO Box 1914 Eugene OR 97440-1914 Remember to write your user-id (login name) and "New Equipment Fund" on the check in the "memo" or "for" space in the lower left. Thanks for your support! WANT TO BE AN OPN VOLUNTEER? Please send e-mail to volunteer@efn.org, describing your skills and your schedule, how and when you'd like to help out, etc. Thanks! +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Oregon Public Networking -- Your Gateway to The Electronic Frontier +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+