Folks, this is something we'd planned to formally announce once the campaign had been posted, so we hope you’ll forgive our silence up until now regarding our intent. But given the interest and discussion we're seeing on these forums it seems like it might be a good time to give everyone a heads' up about what we have in the works, and hopefully build some enthusiasm (while allaying some of the conjecture) about who might be coming forward to put in a bid on the site.
The senior staff have been hard at work doing the research and planning to action a staff buyout of Stratics, including the formation of an LLC with a Board of Directors and charter for managing the site on a long-term basis. We are still in the initial steps of drafting and approving charters, filing articles of incorporation and getting professional consultation regarding the requirements for 501(c)3 status, so nothing to share publicly at the moment on those details…but this has been a unanimous decision pretty much since the moment Ron informed us that the site would be posted for auction.
From a funding standpoint, a crowd-source campaign will be part of the strategy, in addition to staff contributions and potential donations from "angel investors" who may be interested in helping ensure the longevity of the site (but not interested in participating in the day-to-day operations.) The ultimate goal of the project is to bring Stratics “home” one last time, and ensure there is never a situation under which the site will need to change ownership again in future.
We have spoken with Ron about this at some length, and have both his approval and blessing to pursue it, and will be posting further details about our plans and a link to the crowd-source campaign when it goes live. (Thank you, @Ron Bron for that vote of confidence.)
To those of you who have expressed your approval and support of the site's direction over the last year, we thank you also -- it's our fervent hope that you will also support our effort to bring Stratics back to “home rule,” once and for all. If so, we urge you to help us promote our campaign on these forums and with the rest of the UO community both past and present, and with contributions toward the funding if that is within your means.
In the meantime, please stay tuned for the announcement and link to the crowd-funding campaign, which we’ll be posting in these forums soon.
Edit: Here is the link to the crowd-funding campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stratics-com-because-we-ve-all-been-there#/
~ The Stratics senior staff team
The senior staff have been hard at work doing the research and planning to action a staff buyout of Stratics, including the formation of an LLC with a Board of Directors and charter for managing the site on a long-term basis. We are still in the initial steps of drafting and approving charters, filing articles of incorporation and getting professional consultation regarding the requirements for 501(c)3 status, so nothing to share publicly at the moment on those details…but this has been a unanimous decision pretty much since the moment Ron informed us that the site would be posted for auction.
From a funding standpoint, a crowd-source campaign will be part of the strategy, in addition to staff contributions and potential donations from "angel investors" who may be interested in helping ensure the longevity of the site (but not interested in participating in the day-to-day operations.) The ultimate goal of the project is to bring Stratics “home” one last time, and ensure there is never a situation under which the site will need to change ownership again in future.
We have spoken with Ron about this at some length, and have both his approval and blessing to pursue it, and will be posting further details about our plans and a link to the crowd-source campaign when it goes live. (Thank you, @Ron Bron for that vote of confidence.)
To those of you who have expressed your approval and support of the site's direction over the last year, we thank you also -- it's our fervent hope that you will also support our effort to bring Stratics back to “home rule,” once and for all. If so, we urge you to help us promote our campaign on these forums and with the rest of the UO community both past and present, and with contributions toward the funding if that is within your means.
In the meantime, please stay tuned for the announcement and link to the crowd-funding campaign, which we’ll be posting in these forums soon.
Edit: Here is the link to the crowd-funding campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stratics-com-because-we-ve-all-been-there#/
~ The Stratics senior staff team
- Captn Norrington- Administrator of Trade
- Elenni- Wiki Editor
- Larisa- Article Organizer
- Nexus- Site Support Administrator
- Oscar the Grouch- Site Support Administrator
- Riyana- Events Coordinator
- Tamais- Asst. Article Organizer / Wiki Editor
- Zuckuss- Forum Administrator