Why I’ll Be Resigning From The Saint Louis Bloggers Guild…
So, I started working with a group in the last couple months. It’s a group of local Saint Louis bloggers. They meet to chat and network and build relationships. And that’s something I’ve been wanting to do to both help grow my blog and just meet more people. And it’s been really cool.
They’ve even started a guild. It’s a formal group to unite, organize and help local bloggers connect with other local bloggers. It’s a great idea and it’s cool that I got in the start…I’m like a founder.
But the truth is, we (being me and my family) barely get by financially and I simply can’t afford the $40 per year guild fees. I can’t. I wish that I could, but blogging is just a hobby for me and the domain and hosting costs are about the most I can swing for expenses. So I’ll guess I’ll stick around as long as they’ll let me.
If you’re a local blogger here in the Saint Louis area, I highly recommend you check them out. It could be a great resource for information and networking.
UPDATE: May be scholarships available. Maybe I’ll still in. Who’s gonna write me a letter of recommendation?!? EVEN MORE UPDATE: I’m still in. Cool.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:00 pm
No letter required. Scholarships are just for the asking. Someone just has to agree to contribute. Several of us have offered to cover the costs for others to join the guild.
There will be both scholarships and payments allowed for folks if we can swing it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Oh Patrick. . . I’m so sorry to read this because I (wrongly) assumed you knew that we are flexible with such things. The site is definitely a work in progress and there’s more information we need to post on there, but we started the Guild to support bloggers, not to divide. In fact, when you had previously mentioned to me that you can’t offer much in terms of financial assistance but that you’re willing to offer up your technical skills, I had mentioned this at our last meeting and everyone was really receptive. At this last meeting, we also discussed how to help other bloggers who can’t afford the dues and are currently in the process of creating an online application form for Guild membership that would include options to either request financial assistance or to offer financial assistance for others. I hope you reconsider.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:25 am
Patrick - I think it would be terrible news if you really decided not to join the guild because of money. The thing about it is, people earn their keep in lots of ways, and after you spent so much time helping me restore my bloggy madness, I would hate for you to leave. At the meeting on Saturday we talked about trading skills for membership dues, and even that a person can offer to pay dues (anonymously) for another person (who anonymously) can’t swing the $40. I have to be honest with you, I had some reservations as well. I have only made a total of $20 off my blog since it has started, and I didn’t want to cough that up and considered doing the same thing. It was a great relief to me to hear everyone talking about trading skills and the anonymous sponsorship. I do hope you reconsider. Now, if it is a time issue - I understand that as well - I hope you reconsider and email someone
Thanks Again,
Melody
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:19 am
I’m so glad you blogged about this, because it just highlights one more way that we’re trying to make it possible for ANYONE interested to join the Guild. We just hadn’t gotten around to publicizing the scolarship/sponsorship idea yet.
Hope you decide to stay!
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:21 am
Yes, Patrick, every one of the founding members of the Guild is in agreement that we want every blogger in the area who wants to participate to be able to do so, regardless of their financial situation.
Most of us have been in situations in the past when $20 for six months was more than we could afford, so we all wanted to make sure anyone could join.
In fact, we spent a good quarter of our last meeting discussing ways to help members who can’t afford dues join. The only reason the information is not on the website yet is because we have to finalize our application requirements for scholarships etc.
So far, we are planning to help bloggers who can’t afford the dues join anyway in three ways:
1.) Offering scholarships to those in need
2.) Enabling bloggers to sponsor other bloggers’ memberships
3.) Taking volunteer work (i.e., offering technical help w/ the guild site, helping set up an event, etc.) in exchange for a membership instead of dues.
So please do reconsider. We would be very happy to have you back on board, and we are willing to work with anyone who has difficulty affording the dues. The dues we are collecting are ONLY for site maintenance, funding Guild events, etc. and are in no way meant to be a barrier to membership.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I LOVE that the guild is so cool about the money thing. Kudos to them!
April 24th, 2008 at 12:03 am
To all:
I will be staying on with the Guild. We can work something out, either through a scholarship or some technical help I can provide. As I said before, this is a great resource you should seriously consider if you’re a blogger in the Saint Louis area.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:09 am
See? Things came through.