Mgonuptials & Beveled Guilt
In response to Brian's front page commenting on his upcoming nuptials and impending absence from posting, several posters requested an mgo-wedding-registry. Really, there is something simpler to do. Cold cash. Money is always nice to have when you get married. While Brian loves Michigan, as most of us here do, you can only have so many Michigan themed gifts. Michigan shirts, Michigan engraved crystal, maize and blue towels, blue and gold dishes, etc., etc., could drive his bride mad. This is the one and only time when the color green trumps maize and blue.
I have been registered at mgoblog for years, and lurked before that for some time. Today, however, I felt compelled to press the "beveled guilt" button for the first time. The transaction was over inside of a minute. Painless.
If you, like I, want to congratulate our fearless blogger, why not make this week the highest week ever of contributions to mgoblog? It is almost as easy to donate as it is to add a post saying "congratulations." And your generosity can only result in good will from Brian's wife to be.
Congrats Brian. Guilt = relieved.
Does it count as a charitible contribution? Like, could I deduct it from my tax base?
If not, I will wait until the "we are shutting MGoBlog down to a lack of funds" hits. My computer at home is still recovering from the last great Vrius Fest caused by this site.
Not a charity. This isn't MGoBlog.org
Can't you pick a better thread to complain about viruses? I'm not all that great with tech, but my free Avast antivirus program protected me from the affects of whoever attacked this site. I think it's quite a stretch to place any blame for your computer's demise on Brian or mgoblog.
Exactly. My computer isn't very fancy, but it survived the whole virus thing.
If my computer got a virus, I would usually blame porn, not MGoBlog..
But most of us would have a tough time with that one.
"Did you get a virus from MGoBlog?"
"No, honey. I got it from porn."
Which are you on more? I think the 9 hrs a day I am on it while at work trumps all other recreational searches. Plus I already have to hide one from the wife I dont want to hide the other.
Which one do you hide?
Good idea and I like you hit the button for the first time. Quick and painless as mentioned.
I too have waited far too long.
I'd thought about this last night, making my annual contibution during the wedding week.
But if you've been around since '08 (and lurking before then), it shouldn't have been your first time ponying up. For everyone who can afford to, the blog should be treated like a subscription, and for the amount of info. it provides on Michigan every day, it's worth many times that of a typical magazine. Pay up accordingly. Tim and whoever else benefits financially from the blog (does TomVH or Misopogon pick up any loose $?) needs to get paid too.
I've freeloaded for too long. I am more than glad to pony in, and hope others will do the same. This and the Chicago Trib are the sites receiving the majority of my hits, and the information provided here is priceless.
Keep in mind that we all contribute to this site through our posts. Your "NSFW and Home Pics" thread is still one of my all-time favorites before the mods raided the party and handed out citations to all the revelers.
My reaction to the responses to that post was at first bemusement, soon followed by a mixture of horror, shame, and "oh no" fascination. Interesting that you reminded me of the "pimp hand" in a thread about Brian's wedding. No connection, of course.
Done!
I've rehashed this a few times already on the blog so let me just quickly and respectfully say that I don't donate, I will never donate, and I don't like being prodded to donate.
Thanks for your worthwhile contribution!
Thank you for your (page view) donations.
What you're saying is that you disapprove of some of the content generated by the service you don't pay for?
Do you call all of the local cable providers to let them know that you won't be watching this week's Lifetime Movie of the Week?
I see your point but your analogy doesn't make sense because I pay for my cable tv package which includes Lifetime.
Look, all I'm saying is that I'm not going to donate. Plenty of people like to donate and then post about it, which is fine, but I object to the guilt trips that they place on everyone else. I'm giving the other side of the story by saying "no thanks". I suspect there are other people on here like me that don't make their feelings known because it's an unpopular stance.
And as a broke recent graduate, I don't give nearly at my level of use. My point is merely that the typical response to generic requests for donations (i.e. not directed at you specifically) is to ignore them. I don't stop by the local Humane Society chapter to let them know that, despite their horrible commercials, I'm not gonna pay (but seriously, how terrible are those commercials?).
No one will know if you pay, and no one here would likely care either way if any one person pays. An OCCASIONAL post like this serves as a genuine reminder to people who might not have thought about it. Moreover, the post was clearly labeled, so you had fair warning.
And I'm the one everyone hates on this blog. Makes sense...
Although you may not personally appreciate the "prodding," many of us are busy people and don't always remember to donate. These infrequent "beveled guilt" drives give those of us who want to support the blog an unobtrusive reminder to pitch in from time to time. These threads are always clearly labeled, so you can choose to steer clear if it really bothers you.
I respect your choice not to donate. And if you only donated because you were prodded to or guilt tripped into donating, well, it'd be better to keep your money.
My only point in the OP was to respond to those wanting to give a gift to Brian and his bride on the occasion of their wedding, a one time event and a time when it is typical and customary to be generous. If you are among those not wanting to give, well, why should you give? Brian and mgoblog will do just fine, regardless of what you give or or don't give. Note that this is my first donation to mgoblog, after four years on the site. My resources in general go elsewhere.
I am perfectly ok with MAgoBLUE's stance. I personally have donated, but I have no problem with people who choose not to donate. If Brian wanted to limit this blog to those who donated, he would make it a subscription service (for which I would gladly pay).
Brian runs this blog as a business. Hopefully, he is generating some good $$ from all of the ads on the top and side of the page. As frequent visitors, we up his click count (I admittedly am on this blog all day), which results in more money. How many of us donate to other businesses that we frequent?
That said, I donate for purely selfish reasons - Brian only recently started this blog as a money-making venture (under 5 years, I believe), and the first few years fo a start-up are often difficult. He is a Michigan-educated engineer, and likely can find other work making decent money. If he does not generate a good amount of cash from this venture, at some point, he may be forced to abandon it or reduce the amount of time spent on it as he pursues another livelihood. Since I do not want that to happen, I am willing to pony up some $$ to keep this thing alive during these start-up years. Once MGoBlog reaches the level of fame of something like SI or Yahoo Sports (both of which are inferior), I may not donate any more.
So you're complaining about people trying to make it easier for Brian to generate more content for you to freeload? That makes sense.
You don't have to donate. But don't whine about other people trying to help. Brian's about to reach that point down the road when the need to actually make money becomes important because he has squalling brats adorable children.
I am not an employee of, nor related to, nor in direct communication with, the owner(s), staff, employees, main contributors, insiders, or relatives, of mgoblog.
I take full responsibility for the above beveled guilt suggestion. It was not coerced nor suggested by any other party, and is not intended to coerce or cause guilt induced action.
Congrats, Brian. I hope my very real gift allows you to buy an overpriced coffee or medium-priced beer in celebration with a similar guilt-free abandon that I now have while taking in all of your MGoInformation and MGoHumor.
"you can only have so many Michigan themed gifts"
I disagree. That is all.
seeing as I have read this site pry 50x a day since 2008 ... sadly, I am a broke college student, so my e-gads will have to suffice for now until i like get a job/pay check
on the other hand, if i ever run into brian at a local establishment, you bet your life i will be buying our fearless leader a round
point is congrats Brian, thanks so much for what you do
The Ops post is a simple suggestion to those who have a generous disposition and the means to act on that feeling. It seems unnecessary and incorrect to insinuate this thread was intended to guilt people into donating.
If you don't click on Beveled Guilt, click on an ad if you find it interesting. Problem solved.