Brought to you this hour by Advertising and Web Hosting on Woodwind.Org!

Brought to you this hour by Advertising and Web Hosting on Woodwind.Org!

Now, you've probably come here wondering why I need help or how you can help out. Hopefully I can explain a few things - and maybe you can help keep the machinery humming doing things you'd do anyway.

Woodwind.Org started out as a hobby site, and has grown over the last few years into a much larger gathering place than I'd ever envisioned. I'm happy it has - it's a wonderful way to get to meet people, and while I'm in front of a CRT more than I'd like to be, it's better than TV!

However, there are certain things that need upkeep and improvements all the time. Operating system, web server software, and many other requirements of a Web site this size are - luckily - free. I support Open Source software, and contribute back when it's appropriate.

Hardware and some other required software isn't so cheap. I have a T1 connection I barter my computer services for, so at least I don't have to pay that fee. Large-format scanners, PDF creation software, new hard drives, faster processors, and hopefully some redundant machinery and other things do cost money though. I've bought reference books so I can look up and share information with all of you.

So, where does that bring us? How can you help? There are 5 ways:

1. Shop at our sponsors. The more you shop, the greater the chances that they'll remain a sponsor, and the greater the chances of attracting new sponsors.
2. Become a sponsor. It's $50.00/yr, and there's other benefits besides (like Web pages, email, and more)
3. Shop at Sheetmusicplus and Amazon.com . I'm an associate member of both places, and I get a small percentage of the sales. The links to use to help Woodwind.Org are near the menus on the bottom of each page.
4. Use alladvantage.com to get paid while surfing. By signing up using the link near the menus on the bottom of each page, you'll get 50 cents an hour while you're hooked up with them, and I'll get 10 cents. It does have an irritating ad banner that takes up part of the screen, but even if you just used it an hour a week I'd make 10 cents a week from you, and if a thousand people did it I'd make a hundred dollars a week. Enough to start expanding our hardware and adding new features.
5. Consider making a small contribution if you get something of real value from Woodwind.Org. Every little bit helps.

I don't want to clutter the site with cheesy banner ads & such - the little bit of advertising you see already is more than I wanted to do, but we've got to be fair to the sponsors.

Enough from me now. It's time you got back to http://www.woodwind.org/clarinet and started having some fun!

Cheers,
Mark Charette, Webmaster
charette@woodwind.org

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