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On 15th March Brad made the announcement about "Help Joomla Grow" http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,46378.0.html
There was no Announcement Discussion set up.
As this is the first public announcement (unless I have missed a post somewhere - which is possible!) that lets the community know about Open Source Matters becoming incorporated last September, I thought that sooner or later an Announcement Discussion would have been established, as they are for most other announcements.  It's now a week since that announcement - will a discussion be set up?
If you already have a thread started somewhere where community members can ask questions about the incorporation, please provide me with the link.
Thanks.

Hi Elpie.  Fire your questions away.  If we see some some significant interest generated then we can break open something more formal, but to date people seem to be more interested in clicking the donate button than discussing OSM.  Which is great!

But by all mean, ask away.  We'll use community questions to feed the FAQ on the site.  Just keep in mind resources are prioritised to getting the Beta.

Thanks

Thanks Andrew. Feedback/Info on official Joomla sites doesn't really seem like the right place to ask any questions about OSM.  I was enquiring only because there is enough off-forum chatter and nobody seems to know where the most appropriate place is to ask. Thought I would ask where you want them - as you know, I don't have any questions myself

Those that have questions may like to check the FAQ first: http://www.opensourcematters.org/content/view/81/43/

Elpie wrote:Feedback/Info on official Joomla sites doesn't really seem like the right place to ask any questions about OSM.

Here is fine for those that wish to chatter on-forum

If you were to add some kind of flag on the forum profiles of the Joomla user who have donated that might encourage even more people to donate as well.  Maybe also have another flag for users who contribute major blocks of code or significant bug fixes.

Another possibility would be to set up a "million dollar pixel" type page on Joomla.org with miniimage links to the donators url.  Anyway, just a couple of thought the marketing side of my brain kicked out while reading this discusion.

Dont you think the milion dollar pixel thing is a bit tired now. (I do have an open source script for his if anypone wanted it)

Brian

I wasn't thinking that it would be used as it was originally intended to "make a million dollars".  It just seemed like an easy way to give donators some recognition, basically a more visually stimulating (or over stimulating, depending on how you view it) way to display a links page.

Its an interesting idea but it raises the question should soemone who gives $50 be displayed more prominently than someone who donates $5.

The $5 may be a huge ammount for that person wilst the $50 may be a drop in the ocean for another. For that reason I believe that all doors should be listed equally. ie the same size text, in no particular order and wit no monetary value.

One donor contacted me today to say that they are giving $50 for each client site that they build and it is enough for them to know that they have given back.

Brian

Great news Brian.  A suggestion: perhaps you could make a note in the announcement that people need to remember that fundraising is on ongoing thing now - just for those who might not be able to donate now, but could sometime in the future.  Don't want people to think there is just a short-term need for funding the expo's.  The ball has started rolling, but its got to keep on rolling.

I like recognition programs, but, I would caution against doing so, now, since there was/is nothing on the donation page about being "recognized." Not everyone likes that kind of recognition and donors should probably be provided an opportunity before donating to say whether or not such recognition is okay with them.

I agree with Brian, too, differentiating the size of donation is really problematic. I would prefer not to that. Unless someone donates a TON -- then, if you want -- rename the product after them for all I care!

What I think would be neat, though, is to have a "donations dialog box" pop-up for forum users who have asked (not answered) one hundred questions without tossing in a little cash. This should be private, of course, and more of a tool that helps them find the donation page since they obviously could not find it on their own.

Also, just my opinion, but, I could personally care less how you organize the "company", "corporation", or "civic group." The only reason that matters at all is that you are taking care of whatever is needed to protect Joomla. Some legal organization is smart and we are counting on you to initiate these actions since we are not legal eagles. So, thanks for doing the dirty work on all of that.

To Amie
There are apparently some privacy issues that effect if/how we can display a list of donors. IT appears that the regulatiosn on this are different (completely opposite) in different territories and as Joomla is a global phenomenon we have to take this into account. We are currently taking expert advice on this.

To Elpie
As exhibitions etc are an year round activity and they are not the only drain on financial resources the donate banner will be a permanent fixture on the site

Excellent, Brian.