[Ardour-Users] Could this solve Ardour's financial headache?

[Patrick Shirkey]

John Emmas wrote:
> How about this for another wacky idea....?
>
> Currently, Ardour is bringing in around 1,400 dollars per month.  I don't
> know how that gets distributed but even if it all goes to one person,
> there's nowhere near enough to pay someone full time.  OTOH it would
> probably be enough to pay someone's expenses - so.....
>
> As an experiment for 6 months, why not use the 1,400 dollars to fund a
> fundraiser.  i.e. find someone who's well connected within the 
> industry and
> who can publicise Ardour through magazine contacts and maybe a small 
> stand
> at trade exhibitions (maybe part of SAE's stand, or Harrison's, if 
> they're
> willing).  The job would be to generally raise awareness of Ardour and
> improve donations (exactly like a charitable fundraiser does).  For 
> example,
> at trade exhibitions they could distribute a CD containing the Mac 
> version,
> or a "Linux live CD" with Ardour pre-installed - and maybe get people to
> sign up for a 12 donation to Ardour at say, $10 per month (which they 
> could
> cancel - but probably wouldn't).  The fundraiser gets their expenses 
> paid,
> plus a commission on any donations. Obviously, someone with a track 
> record
> in fundraising would be best.  I don't know how easy it is to find such
> people but if they exist, they have to be worth considering.  And by 
> their
> very nature, these people  are usually willing to work for commission as
> long as they get their expenses covered.

I think this idea does have some merit although I'm not sure who would 
be the right person to do the job.

However if we are going to discuss allocation of the Ardour subscription 
kitty then I think it is worth mentioning that in most of south east 
Asia US$1400/month will get you an experienced (>5 years) full time 
employee who will be able to work on many items that other developers do 
not have the time or motivation to tackle for the same amount.

Not that it gets the original devs any money but it might assist with 
clearing some backlog on the various feature requests on Mantis that are 
struggling to meet the critical $$$ = motivation barrier.

In other words maybe the Mantis requests should be farmed out to people 
who actually are motivated by $US100 for a couple of days to a weeks 
work. That could free up the more advanced and highly paid western based 
developers to work on the more advanced and inspiring features at their 
leisure or if the price is right.
 


Cheers.

-- 
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd.