Homepage Announcement Discussion

[R.]

Use this thread to discuss the homepage announcement. As always, please stay on topic.

[dottie]

Words cannot express the sadness I felt on reading the front page announcement.....

Having been a member of every past fan club since the year dot.....

All I can say.... A massive thank you to everyone who has been involved in the running of the present fan club through the past years.....

This present fan club made sure that if it was happening in the Meat Loaf World that we knew about it......

I am totally lost for words..........

[Leah]

So sorry to hear the news about the fanclub, i'm really dissapointed but at least we still have the site, so alls not lost.
A big Thankyou to everyone who has run and been involved with the fanclub over the years, you've brought us tremendous highs and brought many people together, who without you would have never experienced such 'togetherness' and a feeling of a HUGE family atmosphere.

Good Luck to all in whatever they do in the future. Best wishes and health to you all........

The fanclub may finish but our shared love for Meat will continue to grow stronger and flourish.

Never Ever Ever STOP ROCCCCCKKKKKIIIIIINNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leah xxx
Bat no. 111

[DIZZY DRUMMER]

I signed up as a lifetime member to show my commitment to the Fan Club & Meat - but things change. If it is not a viable option then they have to do what is best.

I would like to thank all that have been involved in keeping this Fan Club going - especially - Mike - Diane & R.

Mike has been very helpful in the past to me personally.
Diane has had some personal problems - but never forgot the forum.
R - well he has done a great job with the website.

My hat goes off to all of them.

Not forgetting all of the Mods too.

I love this forum & glad that it is going to be continuing - we have to show our solidarity to keep it going. I am sure we will.

A BIG THANKS TO ALL INVOLVED IN THE SUCCESS OF THE FAN CLUB TO DATE

I can garuntee that I will still be attending the forum - you don't get rid of me that easily. :bunny:

[ROSIE]

many thanks to all who kept this special place running.


Rosie

[georgy7856]

Glad the website will still be running . its the first place i come to when i sign on internet, thanks to everyone on here who will be keeping it going,but sad i wont be a member of fan club any more. Georgette.

[SuperLoafMan]

I am deeply upset that the paying side of MLUKFC is coming to an end, I was all ready to send off my subscription to the members side of MLUKFC.

I hope that this site, Meat Loaf United Kingdom Fan C?????? will remain still the best Meat Loaf webiste that there is on the web!

I will be remaining here for many years to come and hopefully help, as all other members wil to the running of this fantastic, great, awesome site!!!

Keep doing what you do best R. We all appreciate it and love what you are doing, Thanks ;)

SLM

[Cpl Mickey]

:( A Sad day to say the least, but i am soo glad that the forum and everything it stands for will continue. I became a member of MLUKFC soon after it started and all i can say is well done to everyone who is associated with it Mike, Diane, R and all the other Moderators on here. Long may it continue to reign. we will never stop rocking.

[faolteam]

i am totally devastated and deeply saddened that the club has decided to close its paid subscription side ?

can you tell me why it is regreted to announce that the paid subscription side of Meat Loaf UK Fan Club is to be phased out gradually with a final closing date of 31 August 2006.


Could i also ask would there be provisions made if people wished to make a Yearly donation to the Club, how do other members fell about a donation !!!

FAOLTEAM

[DIZZY DRUMMER]

Could i also ask would there be provisions made if people wished to make a Yearly donation to the Club, how do other members fell about a donation !!!

FAOLTEAM


I for one would have no objections & would be willing to oblidge - I was paying membership anyway

[SuperLoafMan]

i am totally devastated and deeply saddened that the club has decided to close its paid subscription side ?

can you tell me why it is regreted to announce that the paid subscription side of Meat Loaf UK Fan Club is to be phased out gradually with a final closing date of 31 August 2006.


Could i also ask would there be provisions made if people wished to make a Yearly donation to the Club, how do other members fell about a donation !!!

FAOLTEAM
I was not a member but was about to send off my subscription form until i read the home page! :(

Would be up for what you propose Faolteam! :D

[ROSIE]

I will happily pay a yearly donation

Rosie

[beehappybatty]

Hello ,so sad to read your news as a new member and 1st time message leaver (thats why im not very good at it!)
just wanted to say thankyou xx
;) beehappy and never ever stop rocking :!:

[Mike Piercy]

Very many thanks for your kind words and support.

Despite it seeming a bit gloomy we will all still be here and supporting this website by word deed...and cash I suspect, RVM's will continue until August 2006 and if your membership expires during that time you'll be able buy any copies you need.

Any funds raised through the sale of our merchandise and RVM's old and new will be used to maintain this site - we intend to keep it going.

The facts are that the website has a lot of members who were not members of the subscription side, we have a sort of competition in .net for subscription types so that is covered. The web is the future.

Be assured we will be trying to make this site more entertaining than ever and you can help us do that. Stay with us Bat III is on the way and hopefully dates for that...oh and there's the little matter of the Summer Tour.

Harewood for me on Sunday...rain forecast but who cares Meat's on the menu and we're not vegetarians!

By the way this website is still a CLUB!!! Still run by fans for fans and always will be!

Mike

[Rosiec211]

Deeply disappointed and still a little confused as to the reason, but thanks go to all who run the fan club and website and all of its members. For some reason I feel less of a fan now if I don't have to keep paying money to show my support, but I shall forever be a Meat Loaf fan and will continue to use the forums!

All my love

Rosie xxx

[Gez]

:(

[Mike Piercy]

Full details in next RVM

Mike

[Marianne]

I know that the chance was there that the fanclub could close but I thought there was still a possibility that it could go on.

This is a said day for me. I shall mis The RVM's, the reports ,foto's, interviews etc.....

I was a lifetime member but it feels a little like the end of my days.. :(

Thanks to everyone who has done a great job to provide us with a excellent magazine.


Please keep this forum running ........afteral we are a Meat Loaf family. ;)


Marianne.

[The Flying Mouse]

And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell............ :sad:

[Ankie]

at least, it Only hurts When I Feel....

[Sapphire Lady]

this is very sad news http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2893/images9tm.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

[DIZZY DRUMMER]

And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell............ :sad:


Not a dry eye in the house

[dottie]

Now we're be Lost Boys and Golden Girls...

[faolteam]

The more i think about a yearly Donation seems the fitting thing to do, to keep this Club Up and Running,

I really think we owe it to the Club, run by the Fans for the Fans,

Never Say Die,

Keep Rockin,

Faolteam :lol:

[Bart]

I am not a member. I have seen one of the latest RVM's with an interview wit Alan Merrill and I was surprised how good the magazine was! I am sorry that its over. Its already the second time that a Meat Loaf fanclub has come to an end. Back in 87, the former Fanclub I was a member and back then it was the only source of Meatinfo. Nowadays we have the internet and this site. So there are reasonable arguments for closing the fanclub. But then again: was it really necessary that it will come to an end?

[Cpl Mickey]

Faolteam. I would give a yearly donation as i signed up at the moment as a lifetime member, so i wouldn't miss it as i budbet for it anyway.

[SueW]

After conducting a survey among our paying membership over the last five weeks or so we have decided it is no longer viable to operate a subscription membership side to our club.

The vast majority of people who have posted to this thread seem to want the fan club to continue so please could you tell us how many paid members responded to the survey and out of those what proportion wanted it closed compared to wanting it to continue?

[Mike Piercy]

30 people responded Sue (figures correct as of today) after 5 weeks opportunity to respond! Most of those wanted the paid side to continue. A few indicated they would not renew.The absence of forms from the rest makes it impossible to tell whether or not they want the paid side to continue. Other factors also came into consideration.

As for people who posted to this thread you are the 27th as I respond to you. Some respondents have posted twice so about 20 individuals have responded here and if you read carefully some were not or are not now paying members even though most are.

I can't go into full details until the RVM comes that would be unfair to those who pay but full statisics will appear there with a summary of the paying members' (anonymous) comments from the 30 returned forms.

It would be naive in the extreme to believe that a club runs purely on the wonderful hardcore of our fans who have, and would, support us through thick and thin. Those numbers do not make a viable financial unit - we need to maintain a breakeven number
of fans and we cannot continue to operate with Management Team subsidies or dwindling merchandise stock as our other sources of income.

The website is increasingly the only way to be viable for many fan clubs. We don't get financial support from official sources, we only get money in from subscriptions, if expenditure exceeds income...misery! The management team has maintained this club against all odds and enabled members to benefit from meet and greets in 2003/4, we no longer benefit from that opportunity having been told .net is the source for those in the future.

Is that a comprehensive answer or should I put it in bold letters as you did - which as a simple soul I am told is supposed to be quite rude in web etiquette?

[Kathy]

The vast majority of people who have posted to this thread seem to want the fan club to continue so please could you tell us how many paid members responded to the survey and out of those what proportion wanted it closed compared to wanting it to continue?


I come here fairly often, but I wasn't even aware there was a survey.
-Kathy

[R.]

I come here fairly often, but I wasn't even aware there was a survey.
-Kathy
The survey was conducted in our printed fan club magazine for paying members only.
Hope that helps.

[Kathy]

The survey was conducted in our printed fan club magazine for paying members only.
Hope that helps.
Thanks, that does help - I had no idea the website and the club were separate to such a degree, and wouldn't have thought of looking for current news in a printed mailing such as the RVM. (I do very much appreciate and enjoy the RVM, but since I got a number of back issues at once, I am reading them in order and until just now, hadn't even opened the most recent one). So, that's how I missed the survey.
-Kathy

[Tim]

Even if i'm not a paying member. Still said to read it. Very said. Isn't there any other way you can prevent that? Can i help in any way? Got good knowledge of computerprogramms to make a magazine. But don't think that would do the trick!

[Mike Piercy]

Thanks for the offer Tim.

The problem is viable numbers willing to pay over a period of time. We have a good hardcore of fans but a floating outer group who only stay in the short term (tours/meet and greets attract members but not for the long term and then there is a drop off).

Mike

[christa]

Oh dear I hold my hand up as to not filling in the survey. I had every intention and put it on my desk in my "to do pile" and it got missed I'm afraid.

I would very much like to see the fan club carry on in its present form. I understand that there are some only here for the M & G but these were an added bonus for us paying members.

[LucyK!]

Absolutely gutted.

I'm sure you guys have come to this decision having explored every avenue, but if there is anything we can all do to help with our fanclub please do tell!!

I'd like to thank you guys for everything you've done over the past years. I joined MLUKFC in 1998, I was completely hyped up because I could see the Meat Loaf logo letter-head through the envelope! And to this day it still brings a smile to my face to see my RVM sitting on the doormat.

I just hope that you all know what a wonderful effect you've had on our lives, as without you we wouldn't have made the amazing family of friends that we're part of today, the friends I've made through MLUKFC are one of a kind and I hope to never lose them.

One more year to go though, so let's go out with a bang and wear those MLUKFC pins with pride!

[LucyK!]

Perhaps August 2006 would be an appropriate time to have that MLUKFC convention we've been talking about for goodness knows how many years?! An "MLUKFC Leaving Party" if you will....

[Bart]

About the survey. Did you mention in the survey that RVM will be canceled if the outcome of the survey is negative?
You know, there are surveys and there are surveys. A good survey is more difficult than most people think it is.

But

In my opinion a fanclub needs a magazine. I would become a member to keep the magazine. Maybe other fans think same. So: I want to be a paying member to keep the stuff running. Are there other fans who think same? That would be a nice survey.

[Mike Piercy]

There is no facility now to become a member as it says in the announment.

Members were told of the options.

The website will continue and maintain its current high profile in the Meat Loaf community.

mike

[Caelan]

great

[Cathie]

:( Very sad news, but thank you to all the people who have worked so hard to keep the fan club going. If there's anything we can do to help...

Don't know what else to say :(

[Mike Piercy]

Keep posting on here and keep the community alive folks.

mike

[Tim]

Thanks for the offer Tim.

The problem is viable numbers willing to pay over a period of time. We have a good hardcore of fans but a floating outer group who only stay in the short term (tours/meet and greets attract members but not for the long term and then there is a drop off).

Mike

That is too bad. Maybe there is another way to do this? And maybe on a free base, if you want.. still want to help!!

Maybe an option to make one every half year, that people can order. Not a sort of membership, but just 1. And if they like it, they will buy the next one too. Is that an idea?

[Caelan]

that would be a good idea i think. to order them..

[Mike Piercy]

We did offer "Rear View Mirror" CHSIB Tour Editions to non-paying members on these forums in 2003/4 and a few (very few) people took up the offer.

Problem is to justify the proposal you envisage Tim you need to know who would buy in advance to justify a print run and have the money in before you print - that can cause delay and those who paid early start to wonder if they'll get their magazine.

But...

We do offer back numbers of RVM to all who visit this forum and in late July an advert will appear on this site with some special offers.

Basically while stocks last:

Any copy £2.50 UK and Europe £3.00 Rest of World
Any 6 copies £10.00 UK and Europe £15.00 Rest of World
Any 10 copies £15.00 UK and Europe £20.00 Rest of World

All proceeds go to keeping this website operating efficiently and in its usual entertaining way.

Full details soon

Mike

[Tim]

Mike,

Maybe an other option. Make in front a magazine, before you publish it and tell people that it is availeble. Then, when it is ready and you can print/copy it, maken an advertisement on this forum about it. When people wants it, let them pay, and then send it. That is different and then you will not make extra costs. Maybe an option.

Sorry.. just keep on trying and thinking about it.

Tim

[Storm Warrior]

I'm new here, found you all after going to Chatsworth House, which was very good.
I've been a fan for a long time, and so are all my kids.
As for this web site continuing, and the cost of providing it. May I ask whoever is in charge to mail me with the requirements for hosting.
One of my busineses is a Web Hosting Company, and I have unlimited space, bandwidth etc available at one of the UK's top Server Farms.
I'm sure we can find room to host such a deserving cause. :-)

[R.]

I'm new here, found you all after going to Chatsworth House, which was very good.
I've been a fan for a long time, and so are all my kids.
As for this web site continuing, and the cost of providing it. May I ask whoever is in charge to mail me with the requirements for hosting.
One of my busineses is a Web Hosting Company, and I have unlimited space, bandwidth etc available at one of the UK's top Server Farms.
I'm sure we can find room to host such a deserving cause. :-)Hi there, welcome and thank you very much for your offer. :))
This website won't close anytime soon. In fact, we are planning to keep this site running past 2006.
However, as nobody knows what the future brings, I might come back to this offer in July 2006.

[Lorraine]

I am also guilty of not returning the survey. :oops: (I am in the middle of moving, job change etc and admit I put it on the back burner.) :oops:

However I just wanted to say how sorry :boohoo: I am to see such a brilliant magazine become obsolete and to give thanks to everyone concerned with it - from Anne and everyone in the early days to the current crew who have all worked very hard to bring us the great RVM it is.

So cheers everyone! :cheers:
The mag maybe going but will never be forgotten as long as the website is here

[Gina]

So sorry to hear we'll no longer have the fan club here. I'll really miss it. I'm so glad we'll still be able to get RVMs! Does anyone know when the July issue is being sent? Thanks everyone. Take care..

~Gina

[Diane]

Don't worry Gina this website isn't going anywhere, it's only the paid membership which is being discontinued. There will still be another 5 issues of RVM to collect over the coming year after the current edition. The July issue is in the post to you. Hope you enjoy it!

Diane