what if P11 had 50000 euro?

[Donal Quinn]

following on from a thread in the members section I want to do some "blue sky thinking" - bit ironic on a day like today!

we were talking about funding and I was wondering if P11 could find some rich benefactor who might have done well from the celtic tiger and has 50000 or so to help improve the lives of people in ireland. This is actually reasonably common in the U.S. but despite the new wealth here it hasn't caught on, perhaps because the generation with all the cash still has vivid memories of real poverty and so isn't too keen on giving it away...

but nonetheless the time might arrive (or a P11 fan might win the lotto) when there is real cash around rather than having the committee use their own cash to makeup the shortfall from the stunningly reasonable 10 euro membership fee

so I was wondering what would P11 do with that cash? obviously it depends on whether a) it was a once off or b) it was an annual endowment thing

Of course an inflow like this would have serious ramifications for P11 independence. how much influence would the benefactor have. it might be a developer - would members and the comm still feel free to openly discuss issues that affect developers, often in a disparaging way....
would it remain a voluntary organisation - would it loose respect?

this is more than a fantasy as, if good ideas come out of it maybe they could be assembled together and used in the future...

ideas
- printed color newsletters
- adverts in Metro and Herald AM
- reward members who do jobs for P11 with book vouchers or something - such as when weehamster makes cool maps
- funding site investigations - trips to the WRC and harcourt line!

so is this just me?
anyone have any ideas?

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Give "How to Complain Effectively" courses or factsheets or have someone working in P11 to do people's complaining for/with them, i.e. you come to them with the issue and details, they draw up the complaint and it gets sent to the relevant company.

Radio ads to generate more interest/awareness of the group, especially at commuter times, like 7-9am and 5-7pm.

and do a professional photo shoot with the committee

[Thomas J Stamp]

- printed color newsletters

That is on the way anyway, and we are very aware of the costs. A final proof will be sent to the printers before Christmass (if I can get the time)

reward members who do jobs for P11 with book vouchers or something - such as when weehamster makes cool maps

agreed, in fact, Lostcarpark should be first in line thanks to the ubercool new logo he gave us and which will be on our webchat page tonight.

funding site investigations - trips to the WRC and harcourt line!

We already do that, and get criticised in some quaters for it (you know where) and we will be doing it when the needs arise.

- adverts in Metro and Herald AM

Whilst I'm sure they would not turn down the chance to get money I dont think IE would be too happy with a freesheet advertising us being given away at every station.

you come to them with the issue and details, they draw up the complaint and it gets sent to the relevant company.

We have done that already. Irish Rail refused to accept any complaints we sent them. That's why we have a how to complain section on the main site.

Radio ads to generate more interest/awareness of the group, especially at commuter times, like 7-9am and 5-7pm.

Derek and I have been chewing the possibility of doing somehting with Anna Livia, yes if we had the money we could do it, we usually get good coverage form Matt Cooper when something blows up by Derek appearing on the Last Word - and that's free.

Finally, I have seriously considered a philantrophist from the states in being a patron of P11. However, we hope that the full colour four page newsletter will gain us more membership and starts a cycle.

BTW, the easist way of course is tp stick us a tenner and have the word member appear under your name as opposed to Regular Poster or New to the Board.

[2Funki4Wheelz]

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

That is on the way anyway, and we are very aware of the costs. A final proof will be sent to the printers before Christmass (if I can get the time)
Finally, I have seriously considered a philantrophist from the states in being a patron of P11. However, we hope that the full colour four page newsletter will gain us more membership and starts a cycle.

Perhaps some people would be happy with an e-newsletter (maybe a pdf of what you're working on or a link to the site where it could be posted) which will save some printing costs/postage costs and is still effective and becoming commonplace. You could give people the choice of post or email.

You'll always catch people's attention when things are going wrong, like Sandraoh handing refund forms while people shivered on the platform last month for hours, and on trains that have broken down. If P11 members had cards or little info leaflets to hand out in this situations you could get more hits to the sites.

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

BTW, the easist way of course is tp stick us a tenner and have the word member appear under your name as opposed to Regular Poster or New to the Board.

I asked Santa to put €10 in my PayPal account

[Thomas J Stamp]

The newsletter will be available on the members section as well, the main purpose of it is to be handed out to the public at stations.

[Donal Quinn]

well Mark G said "Now if I had €50,000 could charter a train every night for a month and charge you nothing "-so there You have it....

ok let's think bigger
suppose P11 had real cash.-enough to employ someone full time
maybe we could have a system where people could text in and find out why their train is late & how long it will take to get wherever

does anyone know if any of the other eurpean rail passenger Orgs do anything fancy??
surely the dutch have something depressingly efficient

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by 2Funki4Wheelz

and do a professional photo shoot with the committee

Yes. My current avatar was done by my brother who is a professional photographer. I may book him for a new committee photo on the main site, you'd be surprised how hard it is to get the committee all together at once as we're so far apart residence-wise.

As for €50K? Publicity and greater recognition, a good idea would be little booklets in your local library and Citizens Information Centre.