If I can attend I will do. I can’t see the harm in members from all areas of the team attending. I think its nice to listen too and potentially help out all section s of our site..
I will post if for some reason I can’t make it..
Manny I think you got it nailed down and truthfully i wouldnt be too comfortable to handle this on my own. As i mentioned in the above post to me it all sounds good but being that I am a complete dummy at these things I think it is best to tackle this issue with more people present esp. you. My proposal is for Sunday 1 PM PT/4 PM ET and 9 PM UK. I think its the best time for everyone as I think most of us want to watch the Superbowl yet it will give our friends of the UK the time to attend the meeting
Thats cool Manny… Believe it or not.. I will be watching the Super Bowl too. I know nothing about it, but am determined to watch and find out 
Chris here…
If it’s at that time on Sunday evening I will almost certainly not be able to be there - but, that’s cool, I think it’s more important that Neil and the two Manny’s are present! 
Can someone basically break down for me what it is this guy is proposing? I’ll be honest and say that I’m still confused as to what is being suggested… :?
Sorry I won’t be there on Sunday, guys, but I’m sure you’ll make the right decision!
Take care…
Because it indirectly does involve the whole team, that’s why If suddenly the hosting fees cannot be paid for (for whatever reasons) and there is no backer that means no Thundercatslair.org (which equals NO Toys, Cartoon, Comics OR Animation Art sections)
Besides it was also discussed at the meeting about keeping all team members in the loop on everything. I think MannyC has been very curteous to invite everyone to this mini meeting. So it isn’t mandatory that folks attend, but nice if they can is all.
I won’t lie here, I’m very weary of this proposal. I don’t want to bash us, but do we really get THAT much traffic to the site for someone to want to help fund it? I mean we are not exactly top of the searches in Google etc… I think I am right to be cautious because when Mattel funded he-man.org at one time, I’m sure I heard they tried to be controlling with it during that period of time 
I just don’t want us to enter into something we are gonna regret. However I’d like to see what the full proposal is before I make my own final judgement on it.
Because it indirectly does involve the whole team, that’s why If suddenly the hosting fees cannot be paid for (for whatever reasons) and there is no backer that means no Thundercatslair.org (which equals NO Toys, Cartoon, Comics OR Animation Art sections)
Neil, that again is a site level issue. The fees is not something that each team member is responsible for paying (at least it hasn’t been so far). And a site level issue like the funding is MannyFs to manage.
There is a difference between keeping people updated about what we’re each doing, and having the full team invited to a discussion like this one here. I think by involving the whole team we’re confusing the roles and diluting what we’re asking Manny to be responsible for.
So in other words MannyF is responsible for funding the website? Not in my book Mark, I wont let him take that burden. Its not fair to say he is the one responsible for that, I cant speak for him but I dont expect everyone else to fund the site so I have along with MannyF taken the choice of funding it.I was being courteous to everyone, in the end though on issues having to do with funding or finances we’ll know who not to expect to be part of . I hope Im not coming across wrong here but Im speaking my mind and I consider myself in doing so respectfully. Its better IMO to tackle site wide issues having the team involved, I was being courteous to everyone and was only looking for the best thing, obviously my suggestion didnt site well.
I’m making a point about how we manage our roles, and using this example as a way to hold us accountable to what we agreed in the meeting the other day. It frustrates me that we all sat down for 3+ hours to talk about communications, roles and who does what, and then see us act counter to that agreement.
You’ve also misunderstood me, in that I said MannyF is responsible for ‘managing’ the financing of the site. This is different to me saying he’s responsible for paying for it all out of his pocket. When I say its his role as site leader to manage how we finance the site, I mean that he makes the final decisions related to this. If he chooses to ask this team to chip in what they can, so be it. If he chooses to partner with collectica.com so be it.
What I disagree with is pulling people in to the meeting (and I know you’re a easy going guy who likes to be inclusive so I’m sorry you’re misunderstanding my intent here) whose jobs have nothing to do with the discussion at hand. I think its confusing to potential partners, and it dilutes your role as co-section manager, and MannyF’s role as the decision maker on these kinds of issues. Funding is a site level issue. MannyF can seek other people’s opinions if he wishes to, but I don’t see the value add of having people like me in that meeting. Because I shouldn’t play a part in making that decision. That’s what I thought we had agreed by formalizing the role of site leader.
By the way, I helped contribute to the purchase of the discussion board software, so there’s no cause to imply that I’m not willing to chip in.
Chris here…
Apologies for reviving an old thread - but, I just wondered if there had been any further developments on this? It’s been a while now since this was last mentioned, and I wondered whether there was any further news on this? I came away from that meeting feeling very positive about what Collectica were saying, so I’d be interested to know how the land lies there.
Take care…
I’m still configuring the front page to fit all the new stuff such as the Collectica banner. I’m going to get into contact with them real soon. Plus, their auction stuff should be up anytime now, right? They projected a March release for that.
Manny could you share the logic of the partnership with us? I’m interested to know how you arrived at the decision and how the partnership will benefit TCL
Cheers!
Mark
The overall partnership is basically just a banner exchange. In the Collectica meeting, which was about a month or so ago, it was discussed that both TCL and Collectica were willing to provide banner exchange. The main selling point was that TCL members would showcase their ThunderCats-related collection on Collectica and each member who does sign up with Collectica would have a link promoting TCL. Our site link would pretty much be on every page that has a ThunderCats collection. They also described an auction marketplace that members would be able to utilize if they want to sell items from their collection. If I remember correctly, the auctions would also have links to TCL.
I haven’t followed up with them yet, but Chris, Neil, MannyC, and Kyle were also at the meeting and we all thought it was a pretty good idea…and once I do speak with them again, things will be more clearer.
Ok I figured I should revive this thread and give you all the latest message i received from William over at Collectica. Seems like theyre moving forward with a new platform that includes the discussed topics back in March with auctions and such. Here it is:
----Orignal Message on [05/24/2007]---------
From: dante
Subject: Become a member of our exclusive beta test group!
Hi Emmanuel,
We have a brand new platform coming out in two weeks with lots of new features including auctions! Included in the build will be brand new forums integrated with our site and lots of other features to ease navigation and facilitate use such as tabs.
As a member in our beta test group you will always receive access to the latest versions of Collectica before the general public. We will inform you of our latest plans for new features and your feedback will be instrumental in deciding what we develop next.
If you are interested please respond to this message or IM me at collectiman. I will forward you the url of our developmental server and the fun can begin!
Thanks
William
I’ve been waiting for them to actually have it go public because I want to see how it’s going to be implemented. Now that I’ve thought about it more, in my opinion, I don’t believe that a partnership with Collectica will do us much good, but again, I’d wait for the actual features to go live before I discuss things further.
Just my take.
Allright guys I have received a message from William. It looks like its moving on forward as they planned Here is what he sent me:
From: dante
Date: 05/29/2007
Subject: Re: Re: Become a member of our exclusive beta test group!
Hi Emmanuel,
I’d love to schedule a demo of the auction platform with
everyone we met with in march. Our auctions will be live
come june 7th so it would be great if we could get this
done before hand so that we can include your type of
collectibles in the release. Feel free to email me at
wthoburn@collectica.com to arrange a good time. In the
meantime here is the info for you to poke around.
Thank you for agreeing to become part of our exclusive
beta group. As I mentioned in my previous message you
will always receive access to new builds of our site ahead
of the general public and will have the chance to provide
valuable feedback that shapes the future direction of our
site.
To access our current developmental server please go to
http://peru.collectica.com
You should be able to log in with your current username
and password. If you canâ??t log in go ahead and register
again on Peru.
Please note the following:
Do not use the messaging system***
Do not friend anyone
Do not bid or purchase auction items***
When you log in select MY COMMUNITY in the upper menu
bar and then NAVIGATE to FORUMS. One of our changes
is that forums no longer require a separate registration &
log in as the rest of the site. The first forum is â??Beta
Testersâ?? there you will see a list of whatâ??s new to check
out, and also will be able to leave all your comments,
suggestions, ideas, bugs, etc…
Thank you and enjoy!
William
***there are some exceptions to this that I will explain in
the forums
I have set up an account for TCL and here is the information:
Username:ThunderCatsLair
PW:beyondsight
Feel free to have a look around but please refrain from using the site per the above instructions. We can use the above username for any site related auctions once they make that available in June. I can be the point of contact for collectica but any decisions we can make per the meeting we had back in March.