[NWHikers.net]

Disclosure: NWHikers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

[zephyr]

It's like running down a familiar hallway (or maze) and reaching for the Saloon door and suddenly finding myself in Amazon land. ~z

[Tom]

Edit: thanks for your feedback on placement - link has been replaced with a small amazon icon on the top row as well as a link in the forum index. Feel free to click on the link(s) to purchase anything at amazon and a portion of your purchase will support NWHikers.net. Update (July 2012) ebates and other shopping portals are offering cash back at Amazon in limited categories. You may wish to check your favorite portal first and use our link to the extent you wouldn't otherwise benefit.

[Magellan]

I hardly ever buy stuff on Amazon but I will start trying harder right now.

[zephyr]

Okay, okay. Well, I certainly want to support NWHikers, but I need to ask a dumb question at this point. I don't like agglomerating my web activity via Google, Facebook, etc. So are y'all now linked to Amazon in a way that feeds back into NWHikers's database? So if I was to shop on Amazon via this new link you've set up, then all my purchases report back to this site? Ya' know--the privacy thing. It does matter to some of us. And I tend not to think so, but I want to hear it from you nonetheless. ~z P.S. Oh, and my post title. I see what you did there.

[Tom]

Good question / concern about privacy. When you click on the link it has our information in it so amazon knows you came from NWHikers.net. If you purchase something we get paid a referral: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join/landing/referralfees.html We don't track who clicks on our link so have know way of knowing who purchased what. I don't believe amazon gives us information to identify you personally, but it looks like we would get the following reports: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/join/landing/reporting.html

[Bedivere]

I buy music through Amazon pretty frequently. Not sure how much this website would get off a $0.99 song purchase or a $6.99 album purchase but I'll try to remember to do it through that link.

[Ingunn]

I buy soooo many Kindle books, I'll try to remember to get them here instead of through my reader.

[mike]

I had no idea what it was for and don't usually click without knowing. I suggest an Amazon logo with explanatory text on mouse-over, e.g. "Help support nwhikers by clicking through"

[fourteen410]

[Bernardo]

Money can be the root of all evil. It also makes the world go 'round. Everything I know about the running of NWHikers is positive. As I understand it the site is run on a shoestring and is not commercial in any way. Kudos to Tom and whoever else runs this place. That said, if the site is going to collect money, how will the accounting be managed? Some other questions: Who owns the site and the content? Who decides how to spend the money that is raised? What is the budget? What about taxes? If some action/decision leads to higher revenues, will there be a tendency to respond to this incentive? I think we are currently living under a very benign dictator and liking it. This has all been good so far, but if the site starts to generate revenue human nature may kick in. It would be nice to have some plan to keep things in line with the founder's original intentions. Thanks again for the work you do to run the site and for inventing it.

[Tom]

Good question about how to manage / what to do with funds. I guess we'll have to see how much is raised. If we raise more than we know what to do with I'd say there would be less incentive to continue down that road. Obtrusive advertising on this site is something both Michael and I have been opposed to from the beginning, and neither of us have any desire or plans to make money off it.

[Allison]

Ideas for uses of excess funds: Hire a web designer to make the forum way prettier, but still fast to load. Donate to an enviro non-profit of your choice. Scholarship for someone going into an appropriate field. The Trail Blazers do this and it's awesome. Pizzabeerpizzabeer. Some kind of a fabulous giveaway on the forum.

[forest gnome]

I think some funds should be used for the social (already mentioned.) and some sponsership for new hikers that are being taken out on trips helping them out with a new stove or bag?....or just pay some gas money to the person taking them out into the mountains for the first few trips of their life.

[slightly angry hiker]

I cringed at the way it was first done, then I despised the change, and I loathe the way it is now. Even going back to not having it at all is ruined for me. I love the "benign dictatorship" comment, so true. But look what happens whenever the group tries to decide something: it turns into a cluster fork. If Tom had come out with this idea first, and gotten opinions, several people would have hated every option. Me, I like the idea and I will use it when buying from Amazon, which I do occasionally. If the button is too inconspicuous, it won't get used as much. I liked it at the top, all the way to the right side, next to support. But anything is good, really. Money should support the forum, and any left over go to buying us a clubhouse like the Mountaineers have. Get shopping! Edit: No, the way it now is the best yet. The saloon has always been at the far right side.