Meetup.com has decided to raise their prices. Here is a copy of part of the email which was sent to the Toronto Poetry Club organizer:
"In 2015, Meetup will be introducing new pricing plans for all Meetup groups.
Under our new plans, smaller groups will pay a little less (Basic plan) and larger groups will pay a little more (Unlimited). Since you organize a larger Meetup, you will be on the Unlimited plan.
Beginning February 17, 2015, your new price will be $14.99 per month, billed every 6 months at $89.94.
We've always done everything we can to keep Organizer Dues fair and affordable for organizers everywhere. Your current Meetup price of $12 per month was set in place almost 10 years ago and hasn't changed until now. With the new pricing plans, we hope to help more Meetups start near you so you can attract more members who might be right for your group."
So basically the upkeep of the Toronto Poetry Club's meetup page will be roughly $180 USD / year going forward. Fortunately the club has been getting new sponsors on a regular basis so I don't think we are in any kind of dire financial condition.
The sponsors shown in the image on the right are: "How Do I Love Thee?", a theatre production about two poets getting married, Rawlicious, a raw vegan restaurant in High Park North, and 7 West (who was made a honourary sponsor because they have been letting us use space at their pub/cafe for poetry meetups). To see the complete list of current sponsors see the
Toronto Poetry Club page on Meetup.com.
Originally the Toronto Poetry Club was started by Stephen Miniotis, so he deserves the credit as the first founder of the club. That version of the club however was deleted by Meetup.com in December 2013 when Stephen lost interest in maintaining the club and failed to renew the club.
The club was then refounded by Charles Moffat in March 2014, who instituted a donations policy for club members attending meetups.
The donations policy means several things.
#1. If you join the club but forget to ever attend a meetup, you don't pay a cent.
#2. For those attending meetups you donate as much as see fit, regardless of whether it is a few spare nickles or $20. Or nothing. Nobody is forcing you to donate. Some people have even donated TTC tokens, which Moffat has recorded as their cash value.
#3. Every cent collected from donations is recorded and listed on the Toronto Poetry Club's finances, along with all expenditures and also sponsorship donations.
Sponsoring the Toronto Poetry Club is a mere $25 so if you run a local Toronto business that you feel would benefit from advertising we welcome your support of the Toronto Poetry Club.
To see the complete list of expenditures and contributions see the
Toronto Poetry Club finances page on Meetup.com.
The graphic on the right does not include the upcoming $89.94 which will be due on or before March 27th 2015.
At present the Toronto Poetry Club is in good financial condition and this will hopefully continue thanks to the donations of members and our sponsors.
