I think that you would find many people, myself included, willing to donate to an Idol cause to keep things running for you and for the community. I think it's hard to ask for money, which might be the reason you don't feel right about it. But honestly, you've seen how many of us talking about how it's changed us. Why not give back? I think you'd find people quite interested in it.

I also think that they'd encourage you to go past Season 9, though ;)

I understand your hesitation. It does sound like it has the potential to complicate things for you. The nice thing about kickstarter, though, is that you set specific incentives for each level of sponsorship, and you say exactly what your goal is. It wouldn't be "just give Gary some cash", but rather "make the next season of Idol happen with x dollars which will be applied to the following stuff." I think that would remove some of the worries and false impressions that contributors would get more consideration in the actual contest or whatever. Now, it does mean you'd have to come up with specific Stuff For Donators, and an overall project goal, but I think that it could work, if you want it to, and I don't think you'd just get crickets - and even if you did, there's no harm in having tried it on for size. If your project doesn't reach its goal, no contributors are out any money, and it's as if not much happened at all really.

I'm one of those people who would love to help you out, and give back to the community and to you for making all this happen (and I am super impressed with all the work you do), but I also fully understand your worries. Once money gets involved, things can get really weird, and the contest itself already brings out some tensions and anxieties. It is an option, though, and kickstarter (which is the thing I have the most experience with, which is why I'm commenting mostly about it) provides a structured format which I think would minimize at least some problems.

I guess basically my opinion comes down to "yeah, I get the concerns. I think it might work out for you, but I'd be nervous too. Still, it might be worth a shot."

I'd feel a little queasy about it too, to be honest. Any time money gets involved, the potential for Teh Drah-ma goes up tenfold.

OTOH, I'd be okay with Giving Back to Idol, or at least with sending you cookies! :)

I think if it were for a defined purpose, and you made that clear, it would be perfectly acceptable.

I'm playing around with the idea of doing a campaign on Kickstarter to allow me to pay some of the writers for Wild Violet, especially the bloggers and reviewers. It's something I'd always wished I could do, but since I preferred to keep it ad-free, my options have been limited. Like LJ Idol, it's been a labor of love.

I both think that you'd have a lot of support from the community-- you put a lot into this, not just the creativity and energy (evident in all of your wonderfully wacky comm posts) but also in your attention to fairness and detail-- and also probably second-guess yourself and your integrity forever if you DID make even a tiny profit from it.

Because you're that guy. It's evident in everything you do.

Though if you change your mind, I'll kick in a few bucks like everyone else. ;)

Now, where's my Spirit of Idol banner, damnit?!?

What about some kind of sponsorship? Like, a single sponsor who was able to advertise, who might have a product or service of benefit to contestants and readers?

Or Amazon affiliate links, and maybe someone takes on the job of posting "Good books for writers" with links for purchase?

I would like very much to brainstorm with you about this.

I can see where you're concerned about all of the hassle that could crop up in regards to setting up some sort of crowd-funding.

On the other hand, I'd LOVE to see you do something as an outgrowth of this experience. Because you do run this well and you've got a good sense of game play and how to encourage good writing and all of that. You're a good guy and a talented guy and a guy with an eye for good talent.

Can communities get re-name tokens? If that's a possibility, it could take away some of the concerns. And I'm sure there are folks around these parts who would kick in money to make that happen. You'd possibly lose some of the reputation initially, but that could be recovered quickly enough, I think.

I've read this three times now and I'm still not sure what you're asking XD but my general gut-feeling is to keep money out of it all...

Going on 2 hours of sleep for the second night in a row here, so apologies in advance for any incoherent nonsense.

People are gonna wank at you no matter what you do, because you are The Mod, and as such, you are He Who Shall Be Wanked At simply because if something happens that somebody doesn't like and it even tangentially relates to Idol, it's Automatically Your Fault. If some of the urban legends are true (death threats? really?!) then this is nothing new. Sure, involving finances might draw a few additional wankers out of the woodwork, but any time a mod of any large or well-known online comm so much as breathes too loudly (or not loudly enough, or too deeply, or not deeply enough, or just about anything else), somebody's up on their damn soapbox ranting about the Injustice Of It All. Bottom line here is, wankas gonna wank, no matter what you do. So eff 'em.

I don't think anyone can really say you're "wrong" for feeling X or feeling Y about Idol, since it's your feelings about your creation. With that being said, I'd definitely be willing to guess that a sponsored\financed version of Idol is a matter of "it depends on how you do it" as opposed to "it's a bad idea." I don't know jack shit about copyright law, so I couldn't begin to speak to any legal issues involved with the terms "LJ" or "Idol" (heh, classify it as a parody and skate by on that maybe? IDEK), but as far as functionality is concerned, I think lrig_rorrim has some really good points\ideas, as does whipchick. I also agree with the various voices upthread that there are plenty of people who you've sucked into your evil cult of suffering and death brought along on the Idol journey who would be willing to pitch in. As for concerns and potential wrenches in the wheels and whatnot - the first thing that came to mind for me was that if money were involved as a means to sponsor the contest, would it somehow limit what people could or wouldn't write? I'm just thinking of the whole brouhaha back when LJ first started using ads and they tried to "clean up" the site by ban hammering pr0ny fan art comms and whatnot (and claiming to have altruistic motives, but that's another wank for another day and doesn't apply to Idol anyway - we already KNOW this place is a den of pure evil!) If it was straight-up donations, then probably not a problem, but I'm just tossing that out there because it popped into my exhaustion-clouded mind. Also, the offering of prize money was mentioned upthread - IMNSHO that's probably a shitshow waiting to happen...there's the already-mentioned legal issues, plus if you thought the catfights about cheating\pimping\etc are bad NOW...*hides in nuclear fallout shelter.* That ain't yo grandma's wank fest! Also, I might be alone on this, but I think one of the neatest things about this contest is that there is no prize other than bragging rights - it sets the vibe for the whole place, I think, that everyone who's here is here simply because they want to be - that writing their way through your sadistic obstacle course and making it to the end in one piece *is* the reward, not a means to an end.

I think what I'm attempting to say (once again, me = teal deer, SURPRISE!) is that as long as Idol stayed recognizable as Idol, even if it did involve a shiny new copyright infringement free name or summat (just think of it as a superhero secret identity), it's an idea worth exploring.

I don't like the idea of sponsorship per se, but I do like the idea of a place to donate for the administration of the community. As anyone who has been a part of the community for any length of time knows, there is a ton of your administrative time that goes into it, and time isn't cheap. Or it shouldn't be.

If you were to go this way, I would like to see it at arms length though - so perhaps someone else could administer the paypal account so that you were not aware of the donors or their amounts until end of next season. It would be kept at arms length... ya know?

I think you deserve something for all the work you've done.

I also think people get weird when money comes in, and people around here are weird enough already. I'm afraid you'll get more grief than you will money to cover the hassle.

With that in mind I have 3 thoughts:

1. Leave Idol Season 9 alone and spend the time thinking about how you would combine money with a competition. Then create a new "Idol" incorporating whatever money options you come up with.

2. After the season is over, put up a tip jar, like a street performer passing a hat.

3. Put a paypal button in a conspicuous place (if LJ allows them) and don't talk about getting anything in return for a donation.

I DO NOT think having people pay for the right to pick a topic or having a cash prize are good ideas. Danger. Danger. Danger.

I also think it will up the conspiracy talk and foster more ill will about twists and hellish weeks, etc.

I'd say keep it simple, kickstarter/indiegogo/etc is just more crap to deal with. Stick a Paypal donate button up, with a "Support Gary, Support Idol" tagline on it. It'd be like the "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" but without the cheerleader outfit. Please, without the cheerleader outfit. Remind people it's there every once in a while.

If people cause drama cause they thought donating would buy them some sort of favor in the game, ignore them. They should know better than think it's a bribe, and deserve to be disappointed if they think otherwise.

Same for if they cause drama cause they think someone else got ahead because they donated. They'd have no idea who donated what so it'd be speculative to begin with, and anyone that'd think you'd do that would cause drama anyway regardless of if you were getting donations or not.

Summary: Dooo eeeeet! :D

But what would the money be used for, specifically (or even non-specifically?)