Greetings woodworkers and ShopSmith aficionados!
It’s time that you heard from your favorite Admins about the state of the SSUG site.
In a nutshell, it’s doing pretty darned good!
As best we can figure, we have added about 380 new subscribers this year. Many forums for specialized areas are significantly down, many actually losing members. We’re growing because we’re a friendly, considerate, pleasant bunch of folks who are trying to provide information and encouragement to fellow ShopSmith owners, users, and lovers. We had an amazing 19,000+ unique visitors to the site and more than six million hits for the year. No, it’s not as amazing as some of the U-tube videos that get millions of hits in a month, but for our very specialized area of interest, it’s a very good number. I’d love to have that many hits on my personal site!
How about what we’ve been doing when we members come to visit? Over the years, we have created nearly 10,000 messages on about 2,125 subjects. Lots of information, lots of experience, lots of tips, lots of discussions about everything from tool quality to what to do about ambient sawdust in my shop air. One member wrote me off forum and shared that he really likes SSUG.org because the discussions are civil, informative, and respectful. What a nice compliment!
Lastly, the eternal subject, finances. We’re actually doing pretty good there, too. There is still a little money in the account, but we do need to ask all of you to consider a small donation. Nothing onerous, just a latte or a couple of hot dogs from each of us who spend time here will pay the rent. This is to those who use the site regularly. In the several thousands of members, there are numbers who’ve not been active at all this year. Bad email addresses, lost interest, sold their machine, hard drive died and they never came back—all kinds of reasons. You who find help and fellowship here will serve the many visitors (public or hidden) and inspire many more to experience the joy of ShopSmith, to help them overcome any hesitations they might have about investing in what we already know as a dandy fine machine.
If you are moved to donate, the preferred method is via PayPal. If you’re so inclined, add an extra 10% to cover the actual PayPal costs; that would be great, but not necessary. Only if you’re so inclined. You can donate with plastic if you use PayPal. If you don’t PayPal, please contact Dylan via Private Message or email for other possible ways to help sustain this good thing.
Season’s Greetings to each of you, whether it’s Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Super Solstice, a Kickin’ Kwanzaa, or any other celebration of your choice. And best wishes for a productive and healthy 2010!
For the Admin Team,
Dean Thomas
SSUG.org
Author: Administrator | 
