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Wild Hairs & Brainstorms

Water cooler seems like the proper place to enter this wide open topic. I hope I'm correct about that (... I'm just brainstorming, after all.)

Here's an example of the kind of thing I'm thinking belongs under this topic:

Is there any reason that AtheistNexus couldn't become a pseudo-charitable business similar to those of the religious groups? If we gathered together a hundred good recipes, for example, is there anything that would stop us from publishing an Atheist Family Cook Book and selling it for profit to generate money for our organization? And better yet, could we eventually aim ourselves toward become an Atheist Publishing House to earn money through the works of those popular authors we all tend to read anyhow... Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and the like? Could we sell other things? What do you think?

It's just a thought, of course, but lets kick it around and talk about it's possible merit. Or... let's discuss you're Wild Hair idea...

Tags: brainstorms, ideas

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Permalink Reply by IsThatLatin on August 19, 2008 at 11:55am

Excellent, excellent ideas Kristy.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Darwin on August 20, 2008 at 12:59pm

I agree with IsThatLatin, these are excellent ideas Kristy!

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Permalink Reply by Randall "Doc" Fleck on August 21, 2008 at 9:50am

Your vision and mine are in complete agreement Kristy... Please keep posting.

I've asked if Nexus can be formatted into other languages (You've all seen this on other sites, I'm sure. A small set of national flags that allow users to view pages translated into their own language: Spanish, German, Japanese, etc.). My request was specifically made to give these kinds of international support projects the possibility of becoming reality. So far I've had no official response on the question but I'm confident that this feature is both reasonable and possible - it can and probably will happen over time.

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Permalink Reply by Chrys Stevenson on August 21, 2008 at 4:36pm

There are so many great ideas coming out of the membership and I know that they will all be dealt with eventually. But, we have to remember that, at the moment, Richard is working 24/7 unpaid and is probably focussing on those things he and his team have prioritized as urgent.

I think it's important that we keep coming up with suggestions but remember to be patient because everything just can't be done at once - doesn't mean your idea is being ignored or that it's not a great idea!

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Permalink Reply by Randall "Doc" Fleck on August 21, 2008 at 9:40am

Everything costs of course... There's no reason in the world that Nexus can't raise money if we take up the tasks of doing the things that favor the fancy of our community.

If Nexus becomes organized as a not-for-profit business and if Everett can put together a popular and attractive donation-required monthly magazine (available for download initially and eventually available in print, too) then the problems of finance would be solved.

Combine this with Kristy's excellent ideas to involve and support the efforts of smaller, world-wide atheist organizations and we'll have a real winner.

Initially, we'll need to get behind the issues of becoming not-for-profit organization (and I believe those wheels are already turning - for details and conformation, ask Brother Richard).

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Permalink Reply by Randall "Doc" Fleck on August 21, 2008 at 9:59am

You bet there's talent here, Everett... and I'll personally assist you in any way that you'd like. I trust that others will, too.

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Permalink Reply by The Nerd on August 21, 2008 at 8:41pm

I'm wondering how I can offer to do an advice column without sounding arrogant...

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Permalink Reply by Randall "Doc" Fleck on August 22, 2008 at 11:27pm

I'd say don't worry about seeming arrogant. Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren were both as cocky as they could be and people loved their advice.

You may be to young to have ever read their columns, but Google either one and I suspect you'll find they make interesting reading (though their very, very dated.)

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Permalink Reply by Anath on August 23, 2008 at 12:29am

An advice column would be really fun to write :P
I think I could pull off the authoritative "I know what I"m talking about so listen to me" tone... even and especially when I am bullshitting the whole answer.... XD

I've actually read both Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, my local paper used to run their column next to the comics.

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Permalink Reply by ChronoCook on August 21, 2008 at 5:54pm

This is exactly what i was thinking. A main reason that people look at religious groups in a positive light is because of all of the charitable work that they do in communities. It would be a huge PR boon if we started to form local groups and went out there under the flag of atheism helping the community.

The problem is that we don't meet every week in a designated building and scare each other into emptying our pockets into a collection plate...

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Permalink Reply by Randall "Doc" Fleck on September 2, 2008 at 10:09am

I'm sort of leaning toward collecting donations that are ear-marked to specific areas of our growth.

Foe example: If our membership would like to see a weekly email-Nexus-newsletter, perhaps we ought to donate our money directly for that purpose, i.e., "I want at least nine of my ten bucks spent entirely on Project X... and then you can do what you'd like with the extra buck."

A system structured like this example might help us sort out what we're willing to stand for (and spend for).

If the US government and the IRS worked on a similar system, we'd probably have better schools, cleaner air and water and a lot fewer nukes. Who knows... perhaps Nexus could become a shining example of a better democrat 'tax collection" system.

(...and personally, I want my donation money spent for writing and publishing projects that might impact society.)