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Please Help Keep CMM Alive!
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| Why ChristinaMultimedia Needs Financial Contributions |
What the public sees on ChristinaMultimedia is not everything. There are other things going on also, that are only revealed as you move up the membership levels. Different people see different pages differently, so what you may see on one page may not be what another person sees. It all depends on your membership level and/or what position you have (translator/server hoster/manager/etc). All you have to do is put in some effort to help the system, and you will then move up the membership levels and get these benefits also. Those who have reached General Member or higher are basically enjoying the major benefit that most people don't realize, such as advance updates, access to all files from the master server archive, never getting busy signals, etc. Especially with the number of multimedia we acquire each day using this system, members basically get to feast from the server.
Now with membership levels, it does not mean we hide things from the public. In fact, ChristinaMultimedia follows strict codes of honor such as never purposely restricting a file that we are able to distribute to the public, regardless of how rare it is. This site discourages trading and encourages fans to work together so that everyone can benefit. We could potentially restrict a lot of the multimedia we get, but we don't do this because the site is based on a strict moral foundation. Everything that goes in the system gets returned back to the community. Files contributed always get posted, extra servers contributed are always used for the public to download from (i.e. the Download Express). And everything we distribute is free to be taken by other sites and use, without a need to credit this site, provided they distribute it under the open-sharing principle like we do. We strive to do things in the most virtuous manner and in the best interests of the community. We also ensure that our drive to improve the site will never be based on popularity. You probably realize that a lot of multimedia we put out are exclusives that you won't find anywhere else, yet we almost never claim or state them as exclusives. We do not affiliate with other sites, and we are not into the popularity hype. We just do what we do for the community, running the site to make a difference for the Christina community.
As the administrator, I know that without ChristinaMultimedia's system, I myself would not be able to use my knowledge or skills to help the fans. If I encoded a video, I would not be able to distribute it to the public. And if some other fan has a video to share, chances are they would have a great deal of difficulty doing so, and would probably just give up and only share it with his/her close friends. That's exactly why we need help. The system makes it possible for people to send videos and other multimedia to a centralized location, like a collection system, that sorts and organizes them and then distributes them using the mass-distribution systems that have designed on here. If not for a site like this, where would individual fans send their videos? To other sites, sure, but other sites do not nearly achieve the efficiency as we have managed to do. Reasons are because this site is highly specialized in multimedia, and because we do this using a teamwork model. And also, where would fans go to obtain an old performance from the past, if there isn't an archive site around?
We do our best to provide to the public with what we have, and have done our best attempt to create a system with as minimal of resources as possible, such as designing the member-hosted server model on MP3 Heaven and Video Palace which overcomes the need for a super-fast server to distribute to the public. We've also designed a Download Express on the main page of ChristinaMultimedia to take advantage of HTTP resources that we are offered from individual fans. We give out everything we can gather. Remember we cannot "create" resources, we can only gather them and assemble them together in a system. Outputs from this system come from other fans who provide them. The law of thermodynamics states that matter and energy cannot be created nor destroyed. In our case, we can not create resources, but can only transform and assemble them together to form a system. What we provide is not created by us; in reality, it is just combining efforts and assembling resources from individual fans. The distribution system is essentially built in this fashion, made up of individual video cappers, individual server hosters, individual financial contributors, individuals who alert us of TV apperances, individuals who mail in tapes to make into MPEGs, individuals who contribute MP3s, individuals who are managers, individuals who are translators, and the list goes on. We take all this help from many many different individuals and assemble it together to form this consistent chain of multimedia updates that seem to never end. Now realize that if we were all split apart, our efforts would not help the community. Only when we combine our efforts can we make things work. For example, what good would a video capper be, if he/she could not distribute videos they make? What good would a server hoster be, with no videos to host? What good would TV alerters be, if there were nobody to record it? So you see, teamwork is what makes the difference. It's basically an all or nothing system; either enough people help to make it work well, or it doesn't work at all. It's a very resource intensive system, and the lack of contributors will be equivalent to pulling the plug of this system.
Think of ChristinaMultimedia as a city. We have built this city, but once a city is built, it needs to be sustained. There are options when the city is unsustainable to abandon parts of it. We do have a choice of abandoning the master server, and reduce a lot of the inputs required to sustain the system. It would be like abandoning the downtown of a city. But what would be the result of this action? Members would lose all their benefits without the master server. Not only that, the video and MP3 distribution system will be put in jeopardy without the master server. Losing the master server is not just losing the master server. It means that we lose having the 100GB archive being available online, as well as anywhere from 50-60% of the people who are currently helping. The master server is one of the reasons why people continue helping. It gives them a reason to help, and without that incentive, a lot of people would leave. Although efforts would not die (since there are loyal helpers amongst us), the performance of the system would be cut by 50% or more. It would basically be turning back the clock, and a lot of the accomplishments of this system would be lost.
Why contribute to fund the ChristinaMultimedia system? It is a worthy cause? Well, if you are a dedicated fan, do you see a system like this for Christina fans anywhere else? Are other sites able to acquire multimedia as efficiently and pull nearly as many videos/MP3s compared to our system? Do other sites offer a place to send VHS tapes so that they can be encoded into MPEG? Would another site be able to hold an archive of 100GB? Does any other site have such a passion for distributing multimedia, or attempt to build a system that hopes to "guarantee" obtaining every single TV appearance and to archive them for future fan generations? The answers are a clear no. Why? Because there is no Christina site that operates as a system like we do. The system we have on here is not possible unless a lot of dedicated fans are willing to work together. However, we need financial support in order to sustain the system and make it possible for the community. Fans just have to realize the potential of this system. What we have here is something that is extremely difficult to achieve for any fan community.
What should be the incentive for helping? I would say the mere fact that the system is running and that people are helping, and because you can see what the system can do for yourself. If you are new here, you should definitely take some time to stick around to see the teamwork systems in action. Some of the fans here are doing everything they can to help and support this system. Every person who helps makes a difference. Everything adds up. One extra video means one extra video archived, being able to be downloaded by many fans who would not have been able to see it otherwise. One extra server hoster means more people would be able to download, and increases the distribution capacity of the system. One extra financial contributor means, a much higher chance that the system can be sustained. And so on.
Those who are able to contribute to help fund ChristinaMultimedia should realize that they are the ones who "make it possible" to have the archive system. They are the ones who are sustaining the base of the distribution system. If you are a contributor, you are basically helping make this all possible for everyone. We NEED people to sustain the system. Those who have access to the master server must realize that their benefits are being sustained by the contributors. This is not an easy system to run. Unlike most other sites, this site is not a "we can update whenever we want site". The site is a responsiblity. People funding the master server and people helping in other areas result in a responsibility to do updates. Otherwise, a bottleneck will occur, resources will go wasted, and the system goes unstable. There are responsibilities of making sure updates are done in a timely manner. Managers are required to attend weekly meetings to advance and plan improvements for the site, which are part of the consequences of this system. If we want this system, then that's what we have to go through. There's no other choice; a free lunch just doesn't exist. This is how ChristinaMultimedia works. The framework is here, but it only works out when enough people help out. 10-20 active helpers are not going to work. We need much more help, especially in monthly contributions to sustain the server. Much too often, people never realize what is before them until it is gone.
Although, we will never force people to contribute, do realize that those who help get to benefit much more from the system. If you contribute, you will get the benefits. All it takes is 50 people to contribute $5 each month. In return for an all-you-can download feast from the server, a vast archive of content, and a well-developed system to continuously gather new multimedia, is it not worth it? Having access to the master server is basically having access to all the appearances, old and new, and being able to download them whenver you want. Being a member, you would never have to worry about not being able to download a certain video or MP3. And plus you would be helping sustain this huge complex system for the Christina fan community, and keep the archive alive. And finally, it's not about helping ChristinaMultimedia, it's about sustaining the only archive and specialized distribution system that exists for Christina on the Internet. There is no other site like ChristinaMultimedia. We are, unfortunately, the only such system that exists for Christina fans.
You can sign up for a contribution at our Contribution Center HERE.
Sincerely,
Hmers
Administrator of ChristinaMultimedia |
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