DreamTheaterForums donation contest -- ***WINNERS ANNOUNCED***

[bosk1]

For those who may be newer on the forums, you may not know that since this forum started in 2007, it has been run on a volunteer basis with all of our fees either being paid by me personally or by donations made by forum members.  Although we have not done this in a couple of years, it is once again time for our donations contest.  And this time around, I have lots of cool prizes directly from the band's own vaults.  So I am once again offering prizes for those who donate $10 or more between now and January 15th.



Anyone donating any amount will recieve DTF Alumni status, indicated by green stars/bars under your user name and green user status.  Anyone donating $10 or more will be eligible for a drawing at the end of the contest for one several prizes, including:
-Dream Theater CD's.
-Dream Theater DVD/BluRays.
-Transatlantic Official Bootleg DVD (this is the DVD that is being sold exclusively at the merch booth on the TA Whirlwind tour)
-Systematic Chaos tour book, in brand new condition
-Dream Theater Silver Anniversary poster
-Tour laminates
-Vintage DT tour and Prog Nation tour shirts


Rules:
1.  Donate $10 or more by January 15, 2016 by using the Paypal donation link on the forum
2.  PM me the details of your donation with the words "2015 donations contest" in the title so I can keep track.  (user name, real name, date of donation, amount)

PLEASE NOTE:  You must follow the rules above.  There will be no exceptions.  Somebody a few years ago did not send me the proper information, waited until well after the fact, and did not end up receiving their prize as a result.  I really NEED to clean out my PM inbox because I have over 1,000 PM's.  That isn't your problem; it's mine.  BUT what it means to you if you are donating is that you must PM me accurate details on time with the proper title in your PM or else I might miss your message and it may then end up lost in the PM abyss.  Don't let this be you!   

Whether you donate or not, thank you all for the years and for your continued support of the forum, monetary or otherwise.



FAQ:  "How much should I donate?"  I get this question a lot.  There isn't really a right answer.  I've had single donations of as little as a few dollars and as much as a couple of hundred.  It's up to you.  Every bit helps cover the costs of running this place.  If I had to answer, I guess my "preferred" amount would be $35.  But please don't let that deter you if you want to give and can't give that much.  As I said, every bit helps and is appreciated.  Thanks.

[Darkstarshades]

Does a hug count as a donation?
I love you guys, thanks for making this place be.

[bosk1]

Does a hug count as a donation?

I will accept it with thanks.  But no dice on being eligible for prizes. 

[Kotowboy]

Donated $5

[SwedishGoose]

Where do I find the Paypal link?

[Evermind]

Sure, why not. I'll donate something on weekend. Don't think I can make it $35 seeing how cheap rouble is now, but I'll see what I can do.

[Kotowboy]

Where do I find the Paypal link?

"Donate!" at the top of the site.

[Zydar]

Done and done.

[BlobVanDam]

Where do I find the Paypal link?

"Donate!" at the top of the site.

Or if you're like me and using one of the basic forum themes, you may need to temporarily change it to one of the DTF specific themes for the donate button to appear.

I just donated $11, because it's one louder, isn't it? I didn't donate for prizes, but that SC tour book would be sweeeeeet.

[Kotowboy]

Only sent $5 so probably don't need to PM...

[BlobVanDam]

Only sent $5 so probably don't need to PM...

Do we PM bosk to get alumni status? That goes for any donation amount. I believe that's what also scores you a bigger PM inbox.

[Kotowboy]

Oh ok then

[Train of Naught]

Oh, gifts and contest entry aside, I'd pay for more inbox space anyday!

But yea I'll probably donate somewhere around 5$, 10$ if I'm feeling lucky. Need to make a PayPal account tho.

[Podaar]

Done!

[Elite]

Done just now. Been here too long and had too much fun here that not doing this would feel weird. A sincere thank you for maintaining this favourite internet spot of mine

[tristl]

i just donated 15 $, i am very sorry that i post very seldom, but i am there every evening and check whats going on, so thanks to all who are posting and making my evening .
hopefully in future i will have a little more time to post myself.
ps. i have tickets for the 6th of march in paris and for the 15th of march in my hometown frankfurt and i am fucking exited

[Kix]

Instead of a £ donation, I'd be happy to donate 6 more items to the prizes (bosk1, I can post to you if you PM me an address). All are mint condition -

2009 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'A Rite Of Passage' (3 tracks - same song, various edits)
2007 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'Forsaken' (1 track)
2009 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'Wither' (4 tracks - 3 versions of Wither + The Best Of Times)
2007 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'Constant Motion' (radio & album edit) - signed by the full band line-up at the time
2011 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'On The Backs Of Angels' (1 track) - signed by the full band line-up at the time
2012 CD promo in acetate sleeve of 'Build Me Up, Break Me Down' (1 track) - signed by the full band line-up at the time

Signatures are authentic, they signed them in front of me.

[bosk1]

Thanks, guys.  I will go through my PM's tonight or later this weekend and update forum status.  Thanks for the support.

[cramx3]

Made a donation, my first time donating to the forum.  I've been around for a long time so that was long over due.  Thanks Bosk and the mods for making this forum an awesome place to be on the web. 

[Evermind]

Turns out it's quite a pain in the ass to donate through the link if you're living in Russia, because Paypal doesn't allow Russian customers to transfer money to its internal account, all the purchases and transfers are happening directly from the credit card; and my credit card is apparently ineligible to make the transfer from (I suspect it's because it has roubles set as a currency).

Would it be alright if I just send the money to the e-mail (the one that shows when you use the "Donate!" link) through the Paypal without using the link itself? It appears I'm allowed to do that, dunno why I can't make the donation through the link work.

[Train of Naught]

Yea apparently to link your bank account and pay by something else than credit card you need to verify your details and wait a few days for PayPal to send you an amount of a few cents, then you enter those amounts and it'll allow you to transfer money the regular way. I'm waiting for that damn verification. 

[Evermind]

Bosk, I just sent $0,20 to the e-mail without using a "Donate!" link, because I still can't seem to make it work with my credit card. Can you confirm that it worked and you've got the money when it's possible? I'll do a real donation after that. Just want to know that my money didn't fly off to nowhere, I guess.

[bosk1]

Bosk, I just sent $0,20 to the e-mail without using a "Donate!" link, because I still can't seem to make it work with my credit card. Can you confirm that it worked and you've got the money when it's possible? I'll do a real donation after that. Just want to know that my money didn't fly off to nowhere, I guess.

I will look into it.

[hefdaddy42]

Instead of a £ donation, I'd be happy to donate 6 more items to the prizes (bosk1, I can post to you if you PM me an address). All are mint condition -

2009 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'A Rite Of Passage' (3 tracks - same song, various edits)
2007 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'Forsaken' (1 track)
2009 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'Wither' (4 tracks - 3 versions of Wither + The Best Of Times)
2007 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'Constant Motion' (radio & album edit) - signed by the full band line-up at the time
2011 CD promo in cardboard sleeve of 'On The Backs Of Angels' (1 track) - signed by the full band line-up at the time
2012 CD promo in acetate sleeve of 'Build Me Up, Break Me Down' (1 track) - signed by the full band line-up at the time

Signatures are authentic, they signed them in front of me.

[jingle.boy]

Done diddly done.

Goddamn fx. 

[Kotowboy]

Still waiting for my Alumni Status and green stars.

[Podaar]

Looks like your wait is over Kotow. Congrats!

Looks like my donation cleared the bank as well.

Also, bump for a good cause. Donate folks.

[JayOctavarium]

I get paid tomorrow. If I remember I'll donate!

[thedrumanimal]

I am also one of those users who checks this place every day, sometimes spending 30mins - 1h on the forums but who is too lazy to log in and to post. And I have been around forever even though my post count does not tell. Big round of applause to everybody who keeps this place alive and who takes care that this such a friendly place, it is a pleasure to satisfy my prog Information needs here.

I just donated 35 dollars even though I already own a lot of those items. But for me it is not about the reward, but to say thanks to Bosk in special. However one of those signed CDs would be niiiiiiiceeeeee! 

Greetings from Germany, Hamburg... You guys rock 

[Podaar]

 

[jonnybaxy]

Donated $15

PM'd you Bosky

[mikeyd23]

This is cool, I get paid later this week and will donate then!

[wolven74]

Donated $10. Thanks for creating such an amazing forum. Love you guys. (I don't need you're beer!)

[Metro]

Just donated $10 

[cramx3]

Still waiting for my Alumni Status and green stars.

Waiting as well, I donated with credit card via paypal and see it cleared my credit card already.  No rush or anything for status, just want to make sure the donation was received.