Since its inception in 2001, the World's Largest Saturniidae Site has been advertised as having a one-time-life-time registration fee. In 2001, that one time fee was $20.00 US. There have been increases for new memberships over the years, especially as the site has grown in its size, and the one time-life-time registration fee is now $40.00 US; $45.00 in 2014.
Those who registered for $20.00 are under no obligation to pay the higher registration fee. Those who received gift memberships for photo/data submissions are under no obligation to pay any registration fee. No one is required to pay anything more for membership other than the initial registration fee. Many members contributed to the "Voluntary Dues" I proposed in 2007. No one is obligated to pay dues. They are optional and are on a voluntary basis only.
The WLSS is now hosted on space I rent from 1 & 1 Web Hosting. I also maintain a backup to the WLSS on space I rent from Bizland. The Bizland space is also utilized as a host for the North American Catocala site and the Sphingidae of the Americas Site. 1 & 1 Web Hosting is also home to Caterpillars Too!, a north American Butterfly Site.
I feel that I have received very good website packages and service from both those webspace providers, and thus far I have not been billed for "air time". I just pay the standard annual rental fees.
Membership in WLSS has grown consistently over the last five years, by fifty to seventy new members each year. Growth has slowed considerably the last few years. Many of those new memberships are gift memberships for photographers. Some are at discount rates for seniors and for students. I am able to cover my annual expenses and also make a slight profit from the new registrations.
I have used the membership funds to pay the webspace rentals, pay for my highspeed service, pay for the original computer system and subsequent upgrades to the computer system, and to purchase high quality reference materials to support the accuracy of the site. I have also contributed some of the funds for humanitarian relief for hurricane and tsunami relief, and some has gone out in cash or as cash for prizes associated with annual photography competitions. The profits from WLSS registrations and from cocoon sales have helped to pay for the education of my children. One daughter is still attending university. (completed spring of 2013)
I can no longer do a backup of the WLSS on a CD. The entire site is too large for a CD backup and now requires a DVD backup. It has grown that much!
It is my dream to some day have all of the world`s known Saturniidae depicted. I am sixty years old (2008) and appear to be in good health. I hope to be at this for another twenty years. More and more people have digital cameras and are taking and posting pictures from all over the world.
I work on the WLSS almost daily, and literally thousands of hours have already gone into its development. I continue to update the site with new images and data. So much arrives almost daily that it is sometimes hard to remain current, but I very much appreciate the submissions and enjoy what I am doing.
This note is a call for voluntary dues of $5.00 per year, payable in January-February of each year. It is hoped, recommended that members who wish to support the WLSS through this voluntary contribution, will make payments of $15.00 for three years or $25.00 for five years to hold the record keeping to a minimum. Some members who submitted voluntary dues in 2007 sent as much as $100.00. That will cover a lifetime as far as I am concerned.
Voluntary dues can be sent by personal check or by Paypal to my email account on the WLSS homepage or at the bottom of this page.
Again, all dues are voluntary. No one is required to pay them to continue membership access to WLSS.
I very much appreciative of the efforts of many who continue to send images and data and help with identifications or who have contributed many images in the past. Those contributions entitle one to all the special benefits afforded to dues paying members without a call for additional dues. Let me know how I can make the WLSS better for you.
Bill Oehlke