Take a leaf out of GetUp's book, and have regional and locality groups who meet regularly to discuss pieces in OLO - and who pay annual memberships to you.I suggest $30 a year, and weekly or fortnightly meetings in homes by rotation. Each meeting to have a lead speaker who provides a critical summary of the article that week that most appealed to him/her. Then open discussion. Should generate new articles as well as membership fee capital. Call it The Talkfest Network Club

Well Paul Walter:If we think that OLO is worth saving,then we need to put our money where our passions dwell.I think that OLO can survive with some clever imput from it's supporters.

Dear Graham,

My day, which started off brightly and well, was suddenly darkened and dulled by the news of Susan’s departure from OLO. Would that I had enough money to send a nice big six figure cheque to help ease OLO’s problems in the same way as OLO helped cure mine.

Not being able to get much more than fifty metres on my own legs and because of my wife’s onset of dementia, OLO not only helped re-invigorate me it also gave me the opportunity of doing something I had long thought lost, that of travelling, albeit it mentally, to talk to and receive comments from all kinds of people..

More to the point what can be done now. Clearly OLO needs money so let us stop talking and start doing. If $50 from all contributors and all others who read OLO will help, let us get our cheque books out and send it. By all means send your ideas to Graham but send the cheque first. Lets keep the financially stricken OLO afloat until Graham and his advisers can devise not just a rescue plan but also a plan that will ensure OLO’s future and may also hasten the return of Susan.

Dear friends,

Thanks for those comments. I am taking them all in, but as I'm in Singapore at a conference I'm not going to respond too fully at the moment.

You can donate money at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/membership/, and we have some plans for using money donated to build the new version of OLO. Happy to take some cash now on that basis, but we will be running a proper campaign.

I'm sure Susan is bouyed by your comments. She'll be using these I'm sure as references, and if anyone knows of any openings for her, that would be great. She's been a good friend, and it is going to be a little lonely around here without her.

Could be hard on contributors as they will have to deal with my "tough love" approach to editing. :(

I wouldn't be too sad about things though. It's not as though we're going away. Our economics have always been better than Crikey or New Matilda's because we were leaner in the first place. Crikey prospers, and NM seems to be on some sort of life support. There's no risk of us going down, and every chance of building something even better.

Keep bowling the ideas up and we'll keep talking about them.

Graham
Although colleagues on my domain contribute to OLO, I don't ... for reasons you are well aware. Nevertheless, I still read the diverse opinions (and that is what they are, articles or no) that make OLO so good and, if I can add, so important in today's medium of 'self expression'. I can only congratulate you in what you have tried to achieve, and hopefully, in its continuance. On a personal level, I have no idea where the MSM are going but I think the format of OLO is fantastic, notwithstanding that as chief editor and moderator, you should not involve yourself in the quite often robust discussions - you have your own blog for that - you do have to bite your tongue.

To Susan, well done - we can only admire your editorial skills you brought to OLO, you will be sadly missed, really. Best wishes to you and your loved ones, yet, I have no doubt that the forces that be will be with you ... hang in there!

It would be great if our National Broadcasters had someone like Susan P working there The panel here on Olo isn't stacked like Q&A and other leftist agenda shows which the ABC revels in. Both GrahamY and Susan P have done a great job in my opinion.