TURMEL: Niagara Falls LETS wants URLS
John Turmel
John Courtneidge wrote:
"Dear Friends. Can you gently help our friend? Thanks. j"
>Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 19:20:00 -0400
>Subject: LETS Barter Niagara
>From: "Lorne WHITE" <lwh...@niagaranet.npiec.on.ca>
>To: <econ...@mailbase.ac.uk>
>Hello <econ-lets> maillist:
>I've been trying, without success (e-memos below), to find current,
>working LETS web-sites, and have heard that LETS Portsmouth may be
>successful (did they succeed in getting the municipal council to
>accept payment in Green dollars/pounds?).
JCT: That would be wonderful and would make it's growth explode.
>The main world LETS-site at gmLETS Manchester UK, hasn't been
>updated since 1996 or so, which leads me to believe that LETS has
>failed in Manchester, across the UK and around the world (except for
><Ithaca NY USA 'HOURS'> which has a directory with 1500 items!).
>Would SOMEONE please point out a few good, current, active
>LETS Web-Sites?!!!! And reply to my questions below?
JCT: I have a list of national Urls at my web site with 177
LETSystem web sites and 53 LETS reference sites. See:
http://www.cyberclass.net/turmel/urlsnat.htm
>Lorne WHITE
>2122 Pinecrest Lane West, lwh...@NiagaraNet.npiec.on.ca
>PORT COLBORNE ON CANADA L3K 5V3 905/835-5506
>to: r...@letsgo.u-net.com <e-address for gmLETS>
>re: LETS barter Niagara
>date: 99-05-25
>Hello:
>1. Thanks for setting up/maintaining a world LETS home page!
>2. We are working to establish "LETS barter Niagara" (or whatever
>the name becomes). Your info is quite interesting and useful.
>(Do we still need LETS in Niagara now that we have Casino Niagara to
>employ us all...?) 8=}
JCT: If you could get the casino to extend interest-free credit
to your members based on their promise to work, then you wouldn't have
any overhead expenses at all and could use their chips in town without
having to print up your own notes. As a former casino owner myself,
casino chips were the model upon which I based my local currency
ideas.
>3. However, why haven't you updated your site since 1996?
>There must be Many new developments & LETSystems around the
>world. Plus many interesting stories from existing LETSystems.
JCT: They probably don't have the resources. I think I've done a
pretty good job of finding every web site I could on the net.
>4. Why are there few or no Links to LETSystems around the world. We
>know of a few LETS in Ontario, but seem to be unable to find any
>Links to find them. Maybe they aren't on the Web? Maybe they don't
>use the standard 'LETS' name? It would be Very helpful for you to
>provide Links on your <gmlets> site. (I have found Canadian LETS in
>Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario: KW Barterworks; and one in Vancouver:
>Vancouver LETS, on the web. There are also LETS in Toronto and
>Peterborough who don't seem to be on the Web.)
JCT: They're all at the urlsnat.htm web site. Try doing a search
for "local currency" and you'll probably get a couple of hundred hits.
>5. One of our concerns is that our LETSystem needs to be as simple
>for a SmallBusiness to operate as the CreditCard system. Any ideas
>on issuing "credit" cards to LETSmembers to run through the
>business' card machine to quickly make copies for customer and
>business?
JCT: Nothing is easier for a merchant to handle than a paper
note. He's used to handling Canadian cash in his accounting or even
Canadian Tire money. Your LETS currency should offer him no problems
if you keep it simple.
>Or, how about issuing "LETScheques" on NCR (no-carbon-required)
>paper, so that the LETSmember could give the LETScheque to the
>merchant or private member & keep a copy for themselves? They could
>also keep it with their Bank cheque-book ready-to-use, and a
>merchant could do the same for members who forget to bring them.
JCT: Make them a standard denomination and color so they can be
reused for a high-velocity system or print up notes like Toronto
Dollars and you'll have done the best.
>6. Is the running of a Credit Committee a problem? How will we
>control the infrequent member that "overspends"? How to recover
>their LETScard?
JCT: As long as all debts are payable in time and not cash, even
the worst and poorest former stiff will pay his debt. It's never
proven to be a problem. Only the loss of confidence of the positive
members, the creditors, has ever caused problems.
>7. Is there a LETS 'game' anywhere that our founding committee can
>play? Download? On the web? Did I miss it in your downloadable stuff?
>Interesting web-site you have for suLETS.
JCT: I have a game at the end of my bankmath.htm which details
the difference between LETS Island using service charges and Interest
Island. It can be played and its unusual effects demonstrated.
>However, why no updates or action since 1995-03?
>I don't mean this to be sarcastic, but to ask what lessons we can
>learn to build our numbers of LETSmembers, and avoid any problems
>which you may have encountered in establishing LETS at a University
>- a logical place to help people with little money, who should be
>bright enough to understand and make the LETS concept work.
JCT: LETS is really nothing more than organizing a database of
offers and requests, all purchasable with local chips. So there's
really little that's hard to understand with little that can really go
wrong.
--
John C. "The Engineer" Turmel, Founder, Abolitionist Party of Canada
915-2045 Carling Ave., Ottawa, K2A 1G5, Tel/Fax: 613-728-2196
LETS Abolish Interest Rates http://www.cyberclass.net/turmel
For TURMEL topic http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/lets