PK and Dr. Matthews CPF Contribution, Thank You SureFire !

PK and Dr. Matthews CPF Contribution, Thank You SureFire !

As our Leader DavidW announced lately in:
Topic: We are over bandwidth allotment again...

@ http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=000853;p=1

CPF was in dire financial straits. To help and support CandlePower Forums, SureFire LLC supplied, free of charge, 50 of a limited edition of the G2, hot-stamped on the bezel with our logo, the "CPF 50 Specials". (Batteries and LA included !)
The value of this gift is $2,500, enough to make a big difference ……

This donation was for the purposes of extricating CPF from then current financial indignities, and assuring the continuance of "CandlePower Forums, The Independent Discussion Board".
All profits were intended to deal with the then-current crisis, but mainly the intention is "To Help Support CPF To Face Growth In The Long-Term".

I am proud that I played a small part in making the arrangements for this friendly and generous gesture.

What happened:
Some time ago, I was talking to pk, and mentioned that CPF was struggling financially. PK's immediate reaction was, and I quote:

"But that's terrible !!".

He promised immediately, without any prompting, that he would try to help. PK, a hero designer to most members and the Vice-President of Engineering for SureFire is definitely one of us, as *switched on* as any other CPF member - he has the spirit of someone who genuinely loves light and lights.

Rumour has it that SF's archives are the most comprehensive collection of torches in the world today ……
True or not, those of us who have met pk will chorus that he would enjoy having such a collection. PK made his first torch at age 9, found a vocation and has carried on pursuing his calling ever since.
(At a guess, his first design wasn't as sophisticated as the stuff he's done lately …… )

Naturally, making a gift to CPF of such substantial value needed the agreement of the President, Founder, and Owner of SureFire LLC, Dr. John Matthews.
Dr Matthews is the inventor of the laser-sight, and the sole designer of the early "Classic" SureFire range. (As well as being fully involved with pk's newer and latest creations.)
Additionally, Dr. Matthews can be said to be the Father of the modern (actually useful) weaponlight, since his original designs at the request of the LAPD SWAT re: security at the Olympics of 1984.

PK approached the man he likes to refer to as "My Fearless Boss, Dr. Matthews" with the idea of supporting CPF, Dr. Matthews was kind enough to see the situation positively, and we now have enough finances to be able to continue for a long while to come.
SureFire have been kind enough to support the central meeting-place of the Community, benefiting us all.

Since CPF is an independent organisation, no benefits have been promised to SF. Indeed, pk did not and would not think of applying any conditions: this is a truly free donation.

Our Leader, DavidW saw that there were no conditions attached, and resolved to accept the SureFire contribution, especially since it removed any financial pressures on members. Now, no private contributions from members are necessary.

It must be remembered that for a long time, the Boss carried the entire financial burden for CPF personally. He would not dream of compromising the independence of his "Clubhouse" by even considering any special treatment or interest.

A statement of the policy on donations would be something like:

"CandlePower Forums is an independent Internet Discussion Board, sole owner and founder DavidW, CPF's Leader. CPF is dedicated to its worldwide membership. CPF's mission is: the enjoyment of light and lights, and to promote education, innovation, fun, and free discussion of light-producing devices.
We are pleased to accept support given with good intentions, but
the *Editorial* independence of CPF will never be allowed to become compromised."

No, this is exactly what it seems - a story with a happy ending.

PK and Dr. Matthews were kind and generous enough to recognise our community, (however remote we are from SureFire's true concerns) and to support us in a practical and real-life way.

And a photo of the two heroes:
http://www.pk-engineering.com/DSCN8762.JPG
PK on the left, Dr. Matthews on the right.
(Photos of DavidW are not available.)

An example of the CPF 50 SPECIAL logo, designed specially by pk:
[Image To Follow]

Jahn,
lightlover, Administrator member #260 CPF

Wellcome back Jahn,

and regarding fearless leader Dr. Matthews and master-mind PK:



Klaus

Jahn,

This post is a breath of fresh air from someone we have really missed! Thank you and thank you SureFire!

- Don

WB Jahn and thanks for the reminder about Surefire's contribution to the board.

Three cheers (at least) for Surefire!!!

Pat

I wanted to express my thanks back when the G2's were originally made available, but there seemed to be a bit of secrecy about who made the donation (we all knew but it was not officially posted )

Well now it's out in the open a very big thank you to PK & Dr Matthews

Thank you Jahn! It is fitting that you put this into words.
SureFire's significant gift in support of our community shows me that there are some bloody fine men at the bleeding edge.

Al

Nice to see you again Jahn,

That is a very nice post and a change from all the other things that seem to be going on around here.

Thank you so much for Dr. Matthews to contribute to the running of CPF, it was a very kind-hearted and generous thing for you to do so and my hats off to you.

-YC

Jahn, thank you for that positive post. Seems in the day to day existence of our ramblings, sometimes it's too easy to "focus" on a specific thread and not think about the magnitude of information that the CPF provides the world!

DavidW is of course at the top of the "respect" list for what he has provided here! PK and Dr. Matthews, as well as many others (manufacturers, retailers, modders, members, and more that I truly wish I could name) are certainly also to be respected and credited for contributing to the benefits of the CPF!!

Lets add in the administrators and moderators that take the time to manage their applicable areas as well.

I'm thankful to have found such a group!

Rick
aka Sigman - CPF #2397

I thank PK and Dr. Matthews. And for Jahn who put this together. I'll bet he wanted to strangle me somewhere along the way. I was being stubborn but Jahn showed he can be more so.

Good to see you Jahn, thanks for setting this up. PK and Surefire are the best thanks to them also!

Jahn,

That is great of you, man. No words more true.

You rock.

Shelby

Well said.

Hats off to SureFire! And thank you to Jahn for taking the time to provide all of the details.

What Bucken said!

Thank you David W, SureFire, Jahn and all the other administrator's!! Excellent Job

Surefire's donation was a very noble gesture and I think we are all better off as a result. Truly a win-win: A number of people managed to get a "custom branded" G2 (I still don't have mine since my wife took full posession of it almost before it was out of the box... ), CPF is still up and running, David has a little less financial pressure, and Surefire has a great place available where unsolicited feedback on their products can be had. Many thanks indeed!

Now, about the price of the A2... 39.99 sounds good to me.

Great News, Thanks to PK and Dr. M for the support.
Out of curiosity, how much bandwidth is this site using? And what is the growth rate/month/year on BW?

Jahn,

It's a real pleasure to have you back, hopefully on a not too sporadic basis. I'm heartened by the generous actions of PK, Dr Matthews and the other good people mentioned in preceeding posts. Thanks especially to you for being a powerfully motivating force.

I am a little concerned by one thing. I was not aware of CPF's recent financial difficulties, although I have known of previous problems, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one ignorant of the situation. Had I known, I would have immediately reached into my wallet, as I'm sure many Flashaholics would have done.

In the future, perhaps David might consider a bold sticky header to get our attention about this sort of thing. I know that he is an independant sort of guy and that asking for money is probably not his favorite activity, but we have got to know these things.

Again, welcome back and thanks for the update.

Brightnorm