scodavis Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Hello everybody, I am happy to finally launch the website for my Christmas display, called Davis Family Christmas. The 2016 season will be my very first season animating lights and I am very excited to be doing it! Of course, since I haven't actually decorated or done an animated display yet, the Photo and Video galleries are currently empty. Those will have some content beginning in late October or so, when I actually set up my show for the first time. http://www.davislights.org If you happen to live in the Fresno/Clovis area of California and would like to attend a testing night in November, feel free to send me a PM and I will keep you informed. All design and programming on the website was done by me. I hope you enjoy it! -Scott 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Nice job on the website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncledan Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Very nice website! I have to say I was a little set back by someone asking for contributions.... Tis the Season for giving, not receiving. I do this to give to my community and 100% of donations go back to the community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfish Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 make sure you declare that income and pay your taxes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougP Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Make sure you get a BMI/ASAP license as you are now a commercial light show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsMeBobO Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 9 hours ago, k6ccc said: Nice job on the website. Yes very nice template and it is clear you put a lot of care into all the navigation and pages. If there is some way to advance through the pictures without going back that would be a better user experience. You are a very enthusiastic newbie scodavis and we are looking forward to seeing your props and sequences as you build and finally your first show. Each year I get a few people who insist on handing me money for lights and electricity. I always tell them to donate to charity instead. You could be seen as a business by soliciting money which is inviting trouble in several areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scodavis Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 3 hours ago, DougP said: Make sure you get a BMI/ASAP license as you are now a commercial light show. No I'm not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scodavis Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 5 hours ago, kingfish said: make sure you declare that income and pay your taxes This counts as hobby income. Yes, I will declare any money that I make in contributions. However, tax code also allows me to deduct all costs related to that hobby. Since the cost of the hobby far outweighs the value of the contributions, there will be no additional tax burden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scodavis Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 10 hours ago, uncledan said: Very nice website! I have to say I was a little set back by someone asking for contributions.... Tis the Season for giving, not receiving. I do this to give to my community and 100% of donations go back to the community. I am also doing this for the community. A portion of all contributions goes back to the community in the form of a donation to a local charity. The rest of the contributions goes back to the community in the form of a bigger and better light show in the years to come. Honestly, I highly doubt anyone will contribute via my website, but if they do, then I will use that to give back the following year. As far as in-person, I'm not going to have a contribution box or anything, and I'm not going to be standing outside every night with a box hoping to get money. Bottom line, I don't have to justify myself to you or anyone else. I'm going to ask a moderator to delete my thread as it is clear that people are more interested in criticizing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtoews Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Quote Why do you guys do this? He is new and then you have to take his excitement and turn it into a circus. Why can you just be nice? I thought this was a place to come for help, share ideas, learn from others? Is it that difficult for you to say something positive and leave it at that? I cannot believe LOR condones this type of behavior. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Deb, yes he is new and excited about lighting, and did a great job on the website as I said in post #2. However, as soon as he asks for contributions, the rules change, both with the music industry and the income tax authorities. That becomes a slippery slope that he may well not have been aware of. Just trying to protect him from some expensive legal trouble. BTW, hobby expenses are generally not tax deductible, so be real careful about that one. Check with a tax expert (which I DO NOT claim to be). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scodavis Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 1 minute ago, k6ccc said: BTW, hobby expenses are generally not tax deductible, so be real careful about that one. Check with a tax expert (which I DO NOT claim to be). https://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Five-Basic-Tax-Tips-about-Hobbies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtoews Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 k6ccc...he posted his new website and was very proud of it. Now he is upset. He didnt ask for advice but rather just wanted to share his website. Now his joy is ruined. Thats my point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scodavis Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 To ALL who have enjoyed criticizing me... I have removed the contribution area from my website. Perhaps now, without that horrendous distraction, you can actually offer some constructive feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Scodavis, Like you said, "don't have to justify". However, why post in a forum setting if you don't want discussion? Deb, you know I respect how you really jumped in and did a great job with your neighborhood. But championing this as beating up on scodavis seemed a little much to me. I really didn't read anything too critical here. Just some incite & wisdom from some who's been there done that. If someone is just looking for praises, then just send it to friends and family. They won't be as critical or as honest with you. ( Never had a family member say it freakin blinks too much - when we all know it did...) I mean like, well it's not like George got in on it... Thread should not be deleted IMO. People reading/searching can learn from all sorts of means. You seem to be sure of yourself and that might lead others to learn more for themselves. However if they don't see/read the other points of view here and elsewhere, they could be blindsided in not handling income as cautious as you seem too. Handling LOR display income correctly, whether a hobby or a business, has positives and negatives to be researched. Most should probably avoid it altogether. Let's say you know the exact amount you reinvested of the income as hobby. Then, due to a family emergency or a job change or whatever, you have to move and the display doesn't happen the next year? I just think it's best to know how you are going to handle all scenarios upfront. I don't have all the answers, so I don't take donations at all. You seem to have the answers for your situation, so you know how you'll split donations and hobby income. Each to their own. But don't get made a run from your post and/or ask to remove it. Again, this point of view and thread may just help someone else decide how they will handle donations if/when it happens. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtoews Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Mega- you know I adore you. I was saying just be nice in your responses. The newbies need to be able to come here and feel encouraged. That's my point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Arch Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 50 minutes ago, debtoews said: Mega- you know I adore you. I was saying just be nice in your responses. The newbies need to be able to come here and feel encouraged. That's my point. Agreed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncledan Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 3 hours ago, scodavis said: I am also doing this for the community. A portion of all contributions goes back to the community in the form of a donation to a local charity. The rest of the contributions goes back to the community in the form of a bigger and better light show in the years to come. Honestly, I highly doubt anyone will contribute via my website, but if they do, then I will use that to give back the following year. As far as in-person, I'm not going to have a contribution box or anything, and I'm not going to be standing outside every night with a box hoping to get money. Bottom line, I don't have to justify myself to you or anyone else. I'm going to ask a moderator to delete my thread as it is clear that people are more interested in criticizing. I wasn't looking to offend you or start trouble. My apologies. You are correct, no need to justify yourself to anyone. This is a very expensive hobby. I have had people offer me money for electrical bill. I decline and say I will put it towards our annual toydrive and fundraiser with all proceeds going back to the local community. Many people have put the money back in their wallet. To me Christmas is about giving. I have no clue how many 10's of thousands of dollars I have spent in the last ten years... All I care is several thousand people come and enjoy my display every year. For me its about giving to the community. As I stated in the first post, " Your website is awesome!" Great job! I have quite a few LOR controllers and misc from over the years I'm selling as I'm all pixels and RGB now. I'm only 150 miles away. Make you a great deal 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scodavis Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 8 hours ago, ItsMeBobO said: Yes very nice template and it is clear you put a lot of care into all the navigation and pages. If there is some way to advance through the pictures without going back that would be a better user experience. I'd like to thank Bob for his great suggestion. I've updated all of the pages that have multiple images so that a person can click on just a single image, and then navigate to all of the remaining images without having to close the pop-up and click on each thumbnail. Also, in two weeks I'm having a friend come over, and we're going to put up all my lights for a little photo session - no animation as I don't have any controllers yet, but at least I'll be able to get some photos of my house with the lights attached. I'll post here when I've put all the photos into the gallery so people can see them. Then I'll take them down the next day so my neighbors don't think I've totally lost my marbles. Then again, I'm not crazy, I'm a LIGHTING LUNATIC! -Scott 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightingnewb Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Great website... bummer to have read about the little scuffle and temper-flaring debate. I see both points in the argument, but will not discuss it as it is no longer relevant. I like the clean elegance of the website and how you have laid it all out for us. Viewer-conscious websites are hard to come by nowadays so I appreciate it. As for donations ... just a question here: Could canned goods be an acceptable donation listed on a website? (For instance, could I say "This season, Light Maestros (our group name) intends to spread Christmas cheer to those who need it most. For those who need our Christmas cheer, we will be accepting non-perishable canned goods at our lawn. Please place any cans in Snoopy's dog house; lift the top of the house to secure the cans for donation. Thank you in advance to those who will be donating - for each can donated, we will match the donation ourselves" without getting into any trouble or having to declare anything extra?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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