I would have been happy in exporting the contact list and running it on my own mailserver and webserver. A single list of 200 people isn't hard. But I couldn't even get the data if I had paid.
"But I couldn't even get the data if I had paid."
wait. looks like you can - or at least I'm grandfathered in to some scenario where I can, but it's $19.99. $14.99 is for 6 month block prepayment.
But this is sheer lock-in. They play the game of a roach-motel. You data checks in, and it doesn't check out. I had initially no problem -IF- I could get the data. And further digging, that's just not true.
And in the end, they were doing 1 meeting a month, and 1 email stating that a meeting is happening. And there was a webpage with a paragraph blurp on it. So yes, even though I'm getting downvoted on my decision, I still stick with that it wasn't a good financial deal for $15/month.
ANd yes, it seems they're now at $20/month, payable in 6 month increments. Yipes. And yet he downvotes on my "bad decision" still come in.
You could've found someone else or got people to contribute. But ensuring the survival of the community wasn't your priority.