I've HAD it!!!

[Rich Z]

Originally Posted by Shadow

Hell, I'll even go a step further. Lets get more paid vendors in here to help defray the costs.

Honestly, I don't have much faith in my selling ability to have much success via that route. I really haven't had all that much luck getting sponsors interested in this place. Gotten a lot of "maybe"s, and "I'll let the boss take a look"s, but that's about it.

[C5Rick]

Rich
During my pre-vette days I had a couple of race cars and I belonged to a forum set up by a fellow enthusiast. He uses EZ Board program and seldom had any issues. He charges no sponsor fees because he believes the more shops/vendors the advertise the better for the members. The forum fees are paid for by the members contributions. I don't know the cost difference between yours and EZ Board, but a thought as contributions. Here's a link so you can browse around if you wish.

http://p198.ezboard.com/bhomeracingworld

I forgot, my race cars where 1/32 scale

[Rich Z]

Actually I have four other vbulletin based message boards and the only one giving me problems is THIS one on THIS server. Which is why I am getting a new server. I believe there is an issue between the server setup and this particular vBulletin script. This site was running fine on the original server it was on, and ran pretty damn well on THIS server for the first month. Something changed, and no one seems to be able to figure out what that was.

I've already paid two consultants to try to figure this out, apparently without success. So moving the site to a new server at a new server hosting data center is about the only option left to try.

I'll have to think about this paid membership thing. The mods and I are having discussion about the paid sponsorships as well in how to increase that aspect.

Darn shame there aren't 100 hours in a day, though....

Thanks....

[Kap142]

Originally Posted by ynkedad

Remember MY blood pressure!!!!

I hear ya bro. I can only imagine how trying this sort of thing can be on your nerves!!!
I'll say this as well...I'm not against having some sort of contributing membership thing, to help at least a Little bit towards the cost of things.

Please don't be insulted as that's not my intention.
I love this site. I've made some life long friends because of it, and have grown quite Fond of a lot of its members via chatting here.
So if I can Contribute...I will!!!

~Ray

Rich I'd be glad to send a bit of financial help your way to be used for (liquid refeshment or) costs associated with the effort.

I love the forum and the friends I have made here. I'd be pleased to help.

Ken

[THOR]

Rich, If you need financial help, just say the word. I don't think anyone who uses this Forum on a regular basis will object. I've made some good friends and appreciate the abundance of knowledge and opinions shared. Mark

[stormin9mm]

There are a few forums that I belong to that have went to contributions via PayPal, check, etc. to help defray ungrade costs. GlockTalk is a fairly huge forum and has had a few system upgrades due to financial contributions. There are now paid tiers memberships from silver, gold , platinum, etc. depending on how much you donate. Been a member on GlockTalk way too many years to let it go down hill now. I believe Corvette owners are as passionate about their cars as the gun owners are about their firearms on GlockTalk. I would be happy to donate what I could, when I could to help upgrade this forum. I don't see how the administrators of forums do it anyhow financially and time wise, takes alot of dedication.

[tj37_2]

I vote for member sponsorship.
As you all know that other forum that is mainly vendor sponsored. You will be banned for talking bad about a vendor. Ask me how i know
I think this is a great forum but pretty much limited to Florida.
Right now i think with all the crap going on over there its a great time to start a new forum for Corvette owners.
I just wish i had the time and funds to run one.
Then i could sell it out for a tidy sum.
Keep up the good work Rich.
I think there are alot of members willing to chip in and help,me included.

[Rich Z]

I actually thought about starting a new general Corvette forum, but all the good names have been taken up. Not that I think a new one really could get much headway this late in the game. There are some big sites already out there that would make tough going for any new site to get a foothold.

This site could possibly expand to cover a wider range, since I can't see any reason to shun members from other sites. Stranger things have happened.....

Personally, I want this site to be oriented towards the members. Vendors and sponsors are great and all, but this site is for YOU, not the people trying to sell us stuff. Quite frankly, I WANT to hear about new products and services, and not require someone to pay a fee in order to tell us about them. The paying vendors have options available to place higher profile visuals linking to their sites, but postings within the forums themselves are going to be fair game to all.

Will this piss off some vendors? Probably. But competition is good for us all. Keeps the sellers on their toes and helps us buyers get the most bang for our bucks.

And no. ABSOLUTELY NO. No one will ever get banned from here for talking bad about a vendor or paid sponsor. I am of the firm conviction that given enough time and information from enough people, the truth will always show itself. The only time myself or the moderators should need to step in is if the postings get out of hand and such that they become damaging via content to all involved. Profanity has never helped win any argument. It will not be tolerated here and truth be told, generally reflects poorly on the person having to resort to such language. Generally speaking it is legally dangerous to edit someone else's postings on a public message board. With that in mind, posts that go way overboard with socially acceptable language will simply have to be deleted, regardless of any additional beneficial content. So it is strongly advised to keep to the details and facts, maybe with a sprinkling of opinion, but leave the foul language out of it.

Boy, that went off on a tangent!

But I think you all can catch my drift about how I want this site to be run.

[tj37_2]

Thats why i like this forum.
I think people have a right to know the truth about vendors (good or bad). I am sure there are alot of Corvette owners that are like i was and don't know who to trust with there baby.
For me it was a $10,000 and one year later learning experence.

[vettejack]

If 'donations' are needed...where do we send them to??