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.