Buggy of the month

[1856]

I also support opening the forum...with a members only section that would include BOM voting Mark

[Gary1719]

I agree with what bud say's, but i don't mind the price i pay for what i am getting. I can't drop every thing and head to the meets as far away as they are and that is alright. but you can tell this site is hurting. We need more people to post things to make it interesting.I haven't even started on my buggy but i love to see pictures of other peoples builds so i can dream about some day working on my own.

[Montana-Manx]

dido / !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[croakintowd]

Hi Folks, It seems like the reasonable thing to do is to open "most" of the site up to the public so they can have a taste of the place, but hold something in reserve for "Members Only" That's how I became a member. I came for free and interacted with members. But to enjoy the whole enchilada, I was happy to pay the bucks to join because this was where all the good info and clever conversation was. It might be good to admit that the locked up site is nothing like the vital and active site it was. It used to promote the hobby a ton. If you wanted to know anything about a fiberglass buggy, you just went to The Manx Club Site and you got the help and info you need. If I was new at the buggy hobby today, and came here for info, I am locked out, unless I join. Why would I join? I would know nothing about the site. Now, a number of free sites have evolved from the original decision to go private. They all began to flourish when this site went private. The need for a site one can go to for info has been neatly filled by at least 5 other free sites. Somehow they have found a solution to every problem that has been mentioned on this site. (Spam, etc.) If you apply the principle that says "If ten people tell you you look sick, you should lie down and take your temperature", and you see that so many other sites are burying this site, something has to change. Or resign yourselves to the fact that this is as good as it's gonna be. I would vote strongly to open some of the site to the public so as to pique their interest. If they're interested enough, they'll join. Just like I did. Just like all of us did. If there is no exposure of this site to the general public, how will they even know to join? Maybe the answer is to look for solutions to the Spam problem and also encourage those who are not in SoCal to form local chapters and plan their own runs. Even if it's just a run to the Burger Place, folks will see the buggies, ask questions about them, and the hobby will be promoted. If the various runs are posted here, that will allow the public to see the family fun that is had, and the hobby and the club will be promoted. It seems simple to me, but I am a simple guy....LOL. I hope no one is offended by this. That is not my desire at all. I'd just like to see things move forward. (This being said from the cheap seats......LOL) Respectfully, Richard

[manxdavid]

[QUOTE="croakintowd;13772"]Hi Folks, It seems like the reasonable thing to do is to open "most" of the site up to the public so they can have a taste of the place, but hold something in reserve for "Members Only" That's how I became a member. I came for free and interacted with members. But to enjoy the whole enchilada, I was happy to pay the bucks to join because this was where all the good info and clever conversation was. It might be good to admit that the locked up site is nothing like the vital and active site it was. It used to promote the hobby a ton. If you wanted to know anything about a fiberglass buggy, you just went to The Manx Club Site and you got the help and info you need. If I was new at the buggy hobby today, and came here for info, I am locked out, unless I join. Why would I join? I would know nothing about the site. Now, a number of free sites have evolved from the original decision to go private. They all began to flourish when this site went private. The need for a site one can go to for info has been neatly filled by at least 5 other free sites. Somehow they have found a solution to every problem that has been mentioned on this site. (Spam, etc.) If you apply the principle that says "If ten people tell you you look sick, you should lie down and take your temperature", and you see that so many other sites are burying this site, something has to change. Or resign yourselves to the fact that this is as good as it's gonna be. I would vote strongly to open some of the site to the public so as to pique their interest. If they're interested enough, they'll join. Just like I did. Just like all of us did. If there is no exposure of this site to the general public, how will they even know to join? Maybe the answer is to look for solutions to the Spam problem and also encourage those who are not in SoCal to form local chapters and plan their own runs. Even if it's just a run to the Burger Place, folks will see the buggies, ask questions about them, and the hobby will be promoted. If the various runs are posted here, that will allow the public to see the family fun that is had, and the hobby and the club will be promoted. It seems simple to me, but I am a simple guy....LOL. I hope no one is offended by this. That is not my desire at all. I'd just like to see things move forward. (This being said from the cheap seats......LOL) Respectfully, Richard[/QUOTE] Why didn't I say that??? Well put Richard.

[BuggyBob]

I agree. Lets open this place up!

[Gene-C]

[FONT=Calibri]I cannot see where the idea that this is a private, closed forum is coming from. The number of registered users is [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]4.5 times the total registered users on both the RBC & DSB sites combined. The number of registered users is [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]over 2 times mo that the number of active members in the MANX CLUB. As of June 15, this forum had recorded [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]in excess of 26,376 registrations. Everyday this forum gets an average of another 24 new registered members. [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]Private site? Closed site? The figures do not support that analysis. [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]I think that there are some folks who are well spoken enough that because of how they feel about when the forum [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]was part of Meyers Manx, Inc., have convinced most people that this forum is bad, hard to use, not main stream, [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]etc. The folks need to let go of that type of thinking. The fact is that for any forum to be popular it has to be used [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]by those who are registered on the said forum. If those who are registered do not use it, it will not be popular. [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]Yes, members of the MANX CLUB pay membership dues. Most club type organizations charge some sort of [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]membership fee.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]Some of the former features on this forum were suspended due to lack of participation by registered users [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]on the forum. A feature like Buggy of the Month (BOTM) is a bit difficult to facilitate & administer when the [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]entry pool is near empty. I really enjoyed seeing 5 entries per month. 5 distinct & unique buggies in terms of [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]build, body kits used, interiors, some were road vehicle and some were the go anywhere variants of the [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]common MANX or MANX clone.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]Not every Buggy owner has the desire to place his/her buggy in the running for a BOTM. Some of us do not [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]feel the need for such recognition. On the other hand there are some who want to see pictures of their buggy [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]everywhere that they can get them. To each their own.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]We need to realize that the BOTM feature is not the same as Chevy of the Month. The numbers of buggies [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]simply are not that of Chevys. We have a limited pool of buggies from which to draw.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]A review of the BOTM archives indicates that BOTM was active from January 2003 thru February 2008, a [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]period of 61 months. There were enough entries submitted to run BOTM in each of 51 months (about 255 [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]entries), some of the entries were MANX CLUB members some were not. Initially, Bruce Meyers was the [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]individual who determined which entry embodied the attributes of the fiberglass dune buggy. Later on the [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]members of the MANX CLUB participated in an on-line poll to determine the BOTM. After a while, it appears [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]that people in general grew tired of preparing a brief write up of their buggy, taking several good printable [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]photos and forwarding the items to the webmaster for submission in BOTM. Because of lack of participants, [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]the feature was suspended.[/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]The MANX CLUB newsletter, the ‘Mania’ has similar problems. Members, at times, do not submit enough [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]written items to be used in the ‘Mania’. I have seen the publisher/editor go around begging for items to print. [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]If the members do not drive the car it will not go down the road by it’s self. It takes you, me, and everyone [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]of those who register on this site to make it a success. If you do not participate or help out, go look in the [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri]mirror for who is part of the problem. [/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][/FONT] This site will be as good as you make it!!!!

[5150bossman]

The numbers provided by Manxter10 are very informative. However, numbers don't tell the entire story. The number of registered members does not indicate number of active participants. Comparing it to the numbers at RBC and DSB is like comparing apples (regional groups) to oranges (A Nation wide group). The member base to draw from is completely different. What wasn't discussed though was that noticable drop in on-line interaction when the forums were closed to all but registered members, which remains so to this day. The boards use to rival those of Dune-Buggy.com or DBA etc, but has dropped off to just 3 or 4 posts a day, if that (There have been days at a time where no posts are made). In that respect, the regional groups still outdo this board in member participation and daily posts. I agree with openning up even a small portion of the board to all. Maybe just the General Discussion thread, and leave the rest to the members. That way everyone can get their $0.03 worth in, increase web traffic and yet still leave something for the paying members. Now would be a good time to make the change as Dune-Buggy.com has been down for a couple of weeks, and those board members are searching for new boards to interact on. I say STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT (and the other board is still down!) or risk loosing a fantastic opportunity. Just my $0.02 worth.

[Lee]

There appears to be around 230 actual registered members at this site. The rest all appear to be spam bots. The good news is most of the bots have not been successful at posting. 230 is still a great number! The big thing we members need to do (especially myself) is get out of the habit of just posting on the "other" sites and start posting here! The Manx Club newsletter is excellent now, and the club is doing some good runs. Let's all see if we can bring the message board up to the same level! Lee

[BuggyBob]

The Manx Club newsletter is excellent now, and the club is doing some good runs. Let's all see if we can bring the message board up to the same level! Thanks Lee for those kind words.

[Gene-C]

Lee, Finally, Someone else is saying what I have been talking about for the past 14 months. Thank you, Thank you for seeing what I have been looking at, and having the courage to call it like you see it. I keep hearing that all of the bot traffic, guest logins accessing the archive data, reading the user profiles does no harm or take away from the server capacity.

[tim morgan]

I just looked on the Members List,,There are a million members on there,,95% newbie's with 0 posts,,,,Are these all paying members?? If they are,,Whats up with that ????

[Lee]

Tim, Those are the spam bots. They manage to get signed up, but (fortunately) cannot post. Lee

[rzeller]

First I want to start out saying that there seems to be a positive outcome to this conversation with the increased traffic (at least by the members) in the forum.I do, however, want to put one of the issues back in front of the membership. There was an inference made that the Manx Club forum was NOT a private or a closed site While it is true that non-registered and registered visitors can view the threads posted on this site (but cant see pictures that are stored in the clubs gallery) they can NOT post to the forum even after registering. This is directly contrary to the clubs FAQ (at the bottom of this post is a quote from the clubs FAQ regarding registered, non-paying members). Not being able to contribute to the forum is the root of the issue regarding opening the forum up to non-paying contributors. Youll also note that on the website itself it clearly states that the Forum is for paying members only (I've provided that information at the bottom). I've done some due diligence before deciding to stick my neck out again on this topic. I asked a non-member, non-registered buggy friend to submit a registration request (non-paying member). He completed the registration process. It took four days for the confirmation email to be sent to him indicating his registration was complete:Dear,We have now activated your account at the The Manx Club Forums. The forums can be found here: http://www.manxclub.com/forum/index.phpHe then sent an email indicating that he couldnt post to the forums. He got this reply:Dear,Posting in the Forums is for Manx Club members only.You are welcome to join the Club:http://www.manxclub.com/join.htm As you can see, you can not be a contributing member to this community of like-minded people if you don't pay and become a member. That leads me right back to the question: Can't we open up some/all of the forum to the general buggy community for free If the answer is no, then we need to correct some of the information that is posted on the site/forum FAQ and resolve ourselves to the fact that the Manx Club forum is a closed, member's only (with read-only access to non-members) forum. Lee and Tim, regarding your observations about the large number of registered users with 0 posts, I think the information I have provided explains why so many of them couldn't post to the forum. Im guessing there were a lot of well-intended folks in the Members List numbers. Lastly, as we discuss these touchy subjects it is important to remember that differing opinions lead to healthy debate and shouldn't be viewed as criticism toward anyone. As a paying member I have a vested interest in this club and want it to flourish. Thanks, Bud From the FAQ: The administrator will probably require you to register in order to use all the features of the forum. Being registered gives you an identity on the board, a fixed username on all messages you post and an online public profile. Registration is free (unless otherwise specified), and offers an extended range of features, including:

• Posting new threads
• Replying to other peoples' threads
• Editing your posts
• Receiving email notification of replies to posts and threads you specify
• Sending private messages to other members
• Creating albums of pictures and comment on others' pictures
• Adding events to the forum calendar
• Setting up a 'contact list' to quickly see which of your friends are online.

From the Manx Club web site:

The Manx Club membership entitles you to attend Club Events, a Club membership card, access to our "members only" http://www.manxclub.com/forum.htm where one might find answers to technical questions, classified ads and the "Manx Mania" our 16 page, quarterly newsletter.

[Gene-C]

I think it would get more participation if a different member, showed their buggy, or project each month, (notify them by e-mail or on the thread a month prior, as to give time for preparation of photos, commentary, etc).doing it by active numbers low to hi or hi to low, and if they don't want to participate, then it goes to the next number. Lot's of members who post, but what kind of buggy or project do they have??