AMEN KEN!

I will be a lifer in Jan when mine expires, whether or not I am 99, 100, or 101.  It would be kinda cool to be 100 but it would be cooler to be #13, my personal lucky number!

I joined this site because of what I thought was camraderie and what appeared to be a jovial acquaintanceship among the members however, I believe you and Adam are right about something changing in the last couple of months.  I don't know if it's in the water, the Dem's taking over or some aren't getting a regular walk in the garden of earthly delights, but something has the collective's nose out of joint. 

It is, afterall St. Nicholas' Day today and you would think we would be seeing some Christmas Cheer rather than Grinches and Scrooges.

I tell ya, if it weren't for guys like Adam (for doing the site), Joel, Jim, Ray and a handful of others knowledge and insight, I would be much the poorer this Christmas.

Now before ya get all pissed off at me, I do realize that we all (especially me) have our shortcomings, whether it be in wrenching, diagnosing or just plain livin' day to day.  That said, maybe we should all take a step back and repeat Rodney King's Mantra:

DEEP BREATH NOW, RELAX,  BREATHE OUT,

Can't we all just get along?

Maybe instead of trying to grind the head off our axes here, we should go over to some of the other sites I belong to (like the Moss Motors MG site) where the rules are so stuffy, you almost can't get your question out and NONE of the fun we have here would be had there, not the least of which would be a site called "Anything Goes".

Yell at me if ya like, I was raised by a former MARINE, so you guys can't hold a candle to where I've been, but I think we all owe Adam a HUGE ROUND OF APPLAUSE for babysitting us all this time

As a member of a volunteer organization I say to you Adam that Ken is absolutely correct when he says - If it's good it weren't your doin', if it's bad, it's all your fault!!!

I appreciate the He!! out of what you have created and all those who have taken their time and effort to help me and others like me come to love our babies!

My apologies for the rant, but we're better than this.

Dennis

Guys if you would take note I do not post alot but I have been a Member for quite awhile. So I think I have the right to say something.  I can't tell you what life time member Iam and I could care less. But i don't think we should be putting Adam in this position. If you need to give the 100 person something what will it hurt, if you don't what will it hurt. But why are we making such a big deal over this. I also beleive that everyone on this site is important including the trial members. This is the best site I have every been on lets don't tear it down over something this simple. Thanks Frank

Frank;

You got to the heart of what I was tryin to say in a whole lot fewer words but you are dead on brother!

Thanks for your timely post!

Dennis

Adam Wartell.
From my perspective nothing has changed in the way you "run" the show. I have been very happy with our site since the day I joined. I still don't understand the flak over the 100th lifer. I thought there were several great ideas put forth. I went back and read the posts...and still don't get it. I can't conceive of how anyone thinks that by giving someone a plaque or trinket disrepects the first 99 life members. It appears that no matter what people do anymore, even good deeds, some other party is offended. That's a shame. I love the folks here and will update to a lifetime membership soon. I love this site for the technical knowledge of Ken, Joel, and everyone that contributes. Technical issues are the first posts that I visit. Maybe you should start a serarate forum... the "I got offended today forum" That way I can skip it and go  to the good stuff. Adam, keep your head high... you do a fantastic job.

Just my opinion... If I offended anyone save it for the potential new forum.
Cheers,
Scott


ranger32006-12-07 06:34:32

Good answer, Scott.

Did somebody do something to piss a few folks off recently?  There appear to be one or two that are getting awfully upset over stuff lately.  I first saw it in the thread about the 2007 Gathering, no reason, but pretty heated for this group, now this stuff.

I don't get it.  I know families bicker and complain, but in my family, if you gotta problem with someone, you take it up with them.  You don't air it in public and ya damn sure don't talk to everyone else before ya talk person to person with the one ya have a gripe with.

We need to get back to actin like we like each other and if one or two do have a problem, then take it off line from here (no the I got offended today forum HA/HA) and settle it. 

This is way too damn good an asset for way too many people to have a few bring it down to less than it can be.

Adam - I think you should do whatever you feel is best. We all joined this site agreeing to abide by the rules and with the knowledge that someone else is in control. Yes, we all have input - you routinely ask for it. But there are many things that you just decide on, and do, and that is completely correct since you are the owner.A committee is fine for input, but someone needs to be in charge and make a decision, and that person is rightfully you. I personally think doing something for the 100th member could be used as a good marketing tool to help get some more memberships from the outside. I do see a problem only in the fact that everyone knows the latest number, which can cause everyone to wait for everyone else to join - a nasty little circle. Of course, I tend to worry about the logistics and practicallity of a problem and don't really care about egos...

The idea that was presented to me, and the idea I was going to go with was for an Auction for the 100th spot.  The items included with the 100th spot will not necessarily be "give aways" because if the auction price gets over $199, the extra items will no longer be "give aways" but will be part of what is being bid on. 

In the last few paragraphs of another post I made (Much ado about everything) I pointed out that C3VR is a much different outfit than any local club, mostly because of the global spacing of our membership.  Any collection of souls is going to have differences of opinion.  You don't have to go very far into the morning paper to see that. 

[QUOTE=Norsky]In the last few paragraphs of another post I made (Much ado about everything) I pointed out that C3VR is a much different outfit than any local club, mostly because of the global spacing of our membership.  Any collection of souls is going to have differences of opinion.  You don't have to go very far into the morning paper to see that.  [/QUOTE]

Maybe a simple solution would be to take a page from various other businesses that want to celebrate/reward a certain stage of growth: they don’t announce in advance as they’re approaching the “one-millionth customer”—they just wait until the lucky person walks through the door. THEN the bells ands whistles go off.

Taking this approach might reduce the possibility of people hanging back, waiting to jump in as the total nears 100 lifetime members. Don’t ‘count down’ and reveal the numbers. Keep it a ‘secret’ until the magic application pops up. Adding in this element of surprise might actually motivate people to sign up—it’s that ‘win the lottery’ mentality that has widespread appeal.

As to the perceived change in tone around the place lately: sometimes when you invite people to offer their opinion/state their preference, you run the risk that there’s somebody who will interpret that as meaning that what they suggest will in fact be acted on. When their idea/choice isn’t accepted—for whatever reason—they tend to get bent out of shape. It’s the classic ‘management by committee’ syndrome. It always sounds and looks good—after all, who could argue with democracy in action?—but in reality it’s too often unproductive and, perversely, can lead to more problems than if a designated leader simply made the decision and announced it as a done deal. As others have said, you’re gonna take flak either way, unfortunately—it’s the penalty of leadership.

Taking these issues together raises a larger question for the Forum: how big can it get before it gets bad? The price of growth is often a change in the ‘culture’ of an organization. More members doesn’t automatically mean something negative, of course. But it does raise the potential for these sorts of problems as more people come in, who by definition don’t have the same history or ‘feel’ for the group as the original members do.

All it takes is an ‘alpha’ type or two, who don’t know/don’t care about the C3VR ‘family’ or atmosphere, to do some damage. They can quickly sow dissension and acrimony, and things can go downhill pretty fast.

This is a business, and businesses have a right, and a need, to grow. But as the Forum does, it’s going to take more vigilance to keep the unique and very valuable ‘culture’ that the Founding Fathers and Mothers have created here.