First, congratulations to Troy and the rest of the hardworking staff here at CF. I have been around here a long time, doing a lot more reading than posting the past couple of years. This is an awesome site, filled with awesome corvette loving people. It is quite an honor for those who run the site to have built such a wonderful community, and done it with such class that someone else was willing to pay money for it. A job well done to all.

But, as a user, I am concerned about the future. The "keep the sale quiet" clause says a lot about the new owners, and much of it not positive to me. I really hope they do not try to nickel and dime the users to death, or incorporate the stupid hyperlinked text ads within the content. I hope they don't mess with the classified sections, or the free flow of information that occurs. I hope they don't discourage the sponsors by trying to squeeze them for every last penny. They are a huge part of CF to me, and I buy from them first simply because of their support of the forum, and they usually have a better price anyway.

Perhaps the biggest concern I have is an intangible. After reading through this section, it's the sense of community that I fear losing most. This can't be bought, as it's freely given by the members. It's very easy to give to a private person, whom we all know is holding on by their fingernails, quite another to some faceless company. I do hope that these folks will realize that, and go the extra mile to seriously consider that community aspect first, and know the money will follow.

But thankfully, this is America, and if they do eff it up, I know there are plenty of people here with the brains and resources to rebuild somewhere else. There's no doubt the demand is there...

Anyway, again congratulations to Troy and the rest. Thank you for such a wonderful 8 years or so!!!!

 

Amen! I am relatively new to the Forum, but it is the sense of a private, not commercial, community that gives CF its feel.But I will also acknowlege that sometime a litte knowlege is a dangerous thing--perhaps I wouldn't even notice if I hadn't been told. I hope this is the case. If the new owners are listening, I say keep the feel and the spirit of the site the same--its the reason for its success. Finally a thanks to all the pioneers who made it what it is today.

 

Bingo.

When webForums are run by guys trying to mak ends meet, the community spirit is what drives their effort and brings the support... once it becomes and actual "product" being "bought and sold" it by definition is no longer a "community".

Moderators volunteering to "manage" the users of a forum are dedicated well receieved and well meaning enthusiasts whom are respected (for the most part) and together with the members "make the whole complete".

But think about this - would you volunteer to manage some users on a discussion forum on a webForum that was part of a larger company that was pulling in X-million dollars revenue a year on the coat tails of YOUR free labour?

I know I wouldn't - and the reciprical would be, as a "member" of an enthusiasts community would you be willing to take direction and moderation from some remote support yahoo that was moderation 15 other unrelated forums as par of the paid job?

I know I wouldn't - because the very value of the organically grown webForum is the unsolicited and volunteered nature of the labour given and informaiton provided.

I have always sat and wondered about the moral and business ethics of webForums "going commercial".

Aferall, it is the free and unrewarded contributions of the members that make a webForum what it is - the servers, bandwidth and moderaiton only facilitates this - it does nto create that.

So if members posts, enthusiasm, knowledge and or contributions some how increased the attractiveness and value of the entire product that is a particular webForum, shouldn't they be entitled to compensation for these contributions?

Just wondering out loud

 

Using that logic, doesn't that mean that all that has changed is someone else is providing the servers and bandwidth? The community of Corvetteforum is still the same. We've been "commercial" since 1999 when we first accepted banner ads. I personally find the supporting vendors to be very helpful and am glad of the "commercialization" that they bring to the site.

I don't expect to see the community change because of this behind the scenes difference. The people are still the same. That is the heart of the community and will remain so. I would suspect that many members find the forum "rewarding" (and free).

I would also add that you are greatly underestimating the contributions of good moderating. Have you ever been to a site that had no moderation or extreme over-moderation? You can kill a community very fast with either of those.

 

Actually I understand 1000% the value of proper moderating - and that 90% of the time, webForum moderators do what they do for free as contribution to the "community" and without them the "community" would not have nearly as great of a "commercial" value.

Added to this consider that most of the time moderators and site owners/operators are not the same people yet their contributions are often both just as essential to a webForums success - and you get back to the moral and ethical topic I touched on...

When/if webForums change hands for monetary gain, it's the site owners/operators that pocket the cash, not the volunteer moderators

I hope all the site moderators of webForums that IB urchased got some monetary reward

 

First of all, moderators are not employees. Moderating a website isn't some slave labor job with horrible working hours or conditions. Think of it as being a part of the "insider club" along with several other helpful/influential people within a community. Most automotive site moderators also get discounted/free car parts in order to help promote vendors on a site. These are perks that would be much more difficult to receive as a regular member.

Also, keep in mind that the waiting list for those wishing to be a moderator is pretty long. If someone feels they do not want to be a moderator anymore, someone else will gladly step up and take that spot. It is pretty fun on the staff side of a website, it isn't "work".

Admins get the no-fun work of invoicing, accounting, receiving, collections for late vendors, customer service, sales of ads, server bill payments, software licensing, filing income taxes, paying LLC fees, organizing events and merchandise, etc....