Looking for someone to take over Fordfestiva.com

[ckiesman89]

I’m still on board with Paul’s ideas. It’s obvious he and the madness committee have organizational skills as well as the energy this forum needs. I myself have had similar issues like what has been brought up here between not being able to search for certain things, and posting looking for help or parts only to get no reply. The traffic is on Facebook. Granted that’s expected nowadays, as just about everyone has an account and the app. If it wasn’t for Tapatalk, I wouldn’t be posting this simply due to the out dated side of using a forum in general.

I haven’t been active here for too long, but in the online truck simulator community I’ve been around since 2002-2003 ish. Back than everyone used a forum, and you would sit down on your pc to use it. I took a break around 2012 only to come back recently. I found that the forum where I spent all my time was dead. We’ve been trying to figure out ways to bring it back, as there is a lot of modding knowledge and 3D parts and resources there, however Facebook is killing it. Everyone is using that now.

Paul seems to have a plan to bring this forum back to what it was. I know I would love to watch it come back to what it once was.


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[firebush357]

I am good with the Madness Committee taking over as well. I believe they will do a great job of running the site and keeping everything running smoothly while updating some things that are currently out of date. It will be nice to try and get some more traffic back to the forum.

[scitzz]

To be openly transparent, I'd be doing most of the legwork, but I'd have the backing of the committee and their input. Major decisions and changes would be treated the way a large corporation would go to the board for guidance and steering.

They also know many of the members and thus have a finger on the pulse, so to speak. So we could hash things out. I think we do pretty well with our system of working things out.

Sent from a mental institution

[scitzz]

Batting around ideas brought out another one.

With more active mods appointed, they can link questions posted on the forum to the Facebook group, a call to action if you will. That way the replies can be made in the forum, the questioner doesn't have to wait a week for a response and the knowledge base grows. Also would stimulate more use of the forum.

Sent from a mental institution

[scitzz]

Do a sign up drive once we've established that we can help members having problems with signing in with a quickness.

Sent from a mental institution

[skeeters_keeper]

As great as the forum is and as much as I prefer using it over FB, it's just too much of a pain to post pictures etc. It's in much need of an update. I know I don't have the time or background to do it, but if Paul and the rest of the committee can pull it off I'd fully endorse that and gladly help where I can.

[Advancedynamix]

After thinking this over for a day, I'm certain that I could take your place, Brian. I am also a busy person, but I'm not planning on handling this alone. This is a very tight and dedicated community, and I'm fortunate to have a great relationship with a large percentage of the people who frequent this website and the Facebook page. I think the Madness Committee is capable of handling this and doing a great job at it as well, and hope that (no matter who ends up in charge) we can all continue to work together as a family to keep this website running smoothly.

I've been a member of many automotive forums over the years, but none have drawn me in more than this one. There are a few key factors that made this site different from many others. I'd like to make sure that those key factors remain unchanged.
First, this website is strictly run on donations and volunteer labor. This is very important. Since there is no commercial involvement, the information on here is more reliable than if this were a site influenced by ad space. I've recognized the value of this non commercial freedom since I first joined and have fought to protect the website from scammers several times. Our for sale area is free market and unbiased.
Second, the family atmosphere. This isn't second on my list because it's of less value. It's only second because there are other sites with a family atmosphere. However, the Festiva family is the tightest group that I've been around. I feel as though I have brothers and sisters around the globe, from Australia to Jamaica to Canada. We don't always agree, we don't always show the love, but we are a family. I think that is extremely important and I've worked very hard to keep it that way. I plan to continue doing whatever I can, no matter what happens with the website.
Third, versatility. We are a versatile group of people who drive versatile little cars. In fact, I've never seen a more versatile group or a more versatile automobile. I appreciate all of it and don't want any aspect to overshadow another. I may spend a lot of time building a race car, but I've also got a bone stock Festiva. I love them both equally and respect the people who enjoy their cars the way they choose. Whether it's Brian enjoying his beautiful dream Festiva of the last decade just sitting in his garage, or Jerry shooting for 500k miles in his car or Carlos trying to break past that 9 second et. I share that passion and I love that versatility. I'd like to continue to reinforce all these areas of interest.

So, there are also areas that need to be improved. I think Paul did a great job defining a lot of that, and I would love to work with him and the Madness committee to improve things. I've talked with Ben Rogers and we're both interested in streamlining the interface between Facebook and this website. Facebook is crucial these days, it gives us an easy platform to discuss matters in real time, but the website is a valuable tool to record, document and archive our progress. Fordfestiva.com is our history and our foundation. That's very important to me.

[scitzz]

I'd be foolish to suggest to the forum couldn't use Charlie and Ben!

You hit the nail on the head man, this car and this community is for everyone. I think I touched on that. So many have eyeballed the racing aspect lately, at least those in my orbit and the FB page that I feel that the other aspects are sometimes left behind. ( I am guilty as well.)

Also, yeah, no matter how it goes, we do all need to continue to work together. I don't see this as an ego thing or contest to see who gets to run this group. So long as it continues in the direction is has been going, the forum remains a receptacle of knowledge, preserving the words of those we have lost, and manages to keep up with the times, I am all good! FordFestiva.com is a drama free zone for me baby

[Warchild]

I was not going to voice my opinion here because I figured you guys could just deal with it but the more I think about it I deserve to have some input here as a member of the Madness committee it's my time and my life as well and lets be honest I really was not going to not give my opinion.

I think it doesn't really matter if it is Charlie or if it is Paul as long as some changes are made. Brian, if you remember I approached you a year ago and voiced that I felt there were changes that needed to be made. Without being critical of the way it is currently being done because you are busy I just feel that it has so much more potential than what it is at the moment. SO that being said here is what I think are the things that need to be worked on and either one of these guys are capable of doing it I believe.

More user friendly platform - This platform really sucks you can't find what you are looking for and with inactive admins you can't get the help you need hence people run to the facebook page.

Using the facebook page to enhance the forum not to replace the forum.

This community is not just about the cars it is about the people. I think that when we have two places facebook and the forum we divide a community. If the forum were more active we could have a freer flow between the two.

I think that mixing the two and unifying the groups that exist on the two not only strengthens the community it will enhance the meets.

This forum needs attention more than anything else. It needs to be given the time it needs not to be an afterthought at the end of the day. If the madness committee takes this site over I will personally dedicate 20-30 hours a week assisting with any questions about parts or repairs or finding the things that people need. If Charlie takes it I am willing to make the same commitment because in the end how many of us really care who takes it except we want to make sure that it is being used and utilized. This is a place where new festy people can come in and learn about these amazing little cars. There is so much more to them than just the ability to make them fast and you guys do make them go fast. For me it's the leggo side of it they are like leggos all kinds of things mod to them.

I saw earlier in the thread that one member felt that this site should be ran by people that go to all of the meets I think that is an amazing idea but I also know that none of us can get to all of the meets I do know that we would all like to do that.

Lastly and this is my biggest thing. There is a division between the new and the old. This is now and has been unacceptable to me for a very long time. I left the facebook page over it not long ago and only during madness was convinced to come back. I cannot stress enough that we are a community they are not making any more of these cars we need what the older members have in between their ears about these cars and the older members could benefit from the new things the newer members are learning. This website/forum could be as amazing as this community already is if we put the right amount of time and effort into making it that way.

All of this being said. Brian hand it to anybody you want, but if you don't have the time to love the site at least hand it to somebody that can and will. You can't really get upset about these guys harassing you over not working on your car. They like you and would like to see at the meets and out interacting with them. That's all I have to say about that.

[Advancedynamix]

One thing that I've worked at for the last 6 years is being unbiased, friendly and open to help people with advice. I'd like to promote more of that. I never tell someone to "use the search feature". Though I would like to refine that and possibly link it in with google search, I like to provide a personal answer to peoples questions when I can. It's this type of service and interaction that I'd like to promote.
I'd also promote that we separate facts from opinions as much as possible. When people need help, they need to know the difference between what works and what might work. The internet is cluttered with poor advice that is the result of opinions or theories being sold as facts. I can't fix the internet, but I can promote a healthy environment here.

[ThisVelologist]

I see a great plan and compromise building here and it's very exciting. I think Charlie would make an excellent "Captain" and general moral compass of the site. His knowledge and experience has proven to be invaluable as is his generosity and his great affinity to this community. I think I speak for everyone when I say we are more than lucky to have him. But this community is not about one person and one person alone cannot steer this ship (as Charlie has recognized).

I think Paul's proposal and Sherry's input is also right on the nose. The Madness Committee has exhibited boundless passion and stick-to-it-iveness for getting stuff done and being the glue that holds so many aspects of this community together. I think the combined power of that team would be necessary for carrying this community into the future and I am very thankful they are also up to the task. Having them on board, I think is also necessary.

The forum will need some streamlining and care but that's been discussed. I'm all for better integration between the two platforms and as an Admin of the Facebook Group, I will do what I can to make that possible. I think electing and a new and diverse mod & admin team (no less than ten) will really be a good injection of life force to this wonderful site and will keep things lively and running smooth for years to come.

I'm very excited to see the new possibilities for the future of the great community, of which I am very indebted to and care for deeply.

[Warchild]

What I would keep!!!!

All content
Festy of the month
The build threads have helped countless people keep their festy's running off of build threads alone.
Community interaction with each other it is the one thing that keeps these cars running.

What I would change!

I would change platform as we have all said.
I would have active admins and mods that can answer questions and help with access to the forum

We need a better search feature to help people find the information that is on here.

I would have a sub section with three or four of the guys that spend hours a week with their hands under the hoods of these things and call it something like ask the guys. If there were a place like this available and the guys were there to help it might have stopped one particular guy in this community from drilling through his wiring harness a few weeks ago but he had no place to go other than the facebook page where you have to be scared to ask questions because you might get ridiculed.

It has been stated that this site requires funding and that we rely heavily on donations ok how about we continue to do that but also set up a vendors section where people can post festiva things that they sell and give the site a kick back on what they sell for being able to post. Again though for that to happen we have to have a platform in place that would allow them to change and alter their posts. This is not an over night thing but can be done to better serve the community.

Why not have a monthly auction. I know that my household is not the only house hold that constantly and never ending searches the junk yards and scraps for hard to find pieces what is once a month a member said hey I have this hard to find item or this nifty add on mod that I need to sell this is what I want for it and whatever it sells for over that the site keeps as ongoing cost funding. One item a month auction.

We have the festy train in full working order and it works well somebody needs a part we make sure it gets from point a to point b through the festy train but why not make that a more available thing. We have members all over the nation if somebody needs a part in california and somebody has it in maryland we should be able to make that happen in the span of a few days.

Organization this community needs organization more than almost any on the planet. After years of Madness and NCstiva I have learned one thing getting festy people in one place for one goal is like herding cats. We got things to do and generally see something on a festy that makes us all ooooooooohhhh shiney and there goes any organization.

If somebody wants to help give them something to do because as Ben, Charlie and Paul have all pointed out this is not a one man operation and many hands make light work.

While I am bringing Ben into this. He has a valid point. Why not add Charlie to the Madness committee and everybody work together on it because at the end of the day the one thing we all have in common is we want this site to thrive and we love these cars.

The ideas I have for this site and how to make it grow are endless but more than anything I want to see growth not stagnation. I want us to continue as a community. Several times during madness I heard people say Madness is our family reunion we are a family all of us even those of us that barely know each other. Our ability to grow is endless.

[ThisVelologist]

Well said! All of these are excellent and exciting ideas! :ia:

[scitzz]

The Festiva store and StivaStickers both brought up the vendor section idea at the meet. That is where I personally got that one. I believe the ff dot com stickers already provide a kickback. I could be mistaken. We could just ask that a dollar from each sale be donated to the forum, whether it is for 10 or 100 bucks. A dollar isn't exorbitant, it could be voluntary even. But many dollars turn into lots of help pretty fast.

[Advancedynamix]

I think selling fordfestiva.com.merchandise to help with website costs or to help members in need is a good idea. I don't like the vendor idea. I've seen that go badly. However, if a member also has a buisiness that sells Festiva related things, I think it's fine for them to list in the regular for sale section.
Personally, I would do as Brian has done. I'd eat the cost and keep it simple. This allows all products advertised to be depicted honestly. It doesn't take long for commercial interests to overwhelm the greater good when it has taken foothold.