Improving the site and club

[RX-7 Chris]

As some may have seen, we did some cleaning up of the forum layout and we also brought back the BWW meets. I have also come back on as a mod.

We are looking to improve the to fit the needs of the members. We want to make this a more tech oriented club. We want to build a good resource of information for any future Mazda owners and members. We also would like to know how we could improve the site and club to motivate people to donate.

To get this club more tech oriented we need members to post write ups. How could we motivate members to do this? We are hoping to build a database of write ups with detailed walkthroughs, pics, difficulty of the install, and thoughts on the performance of the parts.

FIRE AWAY!!

[erod550]

This makes me wish I had taken pictures while installing my mods heh. Writeups are much better with pics of the progress.

[tbot]

have a VIP section thats accessable only by those that have donated a certain amount...say $10 that has user manuals in pdf form, an nsfw section (thats labled that of course), more of the detailed how to's could be in there too...


ts worked elsewhere...could work here too

[bellalyssa]

Let's not turn this into msf k? msf has it's place on the larger scale but for a small club like ours, we need to be able to ensure that those involved are getting the most out of it.

I suggest a $10 donation (at least) that is required for members to access the How Tos (when they're up), meet information etc. If people want to be involved and make use of our valuable information, then they need to show it and donate something.

I liked the idea of having a regional rep for the forum as well. This one person could organize events for each region, coordinate with other regions for larger scale events and such.

[AIM WO4]

Delete Guido?

OK... I will see if I can fix the Donation Bar... again. We get more donation $$ with a check, than Paypal, too.

[RX-7 Chris]

We have talked about make a required donation to be able to access manuals etc. but we decided against that. We people to be interested in donating on their own because of the good people and info available to them for free.

We did have regional reps back in the day when the club first started. That is actually what I started as before I because a full mod. For now it would help us to have members helping get events going so we can work on improving the site.

Keep the comments coming.

[Huzer]

I'd rather keep donations separate. Playing devil's advocate, if I paid $10 expecting to get decent How-Tos or manuals, I'd be sorely disappointed. Take a look in the DIY section, or any of the submodel sections now. There isn't a ton of technical info. That has always been the weakest link of the site. We have technically competent members, but that information tends to not be put on this forum. Most people post before/after, rather than during. We also have a large portion of the members that just don't do their own installs, and thus, no writeups.

I've always maintained (after failed attempts in the past) that the site is first and foremost a gathering place for local Mazda enthusiasts. It's a social site. There are much larger sites that we can't compete with in terms of amounts of technical data, which is where most of our members go for info.

[~Barn~]

Hammer... meet Nail Head.

Well said, Huzer.

[RX-7 Chris]

I'd rather keep donations separate. Playing devil's advocate, if I paid $10 expecting to get decent How-Tos or manuals, I'd be sorely disappointed. Take a look in the DIY section, or any of the submodel sections now. There isn't a ton of technical info. That has always been the weakest link of the site. We have technically competent members, but that information tends to not be put on this forum. Most people post before/after, rather than during. We also have a large portion of the members that just don't do their own installs, and thus, no writeups.

I've always maintained (after failed attempts in the past) that the site is first and foremost a gathering place for local Mazda enthusiasts. It's a social site. There are much larger sites that we can't compete with in terms of amounts of technical data, which is where most of our members go for info.

I agree although we have an advantage over the larger sites. We don't have all the a-holes telling you to use the search.

[kingtut]

Good stuff here. Like Barn- I also agree with Huzer. I like to cyber-socialize and hope to learn something in the process. It does seem that there's knowledgable people, but it pretty much stops there.

As Chris said, we do have an advantage over the others (say MSF) because we are local. Its nice to know that (in a bind) there's the potential for assistance. I do search for tech write ups on other sites, but if you have questions, need assistance, etc.- you're pretty much boned.

[tsx_guy]

uhm chris? search

[iani1.1]

cool, i might start making my write ups for the fc. i have tons of info lol

[Operator]

I've always maintained (after failed attempts in the past) that the site is first and foremost a gathering place for local Mazda enthusiasts. It's a social site. There are much larger sites that we can't compete with in terms of amounts of technical data, which is where most of our members go for info.

I echo Huzer's thoughts. I enjoy this site because it gives me the oppertunity to meet other local car enthusiasts. The other forums, have a much larger user base and thus tend to have alot more tech information.

[djchris721]

Let's not turn this into msf k? msf has it's place on the larger scale but for a small club like ours, we need to be able to ensure that those involved are getting the most out of it.

I definitely agree with this, one reason I don't log on to MSF anymore becuase of the members, and admin attitudes, when MSF first started all members are allowed to post anywhere, but you have to have a certain number of post to reply to some of the sections? I am an active member at http://www.moccforums.com and we welcome everyone even though its the mazda club of california. I just recently registered here so I don't know if you guys have Tag cards, stickers, shirts, sweatshirts and liscene plate frames which IMO is a good way to advertise. Also start some big meets like once or twice a year like we have here in california, we have our TBCM (The Big California Meet) where all off the Mazda owners in Norcal and Socal meet halfway and hangout for the whole weekend, so I guess the my suggestion.

[AIM WO4]

We were having an annual BBQ. We didn't have the means to organize it this year, but hopefully next year we will have some people come forward to assist.

We just had a gathering at a local Mazda dealership this past weekend.

I have a few tag cards, and we just came up with some new shirts... hoodies are on the way.

I have a car meet in my garage and driveway almost every evening.

I definitely agree with this, one reason I don't log on to MSF anymore becuase of the members, and admin attitudes, when MSF first started all members are allowed to post anywhere, but you have to have a certain number of post to reply to some of the sections? I am an active member at www.moccforums.com and we welcome everyone even though its the mazda club of california. I just recently registered here so I don't know if you guys have Tag cards, stickers, shirts, sweatshirts and liscene plate frames which IMO is a good way to advertise. Also start some big meets like once or twice a year like we have here in california, we have our TBCM (The Big California Meet) where all off the Mazda owners in Norcal and Socal meet halfway and hangout for the whole weekend, so I guess the my suggestion.