S2Ki is 10 years old, time to celebrate – HondaGal reflects on the occasion

As the clock strikes 12, and the date turns over to October 8, 2010 – TEN years will have passed since s2000online.com and s2ki.com merged to enhance the enjoyment and discussion of the S2000 for owners and enthusiasts world-wide. Over that period of time, we have grown into the leading information portal for all things Honda S2000.

Old-timers may remember s2000fans.com, which started with the intent of bringing S2000 owners and enthusiasts together. The enthusiasm received for that site forced expansion to encompass an international audience of owners and was renamed S2Ki, or S2000 International. Those of us along for the ride from the start may remember this article from November 7th, 2000 on HondaBeat.com to promote S2Ki.

S2Ki is a virtual meeting place for owners to share the excitement and love for their S2000, a central place that fosters a sense of community among owners and enthusiasts by allowing us to be involved in topical ongoing discussions as well as regional, national and international fora and events.

Since those early days, S2ki has become a large internet forum customized to meet users needs. Year upon year, the site has grown exponentially in terms of number of posts and visitors. This is indeed surprising as we are a forum dedicated to a single car model, and all credit goes to the quality of our membership and content.

A few interesting site statistics; the first registered user was AusS2000 with the first post/thread being made by Rick Hesel. Rick’s original thread was bumped to the top after 6 months to celebrate 100,000 posts. At this point a new server was needed. On our two year anniversary, Dogman posted the 1 millionth post.

Today, is a special day in that we celebrate 10 years of good fun and lasting friendships with more than 18 million posts and 94780  registered users. With the site flourishing it took a alot of time to develop and continues to take time to maintain and ensure the site is available to everyone when they need it. Cthree (Erik), Krazik (Rylan), myself (Shelley) and our newest partner Ludedude (JP), spend hours ensuring this site is kept up to the standards that our members set from day one.

S2Ki has gone through many firsts. Some of the memorable accomplishments are the first North American Community/Club being set up. On December 9, 2000, svann requested a North Texas community and became this community’s first Community Organizer(CO). The first international community was developed in early 2004, with (Ian) AquilaEagle being the founder, CO and currently an Admin. National Flags were instituted on the site from the very beginning to reflect our international representation.

Over the years the creative side of some members has borne fruit. Several of our older members are responsible for the creation of many companies and products available for the Honda S2000 today. Pinky was the first to successfully create a module that allowed an aftermarket stereo to be controlled by the cars steering wheel control. He was a big advocate for speakers behind the seats and could possibly have inspired Honda to put tweeters in the roll bars in later models. Mingster of “Import Development” created the aluminum “dead pedal” as well as an expanded line of products specifically for the S2000. UtahS2k, a fellow CO sent Mingster’s prototype to Muz a fellow member in Australia, to create a dead pedal for the right hand drive S2000. Eventually Muz, would create his own product lines, specifically the Muz mat which was placed in the rear window well to prevent scratching of the plastic rear window. Honda eventually put a glass rear window in the S2000. Rick’s Signature Accessories (Rick Hesel) created a line of leather accesories, and “S” badges. Honda has monitored the site over the years and we believe the original ideas members came up with helped to enhance the S2000 all through its years of production. Online chats were especially popular with the members and several of these were hosted by UtahS2K. We also hosted a couple of online Christmas Parties. Prizes were handed out to participants and helped forge a true community feeling. Those days may have passed, but we look forward to the next decade and hope to keep the spirit of our community and shared enthusiasm for the S2000 growing in the times to come.

At S2Ki, we are first and foremost a family, and we wish to thank everyone for your participation. We wish to thank our many dedicated Moderators, Site Moderators, News Team, Community Organizers, Volunteers and all our members that have helped make S2ki what it is today.

To commemorate year 10, PrimoGen has created special Year 10 Avatars and a Year 10 badge. Click here, to get the new AVATAR in the color of your choice. You may request your CO or a Moderator to assign you with the Year 10 BADGE.

The last 10 years have been quite an adrenaline rush for all involved and we look forward to continued participation from all for the next 10 years.

– HondaGal

TO REQUEST THIS YEAR 10 BADGE, CONTACT YOUR CO OR A MODERATOR 🙂

NOTE: S2KI welcomes the opinions of its members on the S2000 and on all topics related to the S. Should you feel the creative urge to pen a few words then by all means do so and PM Energetic, Aashish2 or Onehots2k OR send us links to what you would like us to write about and we will feature you (or your community) on the S2KI Home Page.