Yeah, I might have an opinion concerning something that happened in California, but it doesn't really affect me nearly as much as something that happens on Woodward Ave., nor do I have the desire or ability to have as much influence on what happens further away from me. My opinion becomes much less relevant the further away from me that you get. Similarly, my applicable knowlege increases the closer you get to me geographically.

 

I thought I was going to stay away from this, but I just read through the other threads. It seems like the biggest issue at hand is that the UMW community is not as involved as it could or should be because there are clique's (mainly from the Chicago-land area) that dominate much of the threads and alienates the rest of the community. I'm going to avoid discussing any personal issues members have with each other - that should be discussed one on one and it’s none of our business. Aside from that, I think many of the underlying issues can be avoided if the site is redesigned. Having two CO's and changing the voting methodology is all great, but it's not going to get more people involved in the community, and if that's the goal then something else has to change. Here are my thoughts.

UMW is too big and segmented to have participation from everyone off of one main page, and it’s inevitable cliques will form by metro areas where members have more of a chance/opportunity to meet in person. I haven't read through the CO's job description, but I think CO's are in place to facilitate dialog amongst owners/enthusiasts, harbor goodwill and spirit, and to organize community events. That’s an awful lot to ask of one or two folks in a region this big, and even CO’s will become part of a clique, so I don’t think our problem will be eliminated by pursuing this route. Having said that, wouldn't it make more sense to have CO's based on major cities with the highest concentration of owners and split off those sections under the greater UMW region? The CO’s can work more effectively with the members this way and better serve the area they cover. Don't fret, I didn't forget we're part of the greater UMW community and s2ki for that matte;l the other responsibility of the CO’s could be to organize large meets for the greater UMW community once or twice a year and encourage members to participate within their respective area so that we can have a strong turnout.

Here is a generic site map I envision:

UMW (1 mod to enforce)
--> Moderator & CO’s introduction
--> Rules
--> Member Intro
--> FS/WTB/Swap
--> Interest Thread
---------> Racing/Autocross
---------> Technical
---------> (Reserved)
--> Official Meets thread (mod + CO's to organize)
--> General discussion

UMW Community (1 mod to enforce + CO's for each area + Volunteers to help w/UMW meets)
--> Chicago/Wisconsin
--> Michigan/Indiana
--> Minnesota/Iowa
--> Ohio

 

[QUOTE=Kamron,Mar 30 2010, 12:31 PM] Motoo, I respect your opinion and Harry's opinion, but I must emphatically disagree.

 

^^^ I totally agree.

Hai!!! n00b guy here again, but not a n00b to forums, clubs, or even organizing, hosting, and running events for others.

My $0.02.... what Simpleman said should be heard. We need to examine our own motivation and intents for the community.

Some people want to go to meets just to hang out.... well ####, you can go hang out anytime why wait to do so just because you can park your car with others just like it?

Some people want to go to meets to show off.... sorry, but some people are attention whores whether they realize or admit it.

There are groups of people who want to be seen hanging out, this is important to some. It's a ego stroke of sorts and some people feel that collectively the strokes are better LMAO! (e.g. Instead of "hey cool, an S2000" -- "hey cool, a ####load of S2000's") -- I'm not sure either one really impresses me more than the other.

What does impress me? The camaraderie -- which is the true cornerstone of this or any surviving and thriving community -- it's about the people, not the cars, silly.

The cars are merely an icebreaker, the rest is social chemistry and dynamics.

Doesn't anyone else remember as a kid, getting together with your friends on your bikes and sitting in a culdesac or driveway.... everyone on their bikes just looking at each other and saying "now what?" or having an exchange of "hey whaddya wanna do?" "I dunno, whaddya wanna do?"?

There is a tough choice to be made here, but with compromise and a bit of luck success can still be had.

These are the two extremes or ideologies for meets/events:
1) Ultra-rigid, ultra-private events? Very low turn out, sustainable (low profile)
2) Ultra-loose, anarchistic events? Very high turn out (attendance), very short duration (some @sshat or group thereof will #### this up for everyone else - guaranteed!)

I think some baseline rules should be set (I've been involved with communities that have been doing this since 2001 -- remember those huge meets in Schaumburg by Border's bookstore?). But the rules and formalities shouldn't be so overbearing as to be an immediate turn-off to new folks.

Again, maybe it's just me, but I'm just out to have a good time. I'm not looking to have the social equivalent of Dungeons and Dragons with a ####load of rules and weird practices thrown at me.... but I'm certainly not going to absolve anyone of their personal accountability.

Nor will I recommend anyone forget that they are ambassadors of whatever community outsiders view them as. (e.g. The difference between "Hey look, sweet -- an S2K meet." and "Hey look, a bunch of Japanese car d00ds.").

So my recommendation: relax off of all this by-law sounding crap, set some common-sense ground rules.... and GO PLAY!

 

Good points.. although, sub-forums won't ever get broken down that far. There are main forums on s2ki that provide those needs. Racing/Auto-x, for example has a lot of volume in the main forum.. a sub (North America Central) - sub (Upper Mid-West S2000 Owners) - sub (Interest thread) - sub (Racing/Autocross) or (Technical) won't get the traffic that warrents it.

Here is an example of a community that is broken down by region.... Florida has a significantly larger population but you can see how it's broken up. Is this something that you were looking at?
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showforum=54



Kamron: In the case of Florida, the COs for Florida also are the COs for the other sub-regions. You don't necessarily need to chime in or police every thread posted in them, but rather, provide assistance when necessary or fill-in when one of the COs is out of town or not around for one reason or another.


Just a thought... and yes, I agree.. UMW is a big region.

 

[QUOTE=nfty,Mar 30 2010, 12:19 PM]
These are the two extremes or ideologies for meets/events:
1) Ultra-rigid, ultra-private events? Very low turn out, sustainable (low profile)
2) Ultra-loose, anarchistic events? Very high turn out (attendance), very short duration (some @sshat or group thereof will #### this up for everyone else - guaranteed!)

I think some baseline rules should be set (I've been involved with communities that have been doing this since 2001 -- remember those huge meets in Schaumburg by Border's bookstore?).

 

^^^ LULZ! I tasked a minion to roll a D20 to figure out whether I should include that comment or not

 

The main forum Racing/AutoX are dominated by larger cliques, mostly based out of California and because I'm still considered "new" to s2ki, I feel somewhat alienated dealing with members who I have never met. It's much easier for me to engage dialog with members who are familiar with the local track. Another section I've gotten weak feedback from is Naturally Aspirated, and recently the Photography section.

I agree that there might be low traffic volume in these sections. An alternative to that would be to categorize all other topics under the "interests" section and sticky important threads. A good example of that would be the Racing/AutoX group calendar of events OR create a "calendars" section under UMW.

 

[QUOTE=Kamron,Mar 30 2010, 10:31 AM] Motoo, I respect your opinion and Harry's opinion, but I must emphatically disagree.

 

I fear lots of segmentation. I think too many sub-forums will prevent interactions. Kamron mentioned his first meet in WI, I am afraid he would never have come if the board was too broken up. If we were going to have regional sub-forums, then why not give those regions full-blown regional communities?

I still believe that communication is key to the success of the community. Charlie floated the idea of a Twitter feed with links to events and popular interest threads. That could be worth a shot. I think the calendars need to come back as a resource for the community. And maintained.