CB4x4 needs your feed back

[blazinchuck]

please take a minute to read and respond...we really need your feed back to make this site a better place.when we post up voting, thats us really asking for your input...but instead we see little activity. ive been emailing a vendor we have been using for a few years...today they asked some simple things(ie; how many new members/month, new post/month, how many new threads/month) well...i can tell ya, since Jan '15 we average 5 new members/month, 310 new post/month(all these numbers are very LOW)...didnt even look at how many threads per month we do, but im sure its low. we have 750 members and only 25 active???. Jayt is our web guy and im working with him to help come up with better ideas for our site.

im asking for some feedback...ive tried many things to boost activity(ie; membership give-aways, vendor give-aways,etc)...and so everyone gets a fair chance, i send out a mass email notifying everyone of the chance, each year minus last year, i gave away 2 memberships. announced the lucky members only to never see them again. that does upset me, as i would rather give something like that to some of the few active members that would actually use it. memberships are down, probably a couple a year. $10 is not a lot and really is cheaper than most any sites. I even made it easy for those that refuse to pay a simple $10. we now have a tiny 15 post minimum for anyone wanting to post in the "for sale" section-that did two things...no 1 post newb could post their bronco for sale, only to never return, 2-make it fair to those paying members. i made sure our site does not lock down for those browsing. nothing worse than going to a site and you cant see the pics or read the thread unless you join or login. we have the best library of smilies(emoticons..upergrin::bdent::toothy12, custom profile pages,that few even use or know about. we have one of the BEST PDF libraries on the web, related to broncos!!! thats a big deal, ive seen our pdf link posted 100's of times on classic broncos and pirate4x4. that means ppl know we have info that they need, and they know where to find it. i plan to make that pdf page better also...a simpler folder style page to help make it easier to find what you need.

participation is very important! it is what drives us to want to put on/host events. many things go into planning events.i have basically given up on our meet and great. it seemed to be more important how many vendor items were giving away versus actually meeting ppl and bringing broncos...which is not why i started this. this happens to be our 10 year!!! a very exciting year for me -at least.

im whiling to help pay for upgrades, but we need your thoughts. and if your serious about the site and the club...become a supporter, post up your ideas, become involved with voting, it only takes a second to respond to someones question, photo,problem, or introduction.


with that said...give us your thoughts. thank you,Charles McCutcheon

[Crawdad]

Here are a few of my thoughts, may or may not be good. There are a few Car Shows around the state that maybe we could get more involved with. There is a Ford Show at Fuddruckers in Columbia. I've heard it's all cars but maybe get a few broncos involved will expose the site a lil better. I know a majority of the rigs on here are rock-crawling beasts but you do present a brand that needs to expand. A CB Show and Shine at a Ford car show in the Carolinas imo is a good thought.

Now the one err body will beat me up on. I look at this like the big bad SEC. And the SEC in this state belongs to the Jeeps. There are a lot of those guys who don't have rigs just yet but they ride with guys that do. Maybe CB can join some of these Jeep events and start recruiting some of these guys who can't afford a $30k plus $10k in crawling upgrades. I'd be embarrassed if a $10k bronco out pulled, out crawled and out horse powered a beefed-up Heybo or Saltlife or Yeti "sponsored" heep. The Jeep guys usually put on a 4x4 car show in Irmo once a year. The CB brand needs to be there.

I look forward to your destructive comments! You asked and I spoke (or wrote)!

[blazinchuck]

thanks for some input matt, not really looking to see where we can go(event wise), but rather see what it takes to bring the people back here. from what ive seen in the past...if the forum dies, the club is not far behind. something i dont want to see. i would just like to see a more active forum. please keep the ideas coming...

[Bronco Biff]

Not wanting to make excuses, but like as with the rest of ya life gets pretty busy for me. Don't take it too personal!! I frequent 3 or 4 bronco sites. I have seen the activity on all of the sites peak and fall with the peaks usually coming in the winter when everyone is hemmed up inside and drops in the summer when the daylight and outdoor activity are greater. Participation in events has been steadily dropping for all. It peaked pretty good during the 40th anniversary year. Next year should see an increase in the interest for the Broncos 50th.
Ride the wave!!

As far as the CB M&Gs, the ones I attended at Carpenter's seemed to draw the most because all of the Bronco's do not get wheeled, there was another attraction. Adding a Uwharrie run added greatly to the attraction for me and the ones we regularly wheel with. Adding to that I felt heading to Murphy and Tellico this year was very successful and WELL attended. Hellova long ride for me for a short period of time, but worth IMO.

[Broncitis]

Murphy was a first for me and I really enjoyed it, Even my break downs were not to big a problem and I met some nice people. I live out in the boon docks and see another Bronco maybe once a year.I had never seen more than 3 in one place before Durham-Tellico. Its been so dang hot this summer that I have almost stopped working on my Lovely Rust Bucket so I have not had much to post. I do check in daily a time or 2 to see if anyone else has posted. As far as meet and greets Spring flings, Day Rides, or the Novrun I am all for getting together any time it is possible.

[chuzie]

I think he was implying that our group is very "rock centric" and somewhat limits us to a smaller base of participants. If we look at expanding our focus beyond the rocks to other types of events with other groups that support additional interests, we could potentially draw more site participation. His suggestion certainly holds merit, but I think our core issue may be elsewhere.

This subject has been at the forefront of my concerns for a few years now and I doubt many are going to like what I have to say, but I feel it my concern must be voiced for the sake of the club.

This site has seen many ups and downs over the years and the current lull is, without a doubt, the worst we have experienced. I agree with you Chuck; if something does not change, the site will die and, subsequently, the club.

What has changed to cause a drop in participation? I feel we have always been focused on trail rides and rock crawling. Even at the pinnacle of the CB4x4 existence, I cannot recall when we were involved in show-type events. Sure, there has always been a minority of participants who are building Broncos for other purposes and many have found groups elsewhere so as to receive the type of tailored experience that suits their individual tastes.

Personally, I find myself frequently going directly to Classic for technical issues for two reasons. First, I receive a significantly faster response from a larger number of people. Second, I feel there are a lot more folks on Classic that are able to help solve my issues. That is not to say, of the few folks who participate on this forum, CB4x4 members are not knowledgeable and competent. On the contrary, I feel we are some of the most knowledgeable and experienced Bronco lovers in the country. I am merely looking for immediate solutions that I do not typically obtain here. For a long time, I posted in both forums. Once it became clear I could find effective and efficient solutions elsewhere, I ceased to post my technical issues on CB4x4.com. Am I guilty of being part of the problem? Absolutely!

This site sees a significant increase in participation twice a year; centered on the spring and fall events. Outside the two weeks before and after those events, this site almost non-participatory with the exception of the occasional input to the “What have you wrenched” thread and a few lingering build threads.


Chuck, you and I have the highest post counts of anyone on this site, but how many of those posts have you and I generated over the past two years? As leaders in this organization, how can we ask others to participate when we are not doing so ourselves? The days of our major builds are since gone and we have little to post on a regular basis to help keep the ball rolling. When members see this, I can only assume they too begin to slack on participation as well. I am not trying to say we are necessarily poor leaders, in fact, I think we do one hell of a job managing events and I thank you for all your time and effort to do so.

Frankly, I do not see a way for this site to recover and gain more participation. All things, including forums, have a life span. I think CB4x4.com is well past its life expectancy and we are struggling with the decision to keep it on life support or follow through with the DNR and pull the plug.

Let’s talk hypothetically for a moment. What if we pull the plug on the site? How can we do that and still maintain the integrity of the group (club)? My suggestion is to find a way to integrate into Classic with Jon’s help. Hear me out before anyone fires the first shot and tells me to go F my couch.

Do we all agree that our events are always an amazingly fun time and we have one of the best groups of people who mesh extremely well? I know I do. This group does trail events and, occasionally, local meetings. Why can’t we do all of our correspondence and coordination through Classic? They have the infrastructure and the exposure our club needs to continue to maintain the integrity of the group well into the future. Further, I know we can rope in new recruits from the Classic ranks if we can get more club participation on that site.

I see some major issues by making such a bold move and would like to provide solutions instead of just stating the problems. First, how can we, as a group, continue to differentiate CB4x4 business from the sea of threads on Classic? I can imagine if one of us posts on Classic, there will be a high probability none of us (CB4x4) folks will see it unless we are combing through the plethora of threads on a daily basis. This is a huge problem, as I think what makes us unique is the local aspect of our group. We have the incredible resource of folks who all live close to one another and can help if needed; especially with swapping parts or helping turn a wrench. How can we integrate into Classic and still keep our members’ posts visible? I wonder if there is a vB function that can allow us to track one another and receive notification whenever we post? Alternatively, I wonder if Jon would be interested in creating a sub-forum for CB4x4, as well as other small groups, that may be experiencing the same issue. This could be like a miniature CB4x4.com subset in Classic.
Think about it for a moment. No more site issues. No more running off to another site for answers and contributing to a lack of participation here. We will all still be on the same site but will significantly increase our exposure as a club as well as have a much larger pool of resources from which to pull. I can think of nothing we, as a club, cannot do on Classic that we currently do on CB4x4.com.

The second major issue that concerns me is what to do with the site. We have years of valuable information, posts, technical documents and treasured pictures on CB4x4.com. I strongly feel CB4x4.com should remain up and running in an archival capacity for reference well into the future. The contents of this site are much too valuable and we have ALL worked too hard to contribute only to see it disappear at the click of a mouse button. Like Chuck said, items on our site are linked in numerous places throughout the internet and to destroy them would be a huge loss that will have an effect well beyond our club. Further, I am sure we can find a way to upload our build threads to Classic for easy reference and exposure. If not, it is simple to link back to CB4x4.com while posting on Classic.

In closing, please let me be absolutely clear on my position. I am passionate about Carolina Broncos and our members. I want this club to continue to exist well into the future. I am not willing to allow this club to die at the hands of a failing website. If that means trimming the fat and changing how we operate from a communication standpoint with regard to our online presence, so be it. No, I am not over the moon about my suggestion, but I see no other tangible options.

What say you?

[wepuckett]

I agree on a few points first being there isn't a ton of traffic here and there is a lot more traffic on Classic. Second that the people we had at Telico plus or minus a few is pretty much our active body for the sight.
So with that being said I think that there are 2 realizations that come to mind we either have to become a subset of a larger group on Classic and negotiate a sub forum with Jon or we have to find a way to add members.

I know the idea of more events has been shot down, but unless you have a better idea of how to get new members it needs to be revisited. I will shoot down that you will probably not get that most of the people with accounts will come back and be full time members on the site, some will but most have moved on for one life choice or another.
Can we grow the site or do we want to try to regrow it that is more the question. I agree we don't want to kill the club or the site as there are lots of data that is very valuable on the site.
Who knows maybe we can have both a sub Forum on Classic and CB4x4, it might be the best way to grow the site and not have the headaches of a website. Maybe Jon can consider a regional groups sub forum so all the local groups around the country could be linked on Classic or have thier own section there, kinda like Pirate has.

As for of more meetting or groups Chuzie said it best the biggest amount of traffic happens the 2 to 3 weeks before and after an event. Now I know we can't have events all year long but if more events bring more members maybe those members will bring more builds and more activity.
It comes down to adding more members to keep the group alive and how you do that is the big question? Maybe we need to start a thread totally and wholey for the ideas to be spitballed out there of how to add more members. I love Chuzie's idea of a sub Forum on Classic and have always wondered why we didn't have something like that, as there are people on there that are in our area that just don't come over to CB4x4 for whatever reason. But at the same time I am not opposed to having our own site.
My biggest ? in all of this is would Jon even entertain a sub forum for other groups on Classic? Do we want to go that route?
If not are we willing to do what we need to with more gatherings and recruitment drives to pull in new people to keep the site and the club alive?

[chuzie]

William, I wouldn't go so far as to say the idea of more events was necessarily "shot down." The suggestion has come up on more than one occasion and, in our experience, the cost/benefit ratio does not weigh in our favor. Let me try to explain why.

Generating an event is a time consuming venture on many levels and, if labeled as a CB4x4 event, must represent our brand in a positive manner. This means the event must be successful in participation as well as quality. If CB4x4 hosts an event and has a poor turnout, folks may likely opt out of future events. The same goes to the quality of the event (location and event type). If we are fortunate to have a large turnout and an event, for lack of a better term, sucks, CB4x4 is now potentially labeled with a negative stigma. Recovering from a single negative event is an uphill struggle at best.

Another reason we have opted out of hosting more events is related to a fiscal aspect. With the exception of those who may be fortunate enough to live very close to where an event may be held, many of us struggle with the the significant financial obligations involved in participating in any event with respect to travel, potential preparation, and lodging costs. For example, a single NovRun for the Charleston crowd can cost in excess of $400 excluding any form of preparation. I don’t know about most folks, but that is a significant venture in my eyes. Even a single day “out and back” to a car show or a trail can cost $250 or more!

So we, club leadership, have weighed these issues and come to the decision to concentrate our efforts on two major events each year. This will, in theory, ensure we have high participation at a location(s) that offer an excellent experience and provide the quality that will keeps folks coming back for years to come while also mitigating the extreme financial burden that would likely hinder the majority of the crowd.

I think Bart and Nick have done an amazing job stepping up and taking the lead of the URE workdays. At least once a quarter, those guys are out there working hard to keep those trails open and I see no reason why that cannot have higher participation considering the density of CB4x4 members that reside within a reasonable distance. Sure, it’s not an all out CB4x4 major event, but an event nonetheless.

Though I live in Tampa, FL, I am well versed in the logistical challenges the NC and SC folks face and none of my analysis involves the additional issues I face personally.

[nhopman]

For me personally I'm not big on posting period, so don't take my lack of posts as a reflection on this site or any others, I'm just not that vocal on the boards. I don't think that this is the only board that has slowed over the past few years. I can remember a time when if you didn't check classic for a half a day you would have a full page of topics to look at, now it takes a full day or more to fill a page, to me that says they have probably half of the posts they had a couple of years ago, of course, I don't have any hard facts to back this up, this is just my general observations. The other thing I notice about Classic vs. this forum is the lack of the "total post whore" type responses. Classic is riddled with them and although you do get more answers faster there you also get more garbage in the posts to weed through. As far as getting more people to post, I don't know the answer maybe just be satisfied that the people that do post are answering the questions, or posting up progress without filling the forum with a lot of "me too" or "X2" type posts.

I really don't know what the costs or the time involved into running this forum, or if it would help to scale it back a bit to reduce the cost/time that it takes to keep it running. I still think the forum offers a lot to users even though they are not posting.

We contacted Jon a few years ago about setting up a sub forum for MEB and as I recall, he did not want to do that, but may be more open to the idea now.

There are several clubs that have moved their groups to the NC4X4 forum, so that may be an option to look into if you do decide you want to move the forum to another site and Classic isn't an option.

As far as events, it is probably good to keep them to one or two. As Chuzie mentioned, there is actually quite a bit of work involved in putting on an event. I think the fact that this is a "fourm" based group rather than a "local club" is why it is so difficult to get together on a more regular basis. It's not like the bulk of the membership is centrally located to a big city or area, we are fairly spread out so having a couple good events is better than more half-assed events.

Nick

[Bronco Biff]

First let me say, Chuzie go f your couch!!:thefinger: Two other current limiting factors are the general mood of the country along with the economy and geographical limits of "Carolina". Note some of the main participating Carolinians are right outside of Carolina. Classic has a world wide following so is gathers much more participation. I really don't see anything wrong with that. CB gives me more of a "homie/family" feeling. I grew up bouncing back and forth over the NC/VA slong with Fla, SC & GA. Nothing wrong with a little site hopping. I hit up CB4x4 most....you want to see a greater swing in use, check out "fourdoorBroncos" although much more specialized it has dwindled to not much in use, which I also hit up. We have a local group up here with the Tidewater Broncos that some folks are trying to prod back to a regular heart beat but it is also sluggish. A couple of the guys are trying to fuse it in tight with MEB which we have participated closely with since the groups inception as with a couple of you.....more of just a geographical thing. Tidewater has seen some good participation from Northern NC to Northern Virginia, Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania.

So I guess my desire or though is to keep grinding it out and see where it goes, I kinda like the more specialized or localized group. If the main focus is just numbers for sponsorship, sobeit, if it's the cost of operating will a rent raise cover it? I really don't mind the $10, is more needed?