is it that "time"?

[blazinchuck]

i keep coming back to look at the site and see the usual 3 threads still hanging on. i keep getting text about how ****ty the site has become. i also keep hearing about the facebook and how its killing the site. im an admin, chuzie is an admin and a few others are moderators. however it always seems to fall to me when the site is down-its all my fault. i do not understand...we always have over 700 members(even back when i "pruned" the site) but barely 10% will actually come back once registered, and about 50% of those will actually post atleast once.:banghead: usually in a case like this, when i really need feed back, i will send out a mass email asking for some input. not the case this time...i wont be doing that. i guess the time has come, do we need the site, do we need the club, and do we need facebook??

my stupid little dream from the beginning was to at least make it ten years as a club. for me, thats says a lot-1)the club was tight,2) it was strong,
3)was well organized-however, that doesnt exactly describe us on any level.

i havent been on the site much if any myself. i have been busy on the weekends building broncos and other stuff. i have been posting on the facebook page for cb4x4 and mccutcheon customs, simply because its so stupid easy. so am i to blame?? sure, but im not the only one. i wish i knew what it took to bring people to the site. every week i have to approve multiple people's request to join the forum- and yet they never come back. i know for myself, anytime i have to join a site just to see the pics, i get aggravated. if in the past when i register with a site and i have to wait to get "approved"...i get aggravated! at this point, i dont have many options...all thanks to the daily spamming m'fers!!

everyone wanted a new logo...so we did one, which is probably the third one over the last ten years...which i thought represented us very well.

while we were at Tenn, i saw a huge group of NC and GA broncos...many of the same ppl we used to see at the Carpenters meet and greet. and yes, t,most of them asked when are we going to do this again. of coarse, no one gave two sh*ts about when we merged the meet with the opening day of URE. all they cared about was having an event that offered some of the best raffle items, especially for an event of that size-usually averaged about 40 broncos. which in the end left a bad taste in my mouth! i and others would make all the calls to secure items from vendors, but at the event-all anyone would ask...when is the raffle, when is the raffle, and when is the raffle!!! no one ever "thanked" us for putting on the event, and every time we have an event and post up here and Classic, we get zero love on the classic site. hell, i always posted every event on the BroncoII site, the Fullsizebronco site and classic, even the ecbr and a few other bronco forums, that may or may not be still around!

as for the novrun...we all sat in the back of the field at tenn(because that is where the CB4x4 crews were hanging out!-all ten of us) and we decided on the last day when in nov we were gonna have the novrun. if i recall...the Novrun@URE is named such because its in November and held at Uwharrie! that being said...im pretty sure in the last ten years, its always been within the first two weeks!

im asking you now, if you have some idea of a way to generate traffic--POST UP! if you have an idea to better the site--POST UP!if you dont like something on the site--POST UP!! if you dont like the NOVRUN@URE--POST UP!!!

[broncosbybart]

I would like to see us still do events, as we have done in the past. I like this website but it has really suffered lately.

Felt the need to become a Facebook stalker to keep up with stuff but I really hate that site and how they throttle info/posts.

I will carry on with sponsoring Dutch John and I'm sure several others will too. Sorry I can't offer more input. There seems to be no more than 10 folks that do much on here- probably closer to 5. Can't say that I could see this improving. That's all I got

[nhopman]

Chuck,

You've done a great job putting this site together and keeping it going. I'm sure the time and effort has been tremendous and most of the time goes unappreciated. Unfortunately that's the nature of most everything you do and you will usually only hear complaints, I always try to tell myself that when I don't hear from any of my customers, it must be a compliment and I did it right or else they would be complaining. But if you are not "feeling" it anymore and no one else is willing/able to step up and take control from you then maybe it's time just to let it go.

I personally like the forum, it's easy for me to pop in, check for new posts, and get out without having to scroll and hunt for info. I also do read the tech articles from time to time when I have issues or looking for info. It's also easier for me to put together a day trip or share other information with the forum. But I admit other than the occasional ure trip or if I can answer a tech question, I don't post very often and I am definitely not the type to post random comments just to boost post counts.

I'm not a big fan of Facebook, but if it's easier for the majority and that's the future then so be it. I may stop in from time to time to check out the news.

As far as putting on events, I feel the only reason to do them is because it's something that YOU want to do and you would like to invite others to join you. Just for clarification, when I say YOU, I don't mean to single out Chuck, this applies to anyone that would want to either put on an event, or just wants to spend a day wheeling, etc with other Bronco peeps. As long as some still enjoy coming to URE in Nov. why not pick a date and have the event no matter how many people attend, it's fun getting together and wheeling with a group, hanging out back at camp BS'ing and generally giving Chuzie a hard time :-P. I wouldn't do them just so some can show up "if it's convenient for them" who are only interested in winning some prize that they put no effort into securing and then leave - EFF THEM. Most don't have a clue what it takes to even put together a small get together let alone deal with vendors getting prizes, and such.

As far as driving more people here, or if there is a better solution, I don't have an answer.

Nick

[broncosbybart]

Very well said Nick. I'll echo those same thoughts.

It seems like most forums are getting less traffic. Probably because there are more of them and that people don't contribute like they used to in the days of computers. I hate typing on this phone and find myself contributing less on any board as a result.

[blazinchuck]

thank you Nick, i appreciate your thoughts

[Crawdad]

I hope and pray when I get back after this deployment I'll start working on my bronco. My build has been embarrassingly slow to say the least. I've classified myself as a longtime lurker over the years. I hate chiming in my opinions when I don't have a rig partially put together myself. But one things for sure I really pay attention to yaws comments vs those on Classic Bronco. I've been to Folly Beach the last two summers and been ashamed to contact Chuck to let him know a bronco lurker is in town. The same goes for being in Charlotte. I will be heard when I get back stateside in October!

[snipes243]

First off thank you Chuck for keep up with the site. I do really enjoy my time here. Second of all no matter what happens I'm with Charles and will continue with adopting the trail at uwharrie. Cause honestly the little time we had with it we have been able to accomplish some great things there. As for Facebook vs forums it is honestly easier to communicate with Facebook that simply cause it's plugged into anything for good or bad. As for events with raffles I can honestly say I have enjoyed hangout with everybody a million times more then winning some raffles. Just some of my thoughts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chuzie]

Ok, my turn!

Just about a year ago we were having this same conversation after I raised the B.S. flag regarding the participation on this site and shared my observations and concerns. We got "everyone" involved to some degree asking for feedback on how we could make the site better and revitalize participation.

Ultimately, it was decided we were going to keep the site going as a companion to a Facebook presence which we were going to create. With a plan in hand, I set off to make magic even though it meant getting on the stupid Facebook, which is something I never do. There were 3 Facebook groups that shared the Carolina Broncos name and we wanted to be the one and only. I worked extremely hard negotiating with the owners of those groups to agree to integrate with our group. Once I had all those puzzle pieces in place, we discovered a technical issue that was redirecting folks, who were trying to get to our site from Facebook, to PORN sites! We determined the root cause was our forum had been hacked and malicious code had been injected.

I was unwilling to pull the trigger and integrate a few hundred new Carolina Broncos members if their first initial exposure to our site was going to potentially be PORN. Everything was placed on hold until the issue could be resolved. All this during the summer which, I had hoped, would leave enough time to fix the issue, integrate the new members, and make a huge public relations push for NovRun2015.

I am not going to go into details about how we needed to fix the malicious code and secure the site, but needless to say, I ran into one frustrating roadblock after another with our host and could never get the issue fixed. The only way we were going to fix the problem was to find a new host, but that was going to cost $$$. I came up with the t-shirt drive to raise $$$ for swag stock as well as to pay for a new host. The drive was successful but the host never got changed (out of my hands).

By this point I decided I had done everything in my power, on multiple levels, to resurrect this site and could no longer devote the hours, especially since I was starting a new job.

I sought candidates to take over the site, but no one was interested. Can’t say I blame them. Inheriting something like this is a huge responsibility and a lot of work.

In the end, I can walk away with my head held high knowing I did everything I could, as a volunteer, to help keep this site alive. Since I started my new job I have been guilty of not being an active participant. There is no excuse and I take responsibility for my contribution, or lack thereof in that area.

I also take full responsibility for pissing Chuckles off and causing him to create this thread. I have been on his a$$ for months about the site and the “extracurricular” activities on Facebook. Y’all know me pretty well and I am no stranger to telling it like it is even if it creates conflict. This is no different, and I will continue to voice my concerns if necessary.

What really ticked me off was I found out from Matt that folks were chatting on Facebook about NovRun16 and booking campsites, etc. and I had no idea what was going on because it was not on this site. The icing on the cake was when Nick announced he had no idea when NovRun16 was and that he had made other plans because there had been no formal announcement here on the site. Now we have members who are not on Facebook and not in the loop about major events! WTF?!?! Unacceptable!

There is too much data on this site to just shut it down. I think it should be closed to new posts and exist only as an archive which can be used for reference and linked to other sites such as Classic or Facebook.

I do not have the answer how we will keep in touch with folks beyond Facebook since we have no presence on Classic. That is something that is going to have to be worked out by this “think tank.”

My fingers hurt.

Love,
Chuzie

[broncomatt]

As Club officer I tend to wait until everyone is done. When I moved to Fl,
I told chuck the task of setting up the events was back on his plate. Which is
already full with managing the site, his own shop and work. Thankfully Chuzie stepped up and has helped
out. Plus taken over many things I used to do when I had more time and was in
NC. Over the years many clubs such as ours have come and gone. Most kept togetheer
by key members who were always present.

To keep a site alive it needs new and interesting material. I am guilty as anybody
that I check the site every day but dont always post up. I have stopped taking any side
work and sold all my other projects. Family and work obligations along with the overhaul
of my ride have kept me off our site and of FB. I welcome a chance to share
my knowledge to help with a build. Not many seem to need much help on our site.
I have had many of talks with Chuzie and Chuck about the future of our site and
our club.

There is no way FB can replace our site. The group get togethers, vendor sponsorship,
trail care and technical support are too important. The setup of our site makes
keeping this information accessible to all. We are fortunate as an organization to have the
respect of our bronco community. It would be a shame to throw it all out.
Perhaps with all the elections going on we should be holding our own? I am open to change and growth,
I just dont want to see all this work fade away.

I want to say Thank You to Chuck, for the many years he work on,funded and worked to keep
our group alive. Thanks to Mike for trying to pick up the slack for me.
I am here willing to put the time in to keep our group going.

[broncosbybart]

I would like to see the group and this site continue, too. There is too much info on here to lose. I am willing to take the reigns of the website, to update it/block spammers/etc for whatever is needed to run it. Granted, I have no idea what this all means, as I've never done it- just want to keep it alive if that is what it takes. We have a small but great group of folks here and I'd like to see it continue on.