Is this a funeral??

[69/79Camaros]

My gosh I just checked in on this site and it's DEAD. When I got on this thing today and noticed no new posts or members I felt like I walked into a funeral. Is it still up and running??
I know I personally haven't posted in awhile but I figured by now this thing would be rolling without my useless B/S.
Come on People what are you afraid of??
Bill where are you??? Don't give up on it buddy..

Just my 2

[number1camaro]

I'm here.
Had people from out of town this last week. just didn't have time.
Where you been?

[Gary Tayman]

The T-Bird's running (for once) and whenever I'm not working on radios, I'm either sleeping or going to a car cruise. In fact I've been so busy that I haven't made it to a single daytime car show this entire season. It's 9 pm. I'm taking a break. I still have a 65 Corvette to finish tonight.

Yes, I'm busy. Yes, I'm glad. Yes, I'm tired.

[HatchbackChevelle]

I thought it time to bring this thread back from the dead. So to speak, answer me this, what’s going on nobody talking or taking the time to talk about anything! I’m trying, but I don’t know for how much longer.
JohnnyB is posting Lance’s show, people are watching, but that it. My last count of members is 120. Surly somebody has something to share besides me. I check this site daily looking for something NEW, but to no avail.
Please take just a little time to help keep thing's moving. Step up and put in your 2 cents. Lets start dialoging again.

[Gary Tayman]

I agree wholeheartedly!

I think part of the problem might be that this is one car forum among many. For example, I'm personally digned up with two Thunderbird forums, a Yahoo Groups Thunderbird list, and a Cadillac Forum. The only one that's showing any activity at all is the Yahoo Groups.

Then again, there is an Antique Radio Forum that's red hot. One can spend half a day just keeping up with the messages! Surely there are more car collectors than radio collectors, and several of the radio guys have collector cars too. Can't totally explain the difference. But whatever's on your mind, share it with us here.

[HatchbackChevelle]

Couldn’t agree more. I am sure we all belong to multiple web based hang outs. So what does this one need to do to make it the #1 hang out? Here are a couple of my thoughts. (That’s scary, me and thoughts)

1. Email notification when someone comments on one of your thread or pictures.
2. A page dedicated to new members, notifying the current ones so we all know who is coming on board and welcomes them.
3. Maybe picture galleries. Projects, events whatever.
4. And to go with #3 the ability to add up to X number of photos at a single time.

These are just a few and I’m sure not easy to do. I realize this is a FREE site that uses volunteers, to keep it going and they are doing a great job. Maybe it’s like our cars, fix one thing and something else breaks. Keep plugging along and we’ll see what happens next.
If nothing else lets talk to each other.

[Gary Tayman]

In trying to determine the difference between car forums that appear dead, and a radio forum that's so active it's hard to keep up with, maybe part of it has to do with the differences in the hobbies themselves. But then, maybe not -- I seem to find more parallels than differences. Radios can certainly bring up a lot of questions about schematics, parts, funny intermittent problems, and then we deal with refinishing cabinets, etc. But then I can't think of any modern product with more idiosynchasies, or that raises more questions, than a car! Instead of wood refinishing with toning lacquer, we use paints and lots of polish. There are certainly more people out there who fix old cars than fix old radios, so that should strike up MORE conversation.

Possibly one difference that can be notable, is the "Radio Clubhouse" section. This is an area where, on a radio forum, we can chat about anything and everything that's NOT necessarily related to radios themselves. Sometimes it still is -- for example, this is where one promotes a radio event, such as Lansing, Charlotte, Kutztown, or the humble little Radio Meet we have here in Sarasota. Conversation often moves to "Roll call", asking who's coming -- remembering that people travel from all over the region to attend. "If you're interested in picking up that Zenith Baby Strat I'll bring it in my van." But there are also conversations about the weather ("Here are some pictures of the Nashville flood", for example) or other things. I'm sure much of the same conversation could be placed right here as well; I'm just not sure if people realize it.

One thing about the clubhouse section, you post a message on a thread, you get e-mail notifications of updates, and it draws you to the forum -- where you'll read other messages in other sections. You tend to forget about it otherwise. The biggest reason I'm here now is because I got an e-mail notification that a message has been placed.

[Gary Tayman]

Here's something to ponder . . .

At the bottom of the page, I noticed this:

In total there are 3 users online :: 3 registered, 0 hidden and 0 guests (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)
Most users ever online was 36 on Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:33 pm



Okay, so what happened on the night of August 31, 2009? I think we had ourselves a virtual party!

Let's boogie!

[52buickman]

I've been bad. I used to hit this forum often and regular. But lately, too many projects and happenings at the office have kept my free computer time in check.

As far as the response from its members, this is not the only site to have issues. I am a frequent visitor to the Buick Club forum (hosted via the AACA forum - it's confusing), and as near as I can tell, roughly 6 to 10 people contribute to it on a daily or semi-daily basis. that's out of some 8,000-plus BCA members. Sure, there are lots of questions that pop up here and there, but in many cases, once those questions are answered, they fall from cyberspace until the next issue arises.

Just getting back into the cycle of things here, I like the direction the trivia link has taken - it keeps things fresh and interesting. More indirect material (what's this hood ornament from, for example) certainly can't hurt, and in the very least, those of us who partake will learn something new. And the more fresh stuff we add to the forum, the likelihood of new visitors with more input. It might take the effort of only a few, but it could pay off in the end.

Hey Bill? Any good finds pop up that you can share?

[Gary Tayman]

I've mentioned the radio forum, but here's the link:

http://antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php

Not that I'm trying to push radios in a car forum, but I'm looking at the contrasts between the two. There are certainly more people with interest in old cars than in old radios, yet this forum is very slow while the radio forum is red hot. Browse through it, see what you think, and see what items/features could be utilized here to increase traffic.