hi all,

 

After the recent visitation from Nico, and then the follow ups from other previous old time members, i thought it relevant to share some history.

 

Nico originally setup a forum hosted on Bravenet, where the UK Z community got started. There was no 300zx.co.uk at that time, it was just a bravenet URL.

Myself and many of the longer standing members 'met' through this forum, thanks to Nico.

 

However, that hosted forum was very flaky and kept breaking down, due to the hardware being a shared/hosted service, nothing dedicated.

 

Subsequently, after a particularly long period of broken forum, i purchased the 300zx.co.uk domain (as well as twinturbo.co.uk and z32.co.uk), purchased new hardware and setup and installed a dedicated server and forum software, then Nico and I jointly adminned the 'new' community of 300zx.co.uk which ran mostly fault free for quite a while.

 

When the community grew too large for the hardware, we started a 'contribution' fund to help pay to upgrade the hardware as necessary.

 

This went on for a period of years, until Nico took a back seat (or fell out of the car altogether.;)).

I then carried on with the site as sole admin and moderator for quite a while, until some time later i had to sell my car for family reasons (5 into 2+2 don't go!)

 

At that time i pulled the most regular and long standing members that were available into a face to face meeting (with help from TopLess), and the 'committee' was born.

This discussion culminated in a bona fide club being created to fund itself and keep the community alive, regardless of who came and went from the committee.

 

For this to happen, and for the bank to recognise us legally, the club needed an AUP and constitution, which we have. This was all necessary to ensure that no single person was responsible for the tax liability of subscription income. The AUP and constitution do need tweaking from time to time to meet ever changing requirements.

 

Over the years, some of the comittee have remained, and some have changed, and the same with the moderators group.

 

During the whole time, i have regularly visited the site, posting in the committee forum, attending some of the committee meetings/calls and providing input to the club whenever i could.

 

However, i have not posted so regularly in the general forums, because my commitment level was not high enough at the time. This is changing...

 

The whole community has gone through some bad times, with trouble makers, off shoots, libel threats, but that is more than made up for with the great community spirit, the people, and the massive dedication of some that help to organise and run everything.

 

There are always glitches, and problems with handover of roles, but the whole committee and moderation team all provide input to the forum from their free time, for NOTHING.

 

NOONE takes any income from the site or your subscriptions, including me.

 

EVERY bit of the subscription and trader money goes towards the club.

 

Server and hosting, bandwidth, liability insurances, events, food, equipment hire, welcome packs, shop items.

 

So, although the forum was started by Nico (1-2 years?) then maintained and developed further by me (2-3 years), the longest part of the 300zx.co.uk community history has been under the guidance of the committee (10 years!).

 

I believe the community would have died long ago, and be a smattering of little forums here and there, if it had not been for that initial kick off into a bona fide entity.

 

So in my opionion the community that you all love is all thanks to everyone, with contributions along the way from MANY significant others.

 

If anyone has a problem with me having an honorary membership, then let me know and i will GLADLY subscribe. Especially now that i am picking up my involvement.

If the honorary membership is fine, and if people feel that Nico, being the originator, warrants honorary membership, then we will sort that out.

 

But there are a few others that should be eligible for this based on their commitment to the community. AndyP, MAC 1, Kim, and many others have put years of service, blood, sweat and tears into making this place run well for no reward, other than keeping this place alive.

 

If we want to recognise the notable people of the forum in this way, then it can be discussed and we define some criteria to make it acceptable to all.

 

But let us NOT start fighting over who did what and when, because the success of anything relies on commitment, and everyone has that potential.

 

Regards,

Craig

I don't do this "job" for rewards, the reward is making sure good information gets across that helps someone get there beloved back on the road. the reward is making new friends and enjoying a shared interest together.

 

Personally i really don't give too hoots where my membership cash goes. it could go into the pockets of those who run the place for all i care. £15 a year is pittance. even though I'm currently jobless.

 

When i first joined the site, i didnt join and pay to wonder where my cash was going, or what it was being spent on. and no offence, but £15 isn't exactly "hard earned" unless your cleaning bathrooms with a tooth brush for 15p a day.

 

JAE is awesome, i agree more shows or events, but then what happens when we rinse the pot and the servers go down hard. not a good out come to say the least.

 

I Gave my £20 sub, and will continue to pay my £15 a year membership fee. i don't want anything back in return, and i really don't care as long as i can enjoy the banter, meet some good people and have a good laugh.

 

What is the big fuss about how much the club has anyway?

 

Though i suppose this post will be looked at in a slightly different way as I'm a moderator. well to set the record straight. id even say the same thing if i was just a normal subscribed member, ive meet some awesome people on this site, and for that its worth my £15 a year.

 

I don't stop buying a news paper, just because the company has XXX amounts of £'s

What have i missed here?

 

as of five mins ago mate, its all in the past lol

Say you've been around and subbed since the beginning, that will have cost you about 150quid. Or the price of one rear tyre.

It's not a big deal whatever is in the club account. This thread is about the origins of the site, and thanks for the insight.

All those that help/assist with making this site what it currently is deserve a pat on the back and a cheeky half. If their recompense totals free subs then thats a small token in my opinion.

Enjoy the site for what it is. Choose to subscribe or don't.

 

It's only £15. And if you're worried about that then sell your Zed. You CAN'T afford it.

 

 

 

Daffy.

Edited March 9, 201114 yr by Daffy
around around !!