Would you be adverse to having ads on Toyspeed?

[GTTpower]

Id support paying an annual membership, would be good to see TS get MSNZ affiliated, get taken a little more seriously in terms of other car clubs etc...

[TRD Man]

I'm a little surprised to read that the mods are propping this up out of their own pocket.
I always thought that the sponsors/preferred suppliers contributions would have at least covered those.
Or are they not making any?

[Mr Revhead]

the other issue when you start getting into income and finances is that tax laws etc.
after consulting an accountant we shut that pandoras box before it go too carried away

How is income from ads different from income from users??

it's not. both = trouble.

Sponsors usually contribute to events such as Mega Meet

[TRD Man]

Usually?

Perhaps it might be more beneficial to have a more formal arrangement with sponsors and use their contributions to cover the housekeeping before splashing out on the frilly bits that really ought be 'user pays'.

Just a suggestion.

[Mr Revhead]

why do ppl want a forum update?
I'm quite happy with this as it is, infact a lot of otehr forums with newer systems annoy the %^#$ out of me. personally I would prefer it stays as is (the forum)

Thats me speaking as me, not a mod too btw

[Bling]

Usually?

Perhaps it might be more beneficial to have a more formal arrangement with sponsors and use their contributions to cover the housekeeping before splashing out on the frilly bits that really ought be 'user pays'.

Just a suggestion.

There are arrangements in place with Toyspeeds sponsors, so no problems there. Not sure what you mean by "splashing out on frilly bits" though.

[cogent]

If you enable the ads, and everyone uses adblock, then no revenue is generated from the ads.

I paid a $10 subscription to somethingawfuls forums 4 years ago, and its been well worth it. Keeps the retards out, and makes people think before saying stupid stuff.

id pay a one-off $10 for toyspeed.

[GTTpower]

Club-K charges a one off $10 for 'platinum membership' and that seems to work out fine.
Its not that we don't like the existing format, believe me it works . But it would be good if the club were to progress towards something more..tangible. Just a suggestion anyways

[BlakJak]

I for one was suprised to see this thread pop up, I don't think Adamal has the full picture...

- Zylex has kindly hosted TS since it migrated from the EZ-Boards and has done on the whole, a damn find job with precious little otherwise to show for it.
- He doesn't actually mandate that we advertise him, or anyone else. That situation is likely to change at some stage, but indications are that it'd be hellishly low profile in the grand scheme of things, and would be more than fair given the support we've had from him over the years.

- The Mod Squad variously contribute to Toyspeed in the form of time, and money. The money involved is usually on the low side - domain registrations at $40/year, that kind of thing. The very small amounts of residual funds from Track Days, Megameets and banner purchases provide for the majority of these other costs, plus or minus a few dollars. The Mods make a loss, but it's not large on the whole.

- Any solution which requires charging for membership also requires TS to incorporate - become a fully incorporated society - and the requirements for this are pretty strict. The problem with 'virtual' groups like ours is that it's quite hard to actually be formal about it and stay within the rules of association. I'm involved with at least one association who're far more organised than TS and still struggle.

- Given the above and the 'free and friendly' nature of TS participation i'm disinclined to see a 'paid for' membership level. I'd also not like to see advertising used to pay for our services either.

- I don't disagree that it's time for an update to our website and forum (even just 'for a change') and i've been negotiating with Zylex on the subject. I forsee an upgrade to the latest phpBB for starters. A CMS driven website isn't a foreign concept either...


So with all that in mind... I have a more important question to ask:

What do people want out of Toyspeed?

It's true that many of the dedicated old-school have moved away - life changes after all! I know in some parts of the country TS is all-but dead.... so what do you want out of it? What can YOU do to breathe life into the organisation?

Will be following this discussion with interest.

Cheers
BJ.

[sergei]

make a wiki instead of FAQ.
This way instead of "USE SEARCH FUNCTION, NOOB" will be "LOOK IN THE WIKI, NOOB".

Although I spend a lot of time in off topic section moaning and winging, the aim of toyspeed should be more technical, making enthusiasts life easier, current FAQ section is piss poor honestly, it does not reflect on the knowledge of whole toyspeed.
It will be cool to move various answers to wiki in form of "how-to", a lot of people ask how to insert "fix/remove/modify" something.
questions like "what are the torque settings for 20v cam caps", or even "what oil to use" are constantly coming up.

[BlakJak]

Sergei: Wiki has merit, though there's constant maintenance overhead in preventing vandalism, etc etc.

Re the FAQ: If you want more material to appear in there, write some!! If you see repeat questions popping up, write a nice article and post it - we'll make sure it lands in the FAQ.

The FAQ section was a spinoff from the tech questions forum (which is an excellent benefit to TS) but the only stuff that should go in there, is well formatted, verified-accurate stuff. 'conversation threads' don't tend to fit in well.

More than happy to see more FAQ stuff come available. It needs people to write them!

[Mr Revhead]

yeah definitly, I have spent a lot of time putting things in there and attempting to edit it as needed.

previosuly the suggestion was made for how-to articles, and the ppl said yes we will write them... I think 2 actually did

[Paulio]

What do people want out of Toyspeed?

What can YOU do to breathe life into the organisation?

How I feel is that the management presence has dwindled away and there isnt really anyone looking after it; let along making our presense known in the country, a few stickers on cars is as far as it looks.
For example, Toyspeed MM09 isnt even happening this year. That says a lot.

From my point of view, there needs to be more management in place, even representatives in each areas who promote toyspeed and make the presence known, recruiting etc in the real world - A big plus and its not that hard.

As sergie is saying. There are possibly a lot of things that could be improved for users. You cant rely on the users to improve the forums - adding FAQ articles etc. It wont happen that way.

[sergei]

The problem with Toyspeed stickers is that some $&#$% will be doing burnouts on Queen St with that sticker, and we all be labeled as $&#$%.
Make stickers a lot more expensive to filter out idiots.
I certainly don't want to be part of organisation that has an image of Chosen Few for example.
Also consider banning person if that person is witnessed doing stupid shit with Toyspeed logo.

[Mr Revhead]

From my point of view, there needs to be more management in place, even representatives in each areas who promote toyspeed and make the presence known, recruiting etc in the real world - A big plus and its not that hard.

ah, the chicken or the egg.....


toyspeed has been moving towards more of a forum based thing only for some time
because local members stop being active.
they can't be bothered turning upto anything thats organised, so ppl stop organising things.
anyone can organise something for toyspeed..... if you want a get together, do it.
ppl are always vocal about wanting to do more, to this, do that but when it comes to crunch time..... no one shows.
if things you want are not being offered, do something about it

doing something about does not include having an e-whinge

[sergei]

Hey! I love e-whinges - free audience and all

Back on topic,
By stupid shit I mean:
Taking part in illegal drag racing
Unauthorised burnouts in public places
Criminal activities

[Paulio]

Im happy to do something about it - using the toyspeed brand on it is the problem. People obviously have different views of toyspeed, perhaps the target audience needs to be clearly stated so there arent apposing directions and images.

[Mr Revhead]

what do you think the target audience is?

[BlakJak]

The problem with Toyspeed stickers is that some $&#$% will be doing burnouts on Queen St with that sticker, and we all be labeled as $&#$%.
Make stickers a lot more expensive to filter out idiots.
I certainly don't want to be part of organisation that has an image of Chosen Few for example.
Also consider banning person if that person is witnessed doing stupid sh*t with Toyspeed logo.

for the record we already take this approach... The stuff on the website around the disclaimer and acceptable use makes it pretty clear that we don't want that sort of idiot associated with TS. The issue of 'image' has always been considered with regard to TS branding and logos, etc, because we're not a 'boy racer outfit' as I view it.

If you see such stupidity from a person wearing the TS logo, let the Mod Squad know...

[sergei]

I would like for Toyspeed to be a not typical boyracer outfit as well.
But honestly there are "boyracers" here that do all that stupid shit that is associated with "boyracers" (and I mean not lowered cars, neons and bodykits, I mean illegal racing and other stupid shit like that).
I also think Toyspeed is too diverse to have a specific image, there bogans, hillibillies, boyracers, old schoolers, bosuzokans and other stereotypes.