Well, TCO is one year old and it's been interesting to say the least.
602hp kept recommending that we needed our own site. It took over a year to convince me that it was a good idea. The reason why I was reluctant to start a site was because I felt that it wouldn't attract many local car enthusiasts.....plus I really didn't have the time to maintain a site.
Why did I feel this way? Well all I had to do was read the garbage that was posted on a popular local site which had the largest amount of members. That tone was pretty much accepted around this town. Then came Minnesota Muscle, and although it was an alternative to the "other site", the owner decided to do the popular thing rather than the right thing and basically allowed his site to fold.
Many of the locals probably felt that they had gotten rid of me, 602hp and 98cobra s/c once and for all. Boy were they wrong!
To review where we've been...
The site secretly started on 12/25/08.
We had people come aboard who expressed their loyalty, then showed their true colors by stabbing us in the back (no surprise there).
A Camaro owner whined (like a little bitch) about a local controversial businessman's posts, which led me to ask the businessman to back off. As a site owner, I tried to be neutral by doing this. Afterwards, the Camaro owner ended up jumping ship and the businessman stayed aboard. I obviously sided with the wrong person there.
We had a 'Gloves Off' section where people came in and rather than debate about cars, tried to deliberately wreck our site.
Then I exposed another popular site's acceptance of unacceptable garbage similar to the same garbage posted on the biggest site. I could have sat back and said nothing, but that would have been the popular thing to do to get acceptance in the community rather than the right thing. I chose the right thing.
After this confrontation, most people who had signed up, fled TCO like a bunch of mice after the cat entered the room. They would rather be accepted by their cronies than speak out about garbage. But I guess if you AGREE with the garbage...then why speak out?
We then had a quality group of Southern Minnesota Members come aboard which added just what we needed....guys who talk about cars and car related stuff and actually race their cars.
We had a benefit at John Haley Motorsports for a member who needed our support. Although the weather sucked, I felt the event was a success. Local car enthusiasts contributed food, money and their support for our member. John Haley worked tirelessly from before noon until after midnite running the dyno. He provided his shop and his time without asking for anything in return. Of course, some from TCS only criticized our efforts. No surprise there.
Unfortunately, with sadness, we lost a good member Jason (JJRP57) who passed away. May he rest in peace.
Other boards have started in order to offer an alternative to the big sites. Time will tell if they will be successful. Our board may never match the volume of members found around town...that's obviously never been my goal. I'm a "car guy". I grew up working on them...I've made a living selling them...I've raced and continue to race them. I've fortunately had great success winning in competition, because I know what it takes to win. That's the tone of what TCO is about.
The next time you sign on to another board, you need to ask yourself if the owner of the site is a car guy. Does he even own a race car? Has he accomplished anything regarding winning in competition? Can he build an engine, install it and win with it?
I, along with 602hp know what it takes to build something from scratch and win with it. We're still working on 98 cobra s/c to show him how it's done. lol
Here's looking to a great and prosperous 2009 for TCO and those who decide to hang with us.
602hp kept recommending that we needed our own site. It took over a year to convince me that it was a good idea. The reason why I was reluctant to start a site was because I felt that it wouldn't attract many local car enthusiasts.....plus I really didn't have the time to maintain a site.
Why did I feel this way? Well all I had to do was read the garbage that was posted on a popular local site which had the largest amount of members. That tone was pretty much accepted around this town. Then came Minnesota Muscle, and although it was an alternative to the "other site", the owner decided to do the popular thing rather than the right thing and basically allowed his site to fold.
Many of the locals probably felt that they had gotten rid of me, 602hp and 98cobra s/c once and for all. Boy were they wrong!
To review where we've been...
The site secretly started on 12/25/08.
We had people come aboard who expressed their loyalty, then showed their true colors by stabbing us in the back (no surprise there).
A Camaro owner whined (like a little bitch) about a local controversial businessman's posts, which led me to ask the businessman to back off. As a site owner, I tried to be neutral by doing this. Afterwards, the Camaro owner ended up jumping ship and the businessman stayed aboard. I obviously sided with the wrong person there.
We had a 'Gloves Off' section where people came in and rather than debate about cars, tried to deliberately wreck our site.
Then I exposed another popular site's acceptance of unacceptable garbage similar to the same garbage posted on the biggest site. I could have sat back and said nothing, but that would have been the popular thing to do to get acceptance in the community rather than the right thing. I chose the right thing.
After this confrontation, most people who had signed up, fled TCO like a bunch of mice after the cat entered the room. They would rather be accepted by their cronies than speak out about garbage. But I guess if you AGREE with the garbage...then why speak out?
We then had a quality group of Southern Minnesota Members come aboard which added just what we needed....guys who talk about cars and car related stuff and actually race their cars.
We had a benefit at John Haley Motorsports for a member who needed our support. Although the weather sucked, I felt the event was a success. Local car enthusiasts contributed food, money and their support for our member. John Haley worked tirelessly from before noon until after midnite running the dyno. He provided his shop and his time without asking for anything in return. Of course, some from TCS only criticized our efforts. No surprise there.
Unfortunately, with sadness, we lost a good member Jason (JJRP57) who passed away. May he rest in peace.
Other boards have started in order to offer an alternative to the big sites. Time will tell if they will be successful. Our board may never match the volume of members found around town...that's obviously never been my goal. I'm a "car guy". I grew up working on them...I've made a living selling them...I've raced and continue to race them. I've fortunately had great success winning in competition, because I know what it takes to win. That's the tone of what TCO is about.
The next time you sign on to another board, you need to ask yourself if the owner of the site is a car guy. Does he even own a race car? Has he accomplished anything regarding winning in competition? Can he build an engine, install it and win with it?
I, along with 602hp know what it takes to build something from scratch and win with it. We're still working on 98 cobra s/c to show him how it's done. lol
Here's looking to a great and prosperous 2009 for TCO and those who decide to hang with us.
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