First of all, I want to thank everyone here. Each of you make these forums a great place to be. The knowledge and wit contained in this conglomerate are the essence of what makes being an SVXer great.
Now, to the business at hand. Since March 15, 2001 (our grand opening date), the Network Forums have grown beyond our wildest imaginings. Many of us spend way too much time here,
and have become addicted to its ebbs and flows of personalities and information. It has become so popular that it has become necessary to begin to upgrade the components that allow us to
continue its operation.
A brief bit of history: Many of us, on the Yahoo board, had begun to grow tired of the “Message 40" bug that often plagued that vehicle. On January 26, 2001, “Thumper” (Gavin Haslett) posted
this message:
http://www.subaru-svx.net/archive/ar...?message=48445
This message spurred some serious debate as to how we might free ourselves from Yahoo and create our own space. A space created by SVXers, owned by SVXers for the sole purpose of
helping SVXers. Finally, on February 4th, Chris Townsend (Known as “Chris” here and as “Vidar” at the time of the post on Yahoo) made this offer:
http://www.subaru-svx.net/archive/ar...?message=49389
This message prompted some of us to divvy up the monies for software that we are currently using. After some tweaks, trials and input, “The Network” was born and a “Grand Opening” was
planned for March 15, 2001. After much promotion to the other SVX “clubs” as a “New and Unified Clubhouse” the grand opening went off. It was a great moment for those of us who believed in the “By SVXers for SVXers” precept. Unfortunately, the ultimate goal of unity was not realized, as many thought “The Network” was much too complicated for their tastes. This was disappointing to me, personally, but, we decided to continue and pour ourselves, our resources and out time into this site.
One person, however, has borne the brunt of making these forums possible. Though some of us have contributed funds, some equipment, some, simply moral support, Chris Townsend has spent dollar after dollar, hour after countless hour, to make sure we have this fabulous “Clubhouse” to come to and chat, exchange information, cry on shoulders, gripe about the weather . . . etc. He has gone above and beyond, since, most of this expense has come to him during a time of unemployment. He has spent monies that could’ve better been spent on unnecessary items like food, shelter, gasoline, car payments . . . well, you know . . . and has not uttered a complaint. He has occasionally, in the background, asked for “a little help” when equipment would die, or things got a little tight, but, again, never a complaint. He has also assembled a crack team of network
specialists who have been working behind the scenes, expecting no recognition and putting in time out of the goodness of their hearts, to keep the Network Forums going. I cannot, you cannot, we cannot begin to repay the time, monies and diligence that have been rendered in providing these services. There are not enough “thank you’s” to suffice.
Now, as many of you know, a few months ago, we formed the “official” SVX World Network. The SVX World Network is basically a “Car Club” dedicated to the SVX. It may be confusing,
but the SVX World Network is a separate entity from “The World Network” forums. This was done for the purposes of Legality. Even so, one of the SVX World Network’s prime directives, is
to solicit and deliver funding to be able to remove the financial monkey from Chris Townsend’s back, and continue to provide this service for free, and to avoid EVER having to inundate you
with pop-up ads and the aggravations inherent with a large dot-com entity like Yahoo.
Here are some facts: Membership to the Network Forums have more than quadrupled since our grand opening. Bandwidth use has gone through the roof and our server is almost at capacity. In order to maintain our current level of activity and plan for future growth, we must upgrade our equipment. To remain at the current level of activity, without an upgrade, it may become
necessary to cut off future memberships. This is NOT what we want to happen. We want to continue to grow and multiply and be able to continue to offer this unique and exclusive
SVXsperience.
It is, for this reason, that you’ve begun to see “subtle” solicitations from the SVX World Network. Granted, once we are up and running, membership dues will sustain the Network
Forums, but, we are in need of immediate funding in order to purchase the equipment we need to guarantee our ability to continue, so, here’s the pitch:
Has the forums helped you at all? Has it saved you money? Did you save money on a Power Steering pump because someone on the Network Forums told you about the “O-ring Fix?” Did
you save the cost of a stereo install because someone pointed you to a “how to” regarding stereo installation. Did you save money on a brake job, a spark plug change . . . etc, because someone pointed to a “how to” or, took time to post a how to for you?
Have you made money from the network? Have you sold your car, your parts, your merchandise here, and made money? Likewise, have you found a part, a car, or merchandise here that
saved you money. Especially commercial entities? Unlike many forums, we have not put restrictions on retail vendors, and hope, not to. But, we’d like your help to sustain the Network
Forums.
So, if you’ve made money, if you’ve saved money, if you just like it here and want to be able to keep the Network Forums afloat, I’d like to urge you to contribute to the start up funds of the
SVX World Network.
Obviously, I’m not speaking to those who’ve already contributed. Thus far, we’ve had over a thousand dollars in contributions. These funds have gone toward paying for bandwidth as well as
sitting in reserve for legal fees when it comes time to file official documents for the formation of the “Official” SVX World Network, as well as start up costs for membership premiums, a future
newsletter, etc. We are most grateful for those contributions, but, we’re going to need a bit more in order to stabilize the future of the Network Forums.
We are in the process of purchasing a new server and extra hard drives, to the tune of around 1,500.00. Those of you who know what bandwidth costs, well, we have to pay for that also.
Chris is still willing to donate his services along with a Raid array to keep the Network Forums going. His “backroom” team is also donating their time. I believe you’ll agree, that, if we split
the costs among the members that are benefitting from this site, a small donation from each individual will more than accommodate our needs.
So, in lieu of “begging you for money,” I’ll post this once and only once, and appeal to your sense of value. If you have found value, any value at all, in the SVX World Network forums, please
send a donation, large or small, via one of the vehicles below:
Our Paypal Address is:
edit: please see
http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=55 for more details
If you don’t have a Paypal Account, sign up here:
http://www.paypal.com
Donations, of course, are not tax deductible. These donations will also be over and above any dues, once the structure of the “Official SVX World Network” is finally set in place, but, the
amount of your donation will certainly be taken into consideration when it comes time to solicit “real” dues for “club” membership.
Again, thank you all for making this site a great place to be. And, thank you in advance for your donations as expressions of support for the fact that the owners, founders and sustainers of “The Network Forums” are doing something valuable for the SVX community.
Sincerely
Randy Johnson
President
SVX World Network
PS: If some of us would simply donate a percentage of the money we'd saved from tips offered on this network, we'd be able to sustain it for some time. Please seriously consider.