The Future of Patrol4x4.co.za? Next 10 years.

[JohnBoyZA]

Hi Guys,

I hope the Patrol4x4 family will contribute positively and in good faith as they always do to the following topic/query!

I feel I have done my share wrt promoting the Patrol brand in Africa (and elsewhere) and providing a forum for interested members to interact for almost 10 years. The foundations and structures have been in place for quite some time now, but I feel that there's so much more that can be done and I just don't have the time and feel that I am letting down the members.

So, I am asking for a person/group of forum members to take over the forum in terms of ownership, hosting, administration and management. There are senior members here that are already doing more than their fair share, whether it is promoting the brand in the press, organising and assisting with get-together's, moderating and administering the forum, providing technical support and referrals, making new members feel welcome, assisting with the IT aspects, keeping the great spirit and humour going etc. A huge thank you to you all!

So the question is, who is willing to assist? To the senior member's, I suggest you get together and take the lead. I guess the financial implications, ownership and continuity are the biggest challenges.

Dankie en Groete
John Murray

Ps. I have included a poll and hopefully you feel the same way I do.

Cost: A few have asked about the costs. Because of the traffic and storage volume I pay about R400/month and host in Germany through Hetzner (there are possibly cheaper options). The time spent of updates and maintenance will hopefully be done by members and Ian de Villiers (and Cedric) has recently been doing a sterling job on this quietly behind the scenes and I hope he continues.

[XenoBlitz]

Good morning John.

Let me first start off by saying a very special thank you. This forum has been, and still is the social, informational, educational, and business hub for Nissan Patrol South Africa, and even though it might not have been your original intention to grow this big, you and every member in this forum have gone a long way towards promoting not just the brand, but also the spirit of the Patrol.

One of the best things we have managed to achieve on this forum is to all share our passion and commitment, without ever getting too deep into politics (something that a club just cannot achieve), and my only request is that, no matter which way we end up going forward, we keep it that way. I do believe that it can only truly be achieved if the ownership remains in one or two people's hands, even though many may add or contribute to it.

Of course there are a myriad of people who would be willing to assist with this forum, both financially or otherwise and let me just be the first to put my hand up: if you need anything, just shout.

[Jules]

JohnBoy, moerse dankie vir jou initiative many moons ago, all of us has benefited from this great forum . One thing I really do not have any clue is what is the cost involved keeping such a forum going ??

Shalom

[David M]

Firstly thank you to JohnBoyZA for the most incredible forum which has none of the pitfalls often associated with other and similar forums.

Instead of ownership I think custodianship would be the better way to go and the custodians would be the current moderators of the forum at any given point in time. This ensures continuity even if there are major changes

Costs - Must admit I had never thought of this before so if you could give us an idea of what they are. I am sure that we will easily be able to cover them without having to resort to membership fees or advertising. Should we have to resort to advertising let's try and keep it Patrol related. And no, Russian brides are not Patrol related even if posing in front of a Patrol

I think the main reason for the success so far is that we are a forum and not a club so as long as we keep heading in that direction all will be well.

[ricster]

I will as always be here, and appreciate the trust afforded to myself and the few others that JohnBoy has asked to keep an eye on things on the Forum. So I really hope to see a LOT of input from everyone in this family.

I'm going to throw in my 2 cents quickly to start the ball rolling, as we need to put out options an opinions. ( I am literally going to speak my mind openly with the intention of not offending anyone )

I feel, and this is my personal opinion, that one of the reasons this forum works so well, besides the great respectful people, is that nothing can change or be argued about due to one person having the final say. I believe that each and every one of us has that respect for JohnBoy in that if JohnBoy makes a decision regarding the Forum it is accepted without question. I believe that this "formula" is the best option to go for, but with a new "owner" has to have the buy in from each and every Forum Member, as there may be a feeling of "well he/she didn't start the forum off, and was just given it".

There needs to be a full commitment to whoever takes over the reigns going forward, and for the admin guys as well as the Moderators. Sadly my skills are hugely lacking in the IT department when it comes to running a website like this, where as having a guy like Ian whizzing around in the background fixing glitches is a HUGE asset to the forum and JohnBoy. The current "formula" is working quite well I think.

Regarding monthly expenses....hmmm.... this is a tricky one. It would be the ideal world if we all contribute towards the running costs, however its a logistical nightmare to manage, as at some stage in the distant future it may land up being only one or 2 guys paying for the monthly expenses. Lets give this some thought and some suggestions put forward.

One thing is for sure ..... THIS FORUM WILL NEVER DIE !!!.... It is such a great forum with really incredible passionate people.

To JohnBoy.... you are a legend brother

[Peter Connan]

Johnboy, here's another thank you.

This is the best forum I have ever been involved in.Theway people go out of their way to help people they have never even met continues to amaze me.

I do feel that, in order to make an informed decision in this regard, we need to have a handle on the costs?

[iandvl]

John,

Thanks for all your effort. As I indicated previously on the admin chat channel, I'd be happy to provide hosting and similar. Just let me know.

[Alex Roux]

Hi John

You are probably tired of hearing this, but a BIG thank you for the work you have put in to make this forum work over the past 10 years.

I take it that we do not have a solution for the financial challenge yet.
Without over complicating it, I think we should consider a commercial section to the forum.
As long as it remains easy to split out the commercial section, ,and it does not clutter the technical and social parts.

[iandvl]

Let me rephrase my earlier comment. I'm 100% more than happy to take over the hosting and administration of the forum. I already have my own hosting infrastructure that I pay a monthly fee for. In short, this will not mean I would incur additional costs, as I am already paying monthly hosting fees. It would be a simple matter to move the forum across to this infrastructure, and it would make it a lot simpler for me to manage the forum in terms of backups and upgrades than the current Hezner hosting. Everything else, Forum-wise will remain exactly as-is. In the end, the forum can decide.

[Oetie]

My 2cents.

I have been and still am on a number of forums, and as said before, this is the first where I have seen utmost respect for all no matter what is discussed, thanks to the administrator and moderators

Forums are costly and I personally think it is unfair for a single person to carry the costs. The suggestion by Alex Roux I think is valid and needs consideration where the forum host a seperate commercial section, at a fee to cover the forum costs ( I do not know what the costs are to host a forum hence have no idea what that fee should/could be). I think the 4x4 community forum is run this way..??