It's Independence Day -- maybe I'll take a moment to think out loud about the site.
When I bought this site -- and buy is what it was, with a goodly sum of money leaving my account and being transferred to that of the fellow from whom I bought it -- I thought that I'd be able to run it like a business -- that it would generate a reasonable rate of return on my investment. Part of that "income" would be revenues from advertisers that want their service or product to be displayed to folks that see the site, and part would be as donations from those site viewers that felt like offering me a monetary display of their appreciation of the site. Another thought that was in my head when I bought landracing.com was that I would be able to maintain the site as a meeting place where the land speed racing community could be informed and entertained with not only information about the "sport" - but also from the lively interplay between all of our personalities.
That some of you folks would bring more to the site than would others -- is what I expected. That some of you would spend your efforts in being disruptive, or would maintain attitudes that are obviously not what the general public on here wants -- is also, unfortunately, about what I expected. I've asked more than once for one or another of you to moderate (that is, to lessen) yourselves so that fewer others would take offense at what you've said, and in some cases you have complied -- and in others you haven't. When I have to ask I risk reducing my potential effectiveness as the guy that tries to run the herd -- I lose a bit of respect when you don't follow the rules, and that loss is multiplied the next time it happens.
I just want this place to be as entertaining and informative as it can be. Bob (bak189) says he came back after his hiatus in the hopes that he'd see more about the Bub's event. Bob's got a lot to offer -- would some of you that are closer to the Bub's event please get more active in discussing it? We've lost more than one forum member because some of you insist on ranting and raving (the only way to put it, even if I was glad to see you back online, Kent). I don't think that causing folks to quit visiting the site will improve the interchange of information, if only because as a result there are fewer of you that participate in the conversation.
If some don't like FR and some think he's the greatest thing since sliced bread -- fine. Deal with it without getting too nasty, without spending too much time worrying over what he's said. If you think there's an issue with something that he posts, or with the way that he's posting it -- tell him, tell me, but don't get all bent out of shape. I'm going to try to let "him" run without preaching at him for a while -- but I reserve the right to come back and praise or damn him if it gets too much for the site in general.
Remember, folks -- I want this site to be vital and fun and educational as well as entertaining. I put up good money -- money that I could just as easily have put in the will for my heirs -- to save landracing.com from the possibility of going into oblivion. I'm not going to announce the amount -- but if you want to ask me privately just how much income/revenue has come in in the 3 months since I bought it -- I'll tell you, and I'll tell you just who it is that has sent some of that money. None of it has come from any of the advertisers, by the way. I haven't billed anyone -- and only one of them has stepped up and introduced themselves and thanked me for running his ad. Should those advertisers see this -- my email is jonwennerberg@nancyandjon.org, and I'd be happy to discuss your advertising strategy, results, and budget with regards to this site.
That's it for now. I'm still trying to get the site running at optimum -- get the gallery going, get the site transferred to another host so it'll cost less and have even more features available (once I learn how to use them), etc. I'm still hoping to learn how to create new forum sections and how to ---
Hey, you get the idea. Happy Independence Day, folks, and have a safe weekend.