Retirement of an Administrator

BenettonVW · 2008-12-18T23:24:26+00:00

Hey VW heads, I think the time has now come for me to hang up my mouse and keyboard as Admin/ Founder of AVD. I'm not quite sure what to say, so I think I will give everyone a quick history lesson on AVD, and take it from there. This will be a positive reflection on time spent on this site. Sorry to those that have heard it before! AussieVeeDubbers was started 8 years ago approximately from memory, in a small room at my inlaws place. I come from a reasonably small country town, and was sick of being laughed at by the Falcon and Commodore drivers laughing at me driving around in an old 66 Beetle. There is approximately 4 or 5 known enthusiasts in the town, but I was hoping to gain some more interaction with other VW owners. I came to the conclusion that this was the reason I enjoyed VW car shows so much, and felt the need to have more than just a couple of car shows a year to catch up with people. At the time there was a Yahoo mail online group, but no forum or messageboard as such in Australia. I joined a UK message board to check out what was discussed, and soon grew addicted, and I am guessing we all know that feeling. The problem was that when a show came up over there, like Run to the Sun, and they would get a hands up for who was going, naturally I felt a little left out. This got me thinking.. How hard would it be to start my own forum that was based on Australian issues/ shows/ clubs, etc. Literally 10 minutes later, it was born. It was on the EZBoard forums(due to my lack of IT intelligence) but later we found out that the problem was the people that visited, the more popup adds there was! I emailed 578 people in a matter of 6 months, and SMS'd anyone that had an add selling VW's anywhere that didn't have an email address. Steadily the members came. My initial goals were: 1. Give the forum to the VW community of Australia, as much as it could be. This was never for me. This was never 'mine'. I may have set up the initial forum, and sold the idea and ideals to the members, but never once was it going to be Jim's VW Forum! 2. Make the site function so people in Perth could talk to people in Brisbane without having to meet up with them at Valla every two years, or something like that. People need to talk to people about their passions. In this community, people would be hear to listen to those passions.. Something that I personally lacked locally. People all over this fantastic country didn't have to wait until car shows to discuss things. People could lend a knowledgeable hand with mechanical issues, or we could all see how that project is coming along and encourage people to keep going and that things were looking great. Maybe a little idealistic, but why not? It's only attitude shifts that were stopping people. This was a way of the future. A way to communicate. A communication tool. That, was the second purpose of this forum. 3. The final purpose of the forum was for it to run itself, to run independently. Initially I was on here 4-6 hours a day, everyday. If I went away for the weekend, I would be worrying about what was happening all the time. I guess it was my baby then, but wasn't intended to always be like that. In an ideal forum scenario, there is no need for moderating. People are accountable for their actions, and everyone knows where they stand. Unfortunately, this is more idealistic than reality. This forum was never about money to be made or anything close. We didn't want to make a profit. That simple. Ads are the cheapest you will find for the exposure in the niche market you are getting. Hard to argue with that. This again was more to do with creating win/win relationships. We needed money to run the site(after a while) and they needed to advertise. With the help of Brad & Andrew, the technical backing of the forum became a lot more possible. A server was created and data stored, as well as the site actually moving away from an EzBoard format to the one we have today. In recent years, the two guys mentioned above have done more for this site than you will ever see or know, so just keep that in mind. I merely started the ball rolling, and after the IT side of it became more than I could understand, I simply asked them to run with it. The Administration and Moderating of a forum is a constant, thankless and tiresome job, and after roughly 8 years, I think it is time that I pulled right away from it. I sincerely thank those that have either done it at some point or are doing it now. This site pays no one.. no one is employed.. it is a love job. People do what they do here because they love it. Nothing more, nothing less. The site has achieved it's three set criteria, and goals have been completed at the end of the day. There are ups and downs like everything, but to me personally, those three goals were priority in the long term focus. This VW community in Australia is very very important, and at times I feel that we are too harsh on each other or not supportive enough of each other. WE…

byronmcmanus59 Seriously Crusin Dubber

199 posts · joined Apr 2008 · 21 Dec 2008, 9:43 pm

#685482

its sad to see such a person that has contributed such a large amount to the VW scene get to the stage where he has to step down.

i dont know you personally and doubt i ever will but someone that has created such a site that many of us are now addicted to
needs a pat on the back. well done and thankyou...

now how bout someone posts some pics of your past and present rides.. im keen for a gand!

👍

Jono.

old bugger Slammed & Awesome Dubber

79 posts · joined Nov 2008 · 22 Dec 2008, 7:57 am

#685505

lurked for years only joined for 5 mins, sad to see this. good luck mate.pete

DUB64 Officially Full-On Dubber

266 posts · joined Sep 2007 · 22 Dec 2008, 5:08 pm

#685571

New ish member.

Sad when quality people go and I wouldn't be the first who bought their pride and joy off this site.

Funny I was thinking the other day if I had to pay to be a member here I wouldnt hesitate at all.

VWKD Learner Dubber

4 posts · joined Dec 2005 · 23 Dec 2008, 2:59 am

#685628

Thanks to guys like you that make guys like me give this forum mullarky a go and for that I thank-you.

Enjoy forum freedom 🤪

Stealth Ich Leibe mein Kastenwagen!

1,021 posts · joined Aug 2002 · 23 Dec 2008, 8:15 am

#685643

Long live the KING 👍

STEALTH

type3kid Custom Title Time!

1,183 posts · joined May 2003 · 23 Dec 2008, 9:32 am

#685652

be proud of your achievements Jim,

because of your creation for us, i too have met many people who are now more then just forum members, but are friends.

hope to not only see you on the forum still, but to actually meet you in person one day.

thanks for all you have done,

cheers,

aaron.

www.myspace.com/emotionalspidermonkeys
www.myspace.com/berettajustice
www.myspace.com/evolvar
www.evolvar.com

Rural Baja #tassievwpickers

1,075 posts · joined Jan 2006 · 26 Dec 2008, 7:22 pm

#685989

Thanks jim for having a poke at something and starting AVD, ob well done 👍 😁

GeorgeL Officially Full-On Dubber

231 posts · joined Feb 2006 · 29 Dec 2008, 12:44 pm

#686283

Running a forum has to be one of the hardest things to do well. I've been involved in running the US type2 forum for years and it seems that there just comes a time when admins and moderators just have to step back and take a breather. Either that, or it's the rubber room.

Thanks for the great site that you created and cultivated. Even though I'm an ocean away it is still the best source of conversion information that I've found!

George

bugeyedbabe Wheres her VW heart on her sleeve

3,945 posts · joined Jan 2005 · 31 Dec 2008, 1:15 pm

#686629

Hey Jim,

Sad to hear your no longer going to moderate the place, but the contribution you have made so far in founding such a place as this, well the impact will continue for a long time to come I'm sure.

I know for my son and I, when we first bought our first beetle, the advice we were given helped us no end. The one thousand and one stupid questions I asked, and the somewhat funny, but mostly informative answers were worth so much to us.

I hope this break though gives u the much desired additional time to spend with your family.

May the new year bring u n ur family everything u wish for and so much more. You certainly deserve everything good life has to offer.

Cheers
Beb

dubless. 🥲
🥷 And who the helled parked the Mitsubishi "Prancer" under my house??? 🥷

Spook Driving the 64 wheeler

1,168 posts · joined Aug 2002 · 4 Jan 2009, 11:33 am

#687217

SEE!!!

Told ya getting married would f#ck ya up. No more time for the things you enjoy.

You've done well young'n, have a kit kat.

8 years?? I'd have thought it was longer, but I'll take your word for it.

Well my friends are gone & my hair is grey, I ache in the places where I used to play.

GTMac Fahrvergnugen

976 posts · joined Nov 2004 · 8 Jan 2009, 1:03 pm

#688113

All I can say again is a special thanks. I to thought who the hell started this up and why, now I know. I have made many friends from this forum and met countless friendly VW nuts always helpful and of course have bought all my great VW's from this site.

Cheers, Andrew

1971 Type 3 Fasty - EJ20T

I love 242HP sleepers. 🤪

How many sets of lights does it take a $229k Carrera S to learn? 😂 UPDATE: Cayman S, M3, B4 now added to the list.