I have also registered on the Eformulacarnews site. There is starting to be good stuff there & you can pick your subject. I am going for it.
Thanks ... Jay Novak -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of edward capullo Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 3:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [F500] Class survival. - losing vs. gaining-anoutsider'sviewpoint. Louie I registered today at the eformulacar F500 forum site. I note many more items there now almost all dated in the last two days. My only question is where do I look first? Are we going to still get F500 emails or is everything now going to be on the eformulacar site?(in which case I won't have to check my emails so frequently) Capt Eddie >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >Subject: RE: [F500] Class survival. - losing vs. >gaining-anoutsider'sviewpoint. >Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:15:10 +0000 > >1. One other point to made. Son, Jim Schultz deals with all levels of the >karting industry for living. He's told me the karting guys are all over >the >eformulacarnews web site. Didn't I hear something about attracting more >people from karting??? Then this would be the site to hang out in. > >2. Rob Howden is giving his support to F500 racing by initiating the >FormulaCar Magazine F500 Challenge Cup. Hera's somebody clearly in our >court! > >Are you F5'rs waiting for a bolt of lighting to show you the way...? > >Louie Schultz >Philly Region > > > > Hi folks, > > > > As Ted has stated, there is already a forum for Formula 500 set up and > > running for the class at www.eformulacarnews.com. I pay a full-time > > moderator and we support F500 more than any other motorsports media > > source in the work. If we need to adjust our F500 forum to include > > different headings and sub-section etc, that's fine with me. I can also > > give anyone you see fit with moderator status for the F500 alone. > > > > That stated, anything I tread of starting a separate for really upsets > > me. If you guys head off and start your own forum, you can kiss any of > > my support good-bye. I bust my ass running a business to support > > formula car racing, I attend events, and I pay money out of my own > > pocket to pay my staff to publicize this sport. The forums out there > > (Spec Miata / Apexspeed) are done by enthusiasts, and that's great, but > > we are the ones who cover the events, spend time on the road away from > > out families covering racing and work our asses off to produce a > > publication. Our website relies on traffic to sell advertising and we > > need forum traffic to supply our advertisers with the value they are > > looking for. We need the support of the F500 community. > > > > To be honest, FormulaCar Magazine and eformulacarnews.com have made very > > little money yet....it's going to have to change soon. > > > > Take care, > > > > Rob Howden > > Publisher / Editor-in-Chief > > - eKartingNews.com > > - eKartingNews.ca > > - eFormulaCarNews.com > > - FormulaCar Magazine > > Ph: 519-624-2003 > > Fax: 519-624-0053 > > P.O. Box 580 > > Cambridge, Ontario > > Canada N1R 5W1 > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > > Ted Rudolph > > Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 10:31 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: RE: [F500] Class survival. - losing vs. gaining > > -anoutsider'sviewpoint. > > > > No money, Jay - the phpBB software that most folks use is free & Eric > > probably has it on his site already for other clients. We use it for > > PhillySCCA.com & I use it for numerous other things as well. vBulletin > > is nicer, but it costs money. We use that at champcarfanatics.com > > because that's what we started with. For the volume on this list phpBB > > is just fine. > > > > The only 'cost' factor comes from moderation (in terms of time). For the > > most part the discussion is civilized, but I know of one member here > > that would be a moderator's nightmare. > > > > And consider this a "third" (4th?) endorsement for forms. Some folks > > have seen this below from an off-line discussion about F5. But since > > it's relevant I'll copy it here: > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Posted by Ted_R: > > > > The current mailing list - while somewhat adequate & very comfortable > > for the participating members - is an archaic concept that does not > > market the class well to outsiders. Let me repeat that - the Mailing > > list does not market our class well to outsiders. > > > > The modern on-line world revolves around the discussion forum. There are > > numerous sociological reasons for this (and I can post links if you > > really want to argue this point - I had to do that for PhillySCCA when > > we transitioned from their various mailing lists). Suffice to say > > mailing lists are not considered to be Newbie friendly by the Online > > experts. There's far greater development work being performed in the > > realm of forum software - that, in itself, should be an indication of > > the perception of mailing lists to the online world. > > > > One example I can give is the transition we saw in the Philly Region. > > The Region itself began experimenting with a forum to supplement their > > general-use mailing list. Two years after the forum was established, the > > number of members was 4 times greater than the mailing list, and the > > posting volume was 5 times higher. Likewise, the participation at Solo > > events has, on average, doubled in the Philly Region. > > > > The marketing angle isn't the only reason to move to a forum. The > > ability to separate threads into various topics is a huge help in > > sorting & organizing information. > > > > Likewise, the Permissions / Group / Membership functions of a forum can > > allow private areas where more volital discussions can take place > > without scaring away the folks who are simply browsing for 'newbie' > > information. Additionally, a private subsection of the forum can be used > > by the Leadership folks as their primary method of communication - > > speeding up the discussion process of any new topics. > > > > After significant arm-twisting we were able to move the Leadership of > > the PhillySCCA from mailing lists to a forum discussion. This allowed > > the team running the Solo events to hash out plans and ideas in a much > > quicker fashion. They could also sort out the various discussion & > > improve the Solo program to be able to handle the increased loads. Face > > to face meetings, conference calls, and other functions quickly > > disappeared. > > > > The only grey area would be the involvement of Rob Howden's forums. > > Rob's forums could be a useful tool for F500 (if utilized correctly), > > but their current format isn't quite enough to fill our group's needs. > > Rob could, however, interface his forums with a subset of our own > > forums. This "portal" from his site to ours would relieve the load on > > his site while still providing the needed information to his > > subscribers. Rob's portal would provide another marketing venue for us, > > and we'd provide content for him - if he were willing to do this on his > > site (an example of this system can be seen at AutoRacing1.com's forums > > - their forums are actually a selected subset of Motorsport.com's > > forums. MarkC simply provides a window from his site). > > > > The class needs to attract new, fresh, competitors and we need to > > improve the interactivity of our class. If we want this class to seem > > current and attractive to others - esp. those not currently racing > > and/or under the age of 35 - we need to dump the mailing list in favor > > of a forum. > > > > -Ted > > #98 NEdiv driver (and occasional F-First cushion) > > > > PS. Louie, I'm back on-line.... > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jay Novak > > Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 10:10 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: RE: [F500] Class survival. - losing vs. gaining - > > anoutsider'sviewpoint. > > > > This is a great idea Flash, I suspect it takes a huge amount of work to > > keep > > a forum going as well as some $$$. How do we get something like this > > going. > > > > Thanks ... Jay Novak > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of > > Flash. > > Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 9:57 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [F500] Class survival. - losing vs. gaining - an > > outsider'sviewpoint. > > > > > > thanks for your kind words, which add detail to the comments i made in a > > generic sense. I would further consider the specmiata.com forum > > software > > outdated, it's about 5 years past its prime with VBB and phpBB replacing > > it > > in almost every other venue. But getting "old guys" to change their > > ways is > > not a trivial task. > > > > I started on the f500 forum too, for a kid of my age (18-25 demo), > > forums > > are our first source of knowledge of a particular topic. Look at the > > success of Wikipedia which is basically a fan-supported > > encyclopedia/forum. > > > > fwiw (an aside): > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F500 > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spec_miata > > > > both resources anyone that feels they might like to add to are welcome > > to > > > > I dont want to go too far down this comparison path, because I don't > > consider SM an equal to f500, I think they are very different animals. > > My > > choosing SM over f500 has a lot to do with presentation of the community > > and > > all the components together have made me forge my way into amateur > > racing. > > WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF MAZDA, MY FRIENDS IN THE COMMUNITY, > > SPECMIATA.COM, > > MIATA.NET and MAZDA'S REVITUP I would have NOTHING to do with amateur > > racing > > in any way, even with regard to Mazda. I would be fumbling with my > > civic's > > stereo still. And to leave SM, well I am making a decent second living > > in > > miata parts, so it won't be soon. (race sunday, sell monday). > > > > SM is a great first step. Perhaps f500 or others should align > > themselves > > with illustrating how they can become the "next step" or... > > > > fund or support a "first step" in open wheel, even if that means a > > fendered > > car, or simplify f500 to be that first step. > > > > I might make an unpopular statement here but I feel that fvee and f500 > > are > > too similar, they should be seperated further...or somehow combined > > (:ducks:). > > > > I have batted around the idea of a succession tree for club racing, I > > think > > it's something SCCA out to consider formerly supporting at the corporate > > level. > > > > > > On 3/14/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > I second the motion. > > > Louie Schultz > > > Philly Region > > > > > > > > > > The excerpt below from Flash's post is a very important observation. > > > > > > > > When I first began looking at formula cars, I didn't really take > > notice > > > > of F500 because there wasn't any readily available info on the cars. > > I > > > > happened > > > > to stumble across this mail list and also a very nice modern forum. > > I am > > > > an Internet fanatic so I immediately began posting on the > > "forum-style" > > > > message board. I didn't get much response to my questions other than > > to > > > > use the mail list. Although I have come to appreciate all of the > > help I > > > > have received from the mail list, I must say it is the biggest PITA > > to > > > > use and read. Young folks who have grown up with the Internet have > > come > > > > to use modern forums for anything and everything. > > > > > > > > This may seem trivial, but groups that use modern means to foster an > > > > Internet-based community of information sharing certainly have a leg > > up > > > > on our group. I don't want to have to weed through 200 emails to > > find a > > > > post about tire mounting. And you can forget the search function. I > > want > > > > to go to a tech area, or off topic area, or events area, etc. I want > > > > pictures in my messages. I really feel that moving this community to > > the > > > > more modern forum would increase the amount of folks asking > > questions > > > > about the class. > > > > > > > > In fact, lately I have been reading the specmiata.com forum just to > > see > > > > what the class is about. The feeling of comraderie and ease of use > > found > > > > on that forum has inspired me to explore adding a spec miata to my > > > > stable. Again, it has nothing to do with not liking my car (I love > > it!); > > > > it has more to do with feeling like I am part of a community that is > > > > pulling in the same direction. > > > > > > > > I know I haven't contributed to this community much only because I > > know > > > > just enough to get in trouble. However, I do have a background in > > > > Internet services ( manage a major government multimedia and > > Internet > > > > services division) and would be happy to assist in getting us > > > modernized. > > > > > > > > Thanks for "listening", > > > > > > > > Lee > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > > > > > > > Subject: > > > > > Re: [F500] Class survival. - losing vs. gaining - an outsider's > > > > > viewpoint. > > > > > From: > > > > > "Flash." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > Date: > > > > > Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:02:52 -0500 > > > > > To: > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > To: > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Take a look at your community for a moment. As a spec miata > > driver we > > > have > > > > > the obvious specmiata.com to support that angle, and we have > > miata.net > > > . > > > > > Both have extensive memberships, huge aftermarket and manufacturer > > > support, > > > > > and they easily advertise themselves. Where is f500's simple, > > generic > > > > > resource on getting in and getting the wheels spinning. (think > > about > > > other > > > > > specific examples, i.e. vw vortex for some of the production > > classes, > > > > > bimmerworld for those guys, etc, etc). Also, where is SCCA > > magazine > > > and GRM > > > > > magazine support? I don't think I've ever seen an interesting > > write > > > up on > > > > > what an f500 is or what the class is about. > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > http://beatracing.com > > 97 STS2 CRX & 97 SpecMiata > > > > -- > > No virus found in this incoming message. > > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > > Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.11/721 - Release Date: > > 3/13/2007 > > 4:51 PM > > > > -- > > No virus found in this outgoing message. > > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > > Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.11/721 - Release Date: > > 3/13/2007 > > 4:51 PM -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.11/723 - Release Date: 3/15/2007 11:27 AM -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.11/723 - Release Date: 3/15/2007 11:27 AM ________________________________ FormulaCar Magazine - A Proud Supporter of Formula 500 The Official Publication of Junior Formula Car Racing Subscribe Today! www.formulacarmag.com or 519-624-2003 _________________________________ _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! ***
