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View Full Version : Does anyone know Bill S_trong personally? What is he doing to MR20C?



Redlyne_mr2
02-05-2005, 10:56 AM
The mr2oc board is going down hill fast IMO. First he dissables private messaging which makes it almost impossible to get in touch with other members then he goes and cancels the group buy section which is basically the source of all my parts. I have been relying on that group buy section for years and soon it will be gone. The guy freaks out about so many little things, Ill never forget the time he got pissed off because people were buying 40 dollar short shift kits made in China instead of buying the exact same $150 usd units being sold by one of his friends. As much as I need that board I dont know how much longer I want to stay on there for.

thinmyster
02-05-2005, 11:51 AM
are you serious. i was wondering why i couldnt pm.. thats just going to cause so many useless back and forth posts and cause everyone to read thorugh like 20 pages of posts...I really hope they dont get rid of group buys cause i just missed out on my chance to get my jdm clears and i want some jdm side molding??? :thumbsdow :thumbsdow oh yeah that reminds me any news on that stuff ryan? did you end buying that short shifter kit?

SPooLiN
02-05-2005, 01:07 PM
Ya I have noticed a steady decline as well... It seems like its turning into a cash grab for Bill Strong and hes just getting greedier... I can understand making your money back to pay for servercosts or whatever but charging people $10 US just to have PMs and have your signature show up is a little much.... its not like he isnt make cash off all the sponsers, merchandise, not to mention his own online-store...

the PM thing is retarded cause it still informs me when I get a PM, but I just can't check it.... great!

I think getting rid of the GBs is a joke... ecspecially since I just started mine! :banghead:

thinmyster
02-05-2005, 02:11 PM
lets convert them to beyond

Ek9Max
02-05-2005, 02:47 PM
Redlyne: I nominate you to starting a new board. Not just calgary, or canada. But just like the mr2board just better.

I'll help you moderate the for sale section.

stealth
02-05-2005, 04:03 PM
I thought about making a canadian board, or just a mr2 board in general, but there is no way i believe that it will compare to mr2oc, in terms of amount of people and knowledge.

Redlyne_mr2
02-05-2005, 05:32 PM
Jon, I bought a b&m style shifter off ebay, 30usd and it is so nice plus its 1/3rd the price. I also submitted the part numbers to RD toyota, I should have a price anyday now. The GB's will be over in less than 2 weeks so buy what you can now. I still need my cf t-tops, I dont know how the hell Im going to buy those now.

Thanks for the props Max, like Stealth I also have thought about making a new MR2 board. With all the shitty rules on mr2oc I think the new board could blow up if done properly. Honestly though IM not that great with comps so if the board was ever hacked or infected Id be lost.

Dope Dealer
02-05-2005, 06:58 PM
Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Jon, I bought a b&m style shifter off ebay, 30usd and it is so nice plus its 1/3rd the price. I also submitted the part numbers to RD toyota, I should have a price anyday now. The GB's will be over in less than 2 weeks so buy what you can now. I still need my cf t-tops, I dont know how the hell Im going to buy those now.

Thanks for the props Max, like Stealth I also have thought about making a new MR2 board. With all the shitty rules on mr2oc I think the new board could blow up if done properly. Honestly though IM not that great with comps so if the board was ever hacked or infected Id be lost.

Ryan, if you decide you want to do it, give me a shout and I'll help you get it off the ground. Work for an internet company, so I know a few things here and there ;)

stealth
02-05-2005, 09:05 PM
If you want we could set something, up but the main problem is hosting/domain fee's

I used to run alberta integras website, but then gave it away last year.

BTW Ryan, how is the quality of the B&M Style Shifter? If you dont mind me asking or pm'ing me what was the price?

I bought a Authentic B&M Shifter and i believe it came out a little cheaper than Twos R Us, since i didnt have to pay shipping.

Sam

Dope Dealer
02-05-2005, 09:16 PM
I could swing a deal for a domain and space, would be dirt cheap for the first year. We might run out of bandwidth if the site gets too big, but I have a few backup servers we might be able to get our hands on through my company.

stealth
02-05-2005, 09:29 PM
Originally posted by Dope Dealer
I could swing a deal for a domain and space, would be dirt cheap for the first year. We might run out of bandwidth if the site gets too big, but I have a few backup servers we might be able to get our hands on through my company.

That would be good, but how would we get the cash to make the money for it? I dont really like the idea of "membership fee's" but i guess that is the only way, perhaps like 10 bucks then, when it grows, down to 5 bucks or whatever it may be.

The thign that sucks about this is i used to have a free host!

Dope Dealer
02-05-2005, 09:38 PM
Originally posted by stealth


That would be good, but how would we get the cash to make the money for it? I dont really like the idea of "membership fee's" but i guess that is the only way, perhaps like 10 bucks then, when it grows, down to 5 bucks or whatever it may be.

The thign that sucks about this is i used to have a free host!

When I say dirt cheap I mean under 10 dollars for a year of hosting haha

I doubt we would run out of bandwidth as the server I have has a quite a bit. Even so, I have virtually unlimited space and bandwidth from my companys web servers but I'd only use it if I had to.

If you guys wanna do it you know how to contact me. I can even help with the design or graphics or anything.

stealth
02-05-2005, 09:54 PM
hahahh shit 10 dollars, sign me up for 10 sites jk man. Then the only other thing to worry about is the url.

Whos all up for a site? Cant have a site without people being intersted

BigBearWest
02-05-2005, 11:04 PM
I could help you guys set up a PHPBB borad then maybe later you guys could get donations and get vB forum software

jvillain
02-06-2005, 12:06 AM
I have to agree with you about the MR2OC board. The PMs are an inconvenience but not a disaster because you can always use email. But the group buy hit is really going to hurt. Make sure you grab as much contact info as you can before it gets shut down. The other thing that is anoying is that they are flushing the information out of the system way to fast. We are loosing a lot of really valuable info.

If things keep going this way either it will back fire and Bill will have to adjust or the traffic will start to flow to another board like the UK board.

I know Bill and the moderators put a lot of effort into that board but with the level of sales that that board generates it has to be making money. Just think of haow many KO products that board has moved and what it was worth. KO has to be paying good money for that.

Redlyne_mr2
02-07-2005, 07:47 PM
Evan thanks alot for the offer, IM going to look at getting vbulletin right off the bat. I dont mind investing the money on some decent software I just dont want to get jacked on hosting.

I was on mr2oc again today, that place pisses me off so much.

stealth
02-07-2005, 07:55 PM
If we were to make a mr2 board, i would like the styling to be somewhat like www.jdmcivic.com real pimp hahh

Redlyne_mr2
02-07-2005, 07:58 PM
Originally posted by stealth
If we were to make a mr2 board, i would like the styling to be somewhat like www.jdmcivic.com real pimp hahh
^^^ that is super nice. It doesnt feel like Im entering a forum for Ford tempos like MR2OC does.

stealth
02-07-2005, 08:18 PM
hahah ford tempos, i liked the previous vb version they had. Like this one.

BigBearWest
02-07-2005, 08:43 PM
That is a nice looking forum

bill strong
02-15-2005, 03:01 PM
Hey guys... I know Bill Strong... I have known him for 42 years.
How are ya.

So let me begin by saying that I am all for a new board. The MR2OC is currently running at about 400-600gb a month in bandwidth, that is for text only. Images, which are on another network are currently around 200gb a month.

Price that one up... and that is with a load of 200-300 people with 600 sessions as people continue to open multiple pages...

So you complain about a free message board.. If you want additional services it is us$10 a year. hmmm. I provide you... the guys that make profit from my free service... a free service. But if you want to have your own webpage, use PMs or signitures then you pay $10 a year.

I put 8 hours a day, 6-7 days a week into the board. In fact I actually spend closer to 15 hours a day. My wife spends 6-8 hours a day as well working on the board.

Not counting the 50-100 emails a day I get from users needing help, information, directions, and even help understanding how to sign up. Dealing with law enforcement on bad sales, having a lawer on retainer because I am now involved in a suit because of a bad deal that was done on my board. things like that. Ya know. $10.

If you look closely at our stats you will see that we are growing at a huge rate. we are getting close to 50 new additions per day on average. Of those 50, 10-15 stay and participate and another 10 or so lurk . The rest are just trolling, curious or visiting.

On the Group Buy thing. You guys are not really reading the posts are you? I am combining two forums. 90% of group buys are actually posted by paying vendors or "sponsors". Why? Because normal users were required to pay $10 per GB, or you could pay one set fee and become a sponsor / vendor and have as many GBs as you wanted.
So to keep things easy for everyone, and fair to our paying sponsors I decided to just make everyone play by the same rules. We have been having competing shops doing group buys bypassing the vendor fees. So they hadan unfair advantage. You can still do "Group Buys", I never said you could not. Just read the posts.

Am I getting rich off this board? Nope. And I dont think I ever will. It would be nice, as it would make my wife and family happy, though the money would just go to pay for both of my daughters college debts. But that will never happen.

On the pimping website thing. We thought of doing flash bang bling. But that is not what the user base wanted. They wanted data. They wanted facts. They wanted to get in and out and get the info they required. There are already plenty of websites out there that have the pretty stuff. Why do it again when it is not needed?
The majority of our board users are on dial up. On slower computers. This requires that the pages be fast loading. So I have had to do a big ballencing act to try and keep the broadband boyz happy while keeping things fast for guys with 28.8 modems. sounds fun doesnt it???

Running a board seems easy. and it probably is if everyone is 16-24 years old. But throw in the guys that are 40+, or the 16 and under, or the newbs to the interweb, or AOL users and if you truely want a board to work it will require constant attention and care. Not to mention the people to help run the place,. and we have some of the best guys and gals helping me.

If you are not happy, you should let me know. I will be happy to let you guys know why. I'll also give you the knowlege on what it takes to do this on your own. I have been doing this for quite a long time.

bill strong
02-15-2005, 03:17 PM
One last point.

Club MR2 and MR2OC are putting on the nationa MR2 meet in Kansas in June. www.na2005.info
I chose Kansas as a location so that the Canadians would have an easier trip. This is a hop skip and a jump for you guys in Calgary.

Doing this kind of stuff, meets, clothing lines, and promoting vendors and getting parts made for obsolete cars is time consuming and expensive. We have made great strides in the last 5 years.

dj_Twin_turbo
02-15-2005, 10:14 PM
Bill,

Maybe threads like these which you come across god knows how should be some sort of a warning light.

We've all seen the explanations, but posting about it on a regional forum is a place where people aren't going to get a "go rice out your MKII answer." Take some of these not-on-mr2oc.com conversations into consideration. The fact that people are expressing unhappiness regarding your message board shows that they were happy before.

Something to ponder.

jvillain
02-15-2005, 10:50 PM
Bill, I read your sticky twice before I posted here. What I got out of your sticky was not what you just stated. Perhaps it just needs a little word smithing. After all many of us came to the same conclusion.

Let me say I bought my Nemisis from Ricky, my rail and injectors from Wolfkatz, my down pipe and TKO from KO, my shift bushings from Speed Source, some tube from KBox, my poly bushings and end links from twosrus and my throttle body inlet from ATS. All of those sponsors also know where I found about their stuff. BTW I am getting ready to put the order in for my RMR.

There are 2 things holding back your sponsors from getting more sales out of me. First I am running out of things that they make that I need. Second they are stuck in a forum that just doesn't lend it's self to traffic. The only time I know that they are actually selling some thing new is if I see it in the group buy section or it gets posted to the 3SGTE forum.

Food for thought.

Redlyne_mr2
02-15-2005, 11:58 PM
Bill thanks for your response and for not banning me on MR2oc:) I definitely realise that posting on that board is a priviledge and not a right and that we should appreciate what you do to make that board happen. All of us here need MR20C, it's a great place however I'm sure its obvious that many of us are unhappy. I hope some of the words I stated above haven't pissed you off too much but they are my true feelings. Like you, I put a ton of ours into the MR2 community, wether it be putting together meets, events, moderating this board or getting GB's together. Everyone of the Calgary MR2 members make an extremely valuable contribution to this forum and I appreciate every thread that gets posted. What really drove me over the edge was the dissapearance of the GB forum. I had plans to order the CF ttops in hopes of being one of the 50 people in the world with them. Looks like that plan is now scrapped, the same goes for other one of a kind items I was going to buy. Honestly though I don't want to sit here and argue because bottom line its your call. All I ask is that you give us some time to vent and express our discontent until we get used to the new board.

Thank You

Ryan

bill strong
02-16-2005, 12:09 AM
okay... I guess my words don't come across the internet like they do in real life.

I will do this.

I will rename the Vendors Forum to Group Buys.
Will that make it easier to understand?

Like I said, the majority of group buys are done by board sponsors anyway. So instead of having two forums I am making one. All vendors and group buys will have to go by the same rules.

Does that explain it better?

alright... I am not going to call it Group Buys, because by definition group buys do not really exist anymore. I know this because I too am a vendor.

Despite what a few are saying, our board is thriving in a big way. You need to realize that the board does not revolve around the MK2. Our spyder ownership is growing and our MK1 viewership is the fastest growing section. The hybrid section as well is growing pretty good. So good in fact that I will be starting a new webforum devoted to custom vehicles. Not just imports.

dj_Twin_turbo
02-16-2005, 03:41 AM
Your sarcasm just makes it worse, Bill. I don't own a MKII and I'm very disappointed in the lack of support on MR2OC by MKIII owners, but still, it seems you seems to place anyone with anything constructive to say in that same "you must own a teal auto with t-tops and leather group mkii" group.

I guess the people that are unhappy with how things are running, and were dedicated members before will just have to suffer by the new ways.

Like I said, fair enough, its your website.

What I don't understand is; if these people's opinion is so invalid in comparison to this massive and wonderful userbase you're creating, why are you tracking threads like this down and trying to explain yourself ?



Originally posted by bill strong
okay... I guess my words don't come across the internet like they do in real life.

I will do this.

I will rename the Vendors Forum to Group Buys.
Will that make it easier to understand?

Like I said, the majority of group buys are done by board sponsors anyway. So instead of having two forums I am making one. All vendors and group buys will have to go by the same rules.

Does that explain it better?

alright... I am not going to call it Group Buys, because by definition group buys do not really exist anymore. I know this because I too am a vendor.

Despite what a few are saying, our board is thriving in a big way. You need to realize that the board does not revolve around the MK2. Our spyder ownership is growing and our MK1 viewership is the fastest growing section. The hybrid section as well is growing pretty good. So good in fact that I will be starting a new webforum devoted to custom vehicles. Not just imports.

bill strong
02-16-2005, 09:14 AM
funny. Iam not tracking threads like this down. It was one of your own members who pointed it out to me :)

stealth
02-16-2005, 05:44 PM
So will non vendors, need to become vendors in order to make a group buy?

Or will they be able to pay the group buy price of what was it 10 dollars?

thinmyster
02-16-2005, 11:39 PM
you should ban any post with three letters or less, as too should this forum im tired of see pages of post that say..


YGM

just one suggestion

bill strong
02-17-2005, 12:16 AM
Originally posted by stealth
So will non vendors, need to become vendors in order to make a group buy?

Or will they be able to pay the group buy price of what was it 10 dollars?

to make a group by is free.

To organize a group buy you will need to become a sponsor. I will need all of your business info and contact numbers addresses, and tax ID numbers. It can cost $25 a month, or $300 a year. and that allows as many GBs as you want to put together,

$25 just adds $2.50 for a 10 piece group buy. As a business man or woman you will know that you need to add shipping, handleing and any other fees onto the price. If your group buy goes on for two months, then you need to plan on $50.

If you dont feel like paying that kind of money to put a GB together, then contact one of our sponsors. every part that is made for these cars is sold by at least one of our sponsors or vendors. Talk to them.

Now I know a few guys will be pissed off due to the somewhat unknown fact that some GB organizers get free parts for putting together GBs. Going to another vendor may kill that. But that is up to you and the vendors.

This will work very well. We will have better control of the people that sell these items to help you guys get your products faster than now. Vaporware will cost the seller lots of cash.

finboy
02-17-2005, 12:22 AM
Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
Bill thanks for your response and for not banning me on MR2oc:) I definitely realise that posting on that board is a priviledge and not a right and that we should appreciate what you do to make that board happen. All of us here need MR20C, it's a great place however I'm sure its obvious that many of us are unhappy. I hope some of the words I stated above haven't pissed you off too much but they are my true feelings. Like you, I put a ton of ours into the MR2 community, wether it be putting together meets, events, moderating this board or getting GB's together. Everyone of the Calgary MR2 members make an extremely valuable contribution to this forum and I appreciate every thread that gets posted. What really drove me over the edge was the dissapearance of the GB forum. I had plans to order the CF ttops in hopes of being one of the 50 people in the world with them. Looks like that plan is now scrapped, the same goes for other one of a kind items I was going to buy. Honestly though I don't want to sit here and argue because bottom line its your call. All I ask is that you give us some time to vent and express our discontent until we get used to the new board.

Thank You

Ryan

cf t-tops? bling bling, what was the going rate for those????

from looking at the site, it does look kind of plain. I'm not saying you need a flashy site, but it really sucks spending a lot of time on a site that doesn't appeal to your eyes at all.

bill strong
02-17-2005, 10:20 AM
how old are you? I ask because historically it is the younger folks that like the odd colours and image heavy sites.

our users dont want bling bling. the majority of our readers are over 27 years old. They want fast quick pages that are easy to read. Not some RPG style website.

Why CF lids?? Bacuase heavy glass mounted high in the chassis makes for a higher center of gravity. This higher venter of gravity can make the car not handle so well. There is a rather large performance increase by using lighter lids. Some racing organizations are actually requiring roofs to be in place, which means that you have to race with your T-Tops in.

finboy
02-17-2005, 11:35 AM
Originally posted by bill strong
how old are you? I ask because historically it is the younger folks that like the odd colours and image heavy sites.

our users dont want bling bling. the majority of our readers are over 27 years old. They want fast quick pages that are easy to read. Not some RPG style website.

Why CF lids?? Bacuase heavy glass mounted high in the chassis makes for a higher center of gravity. This higher venter of gravity can make the car not handle so well. There is a rather large performance increase by using lighter lids. Some racing organizations are actually requiring roofs to be in place, which means that you have to race with your T-Tops in.

t-roofs: i wasn't saying anything bad about them, i have met ryan many times and was simply inquiring how much they would be, and i am quite aware how heavy glass t-roofs are, you kind of jumped the gun on that one.

as for the look of the site, you only use your eyes to view a site, so why wouldn't you try to make the site more appealing to the eyes? it seems like pretty common sense, all you have to do is change the colour scheme a little bit.

:dunno:

jvillain
02-17-2005, 08:12 PM
You may actually have it allready Bill but a lot of sites let you select from a number of skins. These are just CSS pages or something similar. I am not suggesting you spend any time creating some your self since there seems to be some many eager web designers rareing to do something. Most BB software these days has the option you usually just have to enable it. Would that be a viable solution to calm the masses?

Redlyne_mr2
02-17-2005, 08:34 PM
Im glad Bill found this post, it gives him the ability to give his side. Had I posted a thread like this on MR2)C it would have gotten out of control.
AS for the look of the board I dont honestly care, it would be cool to see some changes but whatever no big deal. As long as he colors arent pink and white with banners showings pictures of altezza tailights Im fine with it.

As for the CF ttops dont mention them again lol IM still choked about not being able to buy those. Ive been trying to collect whatever CF body panels I can for my car and the ttops were the last part I needed. They were actually priced well, the gb price was $450 USD. Now im going ot have to try and track buddy down in hopes that this GB can continue via email.

Bill I think you should give the MK2 mr2 a little more credit. I can guarantee you that MK2 owners spend a pile more money than mk3 and mk1 owners combined and are the ones who are helping your vendors to flourish. The MK2 has been the car that had led to amazing developements in automotive programming as well as many many other performance related advancements. Brad Bedell also improved the rep of the MK2 with his amazing vehicle at the SCC. Sometimes it seems as if MK2 owners are nothing but shit disturbers who aren't as hardcore as the MK1 owners. Believe me I love the MK1, its an awesome little car and if it wasnt getting almost impossible to find a mint one up here in Canada I would have one as well. The MK3 on the other hand is the gayest car ever. IMO the lotus elise is what the MK3 should have been. Anyways welcome to the Calgary MOC, hope you stop by regularly. Maybe one day we can meet in person.

Ryan

bill strong
02-17-2005, 10:24 PM
I like the MK2... I really do... my comments are aimed at people from years gone by... just the old school boyz... it is funny. well at least to me. but the kids just don't understand my funniness. sad really. but still funny.

colours? well we tried that and people about killed me.

I test the look and feel in Fedora, windowz and moc os. everything looks good to me. and that is what counts :)

the problems with different style sheets is that I customize the board so much that I would have to do complete sets of images and colors. It is not as simple as it sounds.

though it probably is.

on a side note I bought a dyno today. now to make soime real money selling over priced parts to MK2 owners :)


just kidding about that last statement

2-YOTA
02-17-2005, 10:47 PM
I actually like the current color scheme on mr2oc. It's "clean" and it's easy on the eyes! I also frequent other car forums and some of their native color scheme is just too dynamic for my likings ... to the point where my eyes are strained unnaturally just to view the written content.

Maybe I'm just getting older these days as I seem to fit in the demographics of mr2oc's primary audience as mentioned by billstrong. But I agree with you Bill, don't change the current color scheme or else I'll shoot you! (thats if I can still aim with my tarnished vision from the new color skin!)