I own TCCOA. I bought it a few years ago and had plans of getting the TCCOA community more exposure etc, but I got sidetracked and have not been actively engaged in trying to grow TCCOA for a very long time.
I logged in today and see that the forum is still very active. I'm always impressed by what a great community this is!
I've decided it's probably not in the community's best interest nor my best interest for me to keep owning the website.
I very much want to sell the website to a person (or people) who are actively involved in TCCOA. No matter what happens, whether I am able to sell it or not, I do not want the community to be affected.
If anyone on the forum is interested in the possibility of acquiring the website, please email me at ericpferguson@yahoo.com. Maybe there is a group of you who would be interested in joining together to buy it and co-own it.
Just let me know what questions you have by emailing me any time.
There is certainly the know-how to run the 'behind the scenes' aspects of the site between the members here - however financing the bandwidth and hosting (if someone can't host the server from from their home on a high speed, reliable connection) costs become a concern. Aside from the obvious costs of purchasing the site back. That said, I feel as though there may be enough interest to generate a pool for donations to reclaim ownership (once we get a ballpark figure from AAN). I myself would donate some funds to the cause...
For everyone who has been a paying member, those costs would certainly help offset the weight of hosting/bandwidth, but with the current number of paying members, all the yearly dues would only pay for probably a month's hosting.
There are a couple ways to help remedy that that I can think of offhand. Increase membership costs, increase enrollment rates (which would be easier with a membership packet - a hat/t-shirt, sticker or the like with the knowledge that the costs directly fund the maintenance of the site), accept donations for maintenance, and increase advertising. With a dwindling market of MN12s on the street, enrollment increases will be difficult without some 'enticement' or marketing. For one, having direct control of the entire page would help. If additional moneys are taken in, they could be placed into a fund to sponsor events or to be used as a cache for hosting costs.
ShadowDragon would be the most likely person to contact with regards to handling the hosting and maintenance as he is the one (IIRC) who did most of this work with Bill before the sale to AAN a few years back...
One way to keep hosting and other site costs down to whomever purchases the site is, unfortunately, with more ads. So long as they're not over-intrusive such as the way another forum I'm on does it (example below), then it shouldn't be too much of an eye sore. Then as an incentive, paying membership members would be ad free of course.
^^ I agree... Right when the site changed ownership, there were a bunch of those in-line text ads which drove everyone nuts, and AAN finally dropped them. I think there are some ads for anyone browsing the site who isn't logged in, but I think that could be increased even more by a small number of ads for non-paying members. Another enticement to join. As long as the layout of the boards isn't drastically altered, and where it is altered it's done tastefully, we can probably get enough ads to generate 60-70 percent or more of the hosting costs.
Membership dues should [ideally] be used to fund club activities, not pay for the website.
David Neibert may also have some valuable insights, since he recently bought SCCoA...
Somebody needs to throw some solid numbers up - it would be nice to see the site stick around, at least for a little while longer...tons of good information here, TCCoA has been a part of my life, to some degree, for nearly 14 years.
What were the old membership rates? I can't remember but I don't think they were more than $35 for a year? Sir William posts every once in a while on the Facebook page. Maybe he would know someone?
Sounds like need Sir William's, Dave Neibert's, and Shadow Dragon's inputs.
Though this could be a time for SCCOA and TCCOA to join (since that was brought not too long ago).
If the ads are targeted to the site I don't have a problem with them, but I don't think a automotive site need ads for Male Enhancement and the like. Just an example.
I also believe TCCOA owning itself and not an individual could help membership.
Best sponsors IMO: Dirty Dog, SCP, Spinning Wheels, Robert, SilverFox, Summit, and Rock Auto.
While being a full-fledged member is probably not going to happen at this point, I'd be happy to help "donate" to the cause (as I'm sure many non-members might also be willing to)
PS.... I think I still have some bits from my mailed membership packet from YEARS ago! (I'm thinking 2001)
is there anything at all I can do to help with this? as much as I get grounded for being a kid, this is all I use the internet for! anyone? I kinda think it would suck to lose my favorite website, lol.:wavey:
Who can/should keep track of who can give what? Once we've tallied up everyone's potential donations for a total, we can approach Eric with what we can afford... and maybe we can compromise on the price.
Without this site my car would be nowhere close to where it is today, I have made some great friends here over the years and would be happy to help keep this place going.
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