Long time no see.  Thought I'd drop in again and see how everyone is doing.  I keep meaning to stop by more often, but my business has kept me far too busy   I'm hoping to spend a little more time here now. 

I'm hoping to make it to Le Mans next year again as it seems we might have a couple of our simulators there.  I hope to see you all again!

Hey guys,

First let me be a little more specific about some of the things I was suggesting:

Blog Style News:  This is meant to keep you guys up-to-date on sportscar related news on a daily basis, not just at the Le Mans during the race.  I envisioned it to be something like Gizmodo ( www.gizmodo.com ).  News for you, by you and with a section to post comments.  This could help drive more traffic to the site and give more topics for you guys to discuss.

New Forums: Mostly, this is to make things work better rather that flashy features.  This like automatic spam control, faster database, and a common user database shared with the blog and e-commerce system.

E-commerce System:  This is just to make things run a little easier.  It would make shopping and pre-ordering things easier for you (with credit card ordering and actual shipping costs) and easier for us (to get accurate counts of what we need to order).  The designs could still be voted on by members and even designed by members in contests.  Charities could still be involved in this as well with percentages of proceeds being posted on the site.

Wiki:  This is a fantastic idea.  I love it.

Advertising:  This may yet be an avenue we may look into, but we need much more traffic for this to be a reality. 

Payapal Donations:  I open to this, but in my experience, this alone cannot float a community of this size.  Besides, I'd rather give you something back for your money rather than just take it!

Paid registrations:  This is something I really want to avoid in any form.  This site has always been free, and shall remain that way if I have anything to do with it.  I think our opt in solutions like merchandise and donation events will work well enough.  I think changing to paid registration would push new people away and hurt the community as a whole.


Ultimately, it's up to you guys.  We do this for you.  I love the amount of participation you guys have going here!  Keep the suggestions coming.

Hey guys.

Like it has been mentioned before, the plan is to completely revamp the site and server from the ground up.  Some of the new features will include the return of Le Mans and other sports related news via blog by real reporters (including minute by minute Le Mans converge during the race), all new forums with tons of new features and spam control, and some sort of user controlled sub-sites for all of the clubs and groups we have here.  The idea is to grow this community.

The problem is a lot of that fancy software and server parts cost money.  We've been kind of idling along here on next to nothing (budget wise) for quite sometime, but to make this next step, we need some funds.  The best way, we figure, is to design and sell some wicked new gear for you in a real e-commerce section (with online ordering and payment).  As Del mentioned, we have considered some form of mild advertising to subsidise the efforts, but we will avoid that at all costs until it becomes a necessity.  Now I want to make I want to make in plainly clear:  In no time in the past or future will anyone draw a salary from Club Arnage.  These funds are strictly to cover the site costs.

I love the idea of a Club Arnage charity.  I think there is plenty of room for both.  Have you guys decided on one yet?  I can make an entire section on the new site for the "Official Club Arnage Charity"

I'd like to hear what you guys have to say on the subject:

What new site features would you guys like?
What sort of Club Arnage products would you like to see?  (My thoughts are screen printed t-shirt, embroidered polo, printed beer mug, flag and various stickers)
Would a pre-order system work for you?

All thoughts are welcome.

Thanks

Yeah I know about this guy.  When I was living in Phoenix, AZ he was a huge figure.  Everybody loved him.  A little too right-wing for me but he has a few good points.

That's hilarious.  We don't have those in the US but we do have speed bumps.  Check out what happens when a large speed bump is placed and the city tells no one... http://stadium.weblogsinc.com/autoblog/videos/autoblog_speedbump.mov

The Lamborghini is the best by far.

-Chris

Sorry to hear that Neal.  I doubt that it is our server settings that are preventing you from accessing the site.  We're not doing anything that out of the ordinary here.

Are you not able to connect to the main site (www.clubarnage.com), or is it just the forum you are having trouble with?  I assume you setup a new router to enable wireless.  Perhaps it is the firewall settings on the router that are preventing you from accessing the site?

While I can't say much about this yet, I can say that along with some of the new site features coming soon you will also get a whole new merchandise section.  It will be filled with all of your favorite Club Arnage branded things (all aimed at covering some of the site maintenance costs).

Stay tuned................

Hi Brian!

Yeah that was great fun!  I think that was 2003.  That was one of my fondest memories of Le Mans.  Believe it or not, that was the first time I saw the campgrounds.  You can't really understand Le Mans until you visit the campgrounds.  That's where all the real fun is.

I would love to go again this year, but it seems I'm not invited   As you know the Club Arnage team does the Enlgish side of the ACO website coverage.  Unfortunately the budgets are extremely small so they have to take a very small team.  As I'm not a very good writer or photographer and I have to come all the way from the US, I'm afraid I'm left in the dust.  My father will be there though and the rest of the usual team should be there too.

Funny enough, I just had dinner with the Grand Formage (Dave Davies for those who don't know).  It seems he's in on business for the week.  We've been talking about what we see in the future for Club Arnage.  He has some really great ideas.  I think you guys will like what's in store.

Chris

I NEED one of these!

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/going-nowhere-fast-porsche-917-in-your-living-room-209503.php

While it has spawned some interesting debate, I was merely mentioning my new business as an excuse for my disappearing act.  Also I thought you guys might be interested seeing as it has something to do with racing.  Sorry if it offended.  I can see how it might seem like advertising.

As far as the new forum thought; perhaps we could open a "feaures request" thread.  As I said before, I'm thinking of completely rebuilding the forum to solve a number of problems.  These types of requests would be important to note.

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd drop in and say hello to everyone.  Sorry I've been away for far too long.  I've been incredibly busy these last few years.

The short story is; I decided to combine my two passions in life and start my own company.  Since it has relevance here, I'll explain.  Our company specializes in combining cutting edge design with state-of-the-art control systems and motion technologies to create extremely realistic racing simulations - whether as a learning tool for professional drivers and teams or a fully configurable thrill package for high-end private or corporate use.  The ultimate toys or the most serious tools, we do it all!

You can check out our site here: www.cxcsimulations.com  At the moment it's just a temporary placeholder but stay tuned for more information.

Anyhow, enough about that.  I plan on participating a lot more around here and maybe making a few improvements to the site when I have the time.  (perhaps a new forum to get rid of those spammers and add some fun features)

It's nice to see this little community we built is still going strong.  I look forward to spending more time here again.

Chris Considine
CXC Simulations

I'm Going.

Hey guys,  gsda620 is a good mate of mine, so make sure you help him out.

Thanks,

Chris

He is my father.   He was also on the writing team for the Lemans.org English site (for those of you who don't know, the Club Arnage team produces this).

Chris

He who owns the site makes the rules, besides, I think that this isn't really breaking the rules.