I got this idea while replying to Terry's post in the Pits. It's just an idea, but take a read and see what you think...

It seems to me that 2GNT.com is just there. We have the knowledge, the experience, and the sheer numbers to stand as the premiere second generation, non-turbo DSM source of tech and community. Aside from that, it seems like we might have minimal direction.

This site was originally founded to give the 2GNT DSM people a place to hang out and talk about things. Okay. Done. Now what?

As a point of reference, DSMTuners is a partial sponsor of the DSM Shootout each year in Ohio. They also sponsor a couple of DSM owners who race their cars by paying their entry fees in exchange for articles detailing what they do at the track. Neons.org has started up its own online radio program where they invite prominent members of the community (owners and vendors) to actually talk to the community.

Are these sites better than 2GNT because of these things? Not at all, but they are nice touches that help get their names out there and attract both membership and advertising dollars.

There are vendors who buy advertising and members who donate in the intersest of bankrolling this place (and believe me, it's worth it). There are members who volunteer their valuable time to maintain 2GNT - admin that manages technical support and moderators who keep order.

My question is, who has the time to get a game plan together to move this place forward into the future? With all the new cars coming out, vendors are going to be looking to develop more products for them than us. It's almost like a life cycle of sorts - In the beginning, people had to make their own mods, now there are plenty, but in time, parts will become scarce, as vendors won't make as many, if any at all, for this aging platform.

I feel that it would be a good idea to set up something of a steering committee for 2GNT. Pick a handful of active members who are known to be dedicated to the community and charge them with coming up with something of a marketing plan for 2GNT.com. These people would not need any moderator powers. They would just need to be business savy, clever, and possess a strong desire to harness the power of 2GNT.com to push the community into the public eye, pull the quality members and money in, and maintain a quality community that's not going to stagnate for a long time.

I don't see that there is anything currently wrong with this place, but I think it might be a good idea to start thinking about the future of 2GNT.com to be sure we continue to grow. We've got a kick ass place to hang out where we can find answers to all the questions we'll ever have to ask, so let's do something big with it.

I'd, personally, be willing to donate a lot of time to making something like this happen. I would even go so far as to recruit others to help out. 2GNT.com is huge now. I joined something like three years ago. Since then, nearly 7,000 new members have joined our ranks. We should be coming up with ways to yoke the strength of that kind of membership base.

Rather than just having one of our members make decals in his spare time, or another member selling 2GNT schwag on his CafePress site, how about coming up with a way to make Jeff's 2GNT shirts and Matt's DSM hats available, alongside the decals and existing stuff, all the time? Every sale brings money in the door and puts our logo on a person walking down the street.

People say we drive Neons with DSM body kits. Why not start up talks with the Neon community to join forces or something? They're running nasty cams, individual throttle bodies, 2.4L swaps, and 13s all motor. They are just as serious about their cars are we are and we share a LOT of vendors.

We could have our own "Shootout." Turbo DSMs could come too. We don't hate. We could have an event in Kansas, of all places. It would be a two day drive for any 2GNT/DSM owner.

Shootout aside, what about quarterly, regional events? You could have a 2GNT/DSM/Neon event every three months - one in the SW, the NW, the NE, and SE corners of the country. They could be held on weekends and would be no more than a day's drive from anyone in the region.

The 420A is made by Chrysler. Chrysler is a MOPAR brand. Why not start up talks with MOPAR communities like Allpar to share tech and members? What about a MOPAR WebRing? Someday, we might very well see a Hemi-powered, RWD 2GNT!

I know this was a long post, but I also know there are people, like me, who want the rest of the car enthusiast community to be familiar with the 2GNT name who will read this and think, "Hey. That's actually a good idea!" I know I'm not the only one who sees this place as more than just a technical resource or website. To some of us, this place is home. This place is family. This place is downright fucking inspirational. A lot of who we are today is due to membership and participation in this community. I'd like to give something back, now. I'd like to get other people with the same mindset to join me in giving back in a big way. We've got members from all manner of professional backgrounds here. I say we tap our resources and call in some favors in the interest of getting the attention and respect we, as enthusiasts, deserve.

Just a thought.

Sounds like a damn good plan to me. I'd be more than willing to contribute anyway that I could. Not quite sure what I could do yet, but I would do anything that I could.

I think i brought something like this up about a year ago on the board regarding our "direction" and the replys were little to none. I might as well sit down and have a discussion with my dog.

We do need to look at things in the future standpoint. We are the #1 source for info and other boards point right to us. We have established the credibility we set out to. I think the reason other boards have grown is due to the fact they are mostly 4g63 guys.

No one can say a thing about supporting new vendors, we dont support them period. You could credit that to the new vendors that are fly by night and half ass thier products. You cant blame vendors for not wanting to pick us up as a product line because 90% of our members are cheap whiney little children. The Neon guys accept the fact the speed and quality cost money. It seems domestic guys accept the cost of things and slowly build their projects. Foreign cars are just looking for the cheap fast build.

Brian, i have had the same thought you have for abour 2 years now. Unfortuneatly there is little support for such an idea. 2GNT's image has changed over the past year, it is neither positive nor negative and we need to seriously consider where we go from here.

Terry

PM sent.

I personally think one thing we need to do is stop immediately jumping on new people who ask questions without searching, and new vendors who ask what the interest would be in a certain new product. Both of these are bad for us. If new vendors recieve that kind of treatment anytime they ask if a new product would be wanted by the community, then we will never pick up new vendors(example: Supercharger thread) Same goes for ripping on new members that don't search. If we just politely say "You should probably search this and other questions before asking them" instead of ripping them apart, we could probably hold on to and attract new members much better. I know that was the impression I got when I first joined this site and asked some stupid question without searching at all. Nobody wants to join a community just to be belittled. Thats just my 2 cents though.

Originally posted by GSGoinFast
I personally think one thing we need to do is stop immediately jumping on new people who ask questions without searching, and new vendors who ask what the interest would be in a certain new product. Both of these are bad for us. If new vendors recieve that kind of treatment anytime they ask if a new product would be wanted by the community, then we will never pick up new vendors(example: Supercharger thread) Same goes for ripping on new members that don't search. If we just politely say "You should probably search this and other questions before asking them" instead of ripping them apart, we could probably hold on to and attract new members much better. I know that was the impression I got when I first joined this site and asked some stupid question without searching at all. Nobody wants to join a community just to be belittled. Thats just my 2 cents though.

I totally agree with you. Alot people on this site would rather make people look like a complete asshole, rather than just guide them. I'm not saying everyone, cause most people will give them a straight forward answer, and then tell them that they should search. I'm probably guilty of it too at least once or twice, but you definitly have made a good point.

okay. you guys are in charge.

Originally posted by DarkOne
okay. you guys are in charge.

:wary <sarcasm>?

Originally posted by DR1665
<sarcasm>?

by the gods hopefully...

Originally posted by Chris97RS

Originally posted by GSGoinFast I personally think one thing we need to do is stop immediately jumping on new people who ask questions without searching, and new vendors who ask what the interest would be in a certain new product. Both of these are bad for us. If new vendors recieve that kind of treatment anytime they ask if a new product would be wanted by the community, then we will never pick up new vendors(example: Supercharger thread) Same goes for ripping on new members that don't search. If we just politely say "You should probably search this and other questions before asking them" instead of ripping them apart, we could probably hold on to and attract new members much better. I know that was the impression I got when I first joined this site and asked some stupid question without searching at all. Nobody wants to join a community just to be belittled. Thats just my 2 cents though.

I totally agree with you. Alot people on this site would rather make people look like a complete asshole, rather than just guide them. I'm not saying everyone, cause most people will give them a straight forward answer, and then tell them that they should search. I'm probably guilty of it too at least once or twice, but you definitly have made a good point.

All of this is true, but sometimes people need to be belittled. Sometimes that is the way people learn. Brian (can I call you that?), I still remember the first post I ever made on T2G, asking about my clutch, and there were people there being assholes telling me to search, but you didn't tell me to search, you explained good alternatives. Anyhow, the point I am trying to make, is all you guys most definetly know your shit, and have the right to belittle anyone, as well as guide them.

Me being yelled at to search that first post I ever made, taught me to search, and to read. I do not post here much, this is my learning site. I read, and read, and read on here. There is a fucking plethora of excellent information. I would also volunteer my time if there will be any plan of a "steering committee".

Some if not all parts of your proposed Ideas have been brought up before, just like Terry ( spelling? ) mentioned. People either ignore it or just dont care.

Either way, Im in. I just read now mostly, with school, work and other matters I have no time.

If it helps through the expo industry ive met a lot of neat people an contacts. So for a large event I can give some input and help where I can.

As to the garments, again been the family buisness for years. Working for Guess, Disney, CK, And ALL the mayor stores. I can get the shirs and everything else done AT COST ( yes your 40 dollar CK shirts cost 1.20 to make).

dunno what else I can help with, just ask I guess.

if someone gets butt hurt because they dont follow generic netiquette, keep on truckin. it is common knowledge to search your question before posting, ON EVERY BOARD KNOWN TO MAN. sorry that we ask the same thing. go cry in the corner if you dont like it. the things that happen here are no different than anywhere else.

the only real excuse they could use is i have been living in a cave for my entire life and have never seen the internet before. even then, it is a bad excuse because then they would suck.

my .02.

Originally posted by Diceman19
if someone gets butt hurt because they dont follow generic netiquette, keep on truckin. it is common knowledge to search your question before posting, ON EVERY BOARD KNOWN TO MAN. sorry that we ask the same thing. go cry in the corner if you dont like it. the things that happen here are no different than anywhere else. the only real excuse they could use is i have been living in a cave for my entire life and have never seen the internet before. even then, it is a bad excuse because then they would suck. my .02.

I didn't find my first forum until I found DSMtuners, so I had no idea about the general rule of "search first", it was all new to me, and I am sure that there are others that will join that are oblivious just like I was. All I am saying is treating new people, who might not have any clue that most questions have already been answered and they must search first, will scare off new members from staying and being active and give us a bad reputation. Neither of which we want.

i stand by my comments. all newbies should lurk and read. they should read the FAQ forum, all the threads in it, one of which says to search. if people cant figure out simple stuff, they dont need help with their car. this is what it says, and i quote. "Frequently Asked Questions. Newbies: Please read here before you post."

the internet is not hard and anyone with half a brain can figure it out. if they cant read that one line and want to go straight to posting "what kind of turbo kit should i get, what is the best?" screw em.

Originally posted by Diceman19
i stand by my comments. all newbies should lurk and read. they should read the FAQ forum, all the threads in it, one of which says to search. if people cant figure out simple stuff, they dont need help with their car. this is what it says, and i quote. "Frequently Asked Questions. Newbies: Please read here before you post." the internet is not hard and anyone with half a brain can figure it out. if they cant read that one line and want to go straight to posting "what kind of turbo kit should i get, what is the best?" screw em.

Agreed. 110%. These are the basics.

Originally posted by djtrickee

Originally posted by Diceman19 i stand by my comments. all newbies should lurk and read. they should read the FAQ forum, all the threads in it, one of which says to search. if people cant figure out simple stuff, they dont need help with their car. this is what it says, and i quote. "Frequently Asked Questions. Newbies: Please read here before you post." the internet is not hard and anyone with half a brain can figure it out. if they cant read that one line and want to go straight to posting "what kind of turbo kit should i get, what is the best?" screw em.

Agreed. 110%. These are the basics.

LOL I'll admit defeat :owned

In case anyone should read this thread and think it's a joke, it's not. If you are interested in this project and are serious about wanting to help, shoot me a PM.

Originally posted by DR1665
In case anyone should read this thread and think it's a joke, it's not. If you are interested in this project and are serious about wanting to help, shoot me a PM.

in no way did i think your thread was a joke. im just not a stand up member of the community, im a dick. :-)

besides, i suck at marketing.

I like donating to the site...but as far as anything else goes, I'm not sure what good I can do all the way up here in Alaska hehe (besides get raped on shipping for everything!)