[Ron Earp]

Sorry that some of you fellows feel that the forum is not as good as it used to be. The membership makes the forum and the moderator sets the tone, so I'm not sure which one you are disappointed in - both I suppose. However, I'd disagree with some of the statements made below on a couple of points.

With respect to "trolls" such as Meat (Sean), Oliver (John), and a couple of others, these guys were banned from no less than three internet car forums. Their posting style was meant to be inflammatory, they showed little or no respect to any members, and they enjoyed disrupting an internet community. While occasionally a troll asks a good question that needs to be asked for the benefit of the forum membership, this occasional benefit does not outweigh the negative impact of the troll on the community. If a forum with plenty of bickering, infighting, name calling, and non-civil behavior is what you're interested in, then www.gt40s.com is not for you. In fact, I don't know many car forums that advocate this behavior.

I also disagree with the suggestion to Wanni, and presumably other new members, to simply read and not participate in the forum and that this is a "cool kids club". We have members that have been here for over five years. And we have members who just joined last month. Both groups participate constructively and add to the forum. If new members don't post and interact with the community then we run the risk of being an "old boys club", and I don't think any of us want that. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case with over 4200 total members now, well over 2000 active members, and more than 1000 new members in the last six to eight months.

And, with respect to Wanni I've only ever cautioned him to try and be a bit more conservative with his posting and positively interact with the community. I have warned him not to spam the forum, as he did when he first joined, but he heeded that warning. I've had to make a couple of cautionary posts on the transaxle posts with respect to hijacking threads. But I've not banned him and he is not being singled out by me, furthermore, if he "were someone else" the treatment would be the same. My hope is that all the transaxle players can learn to get along, respect one another, and help forum members.

And lastly, as to advertising/pushing on the forum with commercial interest, bear in mind there are manufacturer's forums (RCR, CAV, SPF, etc.) where the members that pay for those forums can be more aggressive in posting. It might be that some of the membership sees those posts, in those forums, and feels that the treatment is not the same compared to the general forums. That is correct - those forums are for discussion of those particular cars and naturally the tone is slightly different there than in the general open forums (Engines, Transaxles, etc.). I don't advocate advertising and selling in the general forums, however, I don't read every post on the forum either, so I'm sure it happens. I think most of the membership is considerate enough to police themselves and if not I can help out as I've done in the past with some moderation.

Guys we have a unique community of people who like to help one another and discuss their passion for GT40s and related cars. That is the most important aspect of the forum. Our commitment to keeping threads on topic and the information content high needs to be renewed with members helping other members to stay on course.

Best,
Ron