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Man! One day sure makes a difference. Yesterday , quiet with a few posts. Today, all hell breaks loose! I could only hope so much attention would be paid toward me if I were to 'disappear'.
I missed Jon and Truk this last few weeks when they did'nt post. I'm happy to see they are both back. It just show's how much they are respected and needed.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Every Group or club has it's ups and down's,but the fiber that holds it together is it's ability to come to the "table" so to speak and work things out. This is a great group and proud to be a member! Merry Xmas and happy New Year, I am off to Fl this morning. Truk, see you in Feb at Riverbend. Gary
See ya there Gary.
Gary, If you are going to be in La Belle at River Bend please recruit our friends Alan and Diane Neff. They are on a site on very east side in a brown Marathon H3-45 with a marroon Honda Pilot., I have been after them for years.
Jim, will put that on my list when I get there! Thanks for the info GARY
C'bus,
Get us a site number and we'll sign them up.
Why would Tom get kick off and not both Jon and Tom? I must say that if I were Jim I would be worried as to the effect this new site will have on my business. Remember this is not a hobby for Jim as I see the site for Jon and Tom.
Greg, Only Jim can answer your first question.
As to the second observation let me add some comments. I and others asked Jim over a period of months (and maybe longer) to attempt to develop a relationship with not only Prevost, but all other Prevost groups such as the Prevost Prouds for the purpose of creating enough critical mass of owners and drivers so we as Prevost enthusiasts could have one site with such a large population that Prevost and all other contributors to Prevost ownership (converters, parts suppliers, insurers, etc) could justify the time and effort to expand their involvement in forums, rallies, etc. To be honest we as owners wanted big numbers to band together for the purpose of posibly getting discounts, better access to information, and better participation from those we depend upon. The perfect vehicle for the generic site attractive to all would have been Prevost-Stuff. But that did not happen. There are other factors at work that influenced Tom and I, but the bottom line is that as owners we saw the need an when it was clear it was not going to be addressed, we did it.
I know how much involvelment and support we as owners get if our numbers are large and concentrated in one spot because in the early 90's as a Prevost Proud member we had rallies with 200 coaches and Prevost and the converters could justify the help and service we got at rallies for example. But now, with the groups smaller and rally attendance only in double digits it is difficult for them to justify the expense. So for our mutual good we need to go back to having a single entity to pull folks together, but we do not want that entity to replace anything that is already in place, but to supplement it. The new web site is not to take anything away from POG, or the Prouds, or the Texas Prouds, or the Bikers,etc.It is just to be a place where everyone is welcome to participate as they see fit, but for everyone to remain with their special interest group.
As to the impact on Jim's business everybody needs to keep in mind that every business owner decides how to run his own business. How to serve the customers. How to succeed. Tom and I are not attempting to do business for the purpose of adversely impacting Jim or any other business on the internet. Our success does not mean Jim's failure. There is no reason why two webs sites cannot succeed. Will it have an impact on Jim? There is a strong possibility of that. But Jim already has competitive sites on the internet. He will respond, his sites will improve and the real winner will be the members and users of his sites and ours.
Neither Tom nor I were motivated by the financial aspects of this, but as businessmen we do not view this as a hobby. We cannot view it as a hobby because what we are doing is not free and it does require substantial effort. I don't believe we need to apologize for creating a business model that will provide some compensation. Keep in mind that just like we didn't want to run rallies, we did not intend to creat this site. We both wanted someone else to do those things. But since that was not going to happen we felt compelled to do them.
A lot of people don't know what is going on " Behind The Scenes. " There are two sides to every story. In my opinion the most important part of this story is that we don't end up pitting member against member. A lot of friendships have been formed as a result of POG. I hope everyone plays fair so all of these friendships survive.
Jon,
I think its a great idea. A rally with over 100 coaches would certainly encourage a variety of vendors to participate. Hope you will be allowed to post a link to the new web site.