If I paid for an Alliance Membership would I then have access to the social groups? No. I was an Alliance Member the first 5 or 6 years I was on the HAMB. I stopped paying for it when the "traditional hot rods" section was established. That change separated me and a lot of other members away from a good chunk of the group unnecessarily. Granted, back then it was a lot more strict and the hard core trad guys wanted that separation. It felt like I got kicked out of the club, so I stopped paying my dues.
Having a alliance membership has nothing to do with the social groups, nor is being a alliance member mandatory, join if you want to. The Hamb still remains free to all, being a alliance member comes with a few perks, a tag and some discounts from some vendors. None of use like change but Im afraid hosting a site as huge as the Jalopy Journal /Hamb the boss has to make decisions that won't make everybody happy, I don't like losing the social groups that I visited but Ryan didn't cherry pick and keep a few but killed them all, business decision that he had to do, nothing personal. In the long run this site is free and and doesn't cost any of us a penny unless we want to help support the site with the alliance but again it's not mandatory, hopefully some information will be saved but if not we can share the knowledge again. HRP
But you didn't stop using the HAMB for it's knowledge and content did you? You just stopped showing that you put any value in that knowledge and content.
I never stopped seeing the value in the content, but I've added or contributed valuable knowledge and content, so I see it as a trade off. Does your Alliance membership grant you the privilege of brow beating those of us who aren't Alliance members? Are you on the marketing team?
....Even though we've both been Alliance Members off and on over the years (3 times the years of many who are berating us) guess we are now the pariahs for expressing our opinions. Oh well, I've been called much worse.
Geez guys, talk about biting the hand that feeds you. I've only been here a little over four years, but that is more than long enough to realize that Ryan makes this all happen because it is a passion in his life. Not for remuneration, not for accolades, and not for notoriety. I'm damn sure it is a hard decision for him to make regarding the social forums. I am also damn sure that, if there was another option, he would take it. If some of you have not been able to work out the substance of the man, you have not been paying attention at all. He gives so much so that we can all enjoy what we have here. The one last thing I am damn sure of is that he will have his finger on this pulse, and he definitely doesn't deserve all this seemingly selfish song and dance from those that should be in full support. I just hope he doesn't start to question whether the whole thing is worth it. Ryan deserves a fucking medal, not this shit. Surely you guys know that!!! Thanks for all you do @Ryan to provide a place for us. You are appreciated by many. It would be remiss not to also thank all others that play a part in administering the HAMB. Thank you for what you do.
Content and knowledge don't keep the lights on. We just watched Ryan axing part of the HAMB that became too burdensome and expensive. We HAMB members have no control over Ryans enthusiasm and dedication to HAMB except by showing our appreciation for his massive efforts. We HAMB members have no control over the increasing costs to maintain, upgrade to new technologies, programs and hardware. But, we HAMB members do have control over whether the HAMB is a financial burden to Ryan. Rant over.
I joined the alliance on day one, there never were any stickers or t-shirts involved but there is a alliance tag which you should have received, you should send Ryan a conversation and let him know, he is a busy man and he can overlook something. HRP
Could the social forums be stood up as read only listings, closed for new postings and comments? That might cure the issue of improper use. I know that the Va. and Maryland HAMB social sites had quite a few build threads and technical info that could be useful reference material.
I see I'm about a week or so late.... Is there any way possible to stand up the social forums for a period of time so we could extract/move/somehow grab our build threads?
The Jalopy Journal
