An interesting side note to the membership numbers. The e-mail rejection rate from the mail out was about 45% - some of those would be legitimate but many of the others should have been dropped from the forum active members list in the purges that are done from time to time. My best estimate of active members at our former home (based on last visit dates) was about 2,000 regularly active members.
Some of the fragmentation we saw at FF came about because of growth in membership because it is harder to maintain a community spirit with greater numbers but some also came from an attitude towards members that wasn't really conducive to healthy growth. We don't profess to have all the answers and we will no doubt get some things wrong as we progress but the fundamental aim of the admin team is to foster an active community here; both internally (via events, promotions etc.) and externally by our involvement in the wider Ford community. A presence at FPV day, the various All Ford days in each State and other Ford related activities is a key part of this development process.
We will shortly be calling for volunteers for events co-ordination in the various States - this is an extremely important role and those who wish to put their names forward will need to be aware of the importance we place on this. Assistance with even coordination will be provided through the admin team and their access to various resources.
We will also be working on a National event similar to the old FF Raid but with a shorter time span (perhaps 3 days) and with more social activities built in.
We control the destiny of this forum and the management of growth ourselves - this doesn't jut mean the admin team but also every single member in terms of how they deal with new members, each other and their willingness to attend and support organised events.
Cheers
Russ
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