Fordforums.com.au is turning 1.

**Stav** · 24-12-2005, 12:35 AM

What can I say...about 12 months ago the Aussie ford forums was born.....

I left around boxing day to find it had all begun.I am not sure of the exact date but would like to be the first to congratulate all of the owners, mods,members and guests for making this an awesome cyberplace to hang out.
While I am at it ..Merry Christmas to all ... :party3:

HOON69 · 24-12-2005, 01:09 AM

okkie dokkie
well um yeah congrats for big 1yr old
so what was the official date anyways

seems your right either tom'w or 25th seems about the guess on the date..

happy b'day FFAU :party3:

Blue Oval Mopar Man · 24-12-2005, 02:48 AM

I think I read somewhere it was the 28th , but i cant be sure ! Yes Merry Christmas to one and all , and While I havent been a memeber since the begining , I am glad I found this site cause I enjoy coming here !

RED_EL_XR8 · 24-12-2005, 03:16 AM

Time to contemplate what has and what has not changed.

Walkinshaw · 24-12-2005, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RED_EL_XR8

Time to contemplate what has and what has not changed.

Dare i speak of such things

MO · 24-12-2005, 09:33 AM

Happy first Birthday and thanks and congratulations to the guys who got the forum up and running and to those who help in its day to day running.

Great work.

XRchic · 24-12-2005, 11:01 AM

Happy birthday to AFF! Well done to the guys who set it all up!

If it wasnt for the forums, Eamon and I wouldnt be together, and we wouldnt be expecting our son!

Jac

stiddy · 24-12-2005, 11:11 AM

good stuff.. and its still growing so fast..

happy bday and merry xmas and congrats..

i think we should pick a day next week or something for a record breaking online bday party for the forums :P

LUXO_8 · 24-12-2005, 11:23 AM

congrats on the first birthday AFF, its such a remarkable achievement to be where were are here after only a year...

:party3

pip hooray hippip hooray:party3:

Thunder · 24-12-2005, 11:32 AM

Ironic isnt it. Birthday on Christmas day? :newangel:

Feathers · 24-12-2005, 11:46 AM

Happy Birthday AFF!!

Thanks to everyone who makes this place what it is!!

And Merry Christmas everyone!!!

:

parawolf · 24-12-2005, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRchic

Happy birthday to AFF! Well done to the guys who set it all up!

If it wasnt for the forums, Eamon and I wouldnt be together, and we wouldnt be expecting our son!

Jac

So in tribute or dedication is your Son's middle name going to be Laminge?

chief · 24-12-2005, 11:52 AM

In th upcoming events down the bottom it says the birthday is the 30th. It is an amazing achievement to get this site up and to where it is. It all started with an ip address, doing a photoshop compition for the banner. At last check there was: Threads: 29,754, Posts: 458,388, Members: 11,116. Well done to everyone for making this site what it is, especially the admin *yah admins* and the mods. Thank you.

XRchic · 24-12-2005, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parawolf

So in tribute or dedication is your Son's middle name going to be Laminge?

Hahaha, yeah thatd be interesting! Im sure Gary would love that too! NOT! :P

WASP · 24-12-2005, 01:06 PM

A genuine, well done guys - you’ve successfully created a wonderful community here. As a moderator on the 'other' forum this is also a sad moment to some degree for me. I wish things could have been worked out somehow but sometimes that's just not possible. Great to see that such a good thing as blossomed out of such an unfortunate situation.

Colville

Psycho Chicken · 24-12-2005, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thunder

Ironic isnt it. Birthday on Christmas day? :newangel:

Jesus was born on Christmas day as well! What are the odds.

**russellw** · 24-12-2005, 01:23 PM

The anniversary date is indeed the 30th although the actual server went on line on the 23rd of December last year for initial installation and testing. I will review the year a bit more thoroughly on the anniversary date but it is fair to say that the site has grown beyond our expectations when we sat down a bit over a year ago to turn an oft discussed concept into a reality.

It's interesting to look back at the goals we originally set where we expected the first year to yield 50k posts and 2k members as a best case scenario. I guess we achieved that.

The thanks (as always) belongs to a long list of people and it's an appropriate time to thank them for their effort by name:

To my fellow admins; Laminge, xa-coupe, Chucky and Philbie for all their time, energy, effort and expertise - this is the core group that have brought this site to life and who continue to work hard for the future growth and development of it. We all owe them a lot.

To MetalMan and Donut King for their technical expertise - there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to keep this site running smoothly and to actually keep it up - there has been very little down time and it is due to their efforts (ably assisted by xa-coupe) that it has been up so much of the time.

Also in the backend let's not forget the hosting ISP (A+.net) for the quality of their customer service and the high percentage of up time they provide at a reasonable cost.

Our site sponsors are also an essential ingredient to maintaining this site - they provide the financial security that allows us to look ahead with confidence knowing that we can plan growth around a strong base. From our founding group (Strapps, Herrod, Peter Warren Special, Battens and APS) through to the most recent (Stingray) they have helped in the growth and development of this site. A special thanks to XRFPV8 for his efforts in working with our site sponsors (and finding many of them) - it is greatly appreciated.

Our moderators are also a key ingredient in assisting with keeping this site a user (and family) friendly place and as the post counts have risen so has the workload that is placed on this small but dedicated group fo people. It's a tough gig and not one that pleases everyone all the time but it's an important part of what we set out to achieve.

Finally to each and everyone of the members - it is your contributions, debates, commentary and suggestions that keep the site alive and active and provide the on going incentive for us to improve it as time progresses.

To all a safe and happy Christmas from all the team at AFF.

Cheers
Russ

red_hotxr6 · 24-12-2005, 04:18 PM

I havent been on here very long so first a merry christmas to every one. Some interesting threads here even if they dont seem to stay on course for very long. Hopefully we will meet up sometime in the new year, hoping to catch up with some of the girls as well. MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone and a happy new year. :newangel:

:

wulos · 24-12-2005, 08:01 PM

Very well said Rus.(as per usual)
Tis time for yourself to take a bow as well. There's not a whole lot of people that would recognize the amount of hard work YOU actually put in behind the scenes as well.
Thanx also goes out to the rest of the guys that do a lot of the hard yards, at times making calls that are none too well recieved by others yet are an essential part of making AFF such a success. (You guys know who you are)
And to everyone else (fellow members etc) lets keep on doing what we're already doing & make this place bigger & better then it already is. If you know other ford fans(or just plain old everyday car enthusiasts) get em in here & posting. The more the merrier!!!
*Forums are only as good as their members*
What better way to thank those that make this place available, then to keep improving it.

bprint xr8 · 27-12-2005, 03:56 AM

Congratulations to all that made this possible. The forums have by far exceeded my expectations as somewhere to be in touch with the ford community.

Although I have only had the pleasure of being at 1 aff meet so far, it has been great to meet some people that I wouldnt have otherwise including (but not exclusively) Melz, Laminge, Mr & Mrs XA Coupe, Back2thefutura, Mr&Mrs Pearly, Waggajag, GTP 320, xrfpv8.

Altogether a community of people that have been fun to be associated with and hope to catch up with these and more members in the future

deesun · 27-12-2005, 11:20 AM

Congratulations AFF its administrators,moderators who got it all going and it's members who keep it all going. WELL DONE.

**Kingsley** · 27-12-2005, 01:28 PM

Happy Birthday AFF!!! Thanks to all those who keep it running and those who contribute. May there be many many more.

Yagz · 27-12-2005, 02:49 PM

well done for not having effective ban measures in place!

Feathers · 27-12-2005, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rslika

well done for not having effective ban measures in place!

I'm sure you'll find out all about the ban measures soon enough... :hihi:

megsy · 27-12-2005, 06:22 PM

rslika
Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 9
:hihi:

well done to everyone who makes this site a success, everyone from the admin team right down to the members themselves congratulations FF.com.au on turning one

Laminge · 27-12-2005, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rslika

well done for not having effective ban measures in place!

Yagz

We all know its you and dont we enjoy it, just remeber the toes you step on today may be the rear end you meet tomorrow, tread lightly.

Redrum · 27-12-2005, 07:42 PM

I am a newbie to this site but the members and then contributions have given me vast wealth, which I find not only useful but addictive. Thank you to all those that initiated and maintian such a useful site. Go FORD!!! :party3: :monkes:

:

svo347 · 28-12-2005, 11:38 PM

Hey Fellas , Altho most of us can be a handful at times, Thankyou for bringing us the Aussie version of fordforums. Thankyou for your hardwork and dedication to this our site...
Happy B/day FF'ers

**russellw** · 31-12-2005, 11:53 AM

We have reached that time when AFF is celebrating it's first anniversary - a time for both reflection on the year gone by and planning for the year ahead. It's a little over a year ago that the concept for this forum moved from a vague concept to one that a small group of people were working towards. There were no really firm goals at that stage - we took the view that if we achieved 2,000 memebrs in the first year (or indeed as a total) we would be content with that. Over the space of about 10 days the software was set-up, the site built, a hosting ISP located and on December 30th the doors were opened for all to see.

It's been a great year in so many ways. There have been the Heathcote events, AFD in Geelong, FPV Open Day, Wagga AFD, National Dyno Day and a host of other events that have only happened thanks to the dedication of the small group of people that make these things happen. We've conducted our first official test day; (almost) completed our brochure database; expanded the parts database to include XF through BA and added to our tech section throughout the year.

We've had some controversies and learnt from them but mostly it's been a peaceful environment for all to enjoy.

As always a lot of thanks is due to all of the people who make this site work - whether admins, mods, event organisers or sponsors they are all an integral part of the team that along with the entire member base makes the community here what it is today.

The Year Ahead

Things we will be doing:

1. Conducting more tests - we are always open to suggestions for suitable testing subjects.

2. Conducting 4 Heathcote events.

3. Conducting another National Dyno Day.

4. Attending as many of the National AFD's as possible and making available flyers, banners and other material to those we can't attend.

Things we would like to do:

1. Continue to develop the technical resources of the site. This requires input from any member with knowledge to pass on in the form of tech documents or other resources to assist with that knowledge.

2. Foster more events in other States - one of the difficulties has always been finding suitable events co-ordinators who are willing to give their time and effort to make these work. Anyone wishing to volunteer should contact me by PM.

As always, it is the members who determine the devlopment of the forum - we are only here to provide an overall direction to follow and your suggestions in the site support forum are always welcomed.

Cheers
Russ

Ryan · 31-12-2005, 01:13 PM

Happy 1st birthday AFF.