bansheeboy757 Posted July 3, 2003 Report Share Posted July 3, 2003 I was a newbie once Still are 8) :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holyman Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 I'm gonna back up fix's comment and throw a HUGE AMEN out to benbb. GREAT ideas. His concept of the post Q's for a week and then get a Banshee superstar like Stuart Toomey to reply on a one time basis would be awesome AND it would filter out the know-it-alls like rKt who hasn't ever answered a single question that was posed to him. I'd really like to know about the attached website feature too. {if that's what you meant} www.xxx@bhq.com would be great since I've wanted to start my own site for a long time now and I really don't need that much space. I could bring traffic to the HQ and the HQ could host my site and bring traffic to me. My biggest concern is that I'd hate for the Premiere site to take away from the regular site in ANY way. I think some sort of elite, mutual admiration society would just ruin what's been started here and would detract from the contribution each of us makes {appreciated or not}. As far as perks go, I can do without the nudie pics but Bens talent with the calenders is nice and it would be cool if he did that on a monthly basis highlighting a riders quad and a special person together each month. Heck you could even switch off and do a best of and worst of on rotating months. One perk I'd like is a sticker or shirt or mug or something to go with the premiere membership that is only availible to Premiere members. That way I can show off on the trails or the mall or at breakfast and still not be a jerk about it. {unless I want to be a jerk about it :twisted: } As far as discounts go, I think if discounts are to be gotten, then everyone should be able to get in on the deal. Afterall the guys who can't afford the Premiere site are the ones who probably need the discounts the most. These are fellow riders afterall. Speaking of fellow riders, maybe the membership dues would go toward a special page for tech info that won't change such as stock specs and factory color schemes from various years. And maybe some of the Premiere members could be highlighted twice a month {1 person is highlighted for 2 weeks and then another} where they could answer some basic interview questions and maybe give some helpfull tips on what helps them win races, keep their bike up and running, special mods they've done, or a shop or 2 they've had good success with. This could prove to be a great referrence for new readers and could be a great resource when Q's come up about a specific mod or shop or tech tip. The contributer could be contacted directly and if it was of benefit to the whole group, they could post it in the general forum for additional discussion. Well that's it for now. Keep the ideas coming and keep us up to date especially on the price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fixitrod Posted July 7, 2003 Report Share Posted July 7, 2003 And maybe some of the Premiere members could be highlighted twice a month {1 person is highlighted for 2 weeks and then another} where they could answer some basic interview questions and maybe give some helpfull tips on what helps them win races, keep their bike up and running, special mods they've done, or a shop or 2 they've had good success with. This could prove to be a great referrence for new readers and could be a great resource when Q's come up about a specific mod or shop or tech tip. The contributer could be contacted directly and if it was of benefit to the whole group, they could post it in the general forum for additional discussion. Well that's it for now. Keep the ideas coming and keep us up to date especially on the price! I hate to say it, but people don't use the search and references they have now. Now, maybe if these highlighted people were pro's then we'd be talking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted July 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2003 These are all awesome ideas. Exactly what I need to hear is what you, the members want. It would be great to get some industry pros doing Q&A. I'll do what I can to get that one included. Also, I would give a decal out to any new premier member to start with. I hope to get some new HQ products available in the near future (water bottles, shirts, HQ Banshee parts, etc.) As far as the yourname@bansheehq.com, I wasn't referring to a website, but moreover an email account. Though a website is a good idea, I will have to check what I can do on that. (Server permitting at this point in time). But keep the ideas coming in, what you would like to get from the site. I take all of the ideas into consideration and will work to get them on the Premium/Premier account. The site, the way it is, will remain free. I will not take away anything I've provided for free when I initiate the premium account. The free exchange of ideas and info is what keeps all of us coming back to the site day after day. Thanks again for all the ideas. Keep 'em coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenBB Posted July 12, 2003 Report Share Posted July 12, 2003 You want a wish list? How about...what would it take to become the premier source of information for Banshees, bar none? Alot of people kick down for a bunch of useless fluff in every mag they buy or subscribe to, if you look real hard you might see a few ads, maybe a half decent pic of a Banshee racing, and if you're real lucky some kind of pertinant article. Sometimes all you get is a couple ads and a bunch of tech on some 4-stroke (gah), oh yeah and lotsa stuff about how the newest thumper can walk on water and heal the sick. Sure that's a nice diversion and/or good source of emergency toilet paper, but I crave Banshees alone. I want to hear from the Pros. Good, bad or ugly, their opinions on everything from stock shifter length to optimum rod angle and port duration and a buncha other stuff I don't fully grasp. I think a forum would be great for that where you ask what you want and they respond, then maybe whisk it off to a page dedicated to these "interviews". I want to know where to race/ride. The "Where to Ride" forum is good, I would retain that, but I want to see good pics and written reviews of riding areas and racetracks. Maybe a separate mini-forum for each location (I know I'm getting carried away here but ask and thy shall receive whether you want it or not) for personal reviews. So in my head you've got a one-page index of riding areas, and a separate one-page index of tracks. Click on "Little Sahara, OK" and it takes you to a page with a nice selection of thumbnails that link to a big hi-rez photo, and on the same page has a listing of the area details (name, address, contact info, costs, facilities, hours of operation, etc.), AND a brief overview (written with a Banshee slant of course). That page could have it's own little forum for people to post happenings there, last trip highlights, even pics. Worldwide of course, and to include as many races as possible, down to the locals. I want to see nice pics/videos/wallpapers. Again, the "Images" forum is cool, but it seems to me it's best for tech shots and to post a quick pic of your ride once in a while. I want a killer Banshee gallery, ideally a bunch of super hi-rez pics suitable for wallpapers, of ALL different kinds of shees, from asphalt burners to FMX quads. With thumbnails of course, and limited to only the best size/resolution (yes I want my babe wallpapers in there too!). And videos. The gallery is OK but what I envision is alot better quality and organization. I want to know where to find stuff. An expanded "Links" page that'll tell you, by what you're looking for, where to go. Like an index with everything from "porting" to "bolts", then a comprehensive listing for each item that has website links as well as contact info for those without web pages. This might be going off the deep end, but it would be cool for people to post good or bad feedback on each supplier as well (although this could get sticky when it comes to trying to obtain advertising $ from these guys if there's negative posts, but hey if they're trying to screw us we don't want their damn money anyway, right?). I want tech articles like the Jetting FAQ. Straightforward, from simple to comlex, complete (with pics) and concise. Sure we can try to buy some of the obscure 2-stroke books that really dig into these subjects (like compression ratios, port timing, squish angles, etc.) but I want to focus on just one aspect of tuning and really get a grasp of the subject. I think I'd rather have a "white paper" than a forum here just so you don't have to wade through the sometimes misleading and outright incorrect information. I want it all from suspension setup for different applications to thermodynamics of combustion. I want personal reviews of parts & services (I'm just starting this on my page, might be a while). Yes the forums are perfect for this sort of thing, but not everyone does reviews, and alot of times you spend more time searching through irrelavent posts to find what you're after. I dunno if a separate forum divided into sections would be the answer but could be an option (it would need to be restricted to pertinant info only). With this kinda stuff, you could entice people to sign up by like showcasing one pic and/or one interview excerpt (not the whole thing) on the main page, and changing it monthly (I know this is a porn site analogy but they sure as hell aren't losing money...give them a taste and they might take the plunge). I definitely like the email idea, especially with spam & virus protection, although you may want to emulate hotmail where you can just eliminate one addy when you start getting too much crap, and create a new one easily. I like Holyman's idea also, wherein you can host "sister" sites on the server for people to sell items or whatever. This might also be the answer for those that want more pic storage space, if you can nail down a certain storage limit people could use that (ftp) to host their own images and/or personal pages (my page is around 8mb right now, 10+ would be nice and I could ditch my personal ISP account and just use the work account for dialup, I'd have no problem paying that $15-$20 a month to the HQ instead of the ISP to host my page). Oh yeah, you might could even throw in some search engine listing in the price too, I dunno if domain name listing (for the personal or biz page) is an option or not but might be worth investigating. I like the decal(s) with membership idea also. I still want a frickin' BHQ flag. So yeah 1)I'm a greedy bastard and 2)I could care less about things not Banshee (other than babes, and combining the two is just gravy). Anyone remember the nekkid chicks on quads gallery at hardcoreatv.com? Now that was cool too (and yes I hoarded all the pics)... BTW I'd gladly quit my job to become a roving BansheeHQ reporter/photographer, you just have to convince the wife that being paid with munchies and fuel is acceptable, heh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenBB Posted July 12, 2003 Report Share Posted July 12, 2003 ided into sections would be the answer but could be an option (it would need to be restricted to pertinant info only). With this kinda stuff, you could entice people to sign up by like showcasing one pic and/or one interview excerpt (not the whole thing) on the main page, and changing it monthly (I know this is a porn site analogy but they sure as hell aren't losing money...give them a taste and they might take the plunge). I definitely like the email idea, especially with spam & virus protection, although you may want to emulate hotmail where you can just eliminate one addy when you start getting too much crap, and create a new one easily. I like Holyman's idea also, wherein you can host "sister" sites on the server for people to sell items or whatever. This might also be the answer for those that want more pic storage space, if you can nail down a certain storage limit people could use that (ftp) to host their own images and/or personal pages (my page is around 8mb right now, 10+ would be nice and I could ditch my personal ISP account and just use the work account for dialup, I'd have no problem paying that $15-$20 a month to the HQ instead of the ISP to host my page). Oh yeah, you might could even throw in some search engine listing in the price too, I dunno if domain name listing (for the personal or biz page) is an option or not but might be worth investigating. I like the decal(s) with membership idea also. I still want a frickin' BHQ flag. So yeah 1)I'm a greedy bastard and 2)I could care less about things not Banshee (other than babes, and combining the two is just gravy). Anyone remember the nekkid chicks on quads gallery at hardcoreatv.com? Now that was cool too (and yes I hoarded all the pics)... BTW I'd gladly quit my job to become a roving BansheeHQ reporter/photographer, you just have to convince the wife that being paid with munchies and fuel is acceptable, heh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted July 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2003 Ben, you are a wishlist god. lol Let's see if i can reply to this. These ideas are awesome. I want the HQ to become a BETTER source than the magazines for Reviews, race results and schedules. I'm definitely going to redesign the gallery so that you can submit the pics online and add/edit pics in your profile. It'll probably be more directory-based. And Searchable. On the homepage I'll have a snippet of things for the premium account that if you want to see the whole thing & all the articles/reviews/etc. you can log in (if you have a premium account). This is what CNN and NY Times do now. I'd like to develop a search engine in the premium section for searching Banshee-related sites. Sort of like www.dmoz.org style. A categoried FAQ section would be great too. I could do that. The articles/faqs/and race results would probably come from a group of freelancers, which I would compensate in some way, which I would come up with a good plan for that. When I get a second server I will put up a place for premium members to upload/create a website or server-space for pics. The sites would be viewable to the general public and would probably have a domain like http://members.bansheehq.com/yourscreenname/ I think that would be really cool. Just a side note, in a week or so (i'll post the downtime date), the HQ is moving to a new web server. I will be installing the forums on there from scratch/clean so even though all of the posts will STILL be there, and it'll look the same, a few mods will be installed (Photo Album mod) and some others i have kicking around here. Also, I will be asking a few of you individually to become "contributor" moderators of certain forums. Basically watch-dogs to make sure the posts arent' getting out of hand. You all know what I mean. Same idea as all the big forums out there. If anyone knows a company that sells blank dune flags or anyone who prints on them, let me know. I will look into getting them to sell on the site. I know a lot of you dune rider's want them and that's cool with me. I'd love to offer them. BTW, decals are still available, http://www.bansheehq.com/cart/ Well, I hope I've covered most. I read all of your posts about on this thread. And I even save them for reference since I've begun development of the Premium section. Keep em coming. And also, reply if you think someone has an Idea that you just can't live without. I'd love to hear what the popular ideas are. Obviously I can't do them all right off, but I can get the most popular ones up first. Roost on! -Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 yea ben posted a pile of great ideas....... but why do we have to pay for that stuff. I mean.... who's getting the money here and where is it being spent. All of Ben's ideas and the other suggestions from the other guys sound like they can all be offered for free. In reality its the members of the forum that would be doing most of the workwriting. Would you have to pay Stu Toomey or other "names" to come and answer some questions.... if thats the case, then fuck em. Im not payin' Toomey or any big name in the biz to answer a couple of Banshee questions that guys on the forum can answer all day long............. for free. Ben, look around for a good website host. Im payin' 10 bucks a month for 50megs and unliminted bandwith. Whats the story with the banner ads that fly on BHQ, where's that money going, put that towards payin' Toomey to come and hold a sermon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 lee, although im impressed with bens ides (all of them are awsome) but the one that struck hard was the riding ares and revues. theres alot of guys that are new to the site and new to riding and are always lookin for a good spot to ride. plus if im planning a road trip, id like to read up on some of the areas that i might visit. as far as the racing topics. if you cover everything from desert (i want to get back into it) to freestyle to tt, that would be cool to and may even get a few of us out there to support the races and keep them alive and growing. just my .02 though. later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glock221 Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 Site works fine for me the way it is. Great ideas, but I can get a microfiche and advice all day long for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Posted July 17, 2003 Report Share Posted July 17, 2003 hello... .... ben posted a pile of great ideas....... but why do we have to pay for that stuff ? Would you have to pay Stu Toomey or other "names" to come and answer some questions ? Whats the story with the banner ads that fly on BHQ, where's that money going ? Great ideas, but I can get a microfiche and advice all day long for free. Yep, well said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Posted July 20, 2003 Report Share Posted July 20, 2003 hello... .... ben posted a pile of great ideas....... but why do we have to pay for that stuff ? Would you have to pay Stu Toomey or other "names" to come and answer some questions ? Whats the story with the banner ads that fly on BHQ, where's that money going ? hello....... is there anybody out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooke Posted July 21, 2003 Report Share Posted July 21, 2003 Meat, all the banner advertising money goes towards cereal to feed my hookers..... Where do you think the banner advertising money goes? IT'S ALL USED TO KEEP THIS SITE UP!!!! i dont think you have any idea how much money it takes to keep a site like this hosted, and up and running. not to mention the time and work that goes into it. Listen, we love this site, and are always looking to make improvements. Unfortunately, certain improvements cost money. Whether its gonna require more room on the server, or actual costs for the services we wish to utilize, etc etc etc...things cost money. the site will not change, we are not going to start charging for what is offered now. if you dont want to suppoert the site, or anything we may do, morally or financially, you dont have to. we are not forcing anyone into anything. and by the way, it's kind of rude to ask what is done with the revenue, isnt it? do you ask the same question to other sites you love? i highly doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boonman Posted July 21, 2003 Report Share Posted July 21, 2003 :twisted: (cat hissing and growling noises being heard in the background) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Posted July 21, 2003 Report Share Posted July 21, 2003 it's kind of rude to ask what is done with the revenue, isnt it? well excuse me :x No I dont think its rude, cause if im payin' a couple of college people(no offense now) some money to veiw an ATV forum that has banner ads on it, I wanna know where that money is going, thats all. Dont you think its RUDE when I asked my legit question 9 days ago only to be ignored and then get a rude reply back ? Let me make this clear, guys are afraid of you Brooke, they dont want to ask the tuff questions like where's the money going, they're afraid of a reply that is going to blacklist em or possibly worse, you'll ban em from the forum. i dont think you have any idea how much money it takes to keep a site like this hosted oh I have an idea, and my idea is around $30 to $50 bucks a month. I have seen website hosts that offer 50megs of space and unliminted bandwith for $9.99 a month, once you go over 50 megs of space the price goes up, but still with tons of space the price is still under $30 bucks a month. $50 bucks a month is a high price. And damnit you college kids should be able to have the site hosted for free, you guys should know somebody who knows somebody who's sister's roommate can get you some discount hosting. NOW..... factor in the banner ads are chipping in on the hosting price, and it gets me thinking.... why am I paying anything? The additional forums, and forum subgroups and the special guests.... how is that costing you money?? ..... bandwith I guess..... I dunno.... thats why I asked............ 9 days ago. not to mention the time and work that goes into it. I put hundreds of hours or work into my dinky website. Taking pictures, downloading from the camera, editing pictures which is a pain in the ass and takes awhile, figuring out Frontpage cause I suck at it cause Im a mechanic not a webnerd, uploading pictures to the site, organizing the main link list when new content is added, writing "how to's" on rebuilding the entire quad, spell checking!!, answering all the emails I get about the website, paying my hosting service, and then uploading updates on a dial up modem uggg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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