Sunday Brainstorming Jam Session - Increase Member Registrations

Caleb515

Addict
Aug 20, 2020
612
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Chicago, IL
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Caleb
So I’ll go ahead and throw my input in for what it’s worth. For reference I’m late 20’s and grew up being very active on forums and in the car community.

I joined here over a year ago and after a few posts fell off. I still browsed a lot, but was never really active. IMO (and with all due respect) coming to this forum can be a bit intimidating as it seems like everyone already knows everyone. Not that people aren’t welcoming and nice (they are!) but to me it can be hard to jump into a new place when everyone is on a first name basis and it feels more like your invading a friend group than joining a forum. Maybe it is due to this forum being local and more niche than most, but a bit different from my other forum experiences.

I think age does have a lot to do with it as well. I’m under 30, live downtown in the loop and don’t have as much in common as most people here. I consider this forum more general interest with a focus on cars than an actual car forum (again, my opinion and could be totally wrong) but it seems like majority of the talk here is in the general discussion / off topic forums and not as much related to Cars.

More in person events I feel are always a good thing and maybe sponsoring a booth at other large car events could get some new faces. My friend runs North Suburbs Cars and Coffee and they have incredible turnouts every month. I’m sure a booth setup there or somewhere similar would pull some interest, but it comes at a cost and time of course.
 

Sprayin

Public Enemy #1
TCG Premium
Oct 8, 2008
25,114
20,155
Grand Rapids, MI
Rebrand to The Garage or something like that.

Seriously though, I was thinking about the "is this a car forum or not" thread.

If you ever listened to aVe for any period of time, he said something along the lines of a bunch of guys hanging out in the shop.
I made this suggestion almost 10 years ago (when I was living in AZ) since it's hard to try to pick up members from other parts of the country when the website has Chicago in the name.
 
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SleeperLS

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Oct 19, 2008
14,355
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West of the Mississippi
drop buisness cards and decals in the parking lot of a local HS with an auto shop?

jiffy lube and ntb did that shit back when i was at palatine HS

do any high schools have autos anymore?
This is a good idea IMO. Ask around for high schools or trade car schools and bring some nice TCG cars to their classes or invite the kids out to a car show or meet. Have the owners talk about them and what it takes to have a dialed in car. See if you can get some younger people to participate that way.
 

ZXMustang

Suh dude
Feb 19, 2019
2,829
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I had people I've referred to this site tell me its too intimidating to post on. Seeing new members get messed with from the cliques of OG people on here, and the lack of moderation. You can take that how you will, but people will most likely lurk at first. Then when they see the pages and pages of threads of regulars fucking with people and all the inside jokes, its not an inviting place to want to sign up at.

If you bend to that mentality though, it will be a revolving door of new people and people leaving and the same questions will be asked over and over and over. Tribal knowledge and the comradery will be gone.

The happy medium is I don't know. But that's the perception I get from the many I've sent here to join over the years.
 

ZXMustang

Suh dude
Feb 19, 2019
2,829
6,686
So I’ll go ahead and throw my input in for what it’s worth. For reference I’m late 20’s and grew up being very active on forums and in the car community.

I joined here over a year ago and after a few posts fell off. I still browsed a lot, but was never really active. IMO (and with all due respect) coming to this forum can be a bit intimidating as it seems like everyone already knows everyone. Not that people aren’t welcoming and nice (they are!) but to me it can be hard to jump into a new place when everyone is on a first name basis and it feels more like your invading a friend group than joining a forum. Maybe it is due to this forum being local and more niche than most, but a bit different from my other forum experiences.

I think age does have a lot to do with it as well. I’m under 30, live downtown in the loop and don’t have as much in common as most people here. I consider this forum more general interest with a focus on cars than an actual car forum (again, my opinion and could be totally wrong) but it seems like majority of the talk here is in the general discussion / off topic forums and not as much related to Cars.

More in person events I feel are always a good thing and maybe sponsoring a booth at other large car events could get some new faces. My friend runs North Suburbs Cars and Coffee and they have incredible turnouts every month. I’m sure a booth setup there or somewhere similar would pull some interest, but it comes at a cost and time of course.

You literally posted this when I was typing my response. And you nailed it.
 
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DEEZUZ

NO PUKESTERS
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Nov 20, 2008
82,325
94,416
NWI
There is A LOT of life for forums still, a lot. Just tougher for the smaller local stuff.
You say there is alot of life for other forums...

Do you know what quality and quantity is?

Any SHO forum.... There will be 8 brand new threads a day asking about PTU's.

Any gun forum... "can I shoot this mfer in the face if he looks at me wrong"

Any f150 forum... "can I fit 35s without rubbing on stock lift"
 

Mook

Mr. Manager
Staff member
Admin
May 23, 2007
206,709
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Real Name
Mike
You say there is alot of life for other forums...

Do you know what quality and quantity is?

Any SHO forum.... There will be 8 brand new threads a day asking about PTU's.

Any gun forum... "can I shoot this mfer in the face if he looks at me wrong"

Any f150 forum... "can I fit 35s without rubbing on stock lift"
I have insight into things and I can't get into them but you're only half right. But point taken.
 
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Mook

Mr. Manager
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Admin
May 23, 2007
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Elgin
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Mike
So I’ll go ahead and throw my input in for what it’s worth. For reference I’m late 20’s and grew up being very active on forums and in the car community.

I joined here over a year ago and after a few posts fell off. I still browsed a lot, but was never really active. IMO (and with all due respect) coming to this forum can be a bit intimidating as it seems like everyone already knows everyone. Not that people aren’t welcoming and nice (they are!) but to me it can be hard to jump into a new place when everyone is on a first name basis and it feels more like your invading a friend group than joining a forum. Maybe it is due to this forum being local and more niche than most, but a bit different from my other forum experiences.

I think age does have a lot to do with it as well. I’m under 30, live downtown in the loop and don’t have as much in common as most people here. I consider this forum more general interest with a focus on cars than an actual car forum (again, my opinion and could be totally wrong) but it seems like majority of the talk here is in the general discussion / off topic forums and not as much related to Cars.

More in person events I feel are always a good thing and maybe sponsoring a booth at other large car events could get some new faces. My friend runs North Suburbs Cars and Coffee and they have incredible turnouts every month. I’m sure a booth setup there or somewhere similar would pull some interest, but it comes at a cost and time of course.
This site is far from welcoming, I wont deny that. Ive griped about it publicly and not publicly for years.
 
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Mook

Mr. Manager
Staff member
Admin
May 23, 2007
206,709
117,596
Elgin
Real Name
Mike
They're all from here originally though, or lived here at some point. Except for the sloppy guys, but idk how many are left.
Not true. We've had people join from Ukraine and remain active, Russia, Canada, UK, etc. Sloppy did bring a brief international influx but that died because Sloppy stopped promoting us not long after they started.
 

ZXMustang

Suh dude
Feb 19, 2019
2,829
6,686
This site is far from welcoming, I wont deny that. Ive griped about it publicly and not publicly for years.

No offense Mike, but griping about it vs pulling out the hammer and enforcing are two different things. This is ultimately the issue in regards to this subject. You are an awesome person both here and IRL, but that hammer needs to come out and no matter the feelings that will get hurt, it needs to be swung.

Handing out a few vacations here and there so this place can get to a happy medium is something you should be doing daily.

Threads get so far out of hand, and while entertaining its really putting most people off.
 

Gone_2022

TCG Elite Member
Sep 4, 2013
13,094
7,525
No offense Mike, but griping about it vs pulling out the hammer and enforcing are two different things. This is ultimately the issue in regards to this subject. You are an awesome person both here and IRL, but that hammer needs to come out and no matter the feelings that will get hurt, it needs to be swung.

Handing out a few vacations here and there so this place can get to a happy medium is something you should be doing daily.

Threads get so far out of hand, and while entertaining its really putting most people off.

This. And I am guilty as well. So no stones being thrown here.

The way I see it, is I’ve been around this site since dear lord prob 2008-2009 era (wow we are old). If I was new coming into it now, I don’t think I would post or be coming here regularly. The trolling, quips at people, and the general mood sometimes between members can be a bit much. (Again guilty here). This is a reason I’ve actually taken a break from this forum multiple times. Deleted Tapatalk etc.
 
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Lord Tin Foilhat

TCG Conspiracy Lead Investigator
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Jul 8, 2007
60,686
56,744
Privy Chamber
I had people I've referred to this site tell me its too intimidating to post on. Seeing new members get messed with from the cliques of OG people on here, and the lack of moderation. You can take that how you will, but people will most likely lurk at first. Then when they see the pages and pages of threads of regulars fucking with people and all the inside jokes, its not an inviting place to want to sign up at.

If you bend to that mentality though, it will be a revolving door of new people and people leaving and the same questions will be asked over and over and over. Tribal knowledge and the comradery will be gone.

The happy medium is I don't know. But that's the perception I get from the many I've sent here to join over the years.
You can say this about any forum running longer then a year....

I felt the same way about chitown racing and even cobaltss.net.... CSS isn't region locked by name and felt clicky too.

Tell them to get over it and post. Just like in person, get over it and say "Hi"
 

CMNTMXR57

GM, Holden & Chrysler Mini-Van nut swinger
Sep 12, 2008
26,172
31,303
Elgin
In light of the other thread polling us and finding that this place has also become a lot of general interest despite being car/automotive centric, is embracing other topics that typically come up here. so maybe a revamp/expanding of the sections like the general section. Stuff like electronics where you can talk TV's, home theater setups, phones, etc... Sections for other forms of transportation such as aviation, military, trains, etc... While we have a sports/fitness section, that could be continued. Stuff like that.

It might help draw people in that aren't car savvy necessarily but now have a place to talk, as well as us regulars that have other interests other than cars. I know the general section kinda covers this, but define it more I guess.
 
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IceCreamAssassin

When in doubt, throttle out
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Jan 28, 2011
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Cary
If the world only knew how many doctors, engineers, and lawyers we have here they would all come a running!
I can ask anything from how does a posi work on a Plymouth, to what the fuck is wrong with this mole, to look at this video… he’s going to jail for a long time. And get all the answers!
 

Mr_Roboto

Doing the jobs nobody wants to
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Feb 4, 2012
25,677
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Nashotah, Wisconsin (AKA not Illinois)
To be truthful, out of all the forums I am on and used to be on this is still one of the most active. By a decent margin too. Go look at how many posts a day even say Thirdgen.org gets now. They're owned by a big conglomorate, have what used to be at least a paid mod, etc. Most of the ones I used to enjoy that were very active (hosted events, high post volume, high activity etc.) now don't do squat. That's a depressing thing to me, I never did FB and really don't ever intend on doing such either.
 

frank

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Could a forum like TCG advertise on other forums as a sponsor to attract more users?

I dont social media at all, I’m sure TCG has Facebook, insta, tik tock, blog? etc… would a random post from the site, from a random sub group in the forum with hashtags help out any? Example - new car purchase, like Dans new electric vw? Knife post? The Ak-build? New member ?

Does social media recognize hashtags in forums? if someone tags a phrase or something of the sort will it be seen on social media? #hellcatwidebody ?

Could those who live out of the Chicago land area search for local groups to them on social media get connected with those and bring those users over to a forum based platform?

car spotting groups on social media? Could TCG post in several groups nation wide? Seems like every major city has one and that could be the gateway drug to the forum, some hashtags variants of TCG. ( maybe add a dedicated car spotting sub group in our the forum?)

More Russian lathe videos?

Some forums seem to have a good amount of interaction as in corvette forum, a few 4Runner forums I’m in, 6speed, etc… Always new posts ( some are redundant questions asked over and over ), but those are more make and model specific.
 

DEEZUZ

NO PUKESTERS
TCG Premium
Nov 20, 2008
82,325
94,416
NWI
Thought about ignoring this thread.

Seems like we have to talk you off the ledge every few months.

I'd talk you off every day.

You need to realize you have created and mothered one of the biggest local forums and have been doing it for years.

We all love it.

I don't know what you want? Seems like for every 10 members that join, 1 or 2 actually stick around and post of value. Rest either photo dump their build, talk for a page, then peace.

Shits fire and I'm sure there is a rub spot on my phone screen from where I refresh this forum every few minutes to see what else has posted...

You can't please everyone, you've done wonders with keeping political shit on its side, you can't help it when others bring it outside of those areas just for a quick laugh(I'm guilty)
 
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