Anxiously awaiting! One question I have is the funding without a "commercial-free" environment as I know what it costs to maintain even the basic of websites, or will it be advertising geared towards what the site will represent? Is this "your alone undertaking?" Thank you Gary!
What's It Gonna Be?
- Thread starter gary_in_neenah
- Start date
Like most things in life, this ended up costing me way more than I anticipated.
A lot more complicated too!
A lot more complicated too!
I'll be "paying the freight" on this one. I may consider advertising in the future but I'm not pursuing it at this time. Definitely No Pop Ups.
We'll be watching the amount of traffic and see if there's interest in sponsorship.
Gary, WOW!!! hats off to you!! I just know what it costs to maintain our website and thats including CO-OP dollars too and is no where involved as what something like this has to be. I am excited about it and am hoping it will be something very stand alone, don't have to be like everyone else, the "one off" appearance and feel of it will draw more traffic which may bring in more potential sponsorship and may attract the type of sponsorship and ads that will be more geared to the subject of the site. I cant wait to see it!!! THANK YOU GARY!!!!
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. Thank you.
Just a quick update. We're still working through some bugs. Mostly, I need to be able to navigate and answer questions of users. If we open it now it'll just lead to a lot of frustration and I hope to avoid that as much as possible. It may go this weekend so keep checking back. I think it's going to be worth the wait when it's all up and I have a better understanding of all the moving parts.
Gary
"Out of an Abundance of Caution"
Man, I hate that phrase. It gives me flashbacks to the days of Covid. But I guess I'll use it just this once in this current post. The new website is active but we're holding off for anothe day before accepting members. My tech resources are off until early in the week and I'd like to have them available for any issues that pop up. That being said, I can share some graphics and content in the form of Screen Grabs to give you an idea of what things look like. So, once again. I'm just as anxious as you to get this thing on the road. Check back for our Soft Opening and the opportunity to join us.But before we do that...you'll be glad to hear that I've convinced Skiroule to join us by having his own page, dedicated to the restoration of vintage snowmobiles. He'll have editorial control over all things vintage, fishing, and seasonal happenings on Kelly's "Time Machine" Shop community page. Here's a look at what's to come.
Gary
mezz
Well-known member
You have my interest. Care to enlighten as to the reason for this development. Not that we haven't seen issues of concern, just thought about if there is an issue of a clear exit of JD we should be appraised. Not against a new and improved venue, details please. We've been in no man's land for a while now.
No plans of an exit and honestly, I've had no contact with any ownership of JD in a couple of years so your guess is as good as mine. This is something I've been considering for sometime. We began planning this back in March, it's now June and we're just now ready to launch. The timing allows for us to clean up any tech issues during the summer months and I would expect by this Fall to have any problems ironed out.
New Beginnings
They tell us that “sometimes you have to “take the Bull by the Horns”. Yeah, I grew up in the country and trust me, you don't want to“grab a bull by his anything” but that's where I find myself today. I've taken on the task of creating a new Website as a Spin-off of JohnDee.com and rather than a replacement, I'd like to think of it as a continuation of a community that was founded by John many years ago.
JohnDee.com, what a great place to meet the people of snowmobiling. I became a member in the early days and a few years ago John asked me to take on Moderator duties. Sadly, John passed away a couple of years later which brings us to today. Many, including myself, have expressed concern of losing contact with the people that have made this such a special place and that is one of several factors in my decision to create a spin-off of a new home for snowmobiling. I'll still be here in some form or fashion but most of my focus will be on a new project in the form of
SnowTrailsUSA.com
I've taken a deep dive into what's working and what's not and have come up with a plan that I feel will take us into a new era of an on-line snowmobiling community. I've put a ton of time into this venture and quite frankly, quite a bit of my personal finances to make this happen. You'll see some things that look familiar, and other features that I feel will make a difference. A Discussion Board and Vintage to name a couple of stops to visit. Yes, I've convinced Skiroule to join us as he will have his own page, Kelly's “Time Machine” Shop with full editorial control over his restoration projects, fishing tales, and most anything he chooses to share.
I hope you can join us. Again, I don't consider this as a replacement but a continuation of a special place we've come to know. I hope you'll pay us a visit and if you see something that you like, become a member and pull up a chair.
Gary In Neenah
The first thing you want to do is enter snowtrailsusa.com in your browser. That’ll take you to our home page, in the upper right corner click on the registration button and begin the process. It’s not hard but it does take some time and patience. All of the info you enter is kept confidential and not all is actually required. Phone numbers, email, etc. are not shared with the public. Once you complete your entries, click the submit/enter button on the bottom and watch for an email from the Administrator telling you you’re a member.
snowtrailsusa.com is a private website, for you to read or post any content you must be a member and to be a member, you must be registered.
We'll see you on the other side
dfattack
Well-known member
Well I'm going to say it. This website was so important to John. I can't believe "ownership" hasn't had any communication with any of us as to the status, future plans let alone the moderators. Seems like this site is on auto pilot indefinitely. It's kinda shocking to me.
Looks good Gary! glad it wasn't the cookie cutter format that most of the other sites outside of dee are using, nothing against any of them but hopefully something different will attract more, having it set up where you must be member to post and read will hopefully attract more members as we have all seen before when there are 200 guests and 5 members on-line. Happy to see Kelly having his own board. I signed up, did a test post and have one question. I put in a request to join communities.... are there going to be sub headings in the communities geared strictly to "trail reports" "classifieds" "area conditions" etc... or will it all just fall under "general discussion" on its own for one to find and read? maybe I should have waited to ask question till after request to join has been approved but just asking. Great job Gary! like the looks!! hopefully the feel will be similar to the family environment we have here.
I agree with you Darren about the lack of communication but here are my 2 cents worth. The site was never Nora's thing as far as involvement goes, however I think she recognized the importance of its existence to its members, the tight knit group that was brought together all thanks to the man, the legend...John Dee. None of us could have really expected her to just take over and continue business as usual and Im not in any insinuating that I know what she was or is thinking but IMO.... I will liken it to when someone loses a child or a loved one and choses to leave whatever it may be just as it was when they lost that loved one and maybe that's just how she wanted to leave it. Besides the annoying ads which are needed to generate the money to keep it running it is largely left just as it was when he passed. She could have chosen to shut it down but again I think she recognized the importance for the Dee community to keep it, after all it was his animal, there are a lot of things John did that will never be duplicated and isn't seen on any other sites. I am thankful it still exists, we should all be thankful and as I stated with exception to the ads which are needed for the financial side of keeping it alive, maybe I am wrong but I think she just wanted to leave it as it was when he passed.
skiroule
Well-known member
It’s kind of funny, but it’s like, when in the movie “Major League” Bob Uecker asks the broadcast color guy if he has anything to add, the color guy just says “Ummmm….No”. To which Bob says “He's Not the best colorman in the league for nothing, folks.”
But Gary has done such a good job at the introduction of his new site, there really isn’t much I can add. He has put a ton of time into this and in my opinion, has created something very unique when it comes to sledding-oriented websites. I personally have not seen anything like it.
I think that once you have familiarized yourself with the site, you’ll find it crisp, clean, and fast to use, with a lot of features and capabilities. I'm sure there will be some issues that will have to be resolved but that's just a natural part of perfecting the site.
Gary and I have talked a lot recently and I have pestered him to the point where I think he’s ready to grab his hair and run around screaming but he is a calm person by nature and has handled it well.
The site will be fun and I’m looking forward to talking with everyone on SnowTrailsUSA!
But Gary has done such a good job at the introduction of his new site, there really isn’t much I can add. He has put a ton of time into this and in my opinion, has created something very unique when it comes to sledding-oriented websites. I personally have not seen anything like it.
I think that once you have familiarized yourself with the site, you’ll find it crisp, clean, and fast to use, with a lot of features and capabilities. I'm sure there will be some issues that will have to be resolved but that's just a natural part of perfecting the site.
Gary and I have talked a lot recently and I have pestered him to the point where I think he’s ready to grab his hair and run around screaming but he is a calm person by nature and has handled it well.
The site will be fun and I’m looking forward to talking with everyone on SnowTrailsUSA!
mezz
Well-known member
I'm in as well & looking forward to it. As far as this site is concerned, from what I understood, or, at least, thought I understood about the ads on this site, were ads that John sold to businesses, not the Google Ads that now bombard the site. I am disappointed that ownership has not been present in the sites operation. One can't help but have a feeling of abandonment which to me has exacerbated the loss of the man that created this site, it's sad. The thing that has kept me coming back here is not only the fact that I have been here since the very beginning, but, the people that have been & are here today. With the current ad bombardments & site unavailability issues, I'm ready for a change. I like what I see so far Gary & thank you for taking on an endeavor of this size. Hopefully everyone will gravitate over & new folks will become a part of it as well.