MOC Admin,
Thanks for fostering this community over the last 15 years! Everyone owes you a tremendous amount of gratitude for your hard work.
To MOC Members,
I know it can be hard to handle big changes. Today the membership here has not one but two changes to digest. We understand that we have to earn your trust. We are going to help everyone through these changes and as a result end up with a stronger community/club.
A bit about me....
I started my first forum on Airstream Trailers in 2002. Through a few random twists of fate I ended up adopting a couple of other forums in 2004. As time passed I grew more and more fascinated with online forum communities, listening to the members and trying to find solutions to their needs. For example on thing we added was an RSVP system so members can more easily plan their potluck dinners at rallies. When warranted, we would install a classified system so members could list their trailers. Another We installed a review system so members could leave reviews of campgrounds.
In 2005 I left my day job and decided to go live abroad where the dollar could be stretched. I did this so I could afford to live and work with forums full time. I ended up spending nearly 5 years living on the cheap on 6 continents. It was lots of fun and I met my wife along the way (she's from Brazil).
As time passed I noticed the that the Airstream Forum was too small to get comprehensive reviews for the thousands of campgrounds in the country. That's when I reached out to the owner of
www.campgroundreviews.com and we worked out a deal. Later we added some other RV related content sites like
www.RVLife.com and
www.DoItYourselfRV.com. We also run other forums like
www.KeystoneForums.com,
www.RedwoodOwners.com, and
www.iRV2.com. I call all these sites together the RV Life Network.
I never set out with a vision to create a network of RV sites. It just sort of happened slowly over 15 years. I've been blessed to have met so many wonderful people along the way. I get to work some some amazing Mods and Admins, it's a real treat.
You will notice some other new faces of people who help work with me to foster our online communities. Janet is my right hand woman. She's just amazing and will be here checking in, answering questions, working to build a Mod/Admin team and helping out however she can.
You will notice a new account called Tech Admin. Our server admin will login under that account (Mike). Our graphics designer (another fellow named Andy) and our software developer too (Jeff). When they post they will sign with their names so you know who it was. It's sort of a shared account that we use for the technical people who help keep the lights on.
I did sign the contract for the 2017 Rally. It's going to happen at the Elkhart Fairgrounds just like it has in the past. We are on the schedule (check the link below).
http://4hfair.org/rv/rvrallies/
We don't have all the details worked out yet but plan to work with you all to learn about who's going to be the Wagon Master and then work to support the Wagon Master as much as possible. We have similar rallies on the other RV forums so hopefully we can bring over some processes we have developed to streamline things like online registration to sign-up. We are also all ears so we want to learn how you do things here and hopefully learn some tricks to help the other forums with their rallies.
As I said earlier, changes are hard. We understand that and will be here to support you through this transition. If you have any questions, please ask.
I look forward to getting to know you all better in the years to come.
Kind Regards,
Andy R