Forum Transition

[Dan]

I am willing to see how it folds out and see how the ads and the ad blockers work out. So far this has been a very good and informative site

[hoosierguy]

Andy, Janet,

I understand that to operate / support a web site and forum that there has to be cost involved. Although advertisements are mostly a nuisance to me as a participant, this would help to defray the cost of operation. A fee basedmembership would, in my opinion, minimize the number of participants and should be avoided if at all possible. If the advertisements can be kept to an RV related basis, that would be most desireable.



From early on in my viewing this forum, it was apparent to me that Redwood should have been placing more value in the potential feedback from customers relative to solving some of the nagging QC issues that have arisen.Redwood has a great product that could be made even better with feedback from customers and some effort on the part of the company to solve those issues.



When I was in industry working as an engineer, we kept Pareto charts based on product field return analysis, as to what the issues were and the sigificance of the issue. The top two or threeissues, with the highest signifcance, were always being worked on to make the product better.Will there be any effort on the part of the forum managementto have communication with the companyas to the typeof the problems being encountered by customers?



Guy

[Andy R]

Originally Posted by hoosierguy

A fee basedmembership would, in my opinion, minimize the number of participants and should be avoided if at all possible.</span>

I agree. The plan is to always keep the forums free but since their appears to be demand for an ad free option, we'll roll out a way for members to upgrade giving them the ability to turn off the ads. Ad blockers will also work for free.

Originally Posted by hoosierguy

</span>Will there be any effort on the part of the forum managementto have communication with the companyas to the typeof the problems being encountered by customers?</span>

We did not discuss this. I suspect they will continue to monitor the forums as they have in the past and they probably note issues internally even though they might not speak up on the forums regarding them.

I think an important factor in getting anyone to contribute to a forum is making them feel welcome. I don't know how things have been in the past but if we can do our best to provide clear feedback and welcoming ambiance, then we have a better chance of getting various industry folks to participate.

[atom ant]

I'm probably missing something, but how is this sight funded without ads now?

[Oregonbound]

Just an idea related to getting feedback to Redwood as far a QC issues, it may be easier for us and them to have a forum area dedicated to owner's problems/suggestions.

Of course, if taken up, there may need to be a limit on the number of characters allowed to keep it focused on specifying the problem rather than for venting any frustrations (more approp. for other forum areas)

[Oriana]

Originally Posted by atom ant

I'm probably missing something, but how is this sight funded without ads now?

Until now this forum was owned & funded by Redwood.

[atom ant]

So if it is going private, why do we need two?

[DMac]

Wewere at the IN rally earlier in the year from FLand final got some time toenlist today........better late than never! It sounds like we're here justin time for the BIG EVENT

[spindrift]

Originally Posted by atom ant

So if it is going private, why do we need two?

Competition is a good thing.

[lwg]

I suspect the move isn't necessarily due to the cost of running a forum as that is really negligible for a forum with this small of a volume. However it's likely related to the actual administration of the site as that takes some level of focus that an RV company might not consider a business objective (think financials).

[Andy R]

Originally Posted by lwg

I suspect the move isn't necessarily due to the cost of running a forum as that is really negligible for a forum with this small of a volume. However it's likely related to the actual administration of the site as that takes some level of focus that an RV company might not consider a business objective (think financials).

I can't speak for Redwood but my opinion is that they understand there is value in having a community for their owners to connect. You have to keep in mind they build RVs so they don't have the skill sets needed to maintain and manage an online community. When I approached Redwood I basically outlined the case that they build RVs and we build communities. If I was going to try and build RVs they would probably not be as successful as a firm who's building building RVs for years. Likewise when a manufacturing firm tries to build and foster an online community, they simply don't have the tens of thousands of hours of experience in building forum communities.

You also need to keep in mind that when it's an official company owned community, members can take comments from a mod or admin as an official statement from the company (even though it wasn't intended to be). Now that we will be an independent community we can expand the team to be member managed which will help make the community easier to manage.

I applaud Redwood for having the foresight to start this forum and for running it for so long. I hope that they will be proud of how we foster it from here on out and that Redwood owners will consider this to be a great resource for them and the ownership of their RVs.

[Rick]

Nicely stated.

[Oregonbound]

Look forward to continuing to being a part of the forum

[Dave]

I see no reason why there can't be two separate forums operated by two different organizations.

Dave from Maine