Suggestions wanted for possible organization of the US sect.

[SmartieParts 12]

Hi again folks.

Now that the testing for the new site is going on, I'd like to hear from you guys on how you want the US section organized.

I'll be discussing matters further with your three US moderators, but I'd like to get some suggestions rolling in on how you want the regions split up.

How I did it for the test was I based it on the US Census Bureau's setup. I did this because a) it included all states and it had no overlap of states. That's by no means set in stone, and if there can be some sort of consensus to a better system, then by all means! We could base it on timezones, or those presidential electoral area things that I don't understand or by cities that have NHL hockey teams... whatever. The system I chose does seem to be logical and complete, and if the region titles (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) and divisional titles (New England, Middle Atlantic, East North Central, West North Central, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, Mountain and Pacific) make sense and are terms you actually use and recognize then I suggest we stay with that. We could just leave it "USA" and have you guys determine if and when you want more specific areas - but its probably best to have a good road-map to begin with.

An example of the layout how it is right now. Let's say you're from NYC:

United States (post here if your event is national)

|___ North Eastern (post here if your event is broad regional)

|____ Middle Atlantic (post here if your event is regional)

|_____ New York State (post here if your event applies to your state only. This forum does not exist but will be created upon request/demand)

|_____ New York City (again, doesn't exist. But if there's enough call for city-specific events then it can be done!)

|_____ Queens (ok, this might never happen - depends on just how popular the smart is in the USA!!)

As we grow, its going to be important that we have the organizational ability to deal with it. If all those levels bother you, don't worry about it - we don't have to use them, but they are possible if the situation warrants it. Just think before you post and before you look for a post... if its not of interest to people outside of your [region/division/state/city] then it shouldn't go outside of that section. If it IS of interest to people outside of that specific area, then post in a broader section. Eg. If people from NJ will drive to your event to attend, don't post it in the NY thread, post it in the Middle Atlantic thread.

Very much open to suggestions and feedback! This is your community!!

- Steven, Club President

[dancote 0]

Steven,I like your plan to provide a structure that will allow the kind of granularity you propose.And a huge thanks for including us on your excellent site.

[SmartieParts 12]

Steven,I like your plan to provide a structure that will allow the kind of granularity you propose.And a huge thanks for including us on your excellent site.

It really was never our intention to not include you! Its just when we built the site it was 99% Canadian - just a result of the roll-out decision by smart. And we were a little slow on the uptake when it came to meeting the needs of our membership base as it grew and changed (and continues to do so).It was unintentional, but the organization as well as the lack of direction (no published rules or guidelines on where to post) fostered a "you go post in there" type feel and that shouldn't be the case.Americans are just as welcome as the Canadians and anyone else to post in the general forums. In fact, that will soon be a requirement. Regional discussions, I think, should be use ONLY for event organization and other truly region-specific topics (which are rare when you think about it). I'm currently discussing with the USA moderators exactly what that's going to mean :)Stay tuned folks... and keep doing what you're doing for now. I want you to understand, and be excited, that the changes that are happening are going to affect the members that post in here more than anyone else. It'll be a good thing! - Steven

[Harleyduo 2]

Thanks, Steven for all the hard work you put into this site to make it WORK. I know everybody appreciates it although they may not take the time to express that appreciation.I've learned a lot, and even bought things already (from Fast Eddy) and will most likely buy much more since your vendors are years ahead of ours...literally.This site is a wonderful place to visit and participate, thanks to your efforts behind the scenes.

[LorbeerTLC 0]

Thanks, Steven for all the hard work you put into this site to make it WORK. I know everybody appreciates it although they may not take the time to express that appreciation.I've learned a lot, and even bought things already (from Fast Eddy) and will most likely buy much more since your vendors are years ahead of ours...literally.This site is a wonderful place to visit and participate, thanks to your efforts behind the scenes.

I concur with Harleyduo.Steven, you've done a great job on this site. As a Yank, I've enjoyed reading what our neighbors up north think of the 450's they've purchased. Heck, my sister married a Canadian back in 1970 and she's now a full citizen. She and her husband just moved from Mill Bay, BC to Shelburne, ON a couple of months ago (to be closer to their daughter and grandkids).It'll be interesting to see during 2008 how many new U.S. Smart fortwo owner's stumble onto this site and apply for membership.At any rate, we've got a lot of great members on this board with a wide variety of information that's been useful. Including our "Deep Throat" informer: aphoenix, who’s "inside" information has been invaluable (aphoenix, whoever you are, Thanks!).

[Anita-In-KC 0]

I agree wholeheartedly with LorbeerTLC...from start (thanks for all your hard work!!) to finish (thanks, aphoenix!!)

[rrrucke 0]

Steven / Awesys,I concur with the other die hearts who have expressed their appreciation for your joint efforts in making the new site more user friendly and better organized. As a future owner of a 451, I will definitely utilize this site to make my ownership that much more pleasureable and I will be advising other new owners to do the same.THANK YOU BOTH,Regina

[Mikey 0]

Just think before you post and before you look for a post... if its not of interest to people outside of your [region/division/state/city] then it shouldn't go outside of that section. If it IS of interest to people outside of that specific area, then post in a broader section.

This seems to be very important, as in my short time here, I have seen this problem occur in various threads.

[SmartieParts 12]

Thanks everyone!We'll work hard to continue this as the site "for everyone that loves smart cars".A big thanks to SCHMART for really clearly defining the problem to us so that it could be addressed. He was the catalyst behind the change. - Steven

[Harleyduo 2]

At the risk of possibly irritating others, I would like to say that sometimes I get 'confused' by area designations, and would like to request that very simple titles be used.For instance, I live in Michigan. Some choose to designate this region as 'central', other designate it as being 'mid-west'. Then we are in the Eastern Standard time zone.I like the term 'Great Lakes States' for all the states that but up against the Great Lakes. That tells me immediately where the region is. I think that I have far more in common with people of this type of designated region than I might with the way some others might divide up the nation. For instance, I am in the same time zone as Florida, but I'm an 18 hours drive from some of those towns and it's highly unlikely we would be attending any cruise in events together if such announcements were posted in our 'region', if we were grouped in the same region.I know the initial decision on how to divide up the regions needs to be well thought out and I'm sure other groups have gone through a similar decision once upon a time, so hopefully we'll learn from them.

[SmartieParts 12]

By all means.. I am open to suggestions!For example, your suggestion of the Great Lakes region, according to this wikipedia entry anyway, is an "unofficial multi-state region" and its listed along with 69 other such designations. Now, hold on... how can you have 69 regions each containing multiple states when you only have 50 states? See the problem? Are you in the Great Lakes region, or are you in some other region that someone else near you chooses to identify with?How do we find a universal system that everyone accepts as "the right one"That's why I went with the Census Bureau's list... its comprehensive and all encompassing and there's no overlap.I agree that time zones doesn't make sense because they are linear and cover such huge areas. But I don't know if it makes sense to use any unofficial designations either, simply because of the overlap. Or maybe it does... I don't know. I just worry there will end up being people that have no idea what region they should be in... but by using a system that distinctly identifies each state... well, I'm pretty sure everyone would know what state they are in. There's still going to be problems so I'm not saying its perfect. Someone at the very Southeastern tip of New Mexico may identify more with events in Texas (South) than in New Mexico (West)... but then, nothing's stopping that person from monitoring those events.Ultimately, I'm not sure it matters. People will get used to whatever system. But I tend to think more-organized and clear is better for new members trying to find their place than vague. And terms like "The Great Lakes Region" is vague. Its also draws another interesting thought... should we then do away with the US/Canada designations? Because the Great Lakes Region does not only refer to states - it includes the provincial areas bordering the lakes as well. I'm more familiar with out west, where the Pacific North West refers to Oregon and Washington, but also parts of Idaho and British Columbia, and even bits of Alaska, Yukon, and a little of California. Well, I'm in Kelowna, which is in the region of the "Okanagan" and I think I'm outside of the Pacific Northwest boundary, but I'm not sure... yet, I'd certainly be interested in knowing about events in Vancouver and Seattle, but probably not Oregon.See... no matter how we choose to make the designations, its unlikely we'll find something that suits everyone.If it just comes down to what the regions are called... I'd suggest we stick with the Census Bureau's and ask that people take a little time to learn which one they officially belong to.As I've said above. Ideally the regional threads should ONLY be used for events organization and a few other posts that are strictly for a specific area. They should account for a very minor amount of our forum's posts overall, I would think. Then, anyone that cares to can "subscribe" to all of the regions that they may have an interest in and get alerted by email when something gets posted.Hmm... that's not a bad idea. I think in the welcome message we will encourage all members to take the time to think about what regions they may be interested in taking part with and go through the effort of subscribing to those forums. But then it will be even more paramount that "chatting" and non-region-specific discussions do NOT take place in the regional threads - Steven

[gotwavs 0]

For example, your suggestion of the Great Lakes region, according to this wikipedia entry anyway, is an "unofficial multi-state region" and its listed along with 69 other such designations. Now, hold on... how can you have 69 regions each containing multiple states when you only have 50 states? See the problem? Are you in the Great Lakes region, or are you in some other region that someone else near you chooses to identify with?

That's funny. 69 regions for 50 states. That's classic. :biglaugh:I like the way you have it divided up now on the test site. It seems like it'll work well.

[rrrucke 0]

Mr. President,You wrote, "The system I chose does seem to be logical and complete, and if the region titles (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) and divisional titles (New England, Middle Atlantic, East North Central, West North Central, South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, Mountain and Pacific) make sense and are terms you actually use and recognize then I suggest we stay with that."I think when you label the regions you should include the following text behind it. For example, Northeast (NY, NJ, CT, NH, ME, etc) and New England (NY, CT, NH, RI, etc). Whatever is chosen, people would appreciate seeing the exact states listed so they know what we mean behind the regional titles. Just my 2 cents.Regina

[SCHMART 0]

I agree with Regina, i think the state listings are important...that is what the population is used to here..states..

[SmartieParts 12]

Isn't that what I did? I thought I had already done that...hold on, I'll go check - Steven[edit] Ahh, ok, this is what I did:

New England Includes: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

You see that once you drill down to the Divisional level. But I see that you don't see that until you get down there, and you won't know where to get down to if you can't see it at the highest level.Thanks for pointing that out... I'll make it better.

[SmartieParts 12]

Better?

I've put in the descriptions of each of the regional subforms what states they eventually contain. Now, I could also make each of the state names a hotlink to bypass the divisional subsection and go straight to the state in question. For that matter, I could put a 50-state list in the main USA description so that people can go directly down to the state.

But I don't want people to feel they have to drill down to the state level to make their posting... at least that wasn't my idea.. because I figured there would be events with multi-state appeal.

Anyway, its more work adding in the links but I'll be happy to do it if you want - just don't want to do it for nothing.

- Steven

[Guest Y/S Smartie]

I think the state listing would be of great help.Thanks for your time and effort in this site.Rich

[Schmimbo 0]

I dont know if this goes here but I would like to see a "smartcar gatherings" so we can organize/plan group CsC get togethers in our region of the country of the US. Would be kind of fun to do quarterly or twice yearly smart car runs. Lets all pull into the Bobs Big Boy in Burbank, CA with 200 smart cars before the Hot Rod/Classic car guys get there on Friday Night.

[SmartieParts 12]

I guess I wasn't clear :dunno:This entire United States of America forum (as well as the other Regional forums) are EXACTLY and entirely for what you are describing. 99% of what is in there now doesn't belong in there and that's what this whole thing is about And once we have the new site up and running, we'll be clearing all the stuff in here out and putting it where it belongs.Once again...Regional events (gatherings, get-togethers, etc) go in the regional forums. Everything else... doesn't.You know... it should have hit me earlier. I should rename the regional forums from Regional Discussions to Regional Events. Not sure why that didn't dawn on me before.. duhhhh. - Steven