What Do You Want?

[Xandria]

Online presences (i.e. web sites) have become synonymous with real-life clubs, companies and so forth. As such, an online presence for a regional club for smart cars would be extremely beneficial for both the soon-to-be-test-driving-a-smart-car individual, as well as the wizened smart car owner. Using Vancouver as an example where need be, the question becomes:

What do you want out of a smart car club, and its online presence/web site?

[Xandria]

What follows are some ideas that had been presented previously. Please comment, add some more etc.:

The website (not this forum) could have the following.

-Member registration - Tell who you are, what car(s) you have and what you like etc.

-Panel Swap - Want to swap all or some of your panels. You can indicate what you have and if your willing to trade. Also would be able to state the condition of panels.

-Diesel Watch - Allows reporting of Diesel prices and locations. Would also have a WAP type mode to allow searching for the closest best deal (though I'd have to figure out how to do a search like that.)

-Localized site - If there is interest, it could be setup to have some items as Canada wide and others by province or locale. As an example you could have announcements for a smart parade that would be displayed to that locale but a "group buy" announcement could be for all of Canada.

-Galleries - Allow uploading of images etc from events or whatnot.

-FAQ- Frequently asked questions by those who are just doing research for a smart car, and perhaps for those who have purchased a smart car

-Events- A listing of events (i.e. local Cruise nights, cross-border tours, charity drives etc.) that can be appended by other members

-Links- From international to regional links of relevant sites (i.e. mbcanada.com, flyingtiger.com, SmartEh!, smartimes.co.uk, other clubs, other newsletters, other forums, suppliers, personal web sites etc.)

-Resources- Articles, how-to instructions for car modifications, installations etc. that can be written, noted and so forth by other members

-E-Mail Newsletter- People can choose to receive a weekly newsletter (or daily etc.) for an events and announcements pertaining to any region they wish (i.e. Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, etc.)

-Disclaimer- The typical disclaimer that we are not a part of Mercedes-Benz/smart gmbh

Are any of the above unnecessary? What else do we wish to provide? Once we have decided what to add to the web site, we can then flesh out each individual area in terms of verbiage.

I think the main focus would be to provide an easy access and well organised interface so that people can quickly find the information that they want without having to wade through pages and pages of information that is not relevant to them.

Edited: for speech-recognition (typos) errors... oops.

[Fred J]

As a local club I would like to promote events and activities where we get to meet and know each other face to face. Coast to coast at the keyboard works well for informational exchanges but it sucks as far as getting to know people only as aliases on a monitor. It just doesn't cut it as far as a club concept goes. smarts are a natural to socialize and have fun in and that's what I would suggest we do as a group.

[TFM]

As a local club I would like to promote events and activities where we get to meet and know each other face to face. Coast to coast at the keyboard works well for informational exchanges but it sucks as far as getting to know people only as aliases on a monitor. It just doesn't cut it as far as a club concept goes. smarts are a natural to socialize and have fun in and that's what I would suggest we do as a group.

Like Pub night (dinner night) where you have a nice drive and then a relaxing chat with friends.

[Xandria]

As a local club I would like to promote events and activities where we get to meet and know each other face to face. Coast to coast at the keyboard works well for informational exchanges but it sucks as far as getting to know people only as aliases on a monitor. It just doesn't cut it as far as a club concept goes. smarts are a natural to socialize and have fun in and that's what I would suggest we do as a group.

I agree completely. Owning a vehicle lends itself far more to interactive events rather than "online" interactions. It's a lot of fun meeting people with some similar interests, yet from all different walks of life and demographics.

[Xandria]

Like Pub night (dinner night) where you have a nice drive and then a relaxing chat with friends.

Like my "Italian Ice Cream Run" idea. Excellent!

[MikeT]

Hi,

Not really sure yet....

I'll give it some thought and post something later.

You should definitely have a links page and I would recommend that smart.mbcanada.com be there...

Cheers

Mike

[TFM]

Hi,

Not really sure yet....

I'll give it some thought and post something later.

You should definitely have a links page and I would recommend that smart.mbcanada.com be there...

Cheers

Mike

Everyone here already knows about mbcanada.com. This forum is here because mbcanada keeps deleting our posts that contain club information.

Anyway, links and news and all the other good stuff is what goes in the website. This is JUST a forums not the club site.

That comes soon from feedback. :wink:

[Xandria]

Hi,

Not really sure yet....

I'll give it some thought and post something later.

You should definitely have a links page and I would recommend that smart.mbcanada.com be there...

Cheers

Mike

Hi, Mike, glad to see you here. I guess I didn't make it clear enough.

This forum exists so we can chat about what we all want out of an organized local club and an associative web presence (aka web site). This forum/board will not have links etc.

The web site, which will form based on everyone's input, could contain all the things I mentioned above. I think a links page is a given, as are links to those examples I cited. What I do not wish to do is demand reciprocal links. Club smart car should be a free resource for everyone because they love the car. Politics MUST not take root here.

I plan on starting threads for every facet/region of the web site so that people can chime in with edits and more suggestions (i.e. all the web links we can think of related to smart cars, resources of where to buy smart car goodies, etc.). I look forward to seeing what you've had bookmarked all these years! ;-)

Xandria

[SmartieParts]

I'm glad you guys have decided to fight throught the politics and investigate further your idea for a regionalized website(s).

Its a shame that this discussion couldn't take place at smart.mbcanada.com, because it forced you to create this redundant forum, but there is an understandable viewpoint there as well.

I followed the original discussion that got us to this point, and I believe that what you are trying to accomplish is complimentary to smart.mbcanada.com, and not competitive. There might be some overlap, certainly, but I believe that overall it will serve as an additional resource for Canadian smart owners - not an alternative one.

With that said - even if it were competitive well... its a free world. But then, of course, they are free to dissallow your posts too.

I personally hope you can work with them, and avoid creating a competitive environment (ie. no forum). Ideally I would like to see their forum being the place for interactive and general discussion, and your website being the place for more static information and specific local discussion.

I don't really have any specific suggestions right now, but I wish you the best!

- Steven

[Xandria]

Its a shame that this discussion couldn't take place at smart.mbcanada.com, because it forced you to create this redundant forum, but there is an understandable viewpoint there as well.

Forums are extremely easy to create, so that's not a big deal. I don't mind creating a forum for the interim... except...

I personally hope you can work with them, and avoid creating a competitive environment (ie. no forum). Ideally I would like to see their forum being the place for interactive and general discussion, and your website being the place for more static information and specific local discussion.

- Steven

That's EXACTLY what I was hoping until we were banned. I guess now we have no choice but to do our own thing. If people wish to join us and our fun, then that's great. If they don't, then that's fine too. There are lots of smart car owners out there, and I have many plans with how to reach them. I have a lot of passion and drive, and it will not be put to rest simply because I was banned from one community. If other people wish to benefit from my enthusiasm and energy, then great. I look forward to hanging out with all the wonderful, positive and joyful smart car owners (and would-be owners :-) ).

[shung]

Wow! what is going on???? Anyway, it is about time to create a true forum with freedom to voice your opinion. :roll:

[TFM]

Wow! what is going on???? Anyway, it is about time to create a true forum with freedom to voice your opinion. :roll:

Hey mate! Want to help!

[Xandria]

Wow! what is going on???? Anyway, it is about time to create a true forum with freedom to voice your opinion. :roll:

Um... we just wanted to create a happy place. I guess that's a bad thing to do in a dictatorship. Hopefully all of the bad feelings will blow over as this place gets shaped up.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

Xandria

[fortwo]

Um... we just wanted to create a happy place.

Xandria

A happy place it should be. I think we need more smilies.

[Xandria]

A happy place it should be. I think we need more smilies.

Care to rustle some up for us? If you find some, chuck them our way and we'll install them! That'd be great.

TFM made custom LEGO smilies for the VLC (Vancouver LEGO Club), and I suspect eventually he'll make some custom ones for club smart car too! Heee. But if you have any favourites, send them to us (xandria@clubsmartcar.ca). Please *bats eyelashes*

Cheers!

[Peep]

Hey we should have Club Smart Car cloths.

Like say coveralls, rubber rain boots and maybe fishing rods or gun racks with Club Smart Car on it.

It that don't fly how about static stickers for the back windshield.?

[shung]

Wow! what is going on???? Anyway, it is about time to create a true forum with freedom to voice your opinion. :roll:

Hey mate! Want to help!

Just ask. I'll be delighted

[Fred J]

Dean - Grab him, quick.

A powerhouse offer like that doesn't come along every day.

Thanks, Simon.

[Xandria]

Hey we should have Club Smart Car cloths.

Like say coveralls, rubber rain boots and maybe fishing rods or gun racks with Club Smart Car on it.

It that don't fly how about static stickers for the back windshield.?

Ohhh, gun racks! LOL

I think the static stickers is something a lot of us want. I just hope to get everything squared away with smart Canada. And then... oh yeah!

[Fred J]

Keith - Which window were you thinking of putting them on?

[TFM]

I am going to get some window stickers made for the main url:

www.clubsmartcar.ca

I will visit my friend at Screenguild Signs in Coquitlam, have it sized out, and I'll make them fit the inside of the window as opposed to the outside.

Wait until I get the high res version done... Don't want to look like crap.

Unless your offering to create an EPS version of it? :twisted:

[smarter]

Keith - Which window were you thinking of putting them on?

And how big? I was thinking about the front lower corner.

[smartsally]

I would like to see static stickers, If we decide on clothes then how about a wind breaker jacket bought in a group buy? we could probably get them in the colors of our own cars or very close to the color.

[RoySkyBell]

Yep, I like the idea of static stickers!

I know we're talking about jackets elsewhere- but how about, our choice of wind breaker or fleece and our choice of color??