Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion General Discussion It is the 21st Century right?

I ask because it seems every van council or club (at least on the East Coast) have websites that haven't been updated in years. I'm not on Facebook and I never seem to get flyers in the mail even though I put my address down at every evant I attend.

And quite frankly this site is nowhere near as active as it was in years past...again everything has moved to Facebook.

It's almost as if these clubs are run by people who still think it's 1976.

Thanks for listening.

Facebook has taken over a lot of the forum activity as a lot of people just want instant gratification these days. They just want to glance at some pictures, maybe ask a question, and then not be bothered with any of the intricacies of normal human conversations. It's really sad to see things shift in that direction too, because the forums are a great way to meet people with common interests and to social network in a more in depth manner.

Sadly I think the instant gratification even hits the forums hard nowadays as you see a ton of people sign up, log in and make one post to ask a question or sell something, then mostly fade away into oblivion.

Maybe I'm just too old fashioned, but I enjoy conversation. These forums hold a wealth of knowledge that Facebook and Instagram can't come close to. I used to moderate a chopper forum, but we shut it down years ago due to the decline in membership and content. It's pretty sad that most all of that stuff is lost forever.

As for the clubs and websites, I really don't know why they don't get with the times on that aspect. It's easier and cheaper today to start a legit professional website than it ever has been. I'm part of a hot rod and motorcycle club and we don't have a legit website, but that is for a specific reason. We don't actively seek new members. Hell, we don't even have written bylaws or dues, but that is by design as well. We wanted something more akin to the hot rod clubs of the early days without all of the drama and nonsense that modern clubs deal with.

With all that said, if you have a club, or know of a club that needs help with that kind of stuff, send them my way and I might be able to help them, or at least point them in the right direction.

Just my 2 cents, I could be way off base, but that's my guess anyway.

Hey Nateb; 1976 was one on my BEST years; in fact that Entire Decade was Bomb! Party On Garth ! ( 1969-1982 = Good Times, Good Times )

Party on Wayne. Lol

Just have to do our best to keep everyone in touch and up to date. Yes facebook has taken alot but we are still here.

When I put our club Outcast Vanners online. I made the decision to not do a website. That was for a few reasons. 1. I'm not a webmaster and do not know what I'm doing.2. We probably could not fill it and keep it updated with enough interesting content. 3. Would we get enough visitors to make it worth the effort ?

We are on FB and Instagram. I'm personally not a fan of FB but we do reach a good amount of people. Mainly the 45 and up crowd. How ever our Instagram reaches 10x more and somewhat of a younger crowd. We don't care about the age of our members. We just want to put out positive vibes for the vannin community.

I work with Orlando Street Vans ltd and Green Demon vans here in Florida to promote their events. I post all those events here. I'm not really up to date with out of state vannin events.

Anyone who is interested in a hard copy of a flyer please feel free to DM me here or email outcastvanners@gmail.com with your mailing address.

This post has me pondering a possible blog style website ?


Cause I'm a twenty-first century digital boy
I don't know how to live but I got a lot of toys

One of the very few songs to roll out of the 90s that I actually enjoy. LOL.

Facebook is where intelligence goes to die.

I'm a member of a Mk1 Ford Fiesta club on there.
It has its place, I guess...
It's biggest drawback is that it's really not a compendium of information.
As for that nonsense taking the place of forums...
That's really a shame.

I get a real kick out of all the "Is my van really supposed to be getting this low gas mileage?" questions on all of the Facebook van groups. I know not everyone is mechanically inclined, but you would think a giant heavy brick in the air getting poor gas mileage wouldn't be a new concept in this day and age of smart cars and hybrids.

I guess it could be attributed to the sudden surge in "van-life" hipsters thanks to YouTube and Instagram. If those kids had been born 10-15 years earlier, I bet half of them would be riding around on fat tire choppers. Here today, gone tomorrow when a new fad comes along crowd.

I see the appeal of Facebook, and it does have advantages at times, but it can't compete with the camaraderie here. Aside from the handful of original vanners from years past that use those groups, most of what I see are simply names of folks that pop up and rarely stick around long enough to be remembered, and every van they post starts to look exactly the same after a while.

I like reading, and actually carrying on conversations. Something I don't get locally except for my rare visit to the cigar shop with the guys. I also love to learn about the history of vanning and all the cool shit you guys that were around for its heyday did back then.

Rusty;..... " compendium " ?? That's not even in my " Funk n' Wagnells " . I think that's one of the medications I'm on.

Liljack is very good at keeping the SEVC site updated as well as facebook. http://southeastvancouncil.com/ I really doubt the website sees much traffic but it's one of the tools the council has and he minds it well. I like it just because I really don't trust facebook. My better half is on FB and that's ok but it's not me.
One of the advantages this forum has had over the years is that so many members on here know each other. We've met at truck-ins or have had been to the same events at different times. That is changing somewhat nowadays but the attitude here has always been mutual respect and it remains.
Photobucket dealt this forum (and others) a heavy blow. One of the things that I've always loved here is the pics. We would always say to any new member "post some pictures" or "pictures or it didn't happen" as a form of inclusion and a way to get to know FNG's. I understand flick'r but it's not as easy as PB was.
One other thing that I miss is the females. We used to have the ladies on here all the time but since FB it's become a men's club around here. The ladies kept us honest and offered a different view of vannin that we needed.

"A compendium of information" .... I like that. As I age I've become a compendium of information. Not all of it correct but I've never been one to let facts stand in the way of a good story..

Sorry... didn't mean to run afoul of my true nature.

Yeah, this place is a compendium of information.
There's more stuff here about people's experiences with driving, tuning, modifying, restoring, buying, selling, building, and crushing vans than anywhere else I can think of.
Besides that, it gives people like me access to some guys that have been doing this van thing since I was a little kid seeing my first black Chevy van with a dragon on the side in the late 70s.

I'm with Kursed on the reading and carrying on conversations thing.
(Obviously, right? lol)
It always bugged me when someone would come into a group, ask a question, then be told to "Use the search".
As if the forum wasn't a place to talk.
I get the Jeep forums where every new guy wants to know what his Jeep will look like with a 2" lift, or "what wheels fit my YJ/TJ/JK/JLmnop", but that's different. There are 10 of those a day.
It was really silly to try to "use the search" only to find that question where the only answer was "use the search".


Kursed is right about the camaraderie.
I feel like many of you are friends, and I've never met any of you in person (at least, not that I'm aware of).
I don't get that from Facebook groups.
That's actually a surprise to me because I would think it would be the other way around.

More than "3" syllables in a word gives me a headache.

Hey Rusty; I bet you have met a few members but probably offered them $3250.00 for their van or made fun of their sister or sister's best friend.

That might be true.

I'm like some here, looking for the kind of camaraderie there used to be in vanning. In the early '70's that was my circle of friends.

Catfish..are you saying it's a sausage fest around here?

hahaha. Ladies are always welcome

Oh no Mr. Lee.....now you did it. How long before we see a 1st generation Chevy " PINK VANTHER " ?

OK.....If it was to be a pink van....it would be a Mid Dodge Chopped van like this one......MoPar or no Car

Pink Chopped Van by Lee Hatfield, on Flickr

Wow!
I love that color.

Wow !! That's Super Nice ! I'm seeing a Super Bee Tribute !

1st layer of Nautilus ?

go to:
http://www.floridavancouncil.com/vanning_around_the_world/vanning_around_the_world.htm

They do a very good job of listing current van runs.

They do a very good job of listing events.

All the cool guys are named Bill. Also

Billo's suggestion about the Florida Van Council webpage is right on the money. It has been my go to even before Facebook hit the scene.

Thunder's Garage has also started a list of events on his webpage and he posts that list all over Facebook. Here's the link: https://thundersgarage.weebly.com/events-usa.html

Today Kurk posted an update on Vanarama 9 at Carlisle Truck Nationals. That event is Aug 6 to 8 2021. Maybe we'll see you there Nate! It's been way too long.