10 Years Ago - It All Started

[jcocking]

Hello Everyone,

It is hard to believe, but 10 years ago the LotusElan.net Forums were started.

When I look back over the 10 years, it has been a very interesting journey. We had the mailing list with about 500 members. Several members were asking for a forum versus the mailing list. Many of our members were against the forum. After much discussion, we decide to setup a forum and see if would work.

Well, 178,000 posts later, it is working. It is working because of the commitment of our members. That commitment was first to a fantastic car. The Lotus Elan and Plus 2 are still wonderful automobiles 50 years after their introduction.

It has worked because of the commitment to one another. The forums have had members come and go, but we still have a group of members who have been here since Year 1. I hope you take a little time to reflect on the people you have met and were able to develop friendships because of the forums.

Finally, it has worked because of your commitment to help one another. I am glad we were able to help one another. Owning a Lotus, at times, can be a very lonely and frustrating experience. Our members have made owning an Lotus a most wonderful experience.

Thank You everyone who has been involved with the forums over the last 10 years.

Raise a pint tonight, and toast to the last 10 and the next 10. Congrats everyone.

Jeff

P.S. If you are curious, here is the first post ever made on the forums. lotus-elan-f19/topic-t7.html

[AlfaLofa]

And of course, thank you Jeff !!

[John Larkin]

Thanks for all your work Jeff!

John Larkin

[dgently]

If it wasn't for Lotuselan.net, I doubt I would ever have crossed the rubicon and bought my +2 in 08. I lurked here and on the lists for years to get a sense of what it was like to own an elan and what to watch for when buying one.

In short, the site and it's many great contributors helped me make one of my best decisions. Since then, I've found it a wonderful resource. Thank you Jeff, and thank you to all the contributors who make the site addictive.

[Paul Chapman]

Yes thanks Jeff and to all members past and present. The forum makes Elan ownership an even more pleasurable experience just by having contact with so many likeminded people worldwide and 24/7.

Some times its good to know that your ' Not alone ' - Here's to the next ten years !!!

[Maulden7]

A big thanks to Jeff, & all those who take the time, & make the effort, to regularly provide, help, information, & support to those far less knowledgeable (but very enthusiastic!!) like myself.

Dave M.

[Galwaylotus]

Hear! Hear! Jeff, you have done a brilliant job and thanks to you and to all contributors to the Forum. I've resolved a number of problems on my S3 with help from Forum members and (I hope) I've been able to offer sound advice to other Elan owners.

Bill

[TeeJay]

Well done Jeff and congratulations and thanks to the members who have supported this great forum over the last 10 years.

[billwill]

Congratulations Jeff on 10 years well done.


It's hard to imagine that anyone could ever imagine that those cumbersome mailing lists methods were more desirable than a proper forum, a bit like those who still prefer a dynamo to an alternator ...

Still, I'm biased because I've been using on-line forums/message-boards since 1987, back in the days before the Internet when you dialled by phone direct to the actual computer running as server, using a 300 baud acoustic modem.

For those who don't go back that far, you dialled with an ordinary phone, then when you got the correct answering tones you shoved the actual phone handset into two rubber cups on the acoustic modem so that the modem could listen to and talk to the phone using real sound.

[ken ob]

Thank you Jeff, You must have put in an enormous amount of work over those 10 years. This is without doubt the best forum I have ever used.

Ken

[pharriso]

LotusElan.net allowed me to find my car
LotusElan.net let me contact a local member (2500 miles away!) who checked out my car before I bought it
LotusElan.net is allowing me to restore & maintain my car
LotusElan,.net has helped me locate several local members with elans!

Many thanks Jeff

Don't forget to make a donation to LotusElan.net!

[msd1107]

Thanks to Jeff for husbanding LotusElan.net all these years. It is sure better than the other systems out there.

As far as old timers communicating, I wrote and was using a portable wireless communication system in the '60s. Obviously, this was custom, and reached few users. Then in the '70s, I wrote software to communicate between personal computers of the time. This too had few users. Then in the early '80s, I supervised the writing of an early communication package for the modems then available.

So, I have been communicating almost as long as I have owned my Lotus.

David
1968 36/7988

[HolmDenmark]

Fantastic anniversary, thanks to Jeff for all the hard work.

Elannet was instrumental for me in acquiring my S3 from the Bay area. It is a constant inspiration for me in the somewhat slow restoration process Im going through with the Elan.
I still find it mindblowing that we are able to share experiences, good and bad around the globe, with our fantastic little cars

[Bill]

Jeff

I dont know a sole of this forum who does not appreciate it.

I have met many friends thu it and several have stopped by to visit on trips to western Canada, i was enjoyably able to help Phil buy his Sprint here, all the way from New York state.

I get the forum at 10AM and checking it is part of my morning routine.

I hope a few more will contribute a few sheckles to help defer your expences (I trust that the current glitch will cure itself)

Bill

[tcsoar]

Many thanks from me also Jeff, and all the others for their words of wisdom, well mostly wisdom

Taken you up on your invite Jeff and just opened a bottle of beer .

CHEERS,

Chris