[binary visions]

Monkeys -

Just thought you might like some updates on what is going on around here and some changes that are coming down the pipe.

Let's get one thing out of the way first: Ridemonkey is a business. We're not just a community. We've always been a business, but back when we were privately owned, breaking even on the monthly hosting bills was the primary goal and additional income wasn't necessarily the difference between staying around or the forum going up in smoke.

Now, we're owned by a management company. That brings with it some positives and some negatives. The negative is, we need to be profitable now. Not just breaking even - businesses expect profit, and they expect growth. Of course, there is a big benefit, too - we now have resources. We have a PHP guy who can help fix problems. We have an ad sales guy who is going to work to get contests back and gear for reviews during the next riding season. We have people writing content for us. We also have some financial backing for the new Ridemonkey gear we want to roll out this season. Tons of great stuff and I'm pretty freakin' excited about where Ridemonkey has the capability to go in the next year.

So what does that all mean? It means changes. All for the better, in my opinion.

 

[binary visions]

Gear Section

You may have noticed our new "Gear" tab up top. This is a cool feature that we're hard at work on but is still very much in the beta stages. It's a product comparison guide that will let you sort for best prices on the gear you want to buy. The great thing is that it's ours to control so we're not looking at massive numbers of bait-and-switch stores like Google might return you, or sketchy places that get bad reviews. They're our product partners and we're hoping to bring great prices to you and bring business to great bike companies.

We need feedback on this. I know, I know, there are only like two stores in there now. Give that time, it's growing. As it grows, please let us know if you're using it or if you like it or what would make you use it. If you know shops that would like to participate, send them our way. This could be awesome, so please try it, and try it again in a few months. It's going to be growing and evolving but we need your participation and this could be incredible given some time and work.

 

[binary visions]

Advertising

The necessary evil. We are working to make the ads non-intrusive while still making them desirable to advertisers. Please bear with us. Don't get angry, just talk about it. Say something. If something really whacked out happens like yesterday's full-page-ad debacle, chances are it was an accident or something went wrong. Post up, send a PM, send an email, whatever.

While we still have a lot of ad-network based advertisers, we're really trying to make the ads more bike-related. Direct sales are a slow process but we'll get there. If the ads are targeted at bike stuff, the advertisers are going to get more click-throughs and you'll see more bike gear instead of random other ads you don't care about. Give us time and keep in mind that it keeps the site in business. No ads and no income means Ridemonkey gets deleted, not handed back to the community like charity.

 

[binary visions]

New Ridemonkey Gear

That's right, this season it's coming. It got put on the back burner for a lot of reasons but it's here. Look for contests in the next couple days and the community can contribute to gear designs, vote on what they think is the best, and we'll get the stuff made. You can pimp Ridemonkey all over the place!

 

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News

Did you guys even know we did news? Well, we do. Coverage is going to ramp up this season so check out the news section or the article ticker on top of the forum for the latest news. We're going to do event coverage, product reviews, even live threads from events with coverage as it unfolds and live discussion. Want to contribute? Send me an email or a PM!

 

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The Community

Lastly, lest you think Ridemonkey is going in a direction you may not be interested in, I want to emphasize that we've always been primarily a community. And despite the jokes, despite the kidding, despite the occasional problems it is worth recognizing that we have what is one of the more discerning, intelligent biking communities. We have a ton of people from all walks of life, a higher percentage of adults than most other communities, and some people very accomplished in their own fields. Be proud of that. This is a great community and I'm not forgetting it - there will be forum changes coming in a couple months, with the goal of implementing a forum software upgrade, a mobile skin, and other small improvements that will make the community a better place.

This is all for you guys. I'm not doing it for money. I'm doing it because I've been part of this community for 8 years now and I think it's a great place. I want to see it succeed. I hope you guys can see these changes for what they are - a better, growing website, and be happy for the direction we're headed. Keep up the feedback.

 

[Randomshot]

hopefully this means a wide variety of t-shirts

 

[cmc]

good write-up. i appreciate the community. i definitely prefer this site to others.

 

[w00dy]

Word, BV.

For what it's worth, I've met and hung out with Bishop, one of the guys charged with building the site up.
He's a great guy. Really believes in the site and the community aspect of it. He made it out to Monkeyfest last year to meet and get to know some of the die hard members. He comes from the skiing world, so it was a bit of a culture shock. Not enough neon i suppose.
I digress. The site is in good hands. Just give some friendly feedback when you think it's needed.

Can't wait to see some new gear.

 

[Randomshot]

ya this sites definitely been a lot of help for me everyone on here's pretty great

 

[eaterofdog]

a mobile skin

Yay. Ridemonkey is slow as a Quaalude snail on my iphone.

 

[binary visions]

Word, BV.

For what it's worth, I've met and hung out with Bishop, one of the guys charged with building the site up.
He's a great guy. Really believes in the site and the community aspect of it. He made it out to Monkeyfest last year to meet and get to know some of the die hard members. He comes from the skiing world, so it was a bit of a culture shock. Not enough neon i suppose.
I digress. The site is in good hands. Just give some friendly feedback when you think it's needed.

Can't wait to see some new gear.

Hey -

Yes, I'm working very closely with Doug on this. We're on the same page in regards to what the site needs and what would best benefit the community.

He's bringing the corporate demands to the table, and together we're hammering out the best way to implement them and how we can make this website great without negatively impacting these forums.

Thanks for your feedback!