Question... i-clubbers.... community...
 

How well do you guys think you know the other members of this board?

Just something that's kind of been on my head again lately. Some of you only know screen names. Or maybe you know real names but never met them. Some of you have met but don't really KNOW the people... etc...

So... how well do you think you know other i-clubbers and how does it effect the way you communicate and the things you do?

Part of the reason I ask this is because BAM is coming up and the crew puts a lot of their lives in to making the event happen. And the reason we do is to get everyone together to have a good time as a group. Hang out. Laugh. Raise some coin for charity. Etc. We really do it because i-club has been at varying times and at varying degrees a part of our lives for a long time.

So it got me thinking... what do people think about me... why do they think I do this... do they care... do they think about it. How many people know other folks on the boards in such a way that they'd call each other friends. What kind of people are we. What kind of community. Etc.




So... back to the simple question... how well do you think you know the other forum members?

I cant say i know anyone on this board well enough to call a friend

Mostly my fault. I joined i club for the help and to meet new subaru people. Came in with expectation to go to the common meets and to host a few bbqs at my house...that soon came to a halt as work became more hectic and school was back on. Having a kid is awesome but as many know takes priority.

So i go to BAM to hopefully meet new people there and to see how the community is growing.

I greatly appreciate all the hard work that goes into making this event happen

Thanks a million Ray and those involved

Meh I know a few people here pretty good, one person I call a good friend, another I would hang out with in a heartbeat if he asked.

On the flip side one I have never met in person I am 100% sure if I do, I am taking a swing at because the ****er is a absolute threat to me. Kind of figure its a him or me situation if we ever bump into each other and I won't take the chance he isn't going to be aggressive.

i used to know a good amount of baic folks, but many have moved on to other things and eased off the forums and such. those folks still keep in touch with outside of the forum world. else everyone on here is just a name, a handle, a car. but still despite all the trolling and stupidity going on, i still think this is still one of the better car club communities out there.

I do not know if this gets said often enough…but thank you Ray (and Gagan) for organizing BAM. I know the logistics and time involved in organizing large events and it is truly an awesome thing to have someone do it for the love of the community (regardless of the drama that ensues). I only exchanged posts and PMs with you and not yet had the pleasure of making you acquaintance. If I had to make a conclusion from that limited communications; I think you are a stand up dude that is no different than the rest of us…someone’s whose trying to make the best out of the cards life dealt to them. If I make it to BAM I will definitely make a point to track you down and shake your hand.

That said, I think any forum is a fair representative of a regular society, just contained to a specific hobby. You have various types of individuals with various types of personalities. I would like to think they are generally reflective of their real world persona (from my limited observations), but I realize there are also plenty of e-thug keyboard warriors that hide behind the anonymity of the internet to vent of pent up emotional instability/frustrations/fantasies.

Regarding other forums members, I would like to think I have met a decent share and have the privilege of calling a few my buddies/friends. However, I feel like 98% of them I met within the first 2 years of my joining through all then weekly meets (UCKK, Gellart, Eggettes, etc). I know many of them moved on and I have lost touch with some of them. I also don't think have not made as many new friends since then, especially in the new generation of Subaru owners, which I just attribute to my old age and not "being with it” (ex. HellaFlush, Kenny from the Block, etc). Personally, I am neutral on my judging forum members as a whole until I actually meet them in real life. Until then, I try to be as objective as possible and take things on post-by-post basis.

From typing this I came up with a suggestion…is it worthwhile to create name tags for all pre-registered people with their forum and real world names?

The problem you have with trying to get to know some of the people on this board better is that you get together once a week with the commonality of a particular brand of car. You talk about the car, talk about general things, current trends and what not, and you go back to your regularly scheduled programs. You do meet people you connect better with and eventually might exchange numbers and start hanging out with them outside of the meets, but I don't know how often that becomes the norm. Ultimately, you end up with a bunch of acquaintances, a handful of friends and one or two really good friends you would call up to hang out with.

It's along the same lines as coworkers. You share the same space with someone everyday, but you don't always open up about the your life and tell them things that you would tell your closest friends or S.O.'s. You might meet some people there that you really connect with and become really good friends, but it's not expected. Mostly they are people you are familiar with, talk to, but in the end you go home to your good friends.

I cant even count how many people ive met off icrub over the years. I have many levels of "knowing" someone from here.

I know a ton of users based strictly off their online persona and have never met them in person.

There are those that I see once a year at BAM for the past six years.

There are those that will show up to our Thurs night meets here and there. Catch up, see whats new and so on.

Then there are a few handfuls that I know really well and would all consider close friends. We all met through subarus, and now hangout on a pretty regular basis on the weekends and what not. I met my roommate thru Subarus and he's been at the house coming up on two years now.

It also helped being so close to DB/FW forever. I would always stop in randomly when I was in Jr College and hang out to bug Paul lol. Still show up to the shop randomly on a day off to grab lunch with them. And now that Travis from Snail has been there, ive met TONS of ppl in the industry when we all went to SEMA together. This year should be a repeat of that haha.

I've met a lot of members on here. I'd like to think I can call quite a few friends, but I don't really know all of them all that well. I know a few pretty well and a few more really well. It is the same with work like bluewrxwgn said, I am acquainted with a lot of people, but only really know a few well and see them outside of work. A lot of my closest friends I've made through work. Some of them I've known and hung out with for a LONG time.

While the common factor IS the cars, this group tends to be more about the community IMO. People just like to shoot the breeze, regardless of what it is about, at least that's what I encounter at the meets. Cars brought the people together, and that is generally the topic of discussion, but not all we talk about. The meets are just good, fun way to chill and hang with friends, whatever level of friend they may be.

As a girl, i joined i-club couple years ago to learn more about my subaru. I have been here now for over 5 years, and have been going to 98% of all the thursday meets in sac. I would say that i see my Subaru friends more then my own family. Most of us get together outside subaru meets as well. Last year at BAM, i got to meet more poeple outside the sac region, and i hope to meet even more this year. Waiting for BAM is like waiting for christmas for most of us. All the people that put everything else on hold to make BAM happen, thank you is not even a word to use. To get 400+ subaru people together in one place is not an easy thing. So thank you for everything.

[QUOTE=i<3dirt;3605315]As a girl, i joined i-club couple years ago to learn more about my subaru. I have been here now for over 5 years, and have been going to 98% of all the thursday meets in sac. I would say that i see my Subaru friends more then my own family. Most of us get together outside subaru meets as well. Last year at BAM, i got to meet more poeple outside the sac region, and i hope to meet even more this year. Waiting for BAM is like waiting for christmas for most of us. All the people that put everything else on hold to make BAM happen, thank you is not even a word to use. To get 400+ subaru people together in one place is not an easy thing. So thank you for everything.[/QUOTE]

Half the Thurs night meet was at your guys' wedding too :lol::lol:

[QUOTE=stupidchicken03;3605316]Half the Thurs night meet was at your guys' wedding too :lol::lol:[/QUOTE]

that is true lol

[QUOTE=stupidchicken03;3605316]Half the Thurs night meet was at your guys' wedding too :lol::lol:[/QUOTE]

Not too many can say they essentially had a Subaru meet/caravan at their wedding.
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I-club has increased my appreciation for the Subaru community and cars in general. Coming from leading a local Nissan group for years and hosting BBQ's and shows I know the amount of work it takes to make them successful. Attending BAM for the first time last year just amazed me how organized and well oiled it ran.

As i<3dirt has said, the Sacramento group has essentially become part of our family. To the point of everyone asking me when I was going to get a Subaru after owning a Nissan for 12 years and finally getting my first WRX a few months ago.

I did have the opportunity to meet a few bay guys at the Vajayjay meet one Wednesday night. Uhm... Ya. We'll just leave that as "Interesting".

Thank you Ray & Gagan for all the work you do and have done for BAM. Hope to meet you guys this year.

[QUOTE=bluwrxwgn;3605309]The problem you have with trying to get to know some of the people on this board better is that you get together once a week with the commonality of a particular brand of car. You talk about the car, talk about general things, current trends and what not, and you go back to your regularly scheduled programs. You do meet people you connect better with and eventually might exchange numbers and start hanging out with them outside of the meets, but I don't know how often that becomes the norm. Ultimately, you end up with a bunch of acquaintances, a handful of friends and one or two really good friends you would call up to hang out with.

It's along the same lines as coworkers. You share the same space with someone everyday, but you don't always open up about the your life and tell them things that you would tell your closest friends or S.O.'s. You might meet some people there that you really connect with and become really good friends, but it's not expected. Mostly they are people you are familiar with, talk to, but in the end you go home to your good friends.[/QUOTE]

We been through way too much to not be brothers. We've also seen things that can't be unseen.........

[QUOTE=joltdudeuc;3605325]We been through way too much to not be brothers. We've also seen things that can't be unseen.........[/QUOTE]

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