General > General Discussion
78ta.com and the Forum
Hitman:
First off I would like to thank all of you who have made this site what it is and have made the Forum here their home for whatever period of time you have been here. I do appreciate all of you who have called this place their home. As I have said many times in the past, I just built the house, it is the people here who have made it feel like a "Home". I know when this Forum first stared I did spend quite a bit of time on here responding to posts and helping keep this Forum a friendly place for all to be. I have tried my best to keep it a "Family Friendly" site and try to be "Politically Correct" as much as I could. I tried to keep offensive language or objectionable material off the site as to try and keep it a clean place for all. I know over the past few years that I have not had the time to spend on the Forum as I have in the past and I do regret not spending the time here to keep that feeling going. I have tried to do the best I could with the time I had to spend here and I realize that has not been enough. I spent alot of time many years back building this site from scratch to make it what it is today. I did not piggy-back or spring-board off of anyone. I just built it and everyone seem to find it. It gained momentum on it's own accord thanks to the members here. I sometimes find it offensive and disrespectful when others use my hard work and dedication that I have here to launch their own personal aspirations.
As the Forum has gotten larger, the personalities have become more diverse as have the opinions and ideas. Some people have commented on the "Cliques" that are here on the site. Well, there didn't used to be those cliques here. I always like to use the analogy of my High School.. I went to Kirtland High School which I only had 98 students in my graduating class and only 398 total students in the entire High School. Yes, we did have the cliques like "The Jocks", "The Brains", "The Burn-outs", "The Preps" and so on. But the difference was that even though those cliques were still present, the cliques all got along together. At High School parties, they were still all seen together. The student population was small enough to where the differences were small enough and people could get past them and just enjoy the good times. Now if you look at Mentor High School which is the neighboring town, there are around 1,100 in the graduating class and about 5,000 students in the entire High School. There is a big difference in the way those cliques interact with each other just due to the sheer size and numbers and the vast varieties of personalities there. You won't see "Jocks" at a "Burn-out" party nor visa-versa.... it is a different dynamic. Kirtland High School also had one Principal and one Vice-Principal that help run the School and the Students. Mentor High School has a Principal and Vice-Principal for every grade. And I guess in certain ways this forum has grown to the point to where some of the differences in opinions and views and personalities now have a hard time interacting with each other. This Forum started out as the Kirtland High School and has grown into the Mentor High School. I wish that was not the case and maybe in some ways I am at fault for not being here to help bring those differences together to help everyone get along and I apologize for that fact as I am truly sorry that it has happened.
Others have said that they have been treated "unfairly" or "unjustly" here on the site. Again, I am sorry that some feel that way or if that has been the case. I have tried to run this site as fairly and evenly as I could. I treated all as equals and tried to treat everyone with the same respect across the board. But sometimes it was brought to my attention LONG after the fact of others being treated differently by some. But the thing is, that it was never brought to my attention at the time it was happening, but not until many many months later. If I don't know a situation or event was happening, then I couldn't in all fairness handle the issue at hand and handle events fairly because I was not made aware of it. I have an open-door policy and treat everyone with the same respect when they come to me with an issue. I am sorry that my open-door policy wasn't well known and members didn't feel comfortable coming to me with an issue or maybe they just though that I would somehow know everything that is going on. Well, I apologize that I didn't know everything that was happening and didn't have the time to devote to reading every post that is here.
Others have said that I have a "Hidden Agenda" or "Alterior Motives" like the Forum or the website is some kind of a front for something and I have some sort of "Master Plan" or am I some sort of "Schemer". I am like a dog chasing a car.. I wouldn't know what to do with it if I caught it. I am a simple man with simple aspirations. I just wanted to create a website with information regarding the Second Generation Pontiac Trans Am. I wanted to create a Forum to allow all to ask questions, find more information, meet others and speak their mind. I wanted to create a store to help others save some money on Parts since I am a distributor or many of the larger companies. That was it...... There is no "Hidden Agenda" nor is there "Alterior Motives", it was just that simple. I am not trying to be a Year One of Classic Industries with my website store. I am not trying to corner the Trans Am market on the Forum. I just try to make a friendly, useful and enjoyable place for people to spend some time on the Internet with like-minded people.
Maybe I am just blind to the things going on here and I know I have not spent enough time here and I do apologize to all the members for my absence. I apologize to all the current and past members if they feel they have been treated unfairly here by myself or others. I do also thank all of the current and past members for their time spent here sharing their knowledge and expressing their opinions and making this Forum what it is today. I cannot make any of you stay, I am just trying to host a nice place to be. I know with everyone, including myself, that your time is limited in any given day to spend browsing the Internet and finding a place you can go to forget about the work day or troubles in your life. For most it is an escape from reality to come and have a few laughs and maybe help others out or learn something yourself. That is all I ever hoped it would be.......
Again, I just built a house, it is the Members here that make it a Home and I thank all of you for that and thank you for your continued visitation here if you so choose.
Thank You,
Brett Campbell
"Hitman"
NWW-79 T/A:
This is a great place. I like it here. Even if its starting to get a little bit quieter. I think you've done a great job hitman
winks79:
Got no complaints from me Brett. I'm just thankful to have this site, and others like it, to enjoy. I have made many new friends while on your forum. Thank you for what you do.
RENOVATIONS:
Very well said Brett....though honestly it didn't need to be said (in my opinion anyway).
I've never seen this as anything other than what you describe...just what it is: a place to gather information, ask/answer questions, and meet others with similar interests along the way.
I completely understand what you're referring to as "cliques"....I think overall, it is one big clique here though some may feel the need to split off into different groups.
I don't get that but then again, I don't need to.
I initially came here a few years ago from another site that I was very active on when that site crashed (had to get my T/A "fix" somewhere). By the time the other site was back online, I had made my home here so I stayed (and also didn't feel it was right to abandon a group that had welcomed me not as a "refugee", but as a friend). It takes quite a bit to upset me and would take a LOT to make me feel I needed to leave or abandon friends.
I do my best to befriend everyone and assist anyone that asks for help...and I appreciate those that help me as well. I've made a lot of truly good friends here over the years...friends I would have never made had I not participated in this hobby and this forum....for that, I'm thankful.
Now I think I'm going to go chase cars, that kinda' sounds like fun ;D
banditalex:
I love this place, and for the cliques, maybe we are part of a clique, the trans am clique :)
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