Miscellaneous Ramblings

Clearly, the most important element in unifying and promoting the VW hobby in the last 10 years has been the Internet. Shrinking distances to mere nanosecond transmissions, the VW community is no longer defined by pockets of local associations and events. One of the strongest elements has been the creation of online message boards.

Started in the spring of 1999, the California Look Forum (the Forum) was the brainchild of Ultra VWs' Managing Editor, Keith Seume. Keith's idea was to globally unite fans of California Look, modified street and drag race VWs through a free online message board. I was fortunate enough to have found the original Forum on its first day, finding an entire page of messages dedicated to tuning 48 IDAs, making a gearbox survive, and discussions around what constituted a "true" Cal-Look car or who had the fastest street car? More importantly, the Forum had instant credibility, with recognized heavyweights and outright legends in the Cal-Look scene posting messages. I thought I had found heaven, and quickly emailed my Cal-Look buddies, spreading the word. I found myself checking out the Forum between 10-15 times per day. I was addicted!

By today's standards, my excitement at the time may sound a bit unusual - after all, there are now message boards throughout the Internet dedicated to this subject - but at the time, this was a novel concept. While 3.5 years may not seem like long ago, in terms of the evolution of the Internet, it has been an eternity.

The previous winter, I had approached my friend and Web designer, Michael Rhodes, about my idea of starting a website dedicated to traditional Cal-Look VWs (see last month's column for more details). Observing the incredible reaction to Keith's Forum confirmed there was a market for this. A few months later, we launched The California Look Member's Page, featuring Forum participants' cars. Modest by today's standards - we started out with approximately 10 member cars - the response to the site was nonetheless strong, confirming that this was a project we needed to pursue. That site evolved into Cal-Look.com in December 1999.

By June 1999, participants of the Forum decided that we should have a gathering at the VW Classic at Irvine Meadows, California. Not knowing what to expect, everyone was overwhelmed by the turnout, with participants ("CLF'ers") flying in from around the world. This has become an annual tradition, culminating in our first annual Cal-Look.com Forum Bash, occurring this year at Kymco Motorsports the Friday before the VW Classic. That party was so large that it took most of the Newport Beach Police force (including a helicopter) to disband it. That, however, is another story . . .

By the spring of 2001, the Internet bubble had burst. Up to that point, Keith had hosted the Forum on free Internet message boards, which received revenue from Internet advertisers. Once the bubble had burst, however, Internet advertising revenue streams collapsed, followed shortly thereafter by the free message board companies. I approached Keith, offering to provide the Forum with a permanent, secure home on Cal-Look.com. Fortunately, Keith liked the idea, and the Forum has been the star attraction at Cal-Look.com since that time, contributing to almost 25% of our traffic.

The impact of the Forum cannot be overstated. Our traffic statistics show that people from all over the world "surf" the Forum, building countless friendships. We have been surprised to find that, in addition to our annual gathering during the VW Classic week's activities, Forum participants also regularly meet at smaller VW events around the world.

Industry heavyweights and legends, manufacturers, retailers, and magazine staff continue to participate on the Forum. I have personally had discussions with numerous manufacturers and retailers who advised me that they check the Forum on a daily basis. Although some may not always post messages, preferring to "lurk", staying incognito, many have characterized their monitoring as "taking the pulse of the high performance scene and aftermarket industry." Evidence of this can be seen in the development of new products by manufacturers months after frank discussions on the Forum of the need for these products. Manufacturers have even revised products based, in part, on the feedback of Forum participants. Who would have thought that a simple message board would become such a powerful consumer tool?

Prior to the Forum, the average enthusiast seeking to build his or her first high performance engine was limited to speaking to local enthusiasts, reading magazines and catalogues, rolling up their sleeves, and diving into their project. Sometimes they were successful; many times they were not. The challenge was amplified for those not blessed to live in the centre of the Cal-Look scene, Southern California. Based on the collective feedback and first-hand experience of thousands of Forum participants, however, people are able to more confidently and competently undertake a high performance project. It is not unusual for a Forum participant to be in his or her garage, working on their project, running to the computer to post a question on the Forum regarding a technical problem they are encountering. Typically, they will have several replies within a few minutes, based in both theory and real-world experience.

In addition to technical discussions, people provide minute-by-minute event updates, and even birth, death, and divorce announcements! The profound building of a community has been incredible, with friendships forming around the world. Sound like I'm bragging? I'm not. The Forum is great because of the quality of people that participate, and neither I, nor Cal-Look.com, can take credit for that. While we have plans to redesign the Forum this winter, adding some great new features, the quality of the people and message content will remain the same for years to come.