Remember When?

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:52 am

Remember when Boat Buzz discussion forum participants numbered about 250 strong? Today we're at 2,595 participants, and growing in numbers each day.

Congratulations, and thank you to all who participate here. Boat Buzz is growing up and becoming trusted like an old friend. Great job all!

tuobanur · Post by **tuobanur** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:36 am

Thanks! but I think we should be thanking you also, you have done a great job with this site, a big difference from what I remember ten years ago. YOU GO BILL!

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:59 am

I'll second that emotion, Terry. Boat Buzz has grown from the old Memberclicks days to what we have now thanks to Bill Basler and his team. At the current rate, Boat Buzz will have over 3000 members some time this comming Fall. Congratulations!

Also a very sincere thank you to Wilson Wright for his years of dedication to the Chris-Craft Antique Boat Club and to the entire Board fo Directors for their time and effort in making the Club what it is today.

Al

jfrprops · Post by **jfrprops** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:23 am

What a great thing this site has become, what a resource. Recently I had pause to think of the huge number of viewers and posters....amazing!

Thanks to all that made this site what it is.

John in Va.

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:28 am

Al, you are right on the money. Wilson was a real visionary in many ways. He took control of this organization when the only way to communicate with members was phone (not a party-line, mind you, but a good old fashioned phone), and paper sent via USPS mail.

Personally I cannot imagine running this club on paper. It is truly humbling to think about.

Wilson was also instrumental in getting this club on the web, back when most were saying "world wide what?" 1998 in fact. The start of the world wide web was somewhere around 1993, practically speaking. The very first web site I can remember working on was Spring of 1994. This was like the Wild West back then. So to have a little boat club on the web by 1998 is pretty forward-thinking.

For a entertaining look at our inline history go to the Internet Archive and review the links for Chris-Craft.org history:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://chris-craft.org

The * in the above link is keeping it from clicking on this forum. Select the above link text, copy, then paste into your browser address bar.

Or, just go to http://web.archive.org/ then enter in chris-craft.org after the http:// in the data field.

Now, not all links will work...and there will be some missing graphics, and so on. But you'll get the general feel for how much has changed in a relatively short time.

It's really pretty interesting!

WoodenRookie · Post by **WoodenRookie** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:58 pm

Hats off to all, What estimate is there for the number of wooden CC's remaining. I'm sure there is a number to be within a few hundred but i was just curious.

57 chris · Post by **57 chris** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:56 pm

Not only are we a group in strong numbers that support wooden boating but stop to think about the fact that these numbers also represent the number of wooden boats that survive today due to our commitment.

Craig

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:03 pm

Wow Bill H, I don't know if anyone has an educated guess at the number of CC's or not. If 5% are still around, there would be about 6,000 of them, not including Kit Boats.

Bill B, that's a fun site. Even the first web home page was great (if the graphics still worked). In Aug. '05 Boat Buzz had a link although it wasn't ready for use yet, as I recall we were still using Memberclicks then. Wasn't it activated in Oct. '05?

Membership has grown by an average of a little over 50 per month from the initial 250 or so members. Since Jan. of this year the average has been 60+ new members per month.

Al

quitchabitchin · Post by **quitchabitchin** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:02 pm

I know I have said this before, but the wealth of knowledge on this site is incredible. I was very excited to see my letter in the latest Brass Bell. I often get in trouble by my wife by "looking at that Chris-Craft site" because sometimes I just look all over the place on this site. I browse the archives, the old brochures and diagrams, and the old forums using the search function. I tip my hat to all involved in making the club such a success and feel it is $35 well spent.

P.S. I know there are alot of wooden boat fans out there, but I love the picture at the top of the page. It's little details like that that differentiate a good site from a great one.

Wood Commander · Post by **Wood Commander** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:23 pm

Some of us were around even before Memberclicks, on the original CCABC forum- Listbot. Still my favorite incarnation of the Chris Craft online forum from purely a message sharing and usage standpoint. It was of course, absolutely priitive compared to our current forum. It's truly amazing how far we have come!

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:23 pm

Bret,

Listbot was before my time but I remember trying to keep track of the single string of posts the Memberclicks system used by saving them into different categories on our server at work until our IT guy complained about the space it was taking up. Bill and the Club has kept us on the leading edge of high tech for sure. It's beyond my comprehension how so much information can be stored yet be so quickly accessed. Truely amazing.

Al

Wilson Wright · Post by **Wilson Wright** » Fri May 01, 2009 8:13 am

Well, I'm not sure about being a visionary...It was really the desire to satisfy a member need. Many would inquire about satisfying a need for information such a paint or stain colors as they were headed to the hardware store ( remember hardware stores ? )Members wanted that information and they didn't have time for me to get back to them on the phone. Besides I didn't have all the answers but knew some of the members did. Microsoft offered "Listbot"...It was free and fairly accessable and we had a techie in the office named Matt Warren who knew how to get us plugged into it.

Bill Basler is the one who has made the old systems much more workable and more importantly, archivable. I suppose you could call it a team effort and the team lives on.

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Fri May 01, 2009 8:48 am

Wilson,

Thanks to you and your resources, this Club has always been on the leading edge of technology. Ma Bell and the USPS were the only resources available when you began your tenure. You took us quickly from that to the latest and greatest technology as soon as it became available. That's why "Visionary" is a very appropriate term for you.

Bill Basler and his amazing team now continues to follow the standards that you established for the CCABC, keeping us on that leading edge.

Many thanks to both of you!!!

Al

June 1, 2009 Update: 62 new members in May. Welcome aboard, folks!!!

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:35 am

Just a quick note;

Boat Buzz has 84 new members in the month of June alone. Welcome aboard folks!!!

I'm sure that the Club membership count is a much larger number than this. Congratulations, Bill Basler.

Al

tom king · Post by **tom king** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:37 pm

I remember the old listbot. Occasionally I wonder what happened to some of the original listers, i.e. Tom Lang, Steve Smith, Todd Henreich, Al Casby, Dale Tassell, Jay Armstrong, Rob Witte and Tom Auth just to name a few.

Wilson Wright · Post by **Wilson Wright** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:15 pm

Tom Lang was at Mt. Dora this year.I think he is in Georgia..Steve Smith is on Boat Buzz now and then. Heinrich sold his boat. Casby is still out on Arizona, last I heard. Tassel is still alive and kicking in Mt. Dora. Rob Whitte or Rob White ?? The latter died last year. And Auth...I don't know.

ed laning · Post by **ed laning** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:19 pm

Tom, Jay Armstrong was on here not long ago and it was nice to see him jumping in after so long away. Todd Heinrich as I recall was a key player in the formation of the CC Commanders Club on Yahoo Groups. He has since sold his Commander and rumor has it he bought a Tiara. Ed

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:15 pm

There are 33% of the first 100 Boat Buzz members that havn't posted something here. Some of them were regulars on Memberclicks (and probably on listbot before that) but elected not to participate using the new system.

Actually this percentage has reversed these days with only about 30% of Boat Buzz members posting at least once. I'm sure there is a large percentage of folks that benefit from Boat Buzz without feeling the need to post questions or comments and there's nothing wrong with that at all.

Boat Buzz has become a very useful research tool thanks to the Search feature and includes problems with solutions to many common situations that are fairly accessible. Thanks to all the participants who have created this great resource.

Al

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:52 am

Happy Independence Day to all.

Earlier here we appropriately used the term Visionary to define our own Chris-Craft Antique Boat Club leaders, Wilson Wright.

Today we remember our nation's Visionaries as they quite courageously signed the Declaration of Independence. Here we are 233 years later and still able to celebrate this and actually live in freedom thanks to their visions.

Have a wonderful 4th of July.

Al

Wilson Wright · Post by **Wilson Wright** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:50 am

Wow !...to be mentioned in the same message with the signers of the Declaration of Independence...Not sure my ego can handle that....But thanks very much..

WWW

mrb engine · Post by **mrb engine** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:02 pm

THANK YOU WILSON. BOB SLOAN MEMBER SINCE 1982.

Wilson Wright · Post by **Wilson Wright** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 8:17 pm

Bob:

Seems like ole timees hearing from you...1982...That's back when we had those matichinbg 16' Rivieras before Mt. \Dora was a show. That's 27 years ago and we were just kids.

WWW

Dick Dow · Post by **Dick Dow** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:42 pm

Wilson,

We're still kids!

I just came back from the 20th Chris-Craft Rendezvous - Still a great event, and good enthusiasm - we need to get some special guests out to visit again!

Dick Dow

Wilson Wright · Post by **Wilson Wright** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:56 am

Dick:

Story in one of the Seattle papers made it sound like a great event with everything from 17 to 55 feet. The accompanying pictures were great. If the Brass Bell didn't have someone covering the event maybe they can can get permission to reprint. It was well done.

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:48 pm

I think it's noteworthy to point out that, as we close out the 10th day of August there are 44 mew Boat Buzz folks in just the first 10 days of the month.

There were 59 new names added in July, down a little from June but still keeping pace with the recent average growth.

Welcome aboard, folks. It's great to have you with us!!!

Al

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:03 pm

Al, you don't miss a thing. A welcome is in order (in no particular order) for, Atlanta, Georgia, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Tracy, California, Hilliard, Ohio, Toronto, Canada. Fulton, Mississippi, Willowdale, Ontario, Bath, Ontario, Soeberg, Denmark, Fox Point, Wisconsin, Murchison, Texas, and Leesburg, Florida.

Welcome to the Chris-Craft Antique Boat Club and Boat Buzz!

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:51 pm

We may as well keep this post updated, the month of August topped out with 92 new Boat Buzz folks. It's great to have all of you aboard.

Al

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:38 pm

It's hard to believe that it's the end of September already. This month seemed to disappear before my eye and Summer also slipped away from us as well.

The last time I looked today there were exactly 100 new Boat Buzz members this month and only 9 more before we reach the 3,000 mark. This is great.

This also indicates that Club membership has increased by even more in the past 30 days. Congratulations to Bill Basler. Great work, Bill.

Al

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:56 am

The month of October saw 76 new Boat Buzz members join in and the total number has exceeded the 3000 mark.

A very warm welcome to all you new Buzzers.

Al

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 7:20 pm

Ooops, I almost forgot this monthly update of new Boat Buzz membership. The quantity is down a little but this may be due to the end of boating season around the country. We have 53 new Boat Buzz folks in November. Still a very good thing, especially for the new folks. Welcome aboard!!!

Al

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