BCM Forum factoids (and Quartzsite festivities)

plyonsMC9 · January 26, 2017, 07:29:43 AM

Hi all,
Just wanted to say that my wife and I had a great time at the Quartzsite rally. As usual - so many welcoming faces and hospitality in abundance. Wow. And great food. A special thank you to Mike who directed us into our spot in spite of the darkness and driving rain. Sorry about almost flattening the fire pit.

And thanks to Gary of BCM for contributing so many great prizes to both gatherings. And thanks to Gary for not surreptitiously covering our bus with "For Sale" signs this year.

GM & Eagle clubs, both couldn't have been more open - even though we have an MCI.

One the forum front I wanted to point out that in spite of the social media phenomena, the forum continues to be _very_ healthy. I communicate with each new member and it is always a treat. I wanted to point this out as I've seen a number of threads discussing the dwindling interest in bus conversions, but that is at odds with the conversations I have every month with bus enthusiasts and new members to our forum. As an example, this month so far, we have 15 new members. Four of those members have just purchased buses. Member interests are varied and include tiny home interests, and also standard bus conversions. Professions this month include musicians and business owners. And to emphasize, I've communicated individually with each new member - these aren't numbers pulled from the "new member" statistics. This is a so far a typical month in terms of bus purchases and new membership. By extrapolating, you can get an idea of what we see on an annual basis. I have no way to really account for members which "drop off".

Thanks very much to all who participate and all who are part of our bus family!!

Kind Regards, Phil

lostagain · January 26, 2017, 08:05:12 AM

Sounds like we missed a great rally!

Facebook is busy with busnuts, it seems a lot of them are into schoolies and tiny homes, and that is all good.

But this forum is the best and busiest. And is more helpful for mechanical answers. Also being able to search the archives is excellent.

It doesn't appear to me that the hobby is dying. Like you, I notice new members all the time. And young ones too. It is not just the old guys like me.

If posting pictures could be made easier, that would be great.

Keep up the good work, we appreciate it.

JC

Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM · January 26, 2017, 08:09:51 AM

Just so everyone knows, Phil is the guy who handles ALL problems with the Forum and the server. He has prevented other countries from invading our site with malicious attacks, approves everyone, monitors anyone who may not be posting appropriate content and runs the backups on a regular basis. He has been known to work thru the night to prevent attacks and to keep the Forum up-time over 99+%.

Phil is doing a wonderful job and is doing it out of the goodness of his heart when he can fit it in while working a "real" job. If it wasn't for Phil, there would be no Forum. So we owe all of what you are reading here to Phil.

Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM · January 26, 2017, 08:18:14 AM

Quote from: lostagain on January 26, 2017, 08:05:12 AM

If posting pictures could be made easier, that would be great.

JC, we we soon be upgrading our Forum software which may make things easier. However, disk space is very expensive so we would love to allow more and larger photos, but all of this comes at a cost. We are looking at other ways to allow folks to post more and larger photos. Stay tuned for more info soon.

And yes, you missed a great rally but there were several other Canadians here representing your area. We have several more rallies coming up as you will see in the back of Bus Conversion Magazine, so you need to attend at least one of them with your MC-5. If you make one this year, I will buy you a (domestic) beer. :-)

lostagain · January 26, 2017, 08:29:45 AM

We are headed South in February, and are aiming at attending the BCI rally in Pahrump. Hope to see you there. I'll be knocking on your door for my free beer. LOL.

JC

Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM · January 26, 2017, 08:52:48 AM

Sounds good to me JC. I will be in Pahrump as will a bunch of other Bus Nuts, people are signing up daily. I will pick up a can of Billy Beer so it will be nice and warm when you arrive. :-)

Gary W · January 26, 2017, 11:24:23 AM

JC you missed a great rally Mark Morgan was there , we are in Yuma till Saturday and then heading to Apache Junction for a couple of months. If you get there let us know.

Gary W

Red Rider · January 26, 2017, 03:04:34 PM

Thanks for the kind words Phil.

It's always a pleasure to see you. Keep the dates open for next year. On Sunday I said a prayer that the weather would be better in 2018. If my prayers are answered we will be able to park you on a bright sunny day.

B_K · January 26, 2017, 05:04:40 PM

Phil thank you for all you do!
And especially thank you for protecting us from ISIS hackers who would have most likely dumped all our PM's in Hillary's email and caused her to win the election by a landslide!

BK

plyons · January 26, 2017, 08:17:39 PM

Gary - thanks for the encouraging words - tho' I do believe that it sure helps having someone's support who writes the checks to pay for all this and to keep it going financially and by personal involvment. Even if it's almost gotten my bus sold out from under me a couple of times. And - such a great community of forum members - truly awesome - make all the difference.

Knuckle!!! I most always get such a laugh from your posts. What a great sense of humor - 'er, observation about emails and the world of espionage and skulduggery.

And Mike - yes, we're already looking forward to that sunny day next year @ Quartzsite! Amen! Any idea what the dates will be?

Kind Regards, Phil

RJ · January 26, 2017, 08:23:33 PM

Phil -

I watched you pull in on Friday nite - was beginning to wonder if you were going to drag the fire pit with you under the engine as a substitute for a block heater. . .

Stopped by Saturday to say hello, but no answer. . .

By the time we finished breakfast Sunday morning, you were nowhere to be seen. . .

Perhaps Pahrump?

RJ

Scott & Heather · January 26, 2017, 08:40:21 PM

We are in our 30's and considered millenials and we love this site. I've been trying to say all along that the hobby isn't dying, it's growing. I've been fighting that negativity on here for years. Some of you guys need a good kick in the tag tire...cheer up, this hobby is growing and we have some great fresh new interests and I meet people every week who are intimately interested in our bus conversion and ask for advice because they want to follow suit.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

plyonsMC9 · January 26, 2017, 10:03:01 PM

Amen! Thank you Scott & Heather.

I love the conversations that I'm privileged to have each month with new members, many just coming to this crazy hobby. Fresh ideas, interests - keep it interesting. Lots of experience on the forum to be shared, and lots of new ideas & changes coming in. Sounds great to me!

Full speed ahead.

Kind Regards, Phil

sixtyseven · January 26, 2017, 11:06:18 PM

Phil, thanks for holding down the fort for us, and thanks for all the good stuff Gary, and all the rest of you guys and gals too.

This is a great site ! !

I've enjoyed all the great info and great BS over the years. Now that we are on the road with our coach more, I'm looking forward to meeting at some of the rallies sometime soon.
Joe

plyonsMC9 · January 27, 2017, 07:02:40 AM

Ha Ha! RJ - nice observation re: block heater.

We've tried a couple of times to get ours fixed w/ no success. That fire pit would have been a much more economical solution! Well, until the back six tires melted down..

May need to re-think...

Thanks for trying to stop by - next year?! Would be great to meet up. We had some obligations we had to take care of so left Sunday before lunch. Now in Prescott Valley, AZ.

Kind Regards, Phil