Post by THE GOB-FATHER on Oct 10, 2006 17:33:22 GMT -5
Hello fellow Racks & Spurs Club members!
As an update, I'd like to take a moment to overview the past, present and future of R&S. We've made great leaps and bounds since the start of this great club and we're continuing to grow and become better and better as we move forward. This year alone has seen many great accomplishments and it's all because of YOU are valued members!
Back in February of this year we reached a fantastic milestone of 1,000 members! That of which we did in under one years time!! And we're already closing in on doubling that at 2,000 here very shortly! The word has really gotten out about R&S and it shows with the quality posts and content our members provide. With new members comes new interests and we heard the voice of the people by adding several boards to the site to meet the demand. It's just one way of appealing to the masses and our continual efforts to make our site one of the best on the net today! We encourage you all to continue in giving feedback and making requests on what YOU feel would make our boards even better than they already are.
We also gave Racks & Spurs a new "makeover" and look by adding several different graphics and an overall new interface. Although at times it may seem as if our boards are "gaphics heavy" and a bit intimidating due to it's shear size and content (especially for the slower connections and dial up users) it's a tradeoff for the quality and professionalism we look to portray. We will be making efforts to try to "downsize" a bit to make things a bit more "conscise" and easy to navigate here on the site without sacrificing quality and content.
This year has also seen a great new bunch of user features added to the site!...
*Karma Level Meter
*Number of Posts To Next Level Meter
*Added the "Hunting Related Topics" Category
*Added Date reading to info center
*Added a new "Font" drop down box
*Added the "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" images to the Karma feature... instead of the wording "possitive" or "negative"
*Added "Upload Avatar Image" in the "Modify Profile" section for members to utilize by directly uploading an image to their profile hosted by Imageshack.
*Added "Report User To Admin" feature. This adds a report to admin link to the bottom right corner of every post in case there is a problematic post that needs my attention.
*Added a "color scale" so that we can colorize our text in our posts
*Added new set of smilies
*Added member of the month
*Added an "upload image" button for members to directly load pics from their computer to the site without having to utilize a host to upload them too!
These are just a few examples of the new features we added to make your stay with us one that is enjoyable and filled with many ways to customize your persona on the site.
Now that's just the beginning! We've got many new and exciting things to come for our members in the near future as well! We'll be adding a new site to our portfolio that will include just SOME of the following features:
1) A Trophy Room Photo Gallery
2) A Chat ROOM (by popular demand)
3) An Online Store where you can buy R&S branded products along with several products offered by our fine affiliates... including discounted pricing on select merchandise to our premium members!
4) A "Meet The Staff" Page with backgrounds on who's who in our Pro Staff and their areas of expertise
5) A Feautured Member of The Month Page whereas they will have a chance to tell us all a little bit about themselves and get to know them a bit better on what key areas of the outdoors that they find most interesting etc. etc.
6) Featured Articles by some of the leaders in the industry that are members of the Racks & Spurs Club!
7) A Joke Of The Week section
8) A Newsletter Or R&S Current Events page to keep you all posted on what's going on and when within the R&S Community
.. And that's just a start on the many, MANY new things to come with this project. I'm working dilligently on getting this accomplished and soon. So hang in there, I want this to be good right from the start so I'm not cutting any corners and sacrificing anything going into this. It may take a bit to get it launched and public, but when it does... it'll be well worth the wait!!!!
We've seen the success of the first annual "Battle Of The Birds" turkey contest this year and how fun and interactive that was as well as we're now on our second annual "Battle Of The Bucks" contest that just kicked off with the many AWESOME PRIZES donated by our generous affliliates. Also, we're talking about possibly putting together a "Big Game" contest for next year for various species of big game outside of the Whitetail deer. These contests are GREAT ways to promote our hunting heritage and encourages sportsmenship and unity between our members. It's brought many members together and built many a friendships... to me... THAT makes us all winners and a huge success story of how we do things here at the Racks & Spurs Club!
One thing that I'd also like to acknowledge is the "Helping Hands" section of the site that we added to the site as well. We've really come together as friends and family on this one and it brings me great pride to see us all lending a helping hand to our fellow brothers and sisters here on the site... and those who aren't even members here for that matter. We're doing the good deed and good karma is going out to all of you who've helped support those in need. I want to thank everyone for their participation to these noble deeds that have been executed within this board. Thank you and keep on keepin on!
We will continue to promote our site by working together to spread the good word. This year alone I have attended 3 seperate outdoor expos and have set up booths at each to help get our site out there. We went to Iowa this March and did two other shows here in NY as well. Next year we plan to be at several more. I'm starting to notice R&S decals more and more on vehicles now!
In closing, I wanted to give this overview so that you the members of the Racks & Spurs Club (both new and veterans) could have a chance to review our progress as a whole. Many thank yous go out to our dedicated and hard working staff and also to our great selection of reputable affiliates. They all work hard to help keep this place the well oiled machine that it is and provide you with a pleasurable experience every time you log on. For that I'm thankful and look forward to the many years to come working hand in hand with each and every one of them and you. Thank you R&S for making this place a great way to not only pass the time, but make the time worth it all! God bless and good hunting!
-GF
As an update, I'd like to take a moment to overview the past, present and future of R&S. We've made great leaps and bounds since the start of this great club and we're continuing to grow and become better and better as we move forward. This year alone has seen many great accomplishments and it's all because of YOU are valued members!
Back in February of this year we reached a fantastic milestone of 1,000 members! That of which we did in under one years time!! And we're already closing in on doubling that at 2,000 here very shortly! The word has really gotten out about R&S and it shows with the quality posts and content our members provide. With new members comes new interests and we heard the voice of the people by adding several boards to the site to meet the demand. It's just one way of appealing to the masses and our continual efforts to make our site one of the best on the net today! We encourage you all to continue in giving feedback and making requests on what YOU feel would make our boards even better than they already are.
We also gave Racks & Spurs a new "makeover" and look by adding several different graphics and an overall new interface. Although at times it may seem as if our boards are "gaphics heavy" and a bit intimidating due to it's shear size and content (especially for the slower connections and dial up users) it's a tradeoff for the quality and professionalism we look to portray. We will be making efforts to try to "downsize" a bit to make things a bit more "conscise" and easy to navigate here on the site without sacrificing quality and content.
This year has also seen a great new bunch of user features added to the site!...
*Karma Level Meter
*Number of Posts To Next Level Meter
*Added the "Hunting Related Topics" Category
*Added Date reading to info center
*Added a new "Font" drop down box
*Added the "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" images to the Karma feature... instead of the wording "possitive" or "negative"
*Added "Upload Avatar Image" in the "Modify Profile" section for members to utilize by directly uploading an image to their profile hosted by Imageshack.
*Added "Report User To Admin" feature. This adds a report to admin link to the bottom right corner of every post in case there is a problematic post that needs my attention.
*Added a "color scale" so that we can colorize our text in our posts
*Added new set of smilies
*Added member of the month
*Added an "upload image" button for members to directly load pics from their computer to the site without having to utilize a host to upload them too!
These are just a few examples of the new features we added to make your stay with us one that is enjoyable and filled with many ways to customize your persona on the site.
Now that's just the beginning! We've got many new and exciting things to come for our members in the near future as well! We'll be adding a new site to our portfolio that will include just SOME of the following features:
1) A Trophy Room Photo Gallery
2) A Chat ROOM (by popular demand)
3) An Online Store where you can buy R&S branded products along with several products offered by our fine affiliates... including discounted pricing on select merchandise to our premium members!
4) A "Meet The Staff" Page with backgrounds on who's who in our Pro Staff and their areas of expertise
5) A Feautured Member of The Month Page whereas they will have a chance to tell us all a little bit about themselves and get to know them a bit better on what key areas of the outdoors that they find most interesting etc. etc.
6) Featured Articles by some of the leaders in the industry that are members of the Racks & Spurs Club!
7) A Joke Of The Week section
8) A Newsletter Or R&S Current Events page to keep you all posted on what's going on and when within the R&S Community
.. And that's just a start on the many, MANY new things to come with this project. I'm working dilligently on getting this accomplished and soon. So hang in there, I want this to be good right from the start so I'm not cutting any corners and sacrificing anything going into this. It may take a bit to get it launched and public, but when it does... it'll be well worth the wait!!!!
We've seen the success of the first annual "Battle Of The Birds" turkey contest this year and how fun and interactive that was as well as we're now on our second annual "Battle Of The Bucks" contest that just kicked off with the many AWESOME PRIZES donated by our generous affliliates. Also, we're talking about possibly putting together a "Big Game" contest for next year for various species of big game outside of the Whitetail deer. These contests are GREAT ways to promote our hunting heritage and encourages sportsmenship and unity between our members. It's brought many members together and built many a friendships... to me... THAT makes us all winners and a huge success story of how we do things here at the Racks & Spurs Club!
One thing that I'd also like to acknowledge is the "Helping Hands" section of the site that we added to the site as well. We've really come together as friends and family on this one and it brings me great pride to see us all lending a helping hand to our fellow brothers and sisters here on the site... and those who aren't even members here for that matter. We're doing the good deed and good karma is going out to all of you who've helped support those in need. I want to thank everyone for their participation to these noble deeds that have been executed within this board. Thank you and keep on keepin on!
We will continue to promote our site by working together to spread the good word. This year alone I have attended 3 seperate outdoor expos and have set up booths at each to help get our site out there. We went to Iowa this March and did two other shows here in NY as well. Next year we plan to be at several more. I'm starting to notice R&S decals more and more on vehicles now!
In closing, I wanted to give this overview so that you the members of the Racks & Spurs Club (both new and veterans) could have a chance to review our progress as a whole. Many thank yous go out to our dedicated and hard working staff and also to our great selection of reputable affiliates. They all work hard to help keep this place the well oiled machine that it is and provide you with a pleasurable experience every time you log on. For that I'm thankful and look forward to the many years to come working hand in hand with each and every one of them and you. Thank you R&S for making this place a great way to not only pass the time, but make the time worth it all! God bless and good hunting!
-GF