928 registry

I just read over at RL that Chuck Z has decided to sell 928 Registry site. Anything in the works for 928OC to buy it?

If so and 928OC ends up with it, I volunteer to help maintain it.

His latest post said that as soon as he is finished moving, he is going to put it on EBay for sale.
I don't think that bodes well for the future of the Registry website.

stepson;12346 wrote:

His latest post said that as soon as he is finished moving, he is going to put it on EBay for sale.
I don't think that bodes well for the future of the Registry website.

Part of what Chuck said at RL.

"If there are no serious offers between now and the time we move; after we settle in, I plan to put it on eBay.

What goes with the site:

Of course, all of the online stuff but in addition to that:

All of the paper files/records/documents that I have accumulated over the years. Some of which is on the site and some of which is not.

To contact me regarding the purchase of the site, please send email to: chuck "at" 928registry.org Please do not PM, with my schedule its just to hard to respond in a timely manner since I have to log on to RL to do so."

I don't think 928OC bidding on E-bay for it, is the right thing to do though.
No thoughts from anyone here?

ask the board of directors.......this should be voted on asap IMHO

My opinion is that first someone with the technical abilities and motivation to maintain the site is needed.

My opinion is that the site needs to be re-developed so it can be maintained by the car owners, rather than a single person. My suggestion is that the site be migrated into its own forum where owners can maintain their information, with a moderator ensuring no history is deleted. This would be relatively simple but require many hours of effort to be accomplished. Once done, the maintenance of the information would be relatively simple.

If there is someone willing to *volunteer* such an effort, I would advocate they contact James Morrison and make that offer. Or of course make some other offer.

I would also suggest that the data in the site should not be made available to anyone that would use if to solicit those who provided the data.

The registry is being sold...........it would have to be purschased first by OC prior to the discussion of management.......someone on the board needs to step up here asap.......i PM folks I thought could take immediate action or the registry will be lost

I don't think it makes any sense for the 928 OC to spend money buying something, such as the 928 Registry, without a plan of what it will do afterwards. Just my opinion.

I can kind of see Malcolm's point. At least if the OC acquired it, it would be in safe hands. Perhaps a volunteer could step up in the future to maintain it.

That would depend on the cost. If it were $100, I would readily agree, if it were $1,000 I would hesitate, if it were more I would disagree.

Once the 928 OC funds are spent, they are not available for other programs, such as events.

If the site were bought to be used as an income source via advertising, that would change things of course, but that brings us back to the first question, who is going to manage and/or migrate it?

Kiln_Red;12358 wrote:

I can kind of see Malcolm's point. At least if the OC acquired it, it would be in safe hands. Perhaps a volunteer could step up in the future to maintain it.

thx Austin.

I was advised the board is cognisant of the sale and are in discussions :cool:

In my opinion the Registry should be in the hands of 928OC. It just makes sense to me.

Second, I don't feel the Registry needs overhauled. In my opinion it is fine the way it is, but needs some updating, consistency and limits as far as owner pictures and information. Individual owner maintenance is not consistent and to me unreliable. Having owners send in their information to the site and the site manager(s) updating it, to me is the way to go. Anyone with web site development (or HTML?) knowledge can teach the basics to other volunteers to help with the updating.

I don't have HTML knowledge but I'm pretty sure I can learn some basics from someone that does. I volunteer to help.

Third, the decision to buy 928 Registry should be voted on by the members of 928OC. If the majority say "no" then so be it. If the majority say "yes" then the amount should be discussed and go from there. If that price decreases what is spent on events for a year or whatever, then 928OC members will have to deal with that. All of this should be laid out for all members to vote on.

I personally like the 928 Registry and would like to see it continue. But, that's just me and I can live with what ever happens to it.

Even kept as it is it has value. But it is not scalable or manageable over the long-term. I agree that owner self-maintenance (for their car) is much better. This has been proven many times for many such systems: Wikipedia is a good example albeit much bigger. I have seen this many times in smaller company systems. BTW, my recent professional activities have been in document management and social systems so I have experience here.

I can't imagine anyone else buying it. It is not likely to be a profitable business that will attract purchasers. Only dedicated enthusiast will care. So I agree with Rick, should there be a contingent expense I'd be open to discussing it as an OC member, but I only expect one possible buyer so that may not be necessary.

Rick and others, What would you consider a serious/fair offer to purchase the Registry?

WyattsRide;12366 wrote:

I don't have HTML knowledge but I'm pretty sure I can learn some basics from someone that does. I volunteer to help.

Thank you for offering, as a member, I appreciate you doing so.

I don't know how much of the site is in html, certainly the output is html.
A good site for teaching yourself html is www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp

I did provide a link to your offer to the 928 OC board, so they are aware.

OBehave;12368 wrote:

Rick and others, What would you consider a serious/fair offer to purchase the Registry?

I really don't know. I would first find out what Chuck would want for it and then go from there. Like anything for sale, it's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, no matter how much time and $ was put into it. I know that the owner put a lot of time, $ and love into it. We do the same with our cars, but we all know that doesn't always result in our cars being worth more.

Thanks Stan for forwarding my offer.

My thought is that the OC could take it over and just host it on this current site in some way and leave it as it is till someone who is capable of doing what needs doing steps up. Worst case scenario is that is looks just like it does now, but is under the 928OC umbrella. I'd love to see that.

Chuck has not said anything to me about selling it nor has he approached me about its sale in any way. I have not had time to be on RL at all in the last couple of weeks so I am out of the loop with what is going on over there.

If Chuck wanted the OC to have it I suspect he would have revisited his past discussions with Stan on the matter or reached out to me. He knows I am the current president and we have talked many times. I would love for Chuck to "donate" the site to the OC but if someone wants to buy it then so be it. Even if a for profit entity were to buy it the info would still be out there with all its great content...I would guess...why else would you buy it?

I, too, offer my assistance in maintaining the site should the OC come into ownership of the Registry. I enjoy keeping tabs on the cars and my personal archives have hundreds of photos w/VINs, some of which are in the Registry, some not. Just part of my passion for the marque.

I made an offer for the site based on what it was worth to my business.
Based on the polite response the perceived value by Chuck is way higher and it will probably be offered on eBay.

I tend to agree with Stan Shaw- We need to decide what it will be before making a bid.

In the end, the logical place for the registry is with the Owners Club. Really, places like 928 International and the others? They cannot operate forever, unless they diversify. The 928 world gets smaller all the time; These groups cannot hope to make a profit forever.

Really, this club as a group should try to come up with some sort of plan to handle all these eventualities. The club can't buy out a vendor, but perhaps we can help them diversify? This is a subject that needs discussion in general.

N

The price of the Registry is way out of the range of the OC IMOO.

As for the 928 specific business it is Booming with a capital B. Our business continues to grow and grow at an alarming rate. We may exceed $1.5 Million (98% 928 parts) revenue this year or pretty close. We also expanded into all other cars - P cars, Mercedes, Audi, BMW and on and on.

The purchase of a vendor by the OC is way out of the question IMOO.

Why is it such a secret what Chuck wants for the site? Or why can't he come here and tell us what he wants for it?

If I was selling my house, I would announce what I want for it. If I was selling my car, the same thing! I may not get what I ask, but at least everyone would know where to start. What's the big deal?.....I guess I must be missing something.....

Roger wrote:

The price of the Registry is way out of the range of the OC IMOO.

As for the 928 specific business it is Booming with a capital B. Our business continues to grow and grow at an alarming rate. We may exceed $1.5 Million (98% 928 parts) revenue this year or pretty close. We also expanded into all other cars - P cars, Mercedes, Audi, BMW and on and on.

The purchase of a vendor by the OC is way out of the question IMOO.

Roger, I totally agree and it is not the OC's place to be buying things like that IMHO. It would be GREAT if Chuck would "donate" it, but it does not sound like that is going to happen.

It looks like we have some folks who will be able to update and run it now (thanks J-Rod!) but it may be a moot point.

That said, and this is to EVERYONE reading, if someone PAYS for the Registry site the site WILL NOT GO AWAY! It might have a free section and a pay section or something like that, but NO ONE would buy it and then destroy it! What would the point be? There is nothing that competes with it. Its only use is to drive business to a business like Rogers and as Roger has done the analysis it would be unlikely to drive enough business to cover the value perceived by Chuck.

Anyway, that is my 2 cents for whatever it is worth. Keep in mind that one of the VERY FIRST and still one of the BEST 928 info websites EVER was Phil Tong's 928s4vr.com site and you can find that right on the front page of the 928OC website ( www.928oc.org )... It is upper right under one of the links IIRC. Not all the site was preserved after a server crash but most of it was and Phil DONATED it to the club!

This is not an easy one, if it is that expensive (too much for Roger...) then it appears the owner would rather have the $$$ than worry about what someone might do with it.

So really, he is forcing the decision....we can hope that it works out and goes to someone who really takes care of it and we can try to work with them later. Too bad, would be a nice addition.

No offense to Chuck, but couldn't the OC start over with a new list? A substantial amount of content - such as the master VIN lists, production numbers, and model info, were contributed by others (Erkka, DR/928gt.com, Phil Tong/928s4vr.com, among others) Couldn't they contribute the same info to a new site? It's the list of cars themselves that would take years to compile, just as Chuck's site didn't happen overnight. That list, along with all the background notes he's accumulated on each are where the real value lies, IMHO.

I was going to by it and sent check an e-mail but I have not heard back from him..
I thought we could attach it to the OC as a side forum

Any news??

Chuck is not saying what he wants for it so it can sell to the highest bidder - I understand that.

I also agree with Jarrod that an OC registry could be started and built up over time with the help of volunteers. It would not have the Registry URL but that is what is costing the big $$$.

The 928 Registry web site originally conceived, implemented and maintained by Chuck Zachman has been offered as a gift to the 928 Owners Club for as long as the club is willing and able to maintain it. Through considerable volunteer effort by club member Derrick Bass, the 928 OC is now in a position to take on this responsibility. At this time, the 928 OC officially accepts ownership of the 928 Registry web site, and will maintain it from this point onward. In the future, should the 928 OC cease to maintain the 928 Registry, ownership of the registry shall revert to the original owner, Chuck Zachman.

A new official club position of "928 Registry Chair" is created, and Derrick Bass is hereby appointed to that position.

Thank you, Chuck Zachman for conceiving the 928 registry and putting so much effort into it over the years to make it such a success. The 928 Owners Club appreciates your donation of the site to the club, and we will do our best to maintain and enhance it in the years to come. In appreciation, Lifetime Membership status in the 928 OC is hereby granted to Chuck Zachman.

Many thanks, also, to Derrick Bass whose many hours of programming, patience and perseverance have made the new 928 Registry possible.

More information regarding the new 928 Registry site will be posted soon. So, stay tuned!