Torontomaxima.com will be unavailable while its fate is being decided.

Well this sure was an unexpected notification when I logged in this evening

" Due to other priorities in my life, Torontomaxima.com will be unavailable while its fate is being decided. I apologize and thank you for your support. See our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toronto-Maxima-Enthusiasts-Club/107406839330609 "

Ya, I thought we could have got a better warning, esp, with those who donate.

I donated today but if hes not willing to continue the site I offered to take it over. I can host it and run it forever.

Was kind of shocked when I saw the notice. Didn't think it was very necessary. I have on going buy/sell transactions and such with members too.

Hi guys

Wish I knew and understood Web page Design, HTML coding and Hosting better as I would want to help keep things up and running ... seeing as I spent quiet alot of time on the computer at home as well as at work.

I do ^^ Im a web designer and graphic designer, I just hope Richie gets back to me so we can get the site back up!

If not I guess we're all gonna stay here

416BRAND wrote:If not I guess we're all gonna stay here

Unfortunately even this site is scheduled to go down soon which does make things a bit more complicated, I am hopeful that Richie will get back to us on what is needed to keep things up and running. As I can see there are several of the guys reaching out to him to get some answers as to what it will take, so the ball is in his court at the moment and hopefully he will answer back soon.

Tried logging on TMEC today and the account has been suspended

knight_yyz wrote:Tried logging on TMEC today and the account has been suspended

Ya it truly is SAD to read that statement when I try to log in with the hopes the site has been fired back up, such is not the case. I have never been a big user of Face Book so I had spent most of today just trying to figure out how everything works there in an effort to try and keep in touch with all the great friends I have met on TMEC.

The sites closure was not entirely unexpected. To be fair, I've given numerous notices. I've stated many times that I will continue to run TMEC as long as it’s supported by the community. Lately, I don’t see that support. The guys who know me outside the forum understand this. It's more of a time commitment for me than anything else. I don't mind putting in the time when it's a hobby I actively engage in. TMEC has been more of a choir in my busy life. I do it to this day, mainly for the friends and OG's I’ve made over the last decade. Many of the OG's have moved on and I sometimes feel that it's time for me to move on too.

Cry me a river but I feel my time and effort goes unappreciated and my plea for donation falls on deaf ears. In the last 8 months, I've received nothing in donations and it continues to decline annually as many of our "regulars" move on. An individual prob spend more on coffee a week than the contribution TMEC sees in a year. When people do donate, it’s always the same few guys in a community of hundreds. It’s a free ride for everyone else. Even to be offered a beer, a pat on the back or simple thanks was motivation enough for me to continue the site. There’s very few guys left on the site who show their appreciation in this way. I have everyone else on Facebook and we keep in contact anyways.

The TMEC community has sadly decline like many car enthusiasts sites out there on the web. The glory days of the Tuner community has passed. We’ve had some great times and put on some great events. I’ve sold my Maxima long ago and my Max now has a new man. Put yourself in my shoes. With TMEC, It feels like I'm supporting an Ex-wife who constantly sends you PMs to bitch. My mailbox is 99% Issues, 1% Compliments. It annoys me that some people have the nerve to complain on a free site when they cannot conduct business or make a sale/purchase on TMEC. I've never enforced sponsor/vendor status for posting ads and sometimes wished I did so TMEC wouldn’t run me in the negative. The sponsors we've had and their donations which are asked for in gifts; go back to the community during our annual BBQ.

I’ve been rather generous and have always put the community first. I do this sometimes at my own expense. TMEC was never built as a way to generate revenue but as a labour of love. The flame is now very low. None of the guys I know and trust to really do some good for the site has stepped up. Until then, I will continue to explore possible options for TMEC’s future. I will still collect Paypal / EMT donations if there’s enough interest to bring the site back. If we do not see enough support to revive the site, I will refund your donation and TMEC will remain in limbo as I await a suitable runner to carry on TMEC torch.

- Richie
TMEC Admin

I'm sorry a few bad grapes ruin it for all. I myself haven't donated directly to the site ( but I've giving reasons for that ie I don't use Paypal, and I've offered to have a meet so we can all donate ) I've been to ever bbq since 07 and I've personally thanked you for all your efforts (not sure if you remember or not ).

I've helped many TMEC'rs by offering huge discounts on automotive parts, even offering to hold the annual bbq at my own house so we could still have "our" day. The problem I see is we have all these members whom are only one site to buy/sell parts or to ask a question then they are gone, so maybe that's why it looks like not a lot of people are contributing

I totally understand the burden the site has gotten for you, but maybe try other ways of getting members to contribute, like meets, dinners, or just plain get togethers.

I wish you all the best and TMEC has been a great club for me which has landed me many friendships, and I thank you for that Richie

Send that to his Facebook ^^

Well, here's what I had to say about Richie's posting on Facebook...if anything, TMEC suffered from benign neglect, IMHO.
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Richie, I love ya like a brother, but like a brother, sometimes you DO piss me off. I completely understand why you've made this decision, but it seems to me that (to a fairly large extent) you've been the architect of your own misfortune....

" To be fair, I've given numerous notices."
Really??? When? There's been an occasional reminder about PayPal/EMT donations (which some people are not comfortable doing) but there was never anything to effect that if you didn't get a sufficient amount of donations by a cetrain date, the site would be shut down.
Even now, there's just a notice saying the account's been suspended - nothing to say why or to re-diect people here or to even ask for donations to get the site back up and running.
And to pick the week before Christmas to do this seems just a bit calculated....ask folks for money when everyone's already spent more than they can afford - so that in January you can easily say..."well, I didn't get enough in donations to keep the site going, so I shut it down for good".

"TMEC has been more of a chore in my busy life."
That's nothing new, Richie, some of us OGs have known that for years!
That's why a bunch of us got together more than 5 years ago to offer to BUY the site from you.
Who's arranged the last half-dozen or so "holiday" get-togethers? It used to be you.
Who arranged this year's TMEC BBQ? You were too busy - fair enough - but did you email the OGs who are always there to help 3 months out to give us fair warning and suggest that if we wanted to have a BBQ, we'd have to get it done ourselves...and direct us to your contact at Rattlesanke Point and let us know what the costs might be? Nope - you waited until mid July. We have a number of members who are experienced in putting on large events and we could've handed you a cheque for enough $$$ to keep the site running for a year or more. All it would've taken was a bit of effort on your part.

" In the last 8 months, I've received nothing in donations."
Did you ever send out a mass e-mail to all TMEC members saying, "TMEC needs your help...I'll have to shut down the site if we don't get more money to run the site"?
And how many meets have you been to in the past 8 months?
How many have you arranged or asked anyone else to arrange?
It used to be that there was a TMEC get-together at least once a month. And you'd get $10 or $20 from one or 2 of the guys who showed up....and more than a few beers were bought for you as well!
Did you ever post a "redirect"on the TMEC homepage to ask that people donate before they enter the site?
Did you ever put up a poll asking how much people would be willing to pay as a yearly membership? HADA has membership fees and they're as strong as ever.
When was the last time you gave any incentive for donations...i.e. "donate $5 and a get a window sticker...donate $10 and get a $20 Sunoco94 gas card... donate $30 and get a t-shirt"?
Did you ever contact any of the Mods and other OGs to ask for suggestions on how to raise some cash?
The TMEC BBQ could easily generate enough $$$ to run the site...I'll bet what was spent on the "models" at the last BBQ could've kept the site running for at least 6 months...

" It feels like I'm supporting an Ex-wife who constantly sends you PMs to bitch..."
Yeah, an ex-wife who you used to spend a lot of time with and who you told you'd support if she'd buy a few drinks, get the snacks at the movies or cover the tip when you went out for dinner. Except you stopped taking her out and giving her any attention and didn't even come home for weeks at a time. Then you bitch cuz she ain't as much fun as she used to be and you want her to start paying her fair share of the mortgage on the house she helped you build. So, now you're putting her shit out in the street, locking the door and telling her you want her to come up with some serious cash.

I see TMEC more like a car that you bought and a bunch of your buddies helped you do some mods and went to the track with you.
Of course, you were the only one who was allowed to drive it, but your buddies were always there to help you on race day.
Then larger priorities made you stop going the track, you didn't have time to wax it every month like you did when it was new and the back seat got filled with fast food wrappers.
Your buddies offered to buy it, but you weren't selling.
You still drove it as a winter beater and when you needed more than 2 seats. Your buddies would still go on road trips every summer with you and they'd always kick in money for gas, but now you weren't even doing oil changes and the car was starting to rust. The car looked and ran like shit and it had turned into a money pit. Then you contact your buddies and tell them that unless you get some cash from them, you're going to scrap the car.

"My mailbox is 99% Issues, 1% Compliments."
Well, that's what happens when you don't give anyone else the power to deal with bots or any other issues that might occur....and when you go on vacation, but don't put anything in place to deal with issues that might crop up while you're away.
Sorry, but if you keep 100% of the control, you gotta take 100% of the s#!t...

"None of the guys I know and trust to really do some good for the site has stepped up..."
Yeah, they did....five years ago. And how many of those guys have you contacted to ask if they'd be willing to step up now?


Richie, I don't mean to be a "hater" - and no-one appreciates TMEC and the fact that you've managed to run it as long as you have more than I do - but IMHO, TMEC was like a Christmas toy that you got bored with after a few years.

Believe me, if I had the IT/web-site skills, I'd take over the site and I think I could get it back to where it was in the "glory days". I'm more than willing (and always have been) to help keep TMEC going, however things turn out.

^^^ Same here. Minus cost for extra curricular events I'll call them like meets, bbqs etc, the forums - the site alone I know I could run for $17 dollars a year. Thats right, $17. So... and manage all aspects of security/web and back-end. Even moderation alone, however I would still keep existing moderators. And keep everything how it is. I noticed it seems Richie doesn't really want to give it up but does at the same time, or doesnt want to let anyone else carry the torch as he put it. But I see many have come together and offered. But also, if he did send out a general bulletin for money issues to keep the site up, I would've donated then. I donated a little what I could via paypal the other day but is that too late. His hosting account is suspended because I'm assuming he didnt pay his monthly hosting fee, but its $17 a year to own the .com name so thats not an issue and he owns it with GoDaddy,com I already checked the Whois Lookup for the url. So... really. It's not a big deal if he just isnt into it anymore to let someone else admin the web-end of things, and the communities OG's can always pull together for meets, ultimately its up the members anyhow I'd say. Everyone moves on and Richie has it would seem which is totally fine. Just dont let it die, Richie! Because thats not neccessary! He told me he was thinking about what to do> I don't see what there is to think about other than, Do I want to continue managing the site and community, or do I not. Answer if not, let someone else do it. Unless its his legacy or something and he just cant turn it over. I realize what its like, I built an online community before Facebook was around and I realized I didnt have the time, I spent years on it and hours and hours a day all to just give it up, I know its hard I've been there. But, it's not the end of the world. =)

I had sent a donation back in April but I really don't wish to see the site go off line forever, so I have sent an additional donation, with the hopes That Richie reconsiders and allows the TMEC site to be back online for everyone ... Now I know there are several of the guys that either do not have PayPal accounts or are simple un-easy about sending money over the internet. For those of you that wish to donate funds if you contact me via PM on GTA Maxima or by email at jwilson21@cogeco.ca and commit to me what you would like to donate and would be willing to meet up with me in the near future, I will submit a donation in your name to the TMEC paypal account at donations@torontomaxima.com ... so guys it is up to you no amount is consider to small 2.00 - 5.00 - 10.00 the more donations from different guys is what it is going to take, Richie I guess needs to see that there are others that want to see the site backup and running. So Please make an effort to contact me and make a commitment to an amount that you will settle up with me later ... I have posted this comment here and will also post it on the GTA Maxima site ... it's up to you guys now to get on board or not.

Jim

Great to See that TMEC is once again back online ... lets all try to keep in mind even small donations can add up and keep our site strong, so think about it next time you have an extra twoonie for coffee perhaps toss a few of them back towards the site to help keep there for all of us.

I'm happy to announce that the site is back up. I know it means a lot to many of you as it does for me to keep Torontomaxima.com running for our future offspring LOL. There is still much to discuss about TMEC's future and I will talk more about this over the new year. But right now, it's the holidays so get off your computer and go enjoy with friends and family Have a safe and Happy Holiday! Best wishes to you and your family.