Peoples Republic of Viper

[13COBRA]

Over the last few months I've voiced several concerns and posed multiple questions; so far all I've gotten back was a Nothing Burger. I was a Mamba member, and didn't renew because I thought the VOA was adopting old VCA policies and plans. I've asked for clarification because I think this forum is incredibly important. With 30k Vipers built over a 25 year span, the knowledge that is currently on this forum will disappear.

I posed a couple of questions this week in different threads and they've gone unanswered. I know for a fact that they were read by the intended audiences, as the forum showed their usernames as actively browsing that thread. I think there are more people than just me who share in my concerns.

I'm a 32 year business owner, car enthusiast, that wants the Viper nameplate to be kept as it is for the next 50+ years. My biggest concern is losing the forum and the ability to reach owners and allow them to converse about issues, problems, stories, etc. When that stops, the club is dead in my opinion.

1. When the new website goes live, will all of the current forum moderators be removed? And if so, who will moderate the forums?

I've heard and read that all the current moderators will be removed and lose their moderator privilege's. If that's true, who is going to moderate? If the answer is the officers....that's a bad answer. Officers of any association shouldn't be the judge, prosecutor and jury in any aspect. You lose all checks and balances. Stretching a little...but it would be similar to content and information sharing in the People's Republic of China, North Korea, Russia, etc. An example of this comes to mind... the thread that disappeared a few months ago that had a ton of members upset about the direction of the VOA. Does an officer want to be questioned or had questions raised on their thought process...no, probably not, BUT it's their duty to the members to answer those questions and be able to rationally explain the thought process that went into making the decisions.

1. When the new website goes live, will Enthusiast members still be able to post, or will they only be able to read what has been posted?

Most of the traffic on this site as it sits now are Enthusiasts. Most of the new content posting are from Enthusiasts. Losing their opinion, information, and other additions to the site would be detrimental for future generations of Viper owners. If this is the case, and the thought process behind it is that the Enthusiasts will become paying members to remain able to post, I would put a sizeable wager that it won't happen and they will take their membership to one of the other Viper forums.

1. When the new website goes live, will ALL of the threads currently hosted on this site go into the archives and be read-only?

If that's the case, why? Wouldn't the Viper owners of the world be better off if say all threads that have had no activity in 6 months or a year be archived while the balance of those are still active? Wouldn't that help in keeping relevant information flowing? -The purpose of this forum.

1. What problems or areas of improvement on the current site are going to get addressed on the new site?

All I've seen explained is; it's going to be better. Better? Can we get some clarification on that. Losing the classified section is already a bummer. For the life of me I can't figure out why we spent the money and time to get a new website. Wasn't it originally supposed to launch October 1st? I get sometimes deadlines are unobtainable...but recently between the website and magazine shipping...there have been plenty of examples of past or very STRETCHED deadlines. We can do better, we need to do better.

1. What is the VOAs position on trying to recover the regions/countries that have left the association?

Ontario and our friends from England have left the VOA and are no longer recognized as association members. What is the VOA doing to try and regain their membership?

I would truly like answers to these questions, and I think there are a lot of members and past members that feel the same. I also don't want to come across as shaming the VOA or anything, because I'm not. I truly want what's best for the association, but I need better understanding on the future plans and thoughts. (Read as, please don't ban me.) If someone would like to speak at length over the phone about the questions, I'd be more than happy to do so then summarize the answers and post at a later date.


Professionally,

Nick Anderson