2003 A Year In Review

[simplegreen]

Well, one more year is about to leave us...and a new year is about to join us....Lot of things have happened this year, I?d like to take this time to recap on the good and the bad so enjoy.

Well after being on the old server, it crashing, then being on the new board, and the database dying.. THEN move to a newer server and having the SQL timeout ever few hours, we FINALLY have moved to our current server which seems to be holding up pretty damn good. Now for the board itself.. tons of mods have been done on the board, I?d say about 40% on the admin/mod control side so most of you don?t see them. But lets see, the garage mod version 1 then the upgrade to be able to use it like a guest book, add more pictures etc. (btw if you don?t have your car in there your not eligible for ride of the month awards). The spell check which im sure bio gets a lot of use out of. The refer mod, uh im not even gonna touch that one? still kinda frustrated.. I mean.. a chance to win a freakin carbon fiber hood for just getting people to visit the board you already have been on but hey whatever, and I?ve won for the last two months lol but im the owner so im not gonna buy myself a hood EVEN THOUGH I SHOULD!

More new stuff, the main site?s layout I think looks pretty sweet, little do most of you know it?s going through some more changes soon, trying to keep things fresh around here. Thanks to ompah for help on that. Esteban should get a big thanks for coding all the DIY?s on the forums to go onto the main static site, which I have dropped the ball on and hopefully will be getting around to putting them up soon. Goal here is to make CivicLand a great place for civic resource information and get people to at least just come to CL for info then eventually the forums, but hey if people would start referring ehem.

Big thanks to the Vsquad for taking their commitment way past the call of duty and helping CivicLand when I can?t. Hmm lets see what else has changed this year, well ownership was a big one for me at least. Our fearless founder has been bettering himself in school and saw fit for CL to change hands to keep it going. My pleasure guys really it is, great place to be.

Lot of thanks to you the members, keeping CivicLand a frequent on your web surfing list. Remember, banner ads, google ad clicks and donations keep CivicLand giving out cool ass prizes. Clicks have been SUPER low the past month and the payouts reflect that, just something to keep in mind people.

2004 North America CivicLand meet here we come Baltimore Maryland!

Well I suppose that?s enough from me, on last thing I?d like to say is that it?s been a great year. Hopefully 2004 will be much better, by then my goal is to have over 4,000 members starts with you, the members.




-MDLax1 (Eric)




Civicland has been my second home now for about a year and a half, it took me a while to find the right forum to join, I tried several others even after I had been here for a while but it was (and still is) just not the same. There?s something about the this place that gives you that so-comfortable-feeling-that-you-could-go-streaking-down-the-street-with-all-other-members. (2004 meet here we go!!), I think about it every now and then trying to figure out what it is that keeps drawing me back here and all I can think of is the feeling of closeness that we all have here, we have all as members been though a lot from the site going down to annoying members and stupid posts and yet the great majority of us are still around whether it be to post truly useful content regarding our cars to posting up useless flash movies and idiotic subjects, So I guess that is what keeps everyone coming back, I know it?s what keeps me coming back. Nothing better than the feeling of being part of something like this, part of the civicland family. So as one of the lucky members that have been here for a while to whore this board up, I would like to wish everyone: admins, mods and members and their families a happy new year.



Esteban (estebones)





2003 was a pretty good year for CL. Civicland's Dallas Meet was very impressive. We had members driving 20+ hours to spend a few days in Texas matching faces with usernames. A big thanks goes out to the people that traveled (Andy, Jake, Erik, etc...) to Dallas and to the locals (Ernesto/Mike) who planned/hosted the weekend.

Another great thing that has happened over the last few months is our advertising. Thanks to all of the members that are clicking away! It's unobtrusive, it only makes our site better, and just takes a few seconds out of the day.

Our contests have been a really great addition to the site also. Not only do you get 'bragging rights' but we have actual tangible prizes going out to the winners.

I'm pleased that CL has been growing but am more excited about the improving quality of our member base. I personally think CL has become the top civic only community on the web. I believe we have found our niche as an accepting and helpful forum.

In review, 2003 > 2002. Let's all make 2004 > 2003.



- Aaron (Comutek)









The year 2003 has come to an end. CivicLand has changed owners, but what about the import scene outside the forum?

Import drag racing reached new heights as the turbo front wheel drive Hondas broke 8.5 seconds in the quarter mile, while their naturally aspirated brethren set 9.9 second records in both the NHRA and NDRA leagues. The art of drifting was taken mainstream in the US with D1 exhibitions all over the country, and the SCCA even took it upon themselves to start campaigning a drift competition league in the New England area.

The current generation of Civic gained more popularity in its third year with rumors of a Type R variant coming Stateside. Increased availability of larger engines such as the K24 in the TSX and Accord opened up more swap combinations for the Civic Si, and the first highly publicized turbo installation in the new Civic from Jotech in Dallas, TX netted 200whp from the "bastard child" D17 block. A shop in California swapped the first K20 into a D17 based Civic. There is hope for the new Civic yet.

The "movie" 2Fast2Furious exposed audiences to more about the import scene, but it also evoked quite a bit of negative emotion because of its misrepresentation of how import enthusiasts really are. Laws around the country became tighter, penalties for legal infractions became higher, and media attention to "street racing incidents" became more frequent.

What will happen in 2004? A new Civic platform is rapidly gaining strength in the aftermarket. Legal import racing is becoming more widespread, while illegal racing is also on the rise. The public has a much larger awareness of the import enthusiast, but much of its sentiment is currently negative. What will the industry do to reverse that view? What will it do to promote itself further?

What will YOU do? Let's wait and see.



- Calesta (Mike)






The past year has been a tremendous one. With CL undergoing many changes in order to appease to our members, the site has grown from being a tightly knit import community to a large range of enthusiasts from all over the US and abroad.

This website was created to keep our members informed of new products, ideas, and innovations to the Civic scene. It is for this purpose that we are all able to share stories, tips, advice and even make a few friends while we are at it.

Take a look around the site, and see what you can find that interests you. Once again, if you ever have any questions or need help in a particular area, you may PM a mod or admin. The site is constantly changing to fit the needs of YOU, our members. So if there is something that you particularly like or dislike, let us know or make a suggestion. We are here to help.

2003 has been a great year, but lets make 2004 better. I wish everyone a safe, happy & healthy new year to come.




- ItalianQT (Shay)





2003 was a tough year. Civicland had grown early in the year to a point where we had over 6000 members and a database of information of a year and half of use. But in late Spring of 2003 we knew that there needed to be a change to the site. The traffic was going down and we had less of our members posting then what we had in the past. Lucky here at Civicland we have members and staff that will take our own free time to try to make things right. Eric and I planned the upgrade during May and June and started working on it in late June and early July. Even thought it took longer then what we thought that it was going to I think that in the end it was helpful and better for the site.

For me personally 2003 was rough too. With many personal changes and going back to college for the first time in almost four years trying to keep up with everything and running the site became harder and harder. I didn't want to see the site closed down after I had launched the site over two years before had two meets and made a lot of good friends. Soon after Eric and I worked out a deal for him to take over control of the site with me still helping in a support roll. So far I couldn't be happier with the way that he has carried on the site since taking it over. But also I have to say that we have one of the best member bases on the internet and our support team of Mods is second to none.

After everything thats happened in 2003 from the site getting the first major redo in a year and half to the change of owners. It has gone to prove that the reason CivicLand is still here and still growing is because of the great members that we have the show unbelievable support to the site and will help with anything they can. Even though I don't own the site any more I still want to say thank you to all the members because what the site is day is what I visioned when I first dreamed up the site in February of 2001. With everyone?s help and support I hope that we are still going to be able to make CivicLand into on of the best places on the internet for Civic information.

Thanks again and have a safe and Happy New Year everyone!



-Erik Akers (Buck)



2003 was a year of trying for CL and the admin, but ultimately CL ended up better than ever. The server switch was a little rough for a while, but now all the kinks have been worked out. More and more members are coming each day, and more old school members are coming back and checking in. The ownership switch was very smooth, and Eric is doing a great job with the growth of CL. There is a lot more tech info than ever on the site, and the board is running and looking great. While we may not have the large member base of other boards, ours is much more closeknit...we are one big family. That's what keeps me coming back, and I'm sure lots of others. I know 2004 will be an even better year for CL and it's members.



-Dubcac



Well guys I have been here since almost the beginning(I think I maybe be the oldest member that still posted) 2002 was a kickass year for CL, we grew with leaps and bounds and experience growing pains just like every other site(unfortunately lost allot of great info and members along the way) The first CL meet was awesome even though it was only two members. I agree most definately that 2003 owned 2002 in every respect and I am certain that 2004 will own 03. I have seen MANY changes to CL and seen it go from a small site to a well known site(I have encountered many members on other sites) I hope that CL keeps growing and it becomes amajor part of the aftermarket world(hopefully as big as HAN or hondaswap)



-98ex(Ernesto)

[Smooth_Imports]

Can i get a werd up!!!!!!!!!!!
I would just like to extend my thanks to all the mods and admins for working hard to keep the site up and running and keeping it clean for the most part. For all the work you guys have done i'm going to make it a personal mission to make the 2004 east coast meet a time for YOU to relax and really be able to take a look and see what kind of community you have started and sustained. This site has been my second home for over 2 1/2 years now, and i look forward to the next 2+ years.




Thank you,
Mike

[crXrated]

OMG the powered by hamsters sticker ahahahahahahha sorry I got a little carried away (go fig) I'd like to extend a thank you to everyone that helps keep CL going! hopefully I will get my life straightened out and be able to help as well! This is my net home guys and I'm loving what this little kid is becoming! I can honestly say that this past year has by far been 1 of the better years for CL and I'm sorry to have basically missed most of it! However I plan to be a bigger part in this corner of the internet in the year to come!
Happy New Year guys and thanks for everything!

[Calesta]

Originally posted by crXrated@Jan 1 2004, 05:42 AM
OMG the powered by hamsters sticker ahahahahahahha

I still have a sheet of them somewhere...