NAM Who?

You an a lot of other people, I'd imagine. It's sort of like getting to leave your high school which was full of incipient rumors, cliques, and backstabbing to come to someplace new where that stuff is not tolerated. Refreshing, if you ask me! Here's to all of us keeping it up...

- Marc

 

Yep, and we've all been able to learn a few lessons from other sites that we bring to the table here.

 

Now, now, now, be fair, NAM is a quantum leap better than most with regard to maturity and helpfulness. Yeah, it's less controlled, has gone commercial, etc. but it's a far cry (maturity level) from even VWVortex, let alone some of the Honda sites.

We've also got to face facts: Minis are expensive. Until recently they've stayed with their original owners, (warning: generality coming) whose overall demographic generally has more education & income than typical used Civic owners. That's changing: Minis are more affordable, meaning a new demographic enters the mix: The enthusiast who couldn't afford them when they were new. That's GREAT, though, because this evolution brings more innovation to the older R50/53 models.

So... live and let live, I like 'em both so far, and this site looks to be a lot of fun. Good luck Nathan and the Mods, and Motor Happy...

LD

 

And look at all these people with very low posting counts!

 

Actually, I read Bimmer Lite's post in a different way. I saw his post to represent people coming from all of the other MINI sites, here to MA, to have a fresh perspective. NAM is only one of those - plenty of other MINI-oriented sites can collectively represent various harbors of "incipient rumors, cliques, and backstabbing" as Bimmer Lite put it.

Consider multiple people "leaving" various different high schools for the new place (college? a work environment? I dunno).

Of course, I'm sure most of us will still keep one foot here and one foot elsewhere for a while at least.

True. I can think of few things less important though.

 

Thanks, Steve! I think the responsibility in the sandbox is a balance between members and mods. I also think that expectations will be met if they're clearly set out and then modeled by, well, US.

I see your point. I've always felt different as part of the MINI community, though. Less as a collection of people who bought cars and more of a group of like-minded people with some basic mutual respect. I haven't seen that mutual respect on other boards, regardless of what other marques' boards may show...

Needless to say, I'm excited to experience it here and did not mean to bash another singular site in expressing that excitement. NAM is what it is; if my words made you think of it, then that says it all, no?

Absolutely!

You read it as it was intended (looks for the thumbs up icon and can't find it - doh!).

Bottom line for me is that this seems to be a place that will foster some accountability in its members rather than encouraging hiding behind screenames and whatnot. For that, I am pumped.

- Marc

 

Yeah, I need to look into more installing more similes. As one that doesn't use them often it was not on my radar.

Anyone know of any good collections of them?

 

One thing that makes the MINI community unique, more than any other community I can think of, is how diverse it really is. With most one make car forums everyone on there is pretty much along the same mindset as far as their outlook on vehicle ownership goes. The MINI makes owners who might otherwise not be, into enthusiasts. Because of this you wind up with those who love to just drive their MINIs and have no desire to upgrade it beyond a few dealer accessories and rely on said dealer for all services, then there's those who race them, those who build them for show, and those who just like to turn wrenches on anything. The MINI's capable of being all these things so any given community about MINIs can attract all these people, and all these people will bring their unique ideas and experiences to the table. The car also appeals to enthusiasts from 16 to 100, those of higher income and those of more modest means, those who are "gearheads" and those who are more "green" (not that those are mutually exclusive), those who follow trends, and those who buck trends. All this variety consolidated in one place is impressive, and it's actually amazing how well people actually get along when you think about it.