300 Members!!

[Graham]

Well we' ve managed to reach 300 members, our latest member Rona has the dubious honour of being the 300th member of the forum.

Well done Rona and welcome to the forum.

Graham

[viv]

300 unbelievable how quickly this site has grown. Bet it gets even 'bigger 'now as 'small' is beautiful!

[fuzzy]

When did it start - what reasons -has it gone as expected- how long did it take to take of - what plans for the future

[moya]

Jul 5, 2008 9:06:30 GMT fuzzy said:

When did it start - what reasons -has it gone as expected- how long did it take to take of - what plans for the future

Posting your answer to this one will keep you busy Graham.

[Pauline]

Jul 5, 2008 11:12:06 GMT moya said:

Posting your answer to this one will keep you busy Graham.

How right you are Moya! and he's decided to delegate and just fetched me to answer!!

Well here goes Fuzzy:

When did it start?...... The Forum around 2006 but the actual website was much earlier, around 2002

What reasons? - Basically I was bored and wanted something to do while Graham was at the footie matches on Saturday afternoons! Building websites was a new thing at that time and I was keen to have a go. I could have gone for any subject, originally my love of cats was my plan - but there were so many around, so I chose to write about our Romahome which I thought was a novel subject. A few years later I added the Forum.

Has it gone as expected? - Better than expected, far better! It started, like I say, as just something to do, I never thought anyone would be interested in it but even though at that time it was only hosted on a free web page (with a very strange/hard to remember url) it was getting visits so I decided to splash out the princely sum of £5 and buy the easy to remember url smallmotorhome.co.uk and see what happened then.
It got more and more popular with many more visitors and was coming up in Google searches. I started learning more and more about websites/search engine optimisation/hosting etc. so put this new found knowledge to work on getting the site even more popular and noticed.

How long did it take to take off? - Probably about 2 years from the initial start for the website. But the forum got quite a few members straight away, most being Romahome members seeing links on the UKCampsites forum. We got together on a few meets and the rest is history.We also found that John and Wendy lived fairly close to us and started meeting up with them.

What plans for the future? - I'd love to move the forum to a better host but the cost is a bit prohibitive. (sorry pro boards, no offence )

Other than that it's just a matter of adding more to the site and seeing where it goes.

We've made some lovely friends along the way and that is the biggest bonus to it all. Some we have only met in cyberspace but others we have met in person.

Thanks for asking Fuzzy, nice to know people are interested.

[fuzzy]

Thanks Pauline I just wondered where such a good idea came from. Much more useful to Roma owners than cats! but a cat would be a nice accessory, however you say there are so many cats around - how many cats have you got - I have only ever had one at a time and each one in it's time was the best cat in the world, strange but each one of my dogs was also the best dog in the world in it's time.

[Pauline]

Hi Fuzzy

We only have one cat at a time too (when I said there were lots around I meant lots of websites about cats, as opposed to Romahomes

We've had cats for about 20 years or more and like yours each has been special, but in it's own way because they are so very different, no cat is ever the same don't you think?

A law unto themselves!

[fuzzy]

They are each have their own little characters I don't have any pets now (I am too soft with them and get too attached - break my heart when they die, I had a sick dog - never again).
I am now sort of looking for a dog to 'foster for walkies' I am putting on too much weight in my old age and spending too much time here but don't want the full time responsibility.

Difference between dogs and cats - with a dog you can more or less demand respect whereas with a cat you have got to earn it!

[djsooz]

Well done Pauline (and Graham) for something that started out as 'something to do on a Saturday afternoon'. You've built a great site. Everyone on here has benefited a great deal I think and its all down to you two. Give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back I for one have picked up lots of great advice and tips, and lots of laughs on the way too. Its great that everyone shares their adventures, trials and joys with their wee vans.

Here's to the next 300 members.

Sooz.

[Pauline]

Jul 6, 2008 15:01:16 GMT fuzzy said:

Difference between dogs and cats - with a dog you can more or less demand respect whereas with a cat you have got to earn it!

Very true and as the saying goes 'dogs have owners, cats have staff!'

[Pauline]

Jul 6, 2008 21:44:19 GMT djsooz said:

Well done Pauline (and Graham) for something that started out as 'something to do on a Saturday afternoon'. You've built a great site. Everyone on here has benefited a great deal I think and its all down to you two. Give yourselves a well deserved pat on the back I for one have picked up lots of great advice and tips, and lots of laughs on the way too. Its great that everyone shares their adventures, trials and joys with their wee vans.

Here's to the next 300 members.

Sooz.

Thanks Sooz, it's great to hear that it's proved so useful and gees me on to keep adding more and improving where possible - not that we could improve on our wonderful members

[pendel]

Hi there cat lover, I think that should read "Dogs have owners , cats have servants.

[Pauline]

Jul 7, 2008 20:42:33 GMT pendel said:

Hi there cat lover, I think that should read "Dogs have owners , cats have servants.

I'm sure that's Barney's plan ;D

[satchmoshaz]

its a great site and I have picked up lots of hints and tips
many thanks Shaz x