SNOWEST FORUMS: Moving Foward into 2010!!

Dear SnoWest Forums member:

My name is Christopher, and I am your new SnoWest Forums Admin, and if you will give me a few minutes of your time I would like to tell you a bit about myself, and about where the SnoWest Forums will be going this Fall.

The SnoWest online forums were created back in July of 2001, and since then have gone through several upgrades, the most recent of which was about 2 years ago when they moved the entire forum over to a new software program called "vBulletin". Since making that transition the forums have grown rapidly to 33,000 members, of which more than 7,500 were actively on the forums in August, with over 110,000 threads and nearly 1.5 million posts! Those numbers make the SnoWest Forums one of the most active Snowmobile destinations on the entire Internet!

Like you, I am also SnoWest Forum member. I joined the forums in 2008 and spent months just coming in, searching the site for information and then reading the posts. It was many months before I jumped into the water and made my first post. But let me step back a bit and give you some perspective on who I am, and why I am here, so you can better understand where we are about to go.

I am 46 years old, married, with 4 kids (twins 17, Son 10, Daughter 8. I was born and raised in Newport Beach California where my first serious recreational sport was SCUBA Diving. I went to Orange Coast College where I studied commercial aviation and got my pilot's license while working for The North Face. I then transferred to the University of Colorado, Boulder, where I took up Skiing, Snowmobiling, Spelunking and Skydiving.

(More painful details below about me in post #2 for those who really want to know)

So who am I? I am your classic computer Geek, (who spends a solid 12 hours a day sitting behind his computer), who just happens to have a real passion for the outdoors!

Now, the question is WHY is it important that you bother yourself with knowing ANY of that?

Well, for the last several years now I have been running a forum with several thousand members learning the real ins and outs of how to build up an online enthusiast community. What I found was that if I wasn't hanging out on my own forums, I was over here on the SnoWest forums. And as time went by I was really missing all of the customizations that I had done to my own forums every time I came here. Finally, out of shear personal frustration I contacted Harris Publishing (Owner of SnoWest Magazine and Forums) and offered to come in and see if I couldn't work some magic on their forums. After many e-mails and a couple face to face meetings they agreed to let me come in and give them a hand by installing a whole series of upgrades and modifications to the SnoWest Forums.

Let me draw you an analogy to what I mean.

Imagine a Christmas Tree, with a full string of lights, but no bulbs. The foundation of the SnoWest Forums is a software program called vBulletin, and while it is a very strong and capable program, it is also like that Christmas tree with no lights. Each of those missing lights are Modifications or simply "Mods". vBulletin is designed from ground up to have a LOT of these "Mods" plugged in. These Mods are what makes one forum unique and distinct from any other forum on the Internet. But unlike the light-bulbs on the tree where you just screw them in and forget them, the vBulletin Mods often require a LOT of love and attention to properly integrate and keep them behaving alongside many other Mods. And this is why, for years now, SnoWest has been running in the mostly generic mode. They simply did not have the special expertise in the field of online forum management to implement, integrate, debug all of these, let alone actively manage the forums on a daily basis.

In-spite of the fact that they have never had the manpower to dedicate a real full time Admin to the forums, the SnoWest Forums have grown and developed into what you see today. Which is a huge Testament to the quality of the members and of the content.


My job, in a nutshell, is to begin "enhancing" SnoWest and guiding it forward into it's next evolution. And that evolution will be commencing right away. Beginning last night you will start seeing changes on the forums. (much more on that in the next several threads!)

For those very few of you who really want to know more about me....

After graduation with a degree in Political Science, I spent 3 years in the 82nd Airborne Division as a Combat Medic in the 82nd Aviation Brigade, 1/17th Air Cav. While serving in the Army I became a SCUBA instructor and married the love of my life, my lovely wife Suzanne. After completing my service in the Military we decided to move back to Boulder Colorado and raise our family. With the advent of the Iraq war, I received a presidential "invitation" to return to active duty for operation Desert Storm. At the conclusion of that, life settled down a bit...

In Boulder I started working in the PC hardware business selling and building custom business computers. One thing led to another and I ended up in the software business, writing custom code. This eventually led me to open my own corporation selling software into the SCUBA industry. For the next 5 years I grew this business in Boulder all the while being "heavily" involved in the growing Internet with an online store and forums. Then in 2002 we decided to relocate the company to Lake Havasu Arizona in hope of lowing the cost of operations following the evisceration of the industry from the 9-11 attacks and ensuing travel scare.

In Havasu I picked up a new hobby, Jet-Skiing on the Lake. The lake was 90 miles long, and in the summertime would hit surface temps of over 90 degrees. Riding became a daily event for me and my employees. We would close the office at 4:00 and suit up and head out. Life was good, for a few more years. After 10 years it was time to close down that business and try something new. That something new was custom boat manufacturing. My stepfather had been building boats for 42 years and offered me a chance to try my hand at the family business. The next several years found me still on the lake, but now in a high speed boat giving demo rides to potential customers. But when I wasn't on the lake, I was spending more and more time back on the Internet in various enthusiast forums.

Over the next year or two I had worked my way up from being a regular Member, to Moderator, to Super Moderator to Admin and then finally I I made the owner an offer he couldn't refuse and just bought the whole site from him. Now for the first time I was a forum Admin and an owner. My eyes were opened to all kinds of opportunities and challenges to running a large online community.

Meanwhile, the previous owner of that forum I bought makes me an offer to move to Idaho and come work for him full time. And that is how I ended up here in Rigby Idaho with another new passion in my life, Snowmobiling. Sold the boat and the Jekskis, packed up the family and moved up north to a whole new lifestyle in January of 2007!! And to be quite honest, it was the best decision of my life! I absolutely LOVE living here in Idaho every bit as much as I did Colorado.

Special Skills and Qualifications

• • EMT Certified, (Emergency Medical Technician)
• • BCLS Certified, (Basic Cardiac Life Support)
• • BTLS Certified, (Basic Trauma Life Support)
• • ACLS Certified, (Advanced Cardiac Life Support)
• • UHMS, Member, Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society.
• • FEMA Certified, Radiological Monitor.
• • FEMA Certified, Shelter Manager.
• • AFSD Certified Civilian Parachutist.
• • AAUS, Member, American Academy of Undersea Scientists.
• • US Army Certified, Combat Parachutist (3 years active military airborne status).
• • BATF Licensed Firearms Dealer, 9 years.
• • US Army, Expert Marksman.
• • US Air Force Aux, Civil Air Patrol (Deputy Commander for Cadets).
• • California Office of Emergency Services.
• • Colorado Ground Search & Rescue.
• • BSA, Boy Scouts of America, Scout Master & Cub Master.
• • FAA Licensed Pilot; Single Engine Land, to 6 Passengers.
• • Scuba Diving Instructor, General & Technical.
• • TDI, Instructor, Technical Diving International.
• • NAUI, Instructor, National Association of Underwater Instructors.
• • Well Skilled in: General Weapons, Mountain & Desert Survival, Land Navigation, Disaster Preparedness, Food Storage, Shelter Construction, Wilderness First Aid, etc.

Thanks for the positive comments.
Over the next couple months there are going to be a pile of new changes to the forums.

if you like what you see now, just sit back and wait till the BIG CHANGES come!

MtnMaxMod said:

now it all comes out! good luck on the mods chris, hopefully the server doesn't crash on ya

Click to expand...

The Server IS a real issue. No way around it, its a major obsticle I have to deal with.

CleElum Sledhead said:

Christopher,

Thank you for your service to our country!!! My brother is Air Force and in Iraq as we speak.

Also thanks for the upgrades to SW.

That is one heck of a list you have there.

Dave

Click to expand...

I haven't even shared the upgrade list yet.
But now that you mentioned it, I should get another thread started that talks about the real road map I have layed out for SnoWest.

As for the Service to the USA.
I have only one word - AIRBORNE!!

snowcross338 said:

Very nice job, I have been a member since the beginning, changed my name 4 years ago and use this forum everyday. We all appreciate the changes!

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You must have left and rejoined at some point because your membership ID is #43,506 ?

But never the less, THANK YOU for your long term support.

I will do my utmost to ensure you stick around and enjoy all the upgrades that are coming shortly. If the last 8 years was good, then the next will be MUCH MUCH BETTER!

Now now.
I was NEVER a hippie!

I went to CU and studied Poly-Sci/Pre-Law.
I was one of only 12 conservatives on campuss!

I used to go out and protest against the protesters on campus. Ohhhh, those were the days!!!

Can't offer you any comments on the Google Search Tool. I didn't install it, and have not gotten into it to see what the internal settings are yet.

But THANKS for the comments on the sled forums!