<VV> Re: mooches & parasites

[Ken Rolt]

James Rice writes:
...
> In my opinion, non-CORSA members who participate in VV & FV
> are mooches and parasites, feeding off the hard won efforts and
> expenses of others.  They are flat, metallic oil level gauges*.  I 
> cannot express in polite words what I think of these mooches and parasites.

I am the founder, in part, of VV.

I started it as my own personal email list for Corvair enthusiasts in the early 90s while I was in grad school and had no wife, no dog, and no kids.  I was also a CORSA member back then.  Bryan Blackwell was one of the people on my list (which started with 5 people, grew to 12, then 20 etc), so at some point he offered to take it over and dump it onto an automated web server.  Minus some details and 10+ years later, that practice, and growth of web use, is how we got here today.

As family & job outstripped my ability to stay in both CORSA and VV, I dropped out of sight.... I just didn't have time to read all the digests (especially due to the excessive noise level) and partly because the Communique didn't offer what I wanted.  I pop back in occasionally even though I have no Corvair.

My opinion, for whatever its worth, is that the web-based community allows communication among owners and enthusiasts that the CORSA magazine and/or the conventions can never keep up with.  That doesn't make either obsolete but it does mean that they both have to grow, or they'll whither from non-use.  But the web-based forum will continue, and at least at the forum/digest level, sponsorship by CORSA isn't a requirement --- though I agree that CORSA needs VV;  VV might not need CORSA.

I will add one final remark:  I wrote a letter to the Communique once.  In it, I requested that in the future, when the directory was re-printed, that the email addresses of the owners be added.  I included my own email address in closing.   The Communique printed my letter but the editor replied in a negative way.  I found that very narrow-minded from someone that obviously couldn't see the wave of thew web that was coming.  I knew he was wrong but I also figured he would eventually get it right.

As far as the mooches and parasites comment goes --- I did learn a lot from other more-experienced Corvair owners, but I also like to think they learned something from me.  So I view forums, like this one, as a dialogue where there is both give and take.  I do agree that there are mooches/parasites on the web forums (they aren't just here), but nature has a way of sorting that out eventually.  And making CORSA membership a requirement for VV subscription is a bad idea.  The forum itself doesn't belong to CORSA, and it can be easily re-invented in another web-based group.  It would also set a bad precedent for isolating a very large number of Corvair enthusiasts from the single national organization.

If CORSA is suffering then it needs some re-tooling.  Taking VV away won't fix that problem.  My $0.02, and hello to any of the "old" people that knew me.

- Ken Rolt, Founder Emeritus Virtual Vairs
Westford  MA