Don't mess with people!
I didn't understand until this very day in 2006 what the site meant to people of the org. I thought it would be funny to shut the site off and to post a message on a static page that the site was shutting down for good because of money. In 2006 we didn't have very many sponsors and heck we didn't need a lot back then. I didn't tell anyone what I was going to do either. Right before I hit the button I told my wife that no matter what happened I was leaving the site shut down for 12 hours, no matter who called or what people said I wasn't gonna turn the forum back on... She told me "You better not do it".
So I shut the site down and put up this message....
About 10 seconds after I clicked the button the first calls started on the phone... About 20 seconds emails starting rolling in. Members here were scrambling all over to see what they could do... My voicemail was filling up quickly, the emails that were coming in were so unbelievably supportive and then someone sent me a link in an email to a new forum that someone set up to rescue Hayabusa.org.... It felt a little like the "Save Ferris" on the water tower scene....
I had no idea that people had devoted so much of their lives into the site, I had no idea that the friendships that were made here meant so much. I didn't know what an outlet this place was to so many hurting people.
So as the emails came in I was reading them, they were honest, sincere and I was starting to get a bad feeling pretty early on but I was determined to stick with the 12 hours. Cell phones were going off, my home phone, emails it was just overwhelming... About two hours into it and I was feeling really bad and thinking that it was still going to be a classic but that there were going to be some very upset people...
Amazingly I made it the full 12 hours and I turned the site back on after being radio silent the whole time. I posted in big red letters in that thread LINK HERE TO THREAD APRIL FOOLS
I knew there was going to be some backlash but oh my gosh.... Members went from "Save Ferris" to "Get a Rope" as soon as I turned the forum back on. People were selling lemonade and smashing open piggy banks to wrangle money up to send to me. When they found out that it was a joke it just went the other direction because they had put so much effort into something that turned out to be nothing.... One member called it an unnecessary emotional rollercoaster.
So my friends I look back now on this day and think to myself that for many people today is about April Fools day and jokes but I see it as a day I learned a lesson. Since that time I have never taken the site offline like that, there was a brief "time out" a few years ago when people couldn't get along but I have done my best to keep this place rolling with a whole new perspective.
To this day there are folks that refuse to come back because of the heartburn, if your one of those people and you are lurking... Get back involved...
There are life long friendships that have been made here, lots of laughs all over the country. I have been honored to meet literally thousands of you all and I do not take this place for granted anymore...
With all that said though... Looking back 5 years..... It was a classic prank!
Thanks for letting me hang out here and know that I appreciate you all.....
Captain
I didn't understand until this very day in 2006 what the site meant to people of the org. I thought it would be funny to shut the site off and to post a message on a static page that the site was shutting down for good because of money. In 2006 we didn't have very many sponsors and heck we didn't need a lot back then. I didn't tell anyone what I was going to do either. Right before I hit the button I told my wife that no matter what happened I was leaving the site shut down for 12 hours, no matter who called or what people said I wasn't gonna turn the forum back on... She told me "You better not do it".
So I shut the site down and put up this message....
About 10 seconds after I clicked the button the first calls started on the phone... About 20 seconds emails starting rolling in. Members here were scrambling all over to see what they could do... My voicemail was filling up quickly, the emails that were coming in were so unbelievably supportive and then someone sent me a link in an email to a new forum that someone set up to rescue Hayabusa.org.... It felt a little like the "Save Ferris" on the water tower scene....
I had no idea that people had devoted so much of their lives into the site, I had no idea that the friendships that were made here meant so much. I didn't know what an outlet this place was to so many hurting people.
So as the emails came in I was reading them, they were honest, sincere and I was starting to get a bad feeling pretty early on but I was determined to stick with the 12 hours. Cell phones were going off, my home phone, emails it was just overwhelming... About two hours into it and I was feeling really bad and thinking that it was still going to be a classic but that there were going to be some very upset people...
Amazingly I made it the full 12 hours and I turned the site back on after being radio silent the whole time. I posted in big red letters in that thread LINK HERE TO THREAD APRIL FOOLS
I knew there was going to be some backlash but oh my gosh.... Members went from "Save Ferris" to "Get a Rope" as soon as I turned the forum back on. People were selling lemonade and smashing open piggy banks to wrangle money up to send to me. When they found out that it was a joke it just went the other direction because they had put so much effort into something that turned out to be nothing.... One member called it an unnecessary emotional rollercoaster.
So my friends I look back now on this day and think to myself that for many people today is about April Fools day and jokes but I see it as a day I learned a lesson. Since that time I have never taken the site offline like that, there was a brief "time out" a few years ago when people couldn't get along but I have done my best to keep this place rolling with a whole new perspective.
To this day there are folks that refuse to come back because of the heartburn, if your one of those people and you are lurking... Get back involved...
There are life long friendships that have been made here, lots of laughs all over the country. I have been honored to meet literally thousands of you all and I do not take this place for granted anymore...
With all that said though... Looking back 5 years..... It was a classic prank!
Thanks for letting me hang out here and know that I appreciate you all.....
Captain
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unch: 
its classic! it comes up every year
i wasn't here when it happened, but im sure i woulda freaked out.
