A Message From "Trip"It is from that mind set that I created KawaNOW. Kawasaki Nomad Owners Worldwide was created specifically for the purpose of helping those who operate, maintain, ride and LOVE their Kawasaki Nomads...and it was created to be free of charge to the Nomad owner. In June of 2007, I created a website located at www.kawanow.org and a message forum at kawanow.proboards77.com. Both of these avenues of Nomad information have grown by leaps and bounds. After only five months in existence, the message forum featured 5 boards, over 400 registered members and over 19,000 posts! KawaNOW is a little different from most message forums in that KawaNOW caters to the Nomad owner from around the world. This means that owners from around the world are logging onto the forum on a daily and weekly basis. This brings together people from different backgrounds, experiences and knowledge. It is in this light that I run and operate the KawaNOW forum a little differently than other forums. I have always taken the attitude that most forums are a little stuffy.....by that I mean, I think those that post, feel that the specified discussion needs to stay that way....specified and hardlined on one thing, the topic at hand. In most places that's the way moderators want things...and that's fine...it's their right as a moderator. I tend to take a somewhat different approach to our discussions.....I kind of see it like we all are sitting around a table and discussing...let's say...."mufflers". Now, do you think if we were all actually facing each other, talking about mufflers that, over time, we wouldn't graduate to other side topics? or even some humor? I welcome a little levity along with the actual on-topic discussion. On the KawaNOW forum, one can expect to see a lot of humor and fun discussion along with items on topic. I tend to think KawaNOW has been a success because people are allowed to express their feelings and humor at times. I have also seen forums die on the vine because of moderators that were too strict. So, with that said, as a user of the KawaNOW message forum, expect to see a lot of humor mixed in with all types of discussion. Some people have gotten annoyed by this humor and felt that changing subjects slightly is offensive. They've even emailed me privately and asked me to change KawaNOW to the way they want it. KawaNOW is a place for everyone involved, not one person or group. And the way KawaNOW is formatted and operated is not going to change. KawaNOW is also unique in how it treats people. The members of this site do not harass new members, do not insult members who answer in all caps, and do not insult members who ask questions that have been asked previously. We might ask you to do a KawaNOW site search for a certain subject that's already been discussed or we might even give you a link to previous threads on the subject at hand. But flaming is NOT the protocol on KawaNOW. I created KawaNOW this way because I want to have a sense of community. It should be noted that anytime jokes are being made on the forum, only those demonstrating a tolerance for that humor are the target of the joke. If anyone wants to join in, they are not ostracized, but are embraced. In other words, everyone is treated with respect. A person can get involved in KawaNOW as much as they want or as little as they like. Life is a mixture of humor, information and experience. I want this mixture to be the essence of the KawaNOW vision. It would seem that losing that mixture can lead to stale, cold, concise responses that may lead to a loss of members, a deterioration in the amount of sharing and a loss of humor. That would be truly sad. In the past it's been suggested that we only engage in technical conversation and that all humor be relegated to other boards. Is that how people interact in the real world? The KawaNOW forum was created for the masses to engage in conversation as they see fit, in other words, to have the freedom to express themselves and gain knowledge. KawaNOW is fortunate to have a large number of members that log in each day and participate in discussions. These people are like you and me...they own a Nomad and wish to gain more knowledge into their Nomads. These people stand ready to help you with just about every aspect of your motorcycling life. They have seen KawaNOW grow from just a few members to what it is today. They have laughed and cried with each other. Unfortunately, these same members have seen a select few have their login privileges taken away due to bad attitudes and derogatory statements. If you keep a positive attitude on the forum with an open mind and take the bad with the good, others will embrace you and be willing to help. My virtual door is always open. Feel free to email me with any comments or suggestions on how to improve KawaNOW. Robert "Trip" Hilliard KawaNOW CEO/Founder/Global Moderator danceswithnomads@kawanow.org |