Friday 19 November 2010

an online owners' club has evolved naturally

Just recently I have been contacted by several fellow restorers, including Tim, here, and from his very interesting new blog you can see that there is an impressive number of resto blogs under way now. There was a time when it was just Truman and me.

Now that I am sort of back in action, I really must find time to read about everyone's progress and get out and meet folk, including Andy, who lives very near to me.

The great thing about blogging is that it creates a community of knowledge. Despite the best efforts of the owners' club's chairman, Harvey Pitcher, it was always a struggle to get people to write articles for the club magazine, so that increasingly it felt a bit of a one-man effort and my membership lapsed. But I suppose the immediacy of a blog and the feeling of pride you can have in your own creative space has meant that a new kind of club has evolved. I like the way we all help each other out with info and parts.

Good luck with your projects, everyone!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Tinworm - you are absolutely correct in your comments about a default club! I have gained most of my J-van information from owner's blogs, and in return I try to provide as much info as I can regarding my achievements and discoveries.

All restorations and blogs obviously happen at the owner's pace. They are therefore well received by others due both to the informality, and to the ability to offer comment such as this!

Tinworm said...

:)
another factor is that we can all be in touch despite being spread out all over the world...and can do it QUICKLY!

It is also democratic (a word you hear a lot about the internet now) because nobody is excluded...you don't have to belong to a group or pay a subscription, or whatever.

I have looked a bit of a chump in the past for being proved wrong on this, but I also think there is a kind of co-op about it...where you share freely with others because you know that you get lots back freely yourself. (whereas everyone else has an angle and is trying to gouge money out of you)