- Admin
- #1
Yesterday, April 1st, 2015 marked 15 years that the Corvette Action Center web site has been live on the web!
I can't believe it's been 15 years and it's definitely been quite a ride!
For those of you that are new to the site, the Corvette Action Center originally started out as a five page, class final for a web development class I was taking in late 1999. It was a small, basic, New Hampshire-based Corvette site with a home page, a contact page, history page, events page and tech page. I aced the final and the instructor thought it was so good, that I should turn it into a live site on the web for New Hampshire Corvette enthusiasts. CorvetteNH .com went live in January of 2000.
As fate would have it, I moved down to Northern Virginia to start a web development career with Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. I quickly realized, CorvetteNH .com would no longer be viable since I was not in NH any more and couldn't keep track of what was going on in the local Corvette scene. As a result, I decided to change the focus of the site from spotlighting the New Hampshire Corvette scene, to focusing on a global Corvette site that would be both helpful and informative to Corvette owners and enthusiasts.
CorvetteActionCenter .com was born and went live on April 1st, 2000.
In light of other Corvette sites out there, I was doubtful the site would take off. Thankfully, a few people drilled into my head: "build it, and they will come." To this day, those words still ring true in my head from time to time.
Over those 15 years, a lot has changed. As the site grew, we saw several server moves until we finally landed on our server capable of handling the traffic that we receive throughout the entire site. As other Corvette web sites and online communities have been gobbled up by larger online company conglomerates, today, the Corvette Action Center remains privately owned. While those same companies approached me to sell the CAC, I declined. The Corvette Action Center is, and always has been, my baby, and while the offers may have been good, I just couldn't bring myself to let it all go.
Along with server moves and site growth, we also got together at annual CruiseFest events that we held around the country. Some of the highlights of those events included seeing the arrival of 2005 Corvette prototype sent over to our CruiseFest event in Auburn, Indiana by GM. For many of us, that was the first time we saw the new C6 Corvette in the flesh, and to this day, I still remember seeing that red prototype driving down the interstate, getting off the exit and pulling into the hotel parking lot with all of us standing around.
Additional CruiseFest events were held in Bowling Green, Kentucky, St. Louis, Missouri and Colorado Springs, Colorado. During those CruiseFest events, a magical thing happened: online personalities from here on the forums finally met face to face. Friendships and relationships were forged and some lives were changed forever. It is those friendships that we hold most valuable; above and beyond any Corvette. While it was the Corvette and the CAC that brought us together; cars come and go, but friendships can last a lifetime.
In January of 2009, Tom Falconer published a book entitled "Collector's Originality Guide Corvette C4 1984-1996". In his book, he wrote:
In January of 2013, General Motors invited me out to Detroit as part of the media group to attend the official unveiling of the 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray and to cover the event for the Corvette Action Center. As the cover came off the car to press from around the world, I was right there with camera, taking a ton of photos and immediately running to the back of the room to upload them here on the site so all of our members could see it! To this day, I am thankful to General Motors for extending that invite. It was an incredible experience and the opportunity of a lifetime for me and the Corvette Action Center.
However, over these 15 years, we have not been without our losses as well. While we gain new members on a daily basis, we have also lost some very valuable members as well. Remo, Bud Dougherty and Jane Ann just to name a few. Some of the members we've lost have been members since the forums began around September of 2000. Above all else, it is the memories I have of those individuals and the incredible times I had with them, that I will always cherish.
Today, those five pages from 2000 have grown into well over 3,000 pages. We have just under 26,000 members here in the forums, and the Knowledgebase holds over 1,000 articles containing service bulletins, recall notices, tech articles and some rare documentation going all the way back to 1953.
So, here is to you, our members - thank you for continuing to support the Corvette Action Center and your many years of helping to shape and mold it into one of the top Corvette enthusiast sites on the web!
Happy Birthday Corvette Action Center!
I can't believe it's been 15 years and it's definitely been quite a ride!
For those of you that are new to the site, the Corvette Action Center originally started out as a five page, class final for a web development class I was taking in late 1999. It was a small, basic, New Hampshire-based Corvette site with a home page, a contact page, history page, events page and tech page. I aced the final and the instructor thought it was so good, that I should turn it into a live site on the web for New Hampshire Corvette enthusiasts. CorvetteNH .com went live in January of 2000.
As fate would have it, I moved down to Northern Virginia to start a web development career with Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. I quickly realized, CorvetteNH .com would no longer be viable since I was not in NH any more and couldn't keep track of what was going on in the local Corvette scene. As a result, I decided to change the focus of the site from spotlighting the New Hampshire Corvette scene, to focusing on a global Corvette site that would be both helpful and informative to Corvette owners and enthusiasts.
CorvetteActionCenter .com was born and went live on April 1st, 2000.
In light of other Corvette sites out there, I was doubtful the site would take off. Thankfully, a few people drilled into my head: "build it, and they will come." To this day, those words still ring true in my head from time to time.
Over those 15 years, a lot has changed. As the site grew, we saw several server moves until we finally landed on our server capable of handling the traffic that we receive throughout the entire site. As other Corvette web sites and online communities have been gobbled up by larger online company conglomerates, today, the Corvette Action Center remains privately owned. While those same companies approached me to sell the CAC, I declined. The Corvette Action Center is, and always has been, my baby, and while the offers may have been good, I just couldn't bring myself to let it all go.
Along with server moves and site growth, we also got together at annual CruiseFest events that we held around the country. Some of the highlights of those events included seeing the arrival of 2005 Corvette prototype sent over to our CruiseFest event in Auburn, Indiana by GM. For many of us, that was the first time we saw the new C6 Corvette in the flesh, and to this day, I still remember seeing that red prototype driving down the interstate, getting off the exit and pulling into the hotel parking lot with all of us standing around.
Additional CruiseFest events were held in Bowling Green, Kentucky, St. Louis, Missouri and Colorado Springs, Colorado. During those CruiseFest events, a magical thing happened: online personalities from here on the forums finally met face to face. Friendships and relationships were forged and some lives were changed forever. It is those friendships that we hold most valuable; above and beyond any Corvette. While it was the Corvette and the CAC that brought us together; cars come and go, but friendships can last a lifetime.
In January of 2009, Tom Falconer published a book entitled "Collector's Originality Guide Corvette C4 1984-1996". In his book, he wrote:
-- Tom Falconer, "Collector's Originality Guide Corvette C4 1984-1996" [Hardcover] (Tom Falconer is the author of Original Corvette 1953-1962, Original Corvette Sting Ray 1963-1967, and Original Corvette 1968-1982. He has been a monthly columnist for Corvette Fever for four years. He has run his own Corvette shop since 1977 and lives in Kent, UK.)
In January of 2013, General Motors invited me out to Detroit as part of the media group to attend the official unveiling of the 2014 C7 Corvette Stingray and to cover the event for the Corvette Action Center. As the cover came off the car to press from around the world, I was right there with camera, taking a ton of photos and immediately running to the back of the room to upload them here on the site so all of our members could see it! To this day, I am thankful to General Motors for extending that invite. It was an incredible experience and the opportunity of a lifetime for me and the Corvette Action Center.
However, over these 15 years, we have not been without our losses as well. While we gain new members on a daily basis, we have also lost some very valuable members as well. Remo, Bud Dougherty and Jane Ann just to name a few. Some of the members we've lost have been members since the forums began around September of 2000. Above all else, it is the memories I have of those individuals and the incredible times I had with them, that I will always cherish.
Today, those five pages from 2000 have grown into well over 3,000 pages. We have just under 26,000 members here in the forums, and the Knowledgebase holds over 1,000 articles containing service bulletins, recall notices, tech articles and some rare documentation going all the way back to 1953.
So, here is to you, our members - thank you for continuing to support the Corvette Action Center and your many years of helping to shape and mold it into one of the top Corvette enthusiast sites on the web!
Happy Birthday Corvette Action Center!
Thanks for doing what you've done. I visit here and learn a lot. Perhaps someday I will get that long desired Corvette. This site will be the top of my "home group" list. Appreciate it!!
></o
