How Many Other Otr Truckers Are Out Here?

[+TruckerBears]

There are a couple sample logos now available at the GeoTruckers.com website.

 

If you have a design you would like to have included for consideration, please send it to truckerbears@geotruckers.com and it will be placed online as quickly as possible. Please make your submissions in PNG, TIF, or BMP formats to preserve your hard work without compression artifacts. The sumbission will be resized if necessary and saved in a web-friendly format prior to being placed on the site.

 

The logos are identified by number, so when you visit to look, please return here to the forums and post your vote for which logo you prefer, along with any suggestions you may have for improvement of the logo.

 

Since the GeoTruckers.com site is intended to be a group effort of those of us interested in and following this thread, the more sumbissions we have for a logo, the better. Also, the more people who vote on the logos, the more this whole endeavour will truly be a work of the community, and not just one or two people.

 

Thanks!

K of N&K/TruckerBears

[+TeamZebra]

I have a design idea floating around in my head... but I"m not real good with PhotoShop yet, so I can't promise it'll turn out right. I'll work on it a little and see what I can go.. might have to try to just get a rough draft and let someone else work up the final version??

 

As for the domain name.. I kinda like the sound of Geotruckers. And to be honest, the idea of ghosting the name and having multiple names point to the geotruckers.com site might not be a bad idea. The more times it shows up on a search page the better...right? Oh wait, it's not about the numbers...

[+Grumpster]

I have chosen to remove this post in hopes that focus can be placed on the formation of geotruckers.com

Edited August 30, 2005 by djstern

[+TeamZebra]

OK.. I have to admit I was confused there for a moment. I thought the site had been agreed upon by at least TwoTrucks, TruckerBears AND djstern. Now I see what happened and I have to say I understand why he's upset! TwoTrucks wanted to get a group together and djstern offered to help organize the group by providing a website. A very generous offer indeed! Next thing we know there's a site called geotruckers.com. I'm thinking WOW! These guys are working fast. But then I notice djstern isn't in the mix. He comes back and is... uhh... upset. And rightfully so. If you want the site to represent a GROUP you have to let the GROUP in on the decisions. And I honestly think that was what djstern intended to do. Instead TruckerBears chose the domain name and popped the site up without asking anyones opinions. Yeah, there's something to be said about having a domain name... but what good does it do if there's no content? You come here and go "Hey! We have a website now!".. people rush over to check it out and find no content. "Ugh, that was a waste of time." You're dealing with truckers... (speaking as a past trucker) our lives are on a schedule and time is of the essence. If you post something and tell me to look at it, yeah I'll go check it out but if there isn't anything there to interst me... I will not be back until you can assure me there's something there. Why rush things to get a picture on the web? Nice logos don't mean [edit] until there's something below it to look at.

 

djstern was, in my opinion, going about it the right way. Make an offer and see if there's any interest. I'll use eBay as my analogy... I can put (making something up) zebra-striped pickles for sale on eBay all day long, but if nobody wants a zebra-striped pickle what good does it do me? None. Now if I post one zebra-striped pickle and it sells at a good price.. I'll post another one. Keep selling 'em a few at a time and MAKE people want them.

 

I can throw a makeshift website up and spread it's address around all I want to, but unless it's got something people want what good does it do me? None. Or I can work on my website little by little... get something interesting on it, then publish it. Keep adding pieces that people will find interesting to keep them coming back... get the idea?

 

djstern, I want to make it known that I did not, nor do I now that I understand fully what happened, condone this stealing of your idea. I can see you were very excited about the possibilities this site had and had some excellent ideas for the design and handling of the project. I hope, some how, it finds it's way to being a reality. Who knows, maybe we can ALL work on it together like originally intended. As for the current "website"... it's kind of left a bad taste in my mouth after reading all this.

[+TwoTruckers]

djstern: Are you still interested in assisting in this endeavor? If so there is a way that you can still do so. We will still need to have some way of getting a forum much like this one started.

 

I am not interested in this "pissing match" going on nor do I wish to get involved, but I would like to see a group of some sort emerge from all this.

 

Bottom line here is that we all need to pick up the pieces and see if there is any possible way that we can make this work.

[+Grumpster]

djstern: Are you still interested in assisting in this endeavor? If so there is a way that you can still do so. We will still need to have some way of getting a forum much like this one started.

 

I am not interested in this "pissing match" going on nor do I wish to get involved, but I would like to see a group of some sort emerge from all this.

 

Bottom line here is that we all need to pick up the pieces and see if there is any possible way that we can make this work.

TwoTrucks, I would like to see this work as well. That's why I had made the offer to begin with to host the site. I have your number and I'll give you a call in a little while. Don't know what our options are at this point but we'll work out what we can and post the results of our conversation here when done.

 

TeamZebra, Thanks for the support. I really do appreciate it. That means a lot to me.

 

To everyoe here.

I never wanted things to go the way they did. I thought about letting it go but this was something that I was really intrested in devoting a lot of time and energy into and right or wrong I did take it very personally. I wish I could have let it go but I just couldn't. Having said my piece and been heard, I'd like to put it in the past and see this project move forward, with or without me.

 

I also have no desire for a pissing match and it is for that reason that I declined to webmaster the site. I'll call TwoTruckers and we'll take it from there. Right now, I don't know. This whole group was his idea to begin with and I don't want any more to go against that than already has.

[+TruckerBears]

djstern: You make interesting retorts to my comments. Some are contradictory and many are quite simply taken out of context and twisted into something else. Either way, while I have not come right out and explicitly said "I'm sorry," I do feel that I tried to make it clear that, yes, I stepped on people's toes, that I felt bad about that and was trying to make things right. Of course, that cannot be clearly seen with the creative recutting of my comments in your reply.

 

Regarding the server, not that it really matters for "basic HTML" but we have PHP on it as well. We also have a Linux build running on it, so it's the best of both worlds. I could go on, but there's really no point to it.

 

Regarding conditions, you did set a condition (whether intended or not): "[Domain names are] cheep enough that I'd be willing to spring for it as long as others are willing to participate" (emphasis mine). "As long as" is a condition, stated AND implied.

 

You make a good point about how not everyone has FTP, but your comments about how to get stuff onto the server imply your need for control: "When they have something that they think is good they could simply zip it up and email it to me. I’d review it, determine if it’s in the direction the site is going, verify that nothing’s broken etc. make appropriate edits, then put it live if appropriate." You'd review it to make sure it's appropriate and in the direction the site is going? What if someone wanted to post something that was counter to your ideas? Would you post it or reject it? Having the site open to all to post whatever they wished is what I feel is best, that way it's the group's decision as to what is or not appropriate, not one person's. The only stipulation I would suggest would be that the LOOK matched the rest of the site so it'd feel unified, but as for CONTENT, that'd be up to the group.

 

I stated, "everyone's panties get all in a bunch" and you took it as a personal attack. Go watch the movie THE ABYSS and maybe you'll see where that comment came from and it's intended meaning. I'm sorry you were offended, as that was not the intention.

 

Regarding "ers" and "ing": Geocaching is a sport. Geocachers are those who enjoy the sport. Geotrucking implies the involvement of an industry, Geotruckers implies the involvement of people. Period. It's no deeper than that.

 

As for the timeline of this thread, you conveniently overlooked my point about how there were quite a number of posts about trucker- and rv-friendly caches between July 7 and July 10 (including suggestions for some form of database of them), then NOTHING HAPPENED until August 25 when you made your suggestion. That's precisely where my initiative came from -- get the ball rolling before people forget about it again, and see where it goes from there.

 

But all of this is moot. Clearly, djstern, you have control issues of your own to deal with. You also have a lot to learn about interaction with people and how best to handle upset and anger in a proactive manner. You asked if I would have been upset if the shoe had been on the other foot, that if I had made this suggestion and you had taken the ball and got it rolling would have made me furious. Honestly, I can say that it wouldn't have, that instead I would have been pleased as punch to see that someone liked my idea sufficiently enough to feel it was worthy of pursuing.

 

You want control? You've got it! I abstain any and all involvement with this idea from this point forward, and wish you nothing but the best. What I did was not meant in any way, shape or form to upset people, but rather to ensure a great idea was not lost. And despite that we talk to TwoTruckERs on a near daily basis, until I went and set up a domain for this group, YOU AND YOUR IDEA WERE NEVER MENTIONED. Maybe it's an oversight on their behalf.

 

As of a few minutes ago, the Geotruckers.com website has been deleted from my server. If the group wants the domain, please let me know and I will gladly transfer it as a gift with no strings attached. If not, oh well. No skin off my teeth, as they say. I'm through with all this whining and bellyaching. So much for trying to do a nice thing for others.

[+mtn-man]

** Recommendation **

 

Take this to email or conference call. Hash out the details and come to an agreement. Come back here with a unified front. It looks like three of you are the driving force here (pun intended). The thousands of folks who would use this would probably be fine with what ever you come up with.

 

(Edited to actually make sense. )

Edited August 29, 2005 by mtn-man

[+TwoTruckers]

I will be closing this thread soon, since we are starting a new one specifically for the club.

 

Thanks to all who have added to the conversation, please make note of the new thread. Hopefully we'll see you all over there. -DJ-

 

EDIT- It has been moved to "Organized Geocaching" forum

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=107272

Edited August 30, 2005 by TwoTruckers

[+Grumpster]

Well we have good news. TwoTruckers and I have spent the past few hours, on and off, talking on the phone and working things out. With the encouragement of TwoTruckers I will end up becoming the webmaster of geotruckers.com. I have many good ideas for the site and I'm sure more will come. I do, however, need ideas from the rest of you. I'm good at the technical side of things, but I'm no artist.

 

I am interested in the input from everyone on the look and feel of the site. Background images, color sceme, layout, etc. If you have any ideas, please let me hear them. Draw your concept on a sheet of paper and email it to me at webmaster@geotruckers.com, fax it to me at 815-846-0718 or if you're really ambitious, do a sample html page or images and email it to me.

 

Anything you can contribute would be appreciated. Currently, I'm looking at a blank sheet of paper and wondering what I'll put on it. This site is for everyone here, so the ideas for the look and feel of the site should be from everyone. My mind is full of ideas for the backend, (chat rooms, forums, articles, links, etc.) but I'd like input from everyone for the front page and look of the site.

 

Also, to keep the site fresh and interesting, we could use some various articles. Write anything you like that would fit into the theme of our site. For example, geocaching adventures, trucking stories, RV Stories, human intrest, how-to's, etc. You get the idea. If it's a story you like telling, then write it down and share it with the rest of us. If it's something that you often find yourself explaining to others or others asking you about, then write about it.

 

I only reflect the viewpoint of one person. To make this site intresting and keep it fresh, we need the stories from everyone else.

 

Please send submissions to webmaster@geotruckers.com

 

I'll start working on the site tonight and hopefully, I'll have a basic shell for people to see shortly.

 

My thanks to everyone who has been involved

 

djstern

[+TwoTruckers]

This thread is now dead.