Dear 912 Registry Members and 912BBS Forum Participants:
“The 912 Registry is an international classic car club dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of the Porsche 912.”
Such has been our mission statement since our club’s beginning. Back in those days, the Porsche 912 did not receive much support from the Porsche community at large, and so the model’s survival hinged on the ability of dedicated 912 enthusiasts to band together and support one another. Quite literally, the 912 Registry was born from individual 912 owners finding one another on the then new internet, forming regional groups, and then on those groups coming together nationally, and then internationally. Today, I believe our club’s original mission statement still stands, but as the 912 world has changed, so too must our approach to fulfilling its promise. Our task is no longer a matter of tying various rafts together that are adrift on the sea, but to be a ship that can chart its own steady course.
My first initiative as President, was to redefine the look of our club’s magazine. Thanks to the design abilities of our club’s Art Director, Rick Miranda, I feel we now have a publication with an aesthetic that compliments the beauty and sophistication of our cars.
Next, I believe this aesthetic should permeate all aspects of our club’s presence — especially our club’s web site. Today is a very special day for the 912 Registry. After nearly two solid years of development, we are ready to unveil the new: www.912registry.org
The 912 Registry was founded namely by 912 owners who knew the cars in the context of them being new, but it is likely that future generations of 912 owners may likely know them in the context that the 912 Registry creates. As I see it, having a unified visual presence is the key to our offering an ongoing, welcoming, seamless experience.
As with our original site, the new 912registry.org offers a wealth of 912 information, but it presents it in a way that is easier to navigate and access. Reformatted versions of popular pages such as ‘912 Model Years’ and ‘912 Paint Codes’ endure, and in addition we have added a few new pages such as ‘912 1965 vs. 1966’ and ‘912 Registry History’, which are all conveniently located under the ‘912 Information’ heading.
Within the next week or so, we will be adding an integrated storefront where you may purchase 912 Registry merchandise or register for club events. In the near future we will offer PDF versions of our magazine which you can download to your iPad, and we will also be adding an actual 912 registry, that lists information about known 912s by VIN #. At the present time, these features are actively under development!
Indeed, we are extremely proud of the experience our new web site offers 912 Registry members. However, of equal importance, is that our new web site consolidates and streamlines our club operations to where managing the 912 Registry can really be a sustainable proposition for our future volunteers.
Beyond aesthetics, and beyond functionality, our new web site had to meet a third requirement. To explain, up until now, the 912 Registry has effectively had two web sites: the original 912registry.org and this web place, the 912bbs.org forum. Initially, these two sites were developed separately to serve different purposes, before being brought under the same 912 Registry umbrella. Alas, because we never possessed the technology to truly merge these two sites together, they both continued to operate independently, and both came to represent our club. Unfortunately, having two 912 Registry sites has created a lot of confusion over the years, namely for how countless people mistakenly assumed that merely registering on our free 912 BBS forum made them bonafide 912 Registry members. In order to resolve this confusion once and for all, it is absolutely imperative that the new 912 Registry website be the one and only 912 Registry website, and thankfully, our new site does have a forum!
Unfortunately, there is not a way for us to migrate our 912 BBS history into our new forum. This dilemma was actually the single biggest challenge we faced in building our new website! On the one hand, the 912 BBS embodies our club’s history; but on the other hand, the 912 Registry may not have much of a future if we prioritize preserving our past above meeting the demands of the present. After a lengthy period of soul searching, we have decided that short of being able to take it with us, the best way to honor 912 BBS and the community it serves, is to allow it to continue to exist just as it does now. But with 2 changes:
The first change, is that the 912 BBS is being uncoupled from the 912 Registry. Going forward, the 912 Registry will continue to support and endorse the 912 BBS, but just as 912 BBS began life as its own separate thing, so too shall it be again.
The second change we are making to the BBS pertains to classified advertising. At the time the 912 BBS was launched, the 912 was a fairly obscure car, and there were few places to find 912 parts. The original intent of providing a free advertising forum, was to enable our community members to share resources with one another, for the sheer sake of keeping our cars on the road. To stay true to our philosophy of members helping members, our tradition of providing free classified advertising will continue with our new 912registry.org forum, but it will no longer take place on the 912 BBS. Our reasoning for this change is simple: The 912 Registry sees the ongoing value in supporting our members who want to buy and sell directly with another, but in an era where 912 parts can readily be sourced from a myriad of so many other places, it no longer makes sense for us to provide this service for free to those who do not see the value in supporting our club.
On the subject of supporting our club, I want to acknowledge some of the people who made our new web site possible. Rick Becker, Paula Golus, Rick Miranda, Thomas Lockton, Brian Mendel, Jeff Trask, John Benton, Karol Nesdale, Bill Cahill, and Carol LeFlufy, thank you all for your constant guidance and support — the contributions that each of you have made to our new site simply cannot be overstated! In addition, I offer my sincerest thanks to all 912 Registry members for trusting me with your club — at the end of the day, a 912 is just a car, but the 912 Registry is like a family, and it because of you that I want to do what I do.
To commemorate the beginning of this new era for the 912 Registry, we thought of something special: As of now, we are changing the color of our club’s grill badge from basic-black to registry-red! Back in 1997, when the first 912 Registry badges were released, the first batch we sold were numbered, which we did to acknowledge our club’s charter members. Thus, in keeping with 912 Registry tradition, the first batch of the new red badges will also be numbered, to acknowledge those who are with us now during this pivotal time.
As president, I concede that I do not often participate in this forum, and that I am often a ‘no-show’ at many major 912 events. Please know that my absence in these venues does not constitute an absence from our club! It has taken a few years to accomplish, but the 912 Registry, with its magazine and now its new web site, has built a presence that measures up to the caliber of the car it celebrates. However, this is not say we have arrived, but rather we now have a solid foundation from where we can go wherever we decide!
Lets see where the road takes us!
Onward!
Charles Danek