Are You A Facebook Freeloader?
Hey lets go for a ride, Woohooo. File Photo
Are you on any Chris Craft facebook pages? The answer is undoubtedly, Yes. Have you ever asked a question, or taken advantage of anything regarding your boat on Facebook? Are you not a member of the Chris Craft Antique Boat Club? No.
FACEBOOK FREELOADER! You think you are so smart, sitting there saving a little money. Or even worse, too lazy to click HERE and sign up to the club that supports your boat love. After all, who is on Facebook giving you advice? Lenny in Omaha who has always loved these boats, but doesnt have the balls to own one, but knows all the cliche’s. Or the facebook mechanics who tell you one of the 100 things that are wrong with why your boat won’t start. Here is a clue. It’s a mess.
I have seen it all on Facebook, and you get what you pay for. ZERO for ZERO. All that with the joy of mixing in crappy politcal Memes and crap from both sides. So. STOP BEING A FREELOADER, Sign UP TODAY. RIGHT NOW. HERE
Mario says JOIN TODAY!
BTW, I aint stopping on this. We have to do our part. Support those that support you.
We got time! Right Zip!
I have said it before and I will say it again, without the help of the Boat Buzz I would’ve probably never finished my boat.
It’s CHEAP! And the expert advice I’ve received over the years on The Buzz has saved me thousands. I never look at Facebook.
The idea of a digital membership seemed very popular in yesterdays comment section. This is an idea that we will be discussing at the next BOD meeting.
Thanks for all of your support and ideas!
Troy Hersom
President CCABC
Matt – you missed my favorite group on Facebook that I will now mention here. It is the predatory so called professional restorers that prey upon the masses that are on the fence about doing their own restoration or repair work. I can smell them a mile away and it is so easy to get them to expose themselves as they cannot wait to post their business information.
Unsuspecting posters on Facebook will be stripped of any self confidence and end up hiring someone instead.
I fight back and am usually confronted by a co-worker of theirs that mocks my post.
Right on Mark….surreptitious advertising.
I will continue to restore my boat with the help and encouragement I receive from Boat Buzz. It also motivates me to chronicle my progress (which is a bold word considering how long it has taken to get this far) and provides me with a good way to remind myself what I have, in fact, been able to do as a one man band. Most importantly, Boat Buzz has helped me get past those times when I felt overwhelmed by the scale of the project and to just “keep going” bit by bit. Going fishing today in the 1000 islands. I will see some nice wooden boats for sure.
ps. If you want to see the story behind the picture and the rest to come, join the Club!
Troy – one more suggestion.
Boat Buzz is better than Facebook but there is still a lot of opinion (versus fact) involved.
Consider adding a “like” button to posts, which many other forums use, so that others can weigh in on posts.
It was so much simpler before all the technological “improvements”, We just answered the phone at club headquarters and either gave advice over it or copied and, mailed or faxed some help.
Interesting. We’ve owned our boat since 2006, and I have never visited the Boat Buzz or any FB Chris Craft pages either. I read WB every bloody day though. Our boat is a one off custom made bit from 1930. And since she is in great condition, I have not felt the need to scour the Internet for info on repairs etc. At the risk of offending, I get it, CC are beautiful and have a wild ass history but there are many other boats out there.
Think classic cars. Not everyone drives or belongs to the Mustang Club. They can appreciate the beauty and all, but for whatever reason, the bug just does not grab them. Think about driving a MGB or an Austin Healey and at every outing, some non car person walks up and asks if that is a Mustang? And no, I don’t belong to the Mustang club and I don’t spend hours on FB looking at Mustangs.
That is what it’s like owning a non CC boat. 400 times a year I get asked if our boat is a CC. There is the CC marque clubs and the Century clubs and the Riva clubs…..but no club for all of us mutts. I joined the ACBS and attend shows but most of time I feel feel like an outsider.
A long winded way of saying why I don’t belong to any CC club and I don’t think I’m freeloading.
In your corner Briant.
Matt, as a guy from “Omaha” with multiple owned wood boats – I lend advice on the Lyman and Century sites via Facebook. Why… because I get and give info faster there. I also belong to clubs that I feel are active and I personally get value from. If clubs want to stay in the game “with people below 60” my take is they need to embrace technology / social media.
Kind of harsh aren’t we? What’s wrong with letting folks peruse and maybe generate new interest without shaming them?
I agree completely, it seems to be taken a little personally……….”but doesn’t have the balls to own one,”…… really? Felt the need to take it there?
And I agree with Briant, for people who don’t happen to own Chris Crafts (Gar Wood here) it get’s pretty old when all anyone wants to talk about it Chris Crafts and they all ask if your boat is a Chris Craft. Pardon me for not belonging to any Chris Craft clubs.
ditto ,Briant and Tom,been going to shows for years,and as a Shepherd owner,usually feel like the red headed step child.for the most part they are cris craft /century shows.understandably,they were built literally by the thousands,(like mustangs in the millions),but it does get boring as they can dominate conversation and the culture itself. don’t get me wrong,they are beautiful boats.with those production numbers,its only natural they get that attention. i think if i were a trophy hunter and not just in it for fun,chris craft would be the way to go.judges know whats correct/incorrect .to cc’s credit,because of the great documentation that goes so far back in thier history.maybe what we need is more clubs Garwood,Shepherd,etc.
SINCE I WAS VERY YOUNG I HAVE OWNED QUITE A FEW
BOATS WOOD AND FIBERGLAS SPPEDBOATS TO CRUISERS
UNFORTUNATLY LIVING ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND GETTING
OLD LIFE HAS CHANGED AS I DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES
TO CONTINUE BOATING ON MY OWN SO I SPEND TIME
AT THE BOAT YARDS AND BOAT RAMPS HOPING TO SPEND
TIME ON THE WATER WHICH IS PRICELESS AND YES BY WOODY BOATER AND OTHER SITES BEING FREE HELPS GREATLY, THANKS, WAYNESWORLD PS IF ANYONE IS ON MIDDLE RIVER LET ME KNOW
Seems counterproductive to force those in the community to a paid service to receive a magazine and access to boat buzz. Those using Facebook as a resource is the same generation that this site continually scratches their head about gaining their interest. I was fortunate enough to grow up with my Cavalier in my family and I’m passionate about wood boats because of my experiences on mine. Very few people my age (30) have interest in wood boats, the craze right now is wake surfing behind 90k plastic boats. Also what is true of my generation is that we are aware of the many resources available to us, we’re the first generation that lived half our life (thus far) without the internet and the other half with it. Our access to information is no longer limited to paperback. I did all of my research across many resources all of which were on the internet. Initially I spent a lot of time combing boat buzz, soliciting advice and searching all the posts to learn as much as I could. Eventually I got frustrated and turned to other sources, like calling Jim Staib or Vanness for advice. The problem with Boat Buzz is when you don’t know anything, watching comments between users in a pissing match about the better way to solve your question isn’t always the most helpful. There are also those users on Boat Buzz that are religious about posting replies daily. These users become authority without authority and many times discourage amateurs from wanting to engage those folks with their questions. Because someone is paying to access Boat Buzz, that means they should be trusted? There were plenty of times I was frustrated, I’ve tried to contribute with what I’ve learned and been trumped by someone else who has “30 years experience”. There’s always more than 1 way to do something and that doesn’t seem to be an acceptable concept on Boat Buzz. As mentioned by many people, the user experience and interface on Boat Buzz is pretty sub par, searching is difficult and trying to upload pictures takes way longer than it should. Don’t underestimate the user base that this free service reaches, what’s posted here could make or break the longevity of this hobby.
Rather the errors of enthusiasm than the complacency of wisdom.
OK, my 2 bits about Boat Buzz. A well done magazine as far as quality goes…If you want to win awards,- it is more a salute to a graphic designer than to a person attempting to own, buy or restore a vessel…and too damn expensive to produce and mail.
Make that
Brass Bell….sorry
What a half-witted post. Freeloaders…blah, blah, blah. Don’t be the apointed CCABC apologist only by the means of diminishing the Facebook platform by what it adds and takes away in the general theme of things. Try this, deliver something that gives you a reason above all else to become a member of the CCABC — the market shall decide whether or not it’s good enough.
Burn your Don Danenberg books now you freeloaders and go and join the CCABC!
Refuse to join a club that would have me as a member