MrBill wrote:

Hey guys,
  We need to think of ways to get more guys using these forums. Members or not should not matter.  Any thoughts ? I think that a lot of Automotive Machine Shop owners are still in the dark ages when it comes to pricing and business in general. It would be adventagious to all of us to get more people involved and networking here.  I try to tell anyone that I happen to communicate with, hopefully all of the other regulars here will do the same thing. 

Yes, this is a good idea.  I will brainstorm with staff and think of some creative ways to promote this new forum on our social media sites inviting professionals whether members or not to join.  Our industry has a vast amount of knowledge that needs to be tapped and shared.
Thanks!
Jim
 

Just wondered if the staff came up with any ideas to promote more use of the site.
I see that the brain storming has not got far as jim has not even been on the site for 3 years. Whats up with that?? Is he AERA staff?? just wondering as he has not posted anything in this thread to suggest things going forward.

Is the site just not even having any member/non member promotion??? its a shame it is so under used.
does any of the AERA staff have any input to get more traffic to the site??

Last edited by Dave Conway (2/13/2018 12:39 am)

I know that is can be a time consuming job to get it rolling like the other sites we see each other using but really this does suck.
While there is topics we all have issues with but a waste of resources is not one of them.
I know that the staff at AERA are busy and while it is a small group it is just another information resource that will die out in time. I know with you tube and other internet related sources of information people are much less likely to pay the dues to be a member when google has everything reasonably cost free.
Now to the novice it can be a costly lesson if there is no previous back ground in the industry to do your own repairs but I see the auto industry moving away from the need for engine repairs with the high cost of labor at dealerships and the low low financing available it makes it impossible to get a person to replace the engine in a 5 year old vehicle these days when there can be 40+ hrs of labor costs and that  time alone without the parts costs added to the bill will almost guarantee a sale to a newer model.

And ad the scrap it programs happening around the country the public has been brainwashed to take advantage of them with low K cars/trucks just on the face of it appealing to doing the green thing.

I know there are members near me that never use this site because there is no moderators that are willing to answer questions or help out people all the time and have other members as well that will throw their 2 cents worth in as well.

Personally the pro sis information on a whole is lacking what other shops here are using. The biggest complaint I had with it is consistency with make and model details are just not there.

I have a new kid I have been training and just signed him up for the on line course to get more schooling while I give him hands on training and explanations but I showed him the current version we tried out.

During the trial period he had nothing but problems looking up details for specific year make and model of engines we had in the shop.
Funny enough I can totally see why. In the program as you know when searching for lets say piston and rod orientation for a 350 chev.
Now when you train a new kid from the current generation it can be trying to say the least but when he can find the info on his phone faster and correct and then ask why don't they put this info in the program with ALL the engine models what can you say.
I mean after time goes by you just know what to do and look for but training new guys these are points that need to be there.

Up here in Canada we get left in the dark a lot and this is just a single issue that comes up all the time and now with mitchell on demand and others they seem to offer more details and even parts locators and flat rate times and for an engine shop they can be a valuable resource that can keep a shop from having an issue with new personnel.

But getting this site up to today's current standards will be hard if there is no promotion and dedication.
How many members does AERA currently have? I am sure in this day and age they all must have computers and I know the internet can be challenging for speed in some areas with only dial up but still it can be used.
With shops closing from retiring owners the new owners will keep using there current information methods  or they just get sold off in pieces to shops that want to expand a bit or just replace older equipment.

But education is what is lacking here I believe.They are just coming to the realization that red seal trades are needed everywhere and people that have the drive to succeed need but the current generation is about face book and while it seems that the facebook site is getting all the attention now this site is badly neglected.
but the new gen users get through it 100 times faster then us old guys can that seems to be the trend now is put everything on face book. 
It does get vast exposure and I guess this site will become a thing of the past in the future as I see alot of companies are using 3-5 FB pages interlinked but for those that hate FB or don;t have the powerful computer system to run the graphics they will rely on this site.................................till its gone