Raising the exiges.com level

[andybond]

Afternoon Gents.

Post the 2021 event at Anglesey whilst driving back I had a few thoughts. Mostly about food and rain but eventually my mind wandered onto ; How do "we" raise Exiges.com profile?

As a club we exist in a niche, and a somewhat dwindling niche as cars are getting older and sadly I think so are we! There were some exiges.com long term faithful at the event that sadly for one reason or another didnt meet and some newer blood ( Ill count myself in there ) there as well.

This got me thinking ; what do we want from exiges.com? Are we looking for expansion in terms of memberships? Are we looking to affiliate with other clubs ? Are we happy just the way we are?
Does anyone want to help raise our profile ? As in organise events, a shop , meets , anything?

If we are happy just the way things are , then say so.

I only inherited this place so I dont understand everything about its members. I just know its an absolute treasure trove of info and documented history.

[Performance autocare]

We are more than happy to host an Event / Meet at our spot in the future. Our carpark can fit quite a few cars in (as long as the other units are not open and have cars out)

we will help in any way we can

Jonny

[gonein60seconds]

Hi Andy

Sorry I couldn’t make Anglesey it clashed with a family trip this year, I’d of liked to of supported and met more members.

From my perspective something I appreciate about Exige’s is it’s “friendly” probably because it isn’t too broad or too generic. I wouldn’t want it to go “seloc”. It’s a small community and everyone is respectful and enthusiastic and knowledgeable. But I do appreciate the “niche” bit, its a small sub culture car. It would be nice to attend more events as a group, but in terms of your efforts to modernise and freshen the forum I think we’re universally grateful to you. And if Exige’s is this forum and a couple of get together where practical I’m grateful for that and certainly don’t worry I’m missing out.

[andybond]

Hi Andy

Sorry I couldn’t make Anglesey it clashed with a family trip this year, I’d of liked to of supported and met more members.

From my perspective something I appreciate about Exige’s is it’s “friendly” probably because it isn’t too broad or too generic. I wouldn’t want it to go “seloc”. It’s a small community and everyone is respectful and enthusiastic and knowledgeable. But I do appreciate the “niche” bit, its a small sub culture car. It would be nice to attend more events as a group, but in terms of your efforts to modernise and freshen the forum I think we’re universally grateful to you. And if Exige’s is this forum and a couple of get together where practical I’m grateful for that and certainly don’t worry I’m missing out.

Thanks for the kind words - I am not looking for a pat on the back. Just to see what people want from this place. It sort of runs itself but I dont know if that what folks want so you feedback is great.

[SimonE]

A few thoughts....

As a long term exiges.com member and S1 owner...

You cant turn the clock back unfortunately

When the S1 Elise and Exige were introduced it introduced an exciting new era for Lotus, loads of new enthusiastic owners and a vibrant community that added to us older Lotus guys.

Lotus never really grasped what they created with the S1 and imho the Lotus tinternet community has been in freefall since. SELOC undoubtedly, the most popular site is now but a shadow of its former self.

Going forward I cant be of assistance unfortunately, but the vast knowledge contained in the archive of this site is absolutely invaluable.

Wish you the bery best of luck Andy

[winthattt]

As a long term Exiger I apologise for not saying hello at Anglesey, I was too cold, soggy and shivering to make my way down the pits, Caterhams are silly in a monsoon.

I do think we need to attract more s3 owners, the s1 base is tiny and many of us now rarely use our S1 cars. I think myself and Ben are the only old timers, now with Tfl, who still have our Exiges.

You probably need to think about how you want to be different to Seloc. I think a focus on track activity, solid and informed advice and polite management of keyboard warriors would be a good starting place. Advice on seloc ranges from excellent too.....

Andy, thanks for keeping it going, though I am one of those whose lotus activity has dwindled.

[andybond]

You dont need to apologise for not saying hello. I was in the garage most of the day right next door to tommo and lavazza and I didnt say hello!

I am not quite sure how to attract the S3 crowd. Ill see what I can think of to get them in here and stay in here

[Fonzey]

I persisted with the constant sign-up issues (pre-Andy's takeover) because it was clear that Exiges.com had a wealth of technical archive that the other forums simply don't have. I think some of those 'legacy' authors are still lurking, but there's much less new turf anymore in terms of technical stuff.

Obviously we have people like myself, Lee, Andy, etc who are actively 'working on' and using an S2 - but very little of that is new info, we're just standing on the shoulders of people who did this stuff 10 years ago. That said, the modifying 'scene' for the cars has changed slightly since then, particulary with the affordability of aftermarket ECU's and a few contenders for 'performance pack' type upgrades coming to market - I'm seeing a bit of resurgence in people modifying the S2 platform at least, so if we could capture more than that and log a few more projects - that would be good. (I'm glaring at YOU, lurkers, I know you're out there )

Attracting S3's is also a no brainer, there are more of them, it's a current(ish) platform and people are starting to fiddle around with them now.

It's clear that the physical meetup element is a very strong part of exiges.com which I as a newbie underestimated. The number of long standing friendships is very apparent when an event like Anglesey happens (even if conditions and the rules meant mingling was difficult) and the takeup for the Caffeine and Machine meet looks to be very popular... so hopefully we can capitalise on that a bit once restrictions calm down.

A chap in my village runs a small trackday organisation company, they focus on pretty small/corporate and club events. Predominantly at Blyton because it's our local, and it's cheap - but I could setup an intro if we think some more club trackdays could work? Being realistic I think we'd need to do it in collaboration with another club, but it's always an option.

[andybond]

A chap in my village runs a small trackday organisation company, they focus on pretty small/corporate and club events. Predominantly at Blyton because it's our local, and it's cheap - but I could setup an intro if we think some more club trackdays could work? Being realistic I think we'd need to do it in collaboration with another club, but it's always an option.

Option away! Lets investigate.

[winthattt]

On that idea, I believe you can rent the Curborough sprint circuit for very modest amounts. Maybe a few social sporting events are a USP.? Also, though it was not an Exiges event I think Paul and Lot did us proud at little effort or financial risk. Maybe you can pick more than one of his events in the year where Exigers can attend and meet potential new members.

Events could be the way. The Seloc Lotus in the Peak event is the highlight of their year.