Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Be terminated as of Midnight on December 31st 2007.

This action will include all members, be they gold or not. The new owners are moving the site over to america and it will be re organised and full of mustangs etc. They are not at all interested in the comparitively tiny Uk domestic market.


There is nothing i can do about it chaps, i didnt know anything about this until today and i had already stepped down as admin when i found out, although i am kind of glad i jumped before i was pushed.


Really Sorry people...









Now, the above of course is absolute bollox, but anyone reading the fuss on here today would think that was the case wouldnt they?!!

So after a discussion with Pet today, i now know exactly what has Really happened, so if you are interested, read on:


I had a long chat with Julien (Petrucci) this afternoon on the phone and have indeed only just got off it and have now pretty much learned all i need to know to fill you in on it... so read on.

Some months ago, a large American company Called Internet Brands (IB) approached Julien about the possibility of purchasing PassionFord from him. IB own leading websites in the automotice sector such as CarsDirect.com, GreenHybrid.com, NewCarTestDrive and Wikicars.com and more recently, Scoobynet.com.

Upon agreeing to discuss options further Julien agreed to sign an IDS which basically forbid him to mention what had been discussed with any 3rd parties, and, knowing how stressed i was over the wedding and other things in recent months found solace in the fact he couldnt tell me legally anyway. So, they have discussed taking his whole internet hosting side as he hosts quite a few forums too, and this discussion has not yet come to total fruition due to the fact the takeover time of L-tech is supposed to be January 2008, before which of course Pet would have come on here and made an announcement, with Me as would be expected of Him/us.

Lets face it, How else would anyone find out? Should be simple... Nope, somehow or other the WWW has found out and the result is what you see on the forums today. mass hysetria about absolutely sod all.

So, the future.
Julien is likely to sell the lot to IB and they will then own Passionford as an entity. However, they dont actuially want to change anything except to move its hosting over to London and to give it bandwidth and connections we we have only ever dreamed of and its own cluster of servers. That will be the end of speed problems. period. That too is likely to happen in January.

The plan was that i would stay around and keep things running but of course i scuppered that when i called it a day yesterday, so that has to be re-discussed, but for now, nothing has changed bar my stepping down from admin roles.

As most of you will know, back in 2003 i started this site with pet and brought over all the new blood, advertised it in the magazines, arranged the meets and sanctioned some official car shows. I have lived and breathed passionford since then and love it like a child even when it proved to become a labour of love in recent times, so even though i have stepped out of the day to day running of the forum, it doesnt mean i dont have its interests at heart, and after seeing what IB tend to do with the Forums that they aquire, i am quitely confident that this is a positive move for PF, and certainly NOT a negative one.

If i thought Julien had pulled a fast one i would tell you all straight and I dont. Its as simple as that, but for now, theres little else i can tell you Due to the secrecy form he has signed but he will talk to them tomorrow about how they ended up advertising the site as theirs before the deal was closed and ultimately leading to this mess we have now.
Onwards and upwards folks, nothing has changed, everything you pay for is still here for you to acces and there are no reasons for you to worry and many reasons for you to be excited.

What do they gain?
They are very good with advertising and will likely re-arrange some of the google ads to be more nicely integrated with the site so as to generate revenue that way and start to recoup their investment. For anyone interested in another webmasters view of their running of a similar forum after purchase, read here:


Finally,
Anyone wondering why Julien isnt posting this, its for the same reason he hasnt been around for many months now, complications with his newborn child back in August that led to the very near death of his wife, still has his child in a quite critical condition, and he is not spending any time worrying about things like this internet malarky. This was one of the reasons IB are announcing nothing until early next year, because Julien has bigger priorities at the moment. Due to this, i agreed to step back into the admin role just for tonight so i can take care of this topic on his behalf.

ECU Monitor Enthusiast

iTrader: (1)

Wow

AlexD

iTrader: (3)

That sorts things out

Chris Honeywell

Well thats sounds great
if the site runs even better then its all good

Fil

double wow

timrud

Wa do the new byers hope to gain though? I imagine PF as not sold for free, so they are hoping to make a drink somewhere?

pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

.................. ........how many fuckers shit themselves over 20 quid.............................

Shandy-Ade

Blimey! obviously i wasn't around in 2003' when you say you ran the site with pet, and also advertised in mags etc, and i know it's none of my business but surely your get a cut in the selling price? if not i'd be livid!!

CossieGirl

Thanks for the explanation!

Goodluck with your adminjob... again

And of course goodluck to Pet and his family!! Hope everything works out ok for the 3 of you

Dan

Great news Stu! To the point and explains everything everyone needs, good man!

As said on the other thread earlier, fair play to Pet and I wish him and family all the best!

The DIVA

iTrader: (3)

Pete........for once i agree with you...

leecavturbo

that Ł10 drop in membership was a blatent scam,
as who ever instigated it knew alot of ppl would join/extend
as was promised to get the 12mths after current memebership ran out!
PROPER BAD

Charlie Chalk

iTrader: (1)

I take back my priceless picture then


Good stuff

Butch.

iTrader: (1)

well thats the story so lets see what happens in january

ECU Monitor Enthusiast

iTrader: (1)

Stu,

Many thanks for the info.... However, I think Pet could have and should have
clued you up before doing anything even if it was on the quiet.....

.... Just my 2p

Paddy

Stu instigated it didn't he?

And as he also had no idea about this going on, how could it have been a scam?

Just hope Stu and Pet are well rewarded financially and those banner traders that have recently paid aren't left out in the cold with the new advertising changes

Fair play to Petrucci AND Stu, I'm chuffed that something they made has gone on so far

danneth

oh yes, unless stu was allowed to make the decsions regarding priceing without pet's input?

luke89

iTrader: (1)

woo and well done for steppin in at such a hard time for some one else !

RichardPON

How can it be a scam if everything is continuing as before?

If Pet is selling L-Tech, then congratulations to him. That is the dream of any small business - when its value exceeds its personal worth, and hopefully it'll give him a nice windfall

Thrush

iTrader: (1)

Nice one stu, thanks for finding out all the correct and true info

I didn't know about Pet's complications with wife and baby Am sorry to hear that - I was hassling him for a CDRip the other day and feel really bad now

XRT_si

iTrader: (2)

As always, everything covered there, i was interested as to what IB would get out of it. Thanks Stu

RichardPON

What, and jeopordise lucrative contract negotiations, by going specifically against the terms and conditions of a contract?

BlueSmoke

And that's why I said nothing at all about this as many people have now gone out and slagged off Pet who has done a lot to keep the site running.

Onwards and upwards for everybody involved.

Jay,

iTrader: (4)

thats cool stu welcome back

Munch

i thought you were telling the truth when i opened the thread

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

So Julien could not have popped on here for 5 mins to explain all this Stu.

seems as though he really cares about this site and again he has left YOU to cope with all the shit flying about etc...

i really hope you are going to get rewarded out of the payment that has been generated from the sale of PF,after all, it was down to you aswell so its only fair.

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Erm, it was me who did the recent price drop and i assure you, even going as far, for those who believe in such bollox, as to swear on my childrens lives that i knew nothing about this buyout proposition.

If your not happy apply for a refund mate.

Cossie Helen

iTrader: (1)

Least we know whats going on now

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

wonder how much the traders will have to pay to advertise now.

who will run the site if Julien is not up to it etc...

Westy

iTrader: (1)

I personally think its a shame that the site is going down this route...

I joined this site for its Ford community... the fact that it was owned/run by Ford enthusiasts was certainly a good reason..

The fact it will now be owned by some yanks who have no interest in the Ford marque is a shame really.. just want the ŁŁŁŁŁ's.. Plus side, no more critical errors Im gonna miss them

So as to gold membership.. Now that the contribution wont be required, as afterall, it was was a donation to help costs for hosting the site etc.. do members get there money refunded? The whole Gold member thing being omitted I take it?

I also personally think that you STU, must be entitled to some of the monies that Pet will be recieving as without you, this site would have just 3 members, like how it was whilst the RSOC BB was running...!!!

p.s.. just had shit loads of Critical Errors

BM08

I hope the muppet room will be back open to all

MattPym

Wew, you had me scared there when i started reading about mustangs and that.....I started imagining yanks asking stupid questions like that Direct Exhaust Injection Turbo thread

xr2i-carl

So we aint gettint thrown off??


how much was it sold for?

Carl

Rs(555)

iTrader: (8)

well done stu for taking time too inform whats happening people can now make up there own minds either way as too what they think about it more serious things in life than this i am off for a beer and to watch liverpool go out of champions league

RSrussell

to Pet

BUT as it was Pet & Stu who created the site, i think stu should get some sort of credit, i.e a little backhander.

but you wouldn't tell us anyway would you stu

Wish

Stu... Tell us how you really feel. A little let down ?
I am sorry you didnt know about what was going on. IB were clearly telling people that a deal has been done. Its on there website for all to see.

Miller 3

iTrader: (4)

So when / if it is sold Stu i hope you get a cut as surely you are entitled to some mate

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

Cleaned of off topic waffle...

Back? I am only in my admin role for this post as i saw what a flap the members got in over something that doesnt actually concern them and thought i would try and fill them in with what little i know.



I am glad just one member saw the funny side. Took me ages to write that convincingly.


Apparently nothing will be changing for the foreseeable future.


New server bandwidth allowing, maybe... who knows?


Read the post i spent an age both researching and writing please.



Dissapointed i didnt know before you misserable lot.
But i understand why, and at the end of the day, all legal responsibility for this site ends with Julien, not me, so i have to ask myself, if they asked me to keep quiet about discussion or lose my right to sell, what would i do? I havent yet come up with an answer so its not clear cut...

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

Stu @ M Developments

if they asked me to keep quiet about discussion or lose my right to sell, what would i do? I havent yet come up with an answer so its not clear cut...

its not as if if you told then he Pet would blab it to everyone,i'm pretty sure he would of kept it to himself....as what you would of done,but he chose not to tell you....a shame really after what you two have done..