As you may have recently noticed, we performed a server move for the LS1GTO.com and G8Board.com communities. The consistent growth of our community left us with an inadequate environment to host these sites. What you may not know about this move is that the sites are now hosted as a part of the AutoForums.com network.

I’ll stop right there. Take a few deep breaths. It gets better.

Yes, the sites are no longer privately owned by me. I would like to take a moment to discuss why I made this decision and the positive impact this brings to the community.

Server Platforms and Environment:
Keeping the sites running smoothly on the backend is nearly a full-time job for myself. I have invested countless hours into the perfection of the servers and settings. After the continued growth of LS1GTO.com and the explosive growth of G8Board.com communities, we needed to expand and upgrade. Almost daily there were peak times where the CPU load on the web server was extremely high. To counter this growth, it would have been necessary to acquire and install new servers and network equipment. I was willing to make the financial investment to accomplish this – but the investment of time was more than one person could handle. Server uptime, performance, and security are now taken care of for us by dedicated professional staff. I could have reached out to the community for additional support, but having people dedicated to keeping the site running smoothly as a full time job should make us all more comfortable.

Vendors, Staff, Members:
I am but one person, but it’s the members, vendors, and staff, that make this community exciting and enjoyable. All of these people require constant attention and action. If I am unable to meet the needs of these three groups of people then I am unable to keep the forums running smoothly on the ‘front-end”. I know vendors will have concerns, but I have worked hard to ensure advertising rates would not increase. We have not raised rates in quite some time. Billing and customer support for the vendors should be a better experience than when I was trying to do it all alone.

The staff here is the hardest working, most unselfish group of people I know. They are my friends. While I am still an acting administrator, I would be honored if the staff continued to help me support the community with moderating tasks. I hope with the new upper management that any of my personal shortcomings would be replaced with a strong guidance and binding leadership.

Members, I gave all that I could for the past 5 years. I know some of you will not accept my decision. I will continue to work with Pontiac to get great access to race events and vehicle news. I will still be around to make sure that things stay pretty close to the same here. Between running the servers and the forums I had a job that I could not punch out of. I did it out of my love for the vehicles and the community. The site consumed my entire being 24 hours a day. My life is changing right now and I’m growing into a role that won’t allow me to dedicate so of my life to the site and I would hate to see things fall apart. By the end of the year I will be married. My fianceé is a wonderful woman who deserves more of my time than I can give by continuing to run the site full-time as well as working. I will be devoting more time to starting my new family which I hope brings me all the joys in the world.

In the end, I truly feel like a part of me now has died. I pre-ordered my GTO before I could sit or drive one. I tested the 2005 GTO at Bondurant before it went on sale. We organized giveaways for autographed posters from race teams running GTOs. In cooperation with Pontiac we were able give 400 GTO owners opportunities to experience NRHA and Grand Am GT races, including parade laps, catered car corals, trips to Bondurant. I was blessed with the opportunity to see some of the of the last 2006 GTOs roll down the assembly line in Elizabeth and wait at the dock in Adelaide, South Australia.

Most importantly, I have made life-long friendships around the world. This is something that I will never forget. As I step back I hope that every member can use this opportunity to make the site better than I could have ever done by myself. I will be available if people have any questions or just want to talk. I still plan to be visible on the site; I’m not going away.

This is not a goodbye or the end of a great thing; this is am exciting and new chapter at LS1GTO.com and G8Board.com.

Congratulations DevilYellow for growing the forum to this point! I know this is a big step for you and for the forum and appreciate all the efforts you have put into the G8board.

Jim

Thanks for creating this site!

Good show DY!

You did what you had to... Others would've let the forum die, at least you showed your interests by keeping it alive for the sake of people you don't even know. You have your priorities in order and I respect that. :)

Thanks for creating this site, as I've learned and continue to learn about this great vehicle, G8!

Kudos to you and best wishes!!!

I visit G8Board at least 10 times a day. It makes me want to drive my G8 more!

I would be lost without this site when it comes to the G8.

Thanks DY

Thanks DY and good luck with your future ventures.

DY - Do you have a G8 and if so, what color. Have White G8 and YELLOW 94' GTO (missing spoiler!). Love-em both, just like this site. Great Job!!! Enjoy a bit of RETIREMENT!

RRM

DY you don't know how much you have done to make this a really great site to visit and participate in, but let me say, that your hard work, dedication and attention to detail will be appreciated by all of us currently members, and all that will come after us! Tell your future wife from all of us, you have chosen a winner! Best wishes for all your future endeavors! :wink2:

Thanks for giving. If it wasn't for all your hard work, I may have never been an owner. And ownership is something you will always have. I say "Great Job, You're No.1".

Thank You

Jon, I noticed that GMInsideNews.com also went to the same forum company. Since there was no logo, I only knew of the server change. After spending 3 years on LS1GTO, I still haven't seen all of what that site has. I'm sure I won't see all of what this site will offer. But, LS1GTO felt the most user friendly before I bought my GTO. So, when you started this site, it was only natural that this site would feel just as much like "home" as LS1GTO did. Great job. Now, you can enjoy posting.

So what your really saying is that you sold the forums and are going to give us all Magnachargers:wink2::gears: j/k

You did/do a great job with these forums. The growth of this site and LS1GTO can attest to your superb work to and for the automotive community. :hail::pimp:

Yea, DY thanks for creating this G8 site & all it's success!!!

DY, thanks for the great forum. It is a great move on your part to take steps now to keep the forum moving forward rather than letting it slowly die due to inattention. Family is a great thing and I wish you well with yours. I know I certainly appreciate and enjoy mine each day.

Chip

Well done !!!!!

Nooo !!!!
J/K. LS1GTO was the first forum I ever subscribed to, and as an Aussie watching the converted enjoy our Monaro I was glad to be able to contribute and learn a bit more about Americans at the same time. Nowdays, you guys know more about Holden than I do !

Although I do visit GMI, the community at LS1GTO and now G8board are some of the nicest guys and girls I have ever 'met'. I think a lot of this was down to the way Jon ran the sites, and the great job he and the moderators have done.

LS1GTO even helped me get through a pretty tough time in my life, thanks to everyone who is part of it.

Jon, I wish you well and genuinely hope you made at least a little money by letting go of this great community.

I just hope Autoforums know what a couple of gems they are getting, and look after them.

DY,

Thanks for the hard work making these boards world class. I also want to thank you for three incredible Grand AM Rolex events. Being part of the LS1GTO community was like having an "inside" track to GM, and made me proud to be a Pontiac owner. These boards were a big part of my decision to buy the G8 rather than a Charger or G35 when moving to a 4-door.

Thanks again!

-dak- "turboDan on LS1GTO"

Sorry to hear it, but I'm happy for you. I wouldn't have even known it changed without reading this, but I've gotta say this and LS1GTO.com are the two best automotive sites I've ever seen. How does it feel to be "one of us" now? ;) With you no longer the owner and StolenFox also giving up the business, times are changing pretty quick. I've still got my car though!

Thanks for your hard work and dedication. I take for granted the time it must take to manage and run sites like these two.

I've gained alot of knowledge from the members and it's only in it's infancy. I hope the new admin's will keep up the standards you set!

thanks for the site, but i haven't been able to post on ls1gto because it is so slow
when will it be back to normal

Certainly amazed at all the effort you put on both the sites, and can see why you changed over. have a rest :)

thanks for the site, but i haven't been able to post on ls1gto because it is so slow
when will it be back to normal

do you promise to stop bringing up old threads ? :nono:

do you promise to stop bringing up old threads ? :nono:

if it helps speed it up, then yes

DevilYellow, thanks for your time and commitment to the boards.

Although I am a recent recruit, I do appreciate what it takes to run a message board and it was obvious from the day I joined that this is a well-run site.

Kudos to you sir, and please keep up the good work!

Good luck to you, unfortunately I have seen a lot this on other motorcycle/car boards in the past year. Without fail the corporate mentality pervades, there are dozens of ads plastered everywhere and a loss of community has ultimately driven members to create their own boards where 90% of the members follow.

Time will tell what happens here.