VietNAM – Time for a cease fire

The state of affairs on the NAM forums has been on my mind a lot lately. Recently I saw someone on another MINI site refer to NAM as VietNAM. At first I thought it was kind of funny. As I thought about it more, however, I began to understand the reference. There are times when NAM is a volatile and negative place to be. 

After the Dragon this year we watched as grenades were thrown at NAM founder and Dragon organizer, Mark Ferguson. Every time someone asks the “Cooper or an S?” question, an army of S-holes comes out to bash the Cooper. Some people are being suspended for their online behavior and there are reports of groups organizing ambushes on unsuspecting vendors. Almost like in the real Vietnam, you have to keep your head down to avoid getting sniped by enemies who pop up out of nowhere. Things were so bad that Ferguson recently was forced to establish new site guidelines and said the NAM forums had reached a new low.

What the hell is going on? When I first came to NAM about two years ago I was amazed at the community spirit and the kindness. Half the mods on MINIBee would not have been possible if it weren’t for the complete strangers (and friends) who were always willing to help. I participated in the “pay it forward” attitude that used to prevail there and it made me a better person. And although I have many NAM friends, some whom I have not yet met, lately I have been considering getting email addresses from them and ditching NAM altogether. Consider this statement recently made by Mark Ferguson:

NAM was intended to be a community gathering place…not a place for people to come and bash those they don’t like or agree with. I’ll be taking actions to insure that we get back to that original intent. If you don’t feel like you can be a part of a civil and friendly community its time to looking for a new home on the Internet.

Yes, Mark Ferguson makes money off the MINI community. So do a bunch of vendors who are also members of the community. Yes, the S is faster off-the-line than a Cooper. We can all read a spec sheet. Yes, some vendors have bad business practices and may even try to rip you off. Caveat emptor and welcome to capitalism. And yes, MOTD is a big event now and to be successful it needs some structure. It will never be the same as the grass-roots version it was in the beginning so if that’s what you want, PM 20-30 of your best MINI friends and pick another weekend. The Dragon will be there.

Here’s what we can all do to make NAM a better place…state your opinions, agree and disagree with passion but always show respect for others. And sometime soon take a deep, cleansing breath and ask yourself what you have to contribute to the MINI community. If all you can do is tear other people down, complain and bring negativity to each discussion, then you are creating VietNAM.

Join the cease fire. Pay it forward. Save the wave. A MINI is Mini is a MINI. All of that. Oh, and one more thing……..