Kentucky - Ohio - Indiana Overland Bound Facebook Group Discussion

[CJ LeFevre]

Leave me in....Overlandlefevre5

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using OB Talk mobile app

 

[scubasteve2002]

How about we do this. PM me or post yourself on here... And I'll leave you in the group.
As a rule going forward. You need to ask from inside here to be a part of the group.
How do all of you feel about that?

You can keep me in. Thanks bud!

 

[Steve]

As a rule going forward. You need to ask from inside here to be a part of the group.
How do all of you feel about that?

Seems reasonable for the folks here on the forum. But what about all the Overland Bound members who are not forum members? There's likely as many badge-carrying OB members not on here as are.

 

[w_m_photo]

Alright... So... it seems like it is a consensus to purge the Facebook page up to the original few from the first trip plus those on this thread.
I'm not sure what to do about those who are not on here, have a member # but are not active on here.
Any suggestions?

 

[ElDusto]

hey y'all sorry for bolting on y'all it quite honestly wasn't even the page that made me leave it was just FB in general..our page and midwest overland were the two reasons i was hanging on.
that being said it sounds like it's getting out of hand and i since removing myself i don't really have any authority.
in my opinion the original people have the most power..that's why i made people administrators because i trust y'all.i feel if people on the board are strangers...and they are giving off bad vibes..well..cut them out..but there's also some good people on there that just didn't have the chance to make it out.
sorry to leave y'all like that but i'm trying to cut down the stress in my life and facebook is not that place in any capacity for me to do that.


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

 

[w_m_photo]

hey y'all sorry for bolting on y'all it quite honestly wasn't even the page that made me leave it was just FB in general..our page and midwest overland were the two reasons i was hanging on.
that being said it sounds like it's getting out of hand and i since removing myself i don't really have any authority.
in my opinion the original people have the most power..that's why i made people administrators because i trust y'all.i feel if people on the board are strangers...and they are giving off bad vibes..well..cut them out..but there's also some good people on there that just didn't have the chance to make it out.
sorry to leave y'all like that but i'm trying to cut down the stress in my life and facebook is not that place in any capacity for me to do that.


Sent from my iPhone using OB Talk

We all need to cut down on the stress in our lives! I feel that one of the reasons most of us are on here.
I'm going to make it simple I think. I'll go ahead and purge everyone except those from the initial trip and those who have been on this forum. I kind of feel like we all share some of the same idea of what we are looking for.
I think maybe for new members on that page, we should direct them here first before adding them in. Maybe meet them if possible first. I'm only worried a bit. Because there is at least one person on there who seems like he is just a troll for wheeling locations. While the places we go are public, I don't like give out the locations unless they are on a trip with me.
So... I'll go ahead and purge the page of a bunch of people... As well as post a reason why. Please feel free to chime in. I'm sure I'm not going to be popular once I do it. Not that it really matters if I'm popular :-)

 

[Wanderer351]

I just did a mass purge on FB too..too much garbage...bleh

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[Steve]

Remember, there's also the Official Overland Bound - Midwest Facebook Group that covers Indiana and Ohio, and the Overland Bound -Southeast Facebook Group that covers Kentucky.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OverlandBoundMidwest/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OverlandBoundSoutheast


Sent from my iPad using OB Talk

 

[w_m_photo]

I still haven't gotten to it...
Too busy lately and I really haven't figured an easy way to do it without having hard feelings.
Which is not what I want to do.

 

[dfresh285]

so... I just jumped onto OB forums and found this thread. First, I apologize that I'm late to this discussion. I also apologize, because I have been accepting new members in the FB group. I did not realize that we wanted to keep it to the original group. I'm now an official OB member, but do not have my number yet. after reading through the thread and seeing the OB has an official, but closed, group is there any point to having this group? Should we just close the group and head to the OB midwest group? Or rename the group and keep it somewhat open? I can go through and purge members if that is still the plan. I still have admin authority I believe.

 

[Steve]

I'm now an official OB member, but do not have my number yet.

First of all, if you have ordered your Member badge, I can take care of updating your profile here to reflect that. Then you can access the Member forum, Map, and join the Midwest and/or Southeast Regional Facebook Group. Let me know if you've already placed your order.

Secondly, the Overland Bound - Midwest Facebook Group is the "official" face of 2/3 our region on Facebook, with the Overland Bound - Southeast group representing Kentucky. The KY-OH-IN group is one of three unofficial groups remaining, the others having merged with the official groups. The OB - Midwest group is represented by our Midwest Ambassador Jordan Brooks (@Overland-Indiana) and Southeast by Danan Coleman (@Dananc)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/OverlandBoundMidwest/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/OverlandBoundSoutheast/

If the unofficial KY-OH-IN group wants to continue, @Michael would ask that some mention be made in the description that it is not an official Overland Bound Facebook group, and to add a link to the www.overlandbound.com web site. Many of the badge-holding KY, OH, and IN Overland Bound Members have already joined their respective official groups, and any other Members are welcome as well.

All events on the Regional Facebook Groups will have a corresponding thread on the Overland Bound Forum, as well as being added to the Calendar.

If there are any questions, let Jordan, Danan, or me know how we can help,
Steve

 

[w_m_photo]

First off... Neither you or Michael have any say on weather we continue the group.
I will change the name because it is not a big deal to me.
HOWEVER, I take offence to you telling me (us) that if we want to continue... we need to bend to anyone.
HELL NO. It is a facebook group that was started because specifically there was no group like it!
Doing that is exactly the opposite of what this whole website is supposed to be about.

 

[Steve]

@w_m_photo
My post was certainly not meant to offend, but to answer some of the questions that @dfresh285 asked. Of course you or anyone can start their own Facebook Page, Group, their own forum, or whatever you want. Just not with the copyrighted name of Overland Bound.

Reading through the Regions thread, you will find that creating the official groups is exactly what the Overland Bound site is all about. Members found the regional forums needing tools for organizing events, so the regional Facebook groups were started. Michael recognized that some groups using the Overland Bound name and logo were already in existence, and some decided to merge with the new official groups.

I posted a few weeks ago in the KY-OH-IN group about the reorganization, and there was not a single reply or complaint. We are here to help existing groups join the fold if desired, and to point to the official web site if they don't. Nothing in my previous reply in any way was intended as demands on the KY-OH-IN group.

Best regards,
Steve (aka Rex Wagon on your Facebook group)

 

[w_m_photo]

Our facebook page was put together prior to the words Overland Bound being trademarked.
Specifically the application for trademark was filed on March 8th of this year.
So, for you or anyone to say that if we wanted to continue to use it... we need to do anything...
I find that over reaching. Like I said, I have no issue changing the name. If I were the individual who actually named the facebook group... I might.
But, as it is. I've changed it. I joined this website community specifically because I like how inclusive it is. And because of that, I decided to support it. I did not pay in order to join some group!
The official facebook regional groups are exactly the opposite of that principal. You are required to pay in order to join... You don't even need to do that on the website...
So, I'm a bit disappointed in the way it is being handled. And I'm very disappointed that you or Michael didn't just ask one of us about the unofficial facebook page.
Would have been easy to find me, I've stated on here a few times that I'm one of the admins of that page.
As I've clearly stated and done... There is no issue with changing the name. The issue is being told that if I wanted to continue something... I had to do something... You have no business telling me to do anything!
Much less trying to do it publicly on this forum where somehow you feel as an administrator you have any power over me?

 

[Michael]

First off... Neither you or Michael have any say on weather we continue the group.
I will change the name because it is not a big deal to me.
HOWEVER, I take offence to you telling me (us) that if we want to continue... we need to bend to anyone.
HELL NO. It is a facebook group that was started because specifically there was no group like it!
Doing that is exactly the opposite of what this whole website is supposed to be about.

Hi Walt, I don't see a problem here. You've got a cool facebook group promoting overlanding and getting people together locally. Awesome. I have not followed this conversation at all, so I'm coming into this cold, which is good for a fresh perspective.

you telling me (us) that if we want to continue... we need to bend to anyone.

That is not our intent, and I know it's not what Steve meant, because I trust his intent implicitly. Also, that would be dumb. You are a Founder 500, and as you say, that's not what this site is about, or will ever be about. You know that more than anyone.

On the Overland Bound Facebook Group name thing, here's the deal. You don't want me to grab your Jeep, spin brodies on the White House lawn and leave it back in your driveway for you to deal with. My point is, anything with Overland Bound's name on it comes back to roost in Corrie and I's living room. If we have an Overland Bound group out there acting like ass hats (not you of course), then it becomes our problem, so all we ask is somewhere visible on the group page you declare, "This is an unofficial Overland Bound Facebook Group", so we can sleep a little easier. It would be best to take each situation case by case, but you know how much we have grown. We can't do that, and unfortunately we are at a point where we need Standard Operating Procedure. So that's the SOP on facebook groups. Official facebook groups have a whole lot of administration that isn't all that fun to be honest, so we have Official which are carefully managed, and unofficial which I don't have to worry about. I want no confusion.

Now, we do this to put me in a position where I can be sure OLB stays the entity YOU signed up for. If we did not create SOP, I could not. It's not easy, but required. OLB is very special to me. Where our name is concerned we will protect it carefully and have guidelines.

No one is trying to tell you what you can and cannot do, but we will continue to aggressively manage what happens under the Overland Bound flag. I think you want us to do that. I'm glad to talk further, I certainly don't want our intent misunderstood in any way.

With respect,

Michael

 

[Steve]

@w_m_photo

Michael put his thoughts far better than I did. As I said, when @dfresh285 asked the following:

Should we just close the group and head to the OB midwest group? Or rename the group and keep it somewhat open?

I tried to help, but apparently did a poor job of communicating my thoughts. I'm sorry if it came out different than intended. We're all here for the same reason, and I don't want to erode that.

Regards,
Steve

 

[offroadohio]

In my personal opinion requiring me to purchase a badge to join an offical fb group of ob is simply ridiculous. Im here making post and engaging in threads and forum function.

In fact it really puts me off on the feel of the group.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[Landon Shaw]

Nice to see a familiar face from the commander community!! Love the bumper.

 

[Michael]

In my personal opinion requiring me to purchase a badge to join an offical fb group of ob is simply ridiculous. Im here making post and engaging in threads and forum function.

In fact it really puts me off on the feel of the group.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

The purpose of the facebook groups is to connect with people locally, and that requires sharing detailed personal information, including location. We want to protect our members personal information in general, but also from ass hats. Our members are aligned and agree to our Founding Principles, and we know who they are. They are family, for the most part.

We provide so much for free, BECAUSE of the support of our members. I guess I don't understand your objection. If you don't want to be a member, then don't. It's not a requirement.

The Emblem and Membership does not make us a bunch of money @ $24.99. You are basically paying for the metal. It is not our goal to make a bunch of money from our members. It is our goal to create a world wide community of overlanders as part of a network that will support each other. Our members make that commitment. They feel strongly enough about it spend $24.99 to show their support, and we APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH. In turn, some of that money goes toward providing the content you are enjoying for free.

The value we provide for free represents the blood (real blood) sweat and tears of 6 years of content development, and a countless sleepless nights resulting in:

1. Hundreds of how-to articles
2. Hundreds of YouTube videos
3. These forums AD FREE
4. Public Facebook Page
5. Downloadable Maps

And this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the costs associated with running OLB. We're not for everybody, but we are committed to our approach on the facebook groups for now.

M

 

[Corrie]

In my personal opinion requiring me to purchase a badge to join an offical fb group of ob is simply ridiculous. Im here making post and engaging in threads and forum function.

In fact it really puts me off on the feel of the group.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

I'd like to add a few things to what @Michael said earlier. Michael and I are fairly transparent and genuine people and I think some more transparency could give context on how we have chosen to structure Overland Bound. (Well. *I* think we're genuine. I'm open to someone saying we're not. I won't take offense.)

There are 3 factors required to support our ability to sustain Overland Bound's online community and growth rate: Time. Resources. Money. I understand the "money" part of that equation can be triggering and off-putting to some people. That's ok. Again, we'll default to transparency.

1. Time: We have invested our time and passion into creating a world dedicated to overlanding that encourages EVERYONE to adventure into the world and explore. Our time is used to create content to share, host an online home base for strangers to meet and connect (and become friends), and infrastructure to help sustain and scale our efforts and ensure a quality community is maintained.

For the past 2.5 years, my husband comes home from a 12 hour work day, we share a meal and briefly connect, and then he's in the OB office and at it. Developers to be communicated with. Security upgrades to maintain. Videos to edit. Content to write. Conversations with our host to ensure our servers are performing optimally and that load time is the SHORTEST POSSIBLE. (We measure and monitor this like our lives depend on it.) He comes to bed at 3AM. He gets up at 7AM and does it all again.

And me? I've been working full time for Overland Bound for 2 years. I left my career in the SF startup world so I could take what my husband started and see it through to whatever it wanted to become, and I haven't taken a salary. (See? Transparency. But, more on the money thing later.)

I left my career because I saw the community forming around Overland Bound. And we are SO PROUD of this community. It's without judgement. It's supportive. It's exactly the kind of party and people Michael and I surround ourselves with in our personal life. We have invested thousands and thousands of hours of our time over 6 years. And our time is the highest thing we value in our marriage and our personal lives.

2. Resources: The basics? We host a website that has 6-figures of traffic per month. This ability is not without significant operational costs. We don't cut corners on this. We demand a premium online experience, and we put our resources where our mouths are by having the best of the best servers and support. We work endlessly with developers. The custom forum software I am typing into right now and the main site are never done. Ever.

We do this because we NEVER want you to wonder about things like, "Why is this page taking so long to load?" or "Why is that broken?" That's a block. We identify and kill blocks.

@MeginOBTeam hand packages and ships every single emblem and order. She's the finger on the pulse of our online store and member support. She manages inventory. She forecasts. She ensures every custom member product ordered is entered into the product cue and produced with quality. She's in the info@ customer service inbox every day answering questions and helping members with whatever they need (30+ emails a day). She is our first employee, and holy hell, I hope every starting business has someone like her on board. We would not be who we are without her.

17% of my home has been taken over by Overland Bound. My dream of a room to host my family and friends has been set aside (for now), and everyone is forced to cram into the kitchen when they come over. I am not complaining one inch of the way, but these are just some of the resources (and sacrifices) necessary to make Overland Bound happen.

3. Money: Again. Money. Triggering, right? Here's the thing. We receive approx 7-9 emails a month from overland companies asking to take their money and advertise on our forums.

We say, "No."

We are told we need to advertise to non-members on the forums, and then NOT advertise to members.

We say, "No."

We are told all sorts of things about how other Overland companies monetize and leverage their traffic... and....?

We say, "No."

We are not looking for short cuts to cash. We are not looking for the easy way. We are grinding out a path that creates tangible value for like minded overlanders without being bombed with ads and cost of entry is $24.99. Once.

And we KNOW we could make different choices, and honestly? Sometimes I wonder if we're missing something by not following the traditional path, but Michael doesn't. He's the driving force for creating an experience for both members and non-members that reflects our values. I mean, we have to go to sleep each night and look at ourselves in the mirror every morning. What are we creating and how...? These are incredibly important questions we ask ourselves. How do we show up and create with integrity to our gut?

(OK. So this is more like a novel. Thanks to anyone who is still reading this. I've been silent for the most part on this topic.)

My point is that if you take away any piece of this puzzle (time, resources, money) Overland Bound ceases to exist. Well. It could exist, but the brute strength required to keep our values and commitment to quality would be greatly compromised. And it would ultimately deteriorate and become average. It would not be Overland Bound.

So. Yeah. We ask $24.99 in exchange for a physical good that is custom laser etched, deeply personal, and solid in its quality. Michael and I do not take a salary and work for passion. We reinvest in Overland Bound resources for the community. My husband continues to come home and work until 3AM, and more nights than most I have to come into the office and tell him he has to sleep. I know he doesn't want to. But he has to.

And it's because he doesn't want to sleep that Overland Bound is what it is.

The Overland Bound regional bookface groups...? Yup. Closed. Members only. We want to create spaces for our members wherever they congregate. That's what we want, and how we say thank you to those who have made it possible for others to hear about overlanding and partake of the resources we have created. We don't allow advertising or promotional posts by outsiders to the groups. We have admins and moderators who give their time and passion to maintaining out quality standards. Executing at this level takes time, resources and money.

And there are so many lovely Facebook groups that are public, and that's awesome. Lots of land to grab in the online overland world. It's great! There is so much room in this world for overlanding conversations! Find them! :)

At the end of the day, this type of conversation helps us define and refine who we are and what we believe, and I am grateful. Genuinely.

And it's OK if you aren't on board with this. Like I said earlier, there is a whole wide and amazing world for overlanders, and it's just starting to grow, and there's room enough for everyone to find their tribe. Here's to everyone finding their tribe.

Sincerely,

Corrie Murguia
Co-Founder