Future of zhpmafia.com

[Marcus-SanDiego]

As many of you must realize by now, I have not been around the forum that much during the past year. I've been busy raising the baby (enjoying every minute of it) and have been busy with my photography.

At the beginning of the year I knew this would be my last year running the forum. Recent developments, however, hastened my decision to step away from this forum. I'm moving on to a new business venture.

I made this announcement last night at the zhpmafia.com meet in Williamsburg and now I'm making the announcement today on the forum:

Effective immediately, I no longer run this forum. In fact, I turned over the keys to Dane and Keith yesterday. The two of them now own and run the forum by themselves. Understand that I did not sell the forum to them. Instead, they earned the forum during their 2.5 years of serving as my moderators. I gifted the forum to them. They just had to accept. They did. I could not be turning the forum over to two more capable, loyal and dedicated guys.

Also effective immediately, John Randolph (Rando) is now a moderator at zhpmafia.com. He will also have the title of boss. You're lucky to have him as a moderator. Great guy. Enough said.

As for me, I will be around from time to time. I'll also post whenever I can.

I've really enjoyed my time here. I've enjoyed meeting all of you. I'll enjoy watching Dane, Keith, and John run the site.

Best to everyone. Take care.


Sent from my ZHPMafia.com iPhone

[Hornung418]

Congrats on the massive success of the site, Mark.

[echo46]

Thanks for your incredible vision in creating such a unique friendly resource. Not a day goes by that I don't marvel at your creation. Wonderful job. Good luck in all your endeavors. The king is dead, long live the kings:)

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Thanks, guys. Nothing will change in the way this forum operates, so I'm not worried about the handover at all.

Very much looking forward to the next best thing.


Sent from my ZHPMafia.com iPhone

[johnrando]

It's an honor to be part of continuing what Mark, Dane and Keith have put their hearts and souls into and done it so well.

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2

[Marcus-SanDiego]

:thumbsup


Sent from my ZHPMafia.com iPhone

[WOLFN8TR]

Congrats Dane, Keith and John! Thank You Marcus for creating ZHPMAFIA and Good luck in the new venture!

[Marcus-SanDiego]

You are welcome, sir.

[GMATT]

Rando congratulations I am sure you will continue to be a asset to the sight. Well done Mark, and to the new Bosses /owners :thumbup:
Gary

Sent from my fancy telephone!

[BimmerWill]

Thank you so much Marcus for taking the initiative and starting such a great community and giving it a common ground on which we can all come together. You and along with the moderators/owners have done wonderful things to make this place what it is.

I hope that you will still plan to be around and plan to attend the reunion next year as I have yet to meet so many people in person including yourself and would like to shake your hand personally. Best of luck with your future endeavors!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[terraphantm]

Good to know the forum will stay in capable hands -- and very generous of you to gift it to them :thumbsup:

[BCS_ZHP]

Mark,
Thanks for the vision to originally create this site. I met you in Jan '11 shortly after the site was founded, loved your simple principles -- be nice, helpful and treat others like you'd want to be treated. Met Dane a couple of months after that, and then Keith & John at the first Reunion. All are true great salt of the earth people, I am proud to consider each of them friends. I and everyone here are extremely lucky and grateful to have you guys running this site, feeding our passion, and continuing the great family atmosphere.

All the best to you Mark with the new Gallery venture.
Bruce

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Really appreciate the well wishes.

When I get home, I will have a chance to give a proper goodbye.

[danewilson77]

Thanks all for the warm words.

The membership here is what makes the site.

HTC DNA, Williamsburg, VA

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Could not agree more. ^^^ Entire community effort.

[Washburn]

You started a great thing, Mark; and you have chosen great guys to carry it forward.
Best wishes, and keep in touch.

[illirep]

Thanks for creating this great community Marcus. Proud to be a member. I wish you continued success.

Thanks Dane and Keith for all your continued hard work!

Congrats on the promotion John!

[Avetiso]

Thank you Mark for creating this amazing, mature, and respectful group. I am looking forward to having Dane and Keith being the owners, and I could not think of a better mod than Rando. I'm sure the three of them will do great.

Long live ZHP Mafia.

[cakM3]

Mark,
Thanks for the vision to originally create this site. I met you in Jan '11 shortly after the site was founded, loved your simple principles -- be nice, helpful and treat others like you'd want to be treated. Met Dane a couple of months after that, and then Keith & John at the first Reunion. All are true great salt of the earth people, I am proud to consider each of them friends. I and everyone here are extremely lucky and grateful to have you guys running this site, feeding our passion, and continuing the great family atmosphere.

All the best to you Mark with the new Gallery venture.
Bruce

+1000 :thumbsup

Mark,

I wish you and your family all the best life has to off you! You always have a home here among us! I feel privileged to have had many opportunities to personally talk to you since becoming a member on this wonderful forum and thank you for always giving me an ear :thumbsup

@ Rando...I agree that the forum is in good hands having you as a moderator and couldn't be happier! You got the torch now my friend! :)

~Charlie

[BavarianZHP]

Couldn't agree more with the comments here! I hope the memories of what you've created hold fast to you. Marcus, you've brought everyone together in a way none of us could have imagined and we deeply appreciate it. Haha, I for one can't image all of us spending time on e46f and putting up with all of the shenanigans over there. Thank you for all you've done. You couldn't have chosen better people to leave the site to. I wish you a safe and prosperous journey of happiness.

[jgt_zhp]

Congrats to all. By any account, the best forum I've ever been associated with, thanks to all your hard work

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Thank you very much, guys.


Sent from my ZHPMafia.com iPhone

[zhpnsnv]

Glad to know this site will continue to be run by three great people. Congrats, John.

Thanks, Mark, for the spark and the vision.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

De nada, amigo.


Sent from my ZHPMafia.com iPhone

[Hermes]

Mark, thanks for everything you've done to get this site up and running in the way you wanted it to be. Good luck to you with your new venture and I hope to still see you around town now and again.

As for the future of the site, I'm sure it's in good hands with Dane, Keith, and John at the helm.

[trancenation]

Mark,

Thank you for establishing a fine online forum where us fellow ZHPers can hangout. You will be truely missed and I hope that you pop in every now and then.
The forum is in good hands with Dane, Keith, and John leading the way.

It's been a pleasure interacting with you and I wish you the best of luck to your new endeavors in life!

[imola red zhp]

Mark,
You will always be known as the Founder of ZHP Mafia what a wonderful Forum you have started, Congratulations to Dane, Keith and John the mafia Bosses will continue Mark's vision.

Mark it was a pleasure meeting you and hope someday when you're back in the Bay Area you give me a ring.

[Jon D]

Marcus. It's been said above... Best of luck with the new venture

[sketchyd]

Congrats to all. By any account, the best forum I've ever been associated with, thanks to all your hard work

+1. It takes a great community for this site to be what it is, but without you guys starting and running it, there would be no Family. Does this mean Marcus' title becomes "Godfather"?

:thumbup:

Tapped on a talk device

[johnrando]

Much appreciated!

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2

[UdubBadger]

Damn, big news. Conrats to the 3 stooges taking over :p

[GMATT]

Yes, and Me thinks we have to kiss his hand when in his presence! :p

Sent from my fancy telephone!

[Dave_B]

Congrats Mark and congrats to Dane, Keith and also Rando.

All of you have made this place great and I look forward to many years to come.

[E_Rak]

Marcus, being a new member I didn't really get the opportunity to interact with you too much on the forums. However, that didn't stop me from realizing what an exceptional leader you are in this community. Your responses are always well mannered, helpful, and downright classy. A quick read through the mafia news/business section will clearly outline your dedication to this community. Best of luck with your baby and everything else, we will try and hold down the fort without you. I do hope you come back to visit every once and a while! ;)

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I will be around. Can't get rid of me.

And I will try to make annual reunions as often as I can.


Sent from my ZHPMafia.com iPhone

[kayger12]

Just some quick words.

This is very surreal for me.

In my head, this will always be Mark and Dane's forum.

I'm only here because (as was the case with many of you) DW invited me here from BF.c.

I was incredibly honored and humbled when I was offered a moderator position.

I was even more humbled when Mark took something that was his intellectual creation and offered it to me at no cost.

I find it a great privilege simply to know somebody with the character, drive, and intellect of Mark Martinez- and was left speechless by both his selfless offer and unwavering confidence and support.

And while DW may suck at corn hole and have the liver of a 7 year old girl, I'll be forever grateful to call him a friend and will continue to work to be half the man he is in both life in general as well as the ZHPM.c world.

Rando, or Randeaux as he will now be known, has been my number one choice as the next moderator around here for some time. In addition to being a phenomenal family man and incredibly helpful and supportive to this site, he's also a rabid Rush fan- which proves unequivocally that he is in the top 1% of the evolutionary ladder. I am so happy to have him aboard as a moderator.

And finally, I am so appreciative of the heart and soul of this site: the membership. As I was blessed to experience once again this weekend, you are an incredible bunch of human beings who are a damn pleasure to be around.

This place, without you, simply doesn't exist.

This concludes our Hallmark moment.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread surfing.

#somuchforsomequickwords


Sent from the Last Next Best Thing.

[UdubBadger]

The Gospel of Kayger ladies and gentlemen.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

And now you see why I was so confident in turning over the forum to Keith and Dane. You're in good hands.


Sent from my ZHPMafia.com iPhone

[M3TA5IN]

The Gospel of Kayger ladies and gentlemen.

X2

Congrats guys!


Sent from my fancy city machine.

[SoarinZHP]

The car is not special. The people are special. This has been a great place and look forward to the torch being passed. Marcus - Wonderful ride. What's been said about your kind, helpful and respectful tone couldn't be more true. What this place has become started out as you; then it became us. Thank you, good sir.

[redwagon]

Thanks Marcus for all you have done......awesome.....and congrats to those that have been 'promoted'......well deserved- their reputation already speaks volumes that they are suitable successors, all are special....for our not so special cars!
Tim

[ELCID86]

Glad to have found this forum and be getting to know you all (and my car). Congrats.

[PHZ]

Thanx, congrats, and much success boss.

[derbo]

Congrats to Dane and Keith and Rando! This is a bittersweet moment. Good luck on your future projects Marcus!

[fredo]

I really like this place. My number of posts don't represent the number of hours I spend here. Big thanks to Mark, Dane, Keith, and Rando for all your work ! Hope to meet all of you in the future.

[1 M Mike]

Effective immediately, I no longer run this forum. In fact, I turned over the keys to Dane and Keith yesterday. The two of them now own and run the forum by themselves. Understand that I did not sell the forum to them. Instead, they earned the forum during their 2.5 years of serving as my moderators. I gifted the forum to them. They just had to accept. They did. I could not be turning the forum over to two more capable, loyal and dedicated guys.
I've only been a member here for about a month. Normally it only takes me two months before members start dropping like flies, and never an owner, so I've exceeeded my reputation already. :)

All kidding aside, my compliments on a great site you started here Marcus.

Obvious that in true Mafia style you made Dane and Keith an offer "too good to refuse". :cigar

Best wishes and God's continued good blessings to you in your subsequent undertakings.


The car is not special.
:ban him: :banhim: :ban him

:scratchinghead


:idea


Hey John, how about getting your legs off the table and finally putting your keester to work and give us a "Ban Him" smilie please! :foottap


Just winding you guys up!


:) :)

[wsmeyer]

All 3 of you have done an incredible job of creating a car forum that far exceeds all others. I'm happy to hear it will remain in good hands and continue to get the attention it deserves.

Congrats to John too!

[ryankokesh]

:grouphug

Congrats, all!

[onepercent]

Thanks, Marcus, for getting the Mafia off to such a great start. I know we will be in great hands under the new, but very familiar, leadership. I'm involved in a small handful of online communities, and this one is far and away the best.

[Meric]

Hey Mark code name Boss! Im going to miss you I hope we can keep in touch atleast on Facebook.. I want to watch Zippy growing up :) Take care mate going to miss you. You made a great forum! And for Moderetors their the best love both of them :)

[gr330zhp]

Thanks Mark for creating the best forum there is! Dane, Keith and John will do a great job keeping it! Good luck on your new ventures!

Also congrats to Dane, Keith and John, well deserved!



Sent from my iPhone 5.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

The great news is that I didn't die. I will still be around.

My new title is Boss Emeritus. I'm just retired.

[Junior2552]

Sad to see you go, Marcus, but everybody is excited for all the good change. Good luck with your new stuff!!

[///Maniak]

What everyone else said. Thank you for the work you've put into the forum!

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Sad to see you go, Marcus, but everybody is excited for all the good change. Good luck with your new stuff!!

Will there be change coming? Haha. I hope it stays remarkably similar around here -- otherwise I will have to stop visiting.

[dotslashapex]

i've only been here a short while, but the community is solid. Best of luck to any future endeavors and congrats to a fantastic portal for ZHP owners :)

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Thanks, guys.

[bimmeryota]

Marc,
I can remember you lobbying to have me be one of the first members of the forum and I wanted to but funny as it may be, I had given up car forums for lent... on that 40th day "bimmeryota" had risen for it's first time! Thanks to you I've been able to learn so much from the crew here and contribute a few things along the way. I couldn't agree more on your choice of new forum owners...I haven't met Dane or Keith but I've met rando before and he truly is a great guy.
Best wishes on the new endeavor and don't be a stranger since we live so close!

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Thanks, Joe. We need to see each other a bit more!

[bimmeryota]

Green Flash Mira Mesa!

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Bumping in case we have members who missed this message.

[UdubBadger]

BTW related topic to new ownership... are we open to public again? Been noticing a lot of newbies lately.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Registration is not open. However, new members are added all the time.

[UdubBadger]

Cool thought so just was checking. Summer brings out a large number of newbs I guess. :)

[C Withers Media]

I would openly vouch or get behind any venture Keith is involved in.

Congrats on the transfer of power, looking forward to being on the ground floor of your newest project Mark.

[Imola.ZHP]

Thanks for starting the forum Marcus, you have done well and I believe you have left it in good hands. Best of luck to you with your parenting and new business adventures!