M1911.ORG Forums Site Mission Statement
Dear Visitors,
Welcome to the M1911 Pistols Forums Site. The M1911 Pistols Organization (or M1911.ORG for short) was started about in 1992-1993, as an Internet reference site, for the M1911 pistols. It has grown to be the premier Internet resource for the M1911, known and respected not only by simple 1911 aficionados, but also by the industry.
During its early years, M1911.ORG was a purely informational site, where material was added as my free time allowed. Soon, I began receiving questions, like "How do I solve this problem?" or "What magazine would work with my XYZ 1911?". I tried to answer those questions as best as I could, but obviously my expertise was not always enough. So I copied and pasted those questions, in a web page, so that others, more experienced than me, could answer them. That was the first "forum" of my site, very primitive and very restrictive.
Later on, I discovered a site that hosted free forums, and I grabbed the opportunity to have one created there. Not very sophisticated, but still it was something. Later on, Yahoo came in the scene, and the Yahoo groups allowed me to start the M1911.ORG Mailing List, which was much more helpful, because any of the 500 or so registered members, could answer the asked questions.
Then the time came to have a real forum. For two years M1911.ORG was affiliated with another site, which was just a forums site, for 1911 shooters, with no informational section. The affiliation was to the advantage of both sites, M1911.ORG was a purely informational site, the other site was purely a forum site, so by affiliating the two together, we got a good result. Unfortunatelly, my ideas about how an Internet forums site should be run, didn't coincide with those of the other site webmaster.
After a lot of consideration, and under the pressure of several e-mails from people who were urging me to start a forums site of my own, I made the big decision and started the forums site at which you are now.
The forums site was started on the 31st of May 2004, as a part of M1911.ORG. Its purpose is to become the prime Internet forum for the 1911 pistols, just like M1911.ORG is the prime Internet resource for information on that firearm. To succeed, the forums site will be run with the same principles I used all these years I am running M1911.ORG:
- Respect the visitors (in this case the registered users). This forum is their forum, they are the basic strength of the forum. Junior members or old timers.
- Be there when the users need you. I think that there isn't a single visitor who wrote to me, during all these years, and didn't get an answer in a couple of days (most of my e-mails are answered the same day).
- Always remember that the Internet has no borders, it is international, meaning that people of different cultures, different habbits, different religion, different race come here. They all come for one reason, to learn about the 1911 pistol, and that is what they will get. Each and every one of them demands and deserves to be treated nicely, and this is what they will get here.
- Enlist the help of good people to assist me in running this site. These people will have to share the above principles and make sure that they are enforced.
The members can expect this site, to provide them with a civilized place to discuss their 1911-related issues, being either technical, usage-related, brand-specific, or historical.
The industry can expect this site to be the place where each and every 1911 has a place to be discussed. This forum will be totally focused on this pistol, its parts, accessories or peripherals, its usage, its strengths and its weaknesses. The forum and me personally, would like to invite industry representatives to participate in our discussions, to provide their knowledge and expertise, but also to benefit from a large pool of 1911 users, for their marketing needs.
Following M1911.ORG tradition, this forum will be a gentlemen's playground, where members come to learn about the 1911 and have a good time.
Finally in September 2006, I started our E-zine, an electronic publication for anything related to the M1911 world. If you want to read reviews of the latest M1911 models, before they appear in any other publication, you should visit our E-zine regularly. If you are interested in reading the latest news in the M1911 world, our E-zine is the place to go.
All our sites can be accessed from our main web address:
https://www.m1911.org.
For M1911.ORG
John Caradimas