GolfWRX- The best and largest Golf Forum

Come and discuss it in the forums… http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/495517-golfwrx-mission-and-promise-to-all-of-you/

Every 6 months or so I like to write a reminder message for those that are new or didnt know who we are, what we stand for and where we are going. I grabbed some quotes from my last message (since I liked it so much ).

Our  milestone of 100,000 registered users while we stay true to our  principles has happened! As we grow we must maintain our friendly  and open environment here. Our Marshals and Admins are trusted to help  maintain a friendly environment that is clean and respectable within the  rules. We must always respect the member and never to make them feel  like second rate citizens. As an admin or a member there are words that  have been stated from day one…

"take the high road"
"treat others as you would want to be treated"
"lead by example"

It has been over 6 years since we launched and we would have never believed that we would be this big. We have  peak months of over 700,000 unique visitors now. Hard to gauge when talking these types  of numbers but that means a lot of unique users are coming by and  looking around. Over 700,000 every month? Wow. We would have never  imagined that we would be this large when we decided to start WRX. We have over 100,000 registered members and soon will reach the 150,000  mark. What does this all mean and for some of you what do we stand for  here?????

What is our Mission? We are here to protect the purity  of opinions and the platform to voice those opinions. We want to protect  the interests of golfers by providing an unbiased platform to feel  proud to contribute to for years to come. Have you ever contributed time  in a club or a community and then one day you weren't proud of your  association with it? Many of us have been involved in forums or some  online social network. There were and are many golf communities on line  and the founders, moderators, and many members on GolfWRX became  disenchanted with some of those other places and we created WRX. The  tipping point for me was after countless hours and years of supporting  one of those sites I found a driver I thought was better than the others  and began to write reviews and hyping it. The threads got squashed and  pushed off to a dark place where you couldn't see it. I tried to repost  but the same thing happened. That driver was not for sale by the owner  of the site and they could not profit from the hype. So my hype was not  welcome.

That lead me to believe that I was in the wrong place  and needed to find a place that wasn't motivated by profit but was  motivated by the simple objective to create a place that was for the  golfers well being and no other reason. Due to the lack of options out  there we started GolfWRX. It was built for golfers by golfers. The  owners all have day jobs and careers that do not lean on proceeds from  GolfWRX. All the money GolfWRX has made to date has gladly been  reinvested in to the site to make it better for the members. We do not  sell equipment and will not do so in fear of spinning reviews and  opinions.

Do we work with OEM's… we sure do. Some big and some small. Does that mean we slant reviews? No…. we hardly do formal reviews and we make efforts to leave that for the members. When we do reviews I make efforts to hype the great and just not hype the poor rather than bash them. Do we take down pics if they are to early? Yes if we recieve copyright materials prior to a launch where a small or large company ask to have them removed we will make an effort to take them down. However if we catch them in pros hands out on tour or playing somewhere most all OEM's call that fair game. Here is a quote I wrote in a thread where we removed early Pics that came from a PDF of a brochure in the pre-launch phase of a program. The PDF was acquired illegally by person and posted on another site on the net and was copyrighted…

[quote]
Let me say this again. I  (and many others) didn't dedicate the last 5 years on this site to make  money. This place is not a business as much as it is a sacred place we  have built for golfers. We have this special place here that will always  stay clean and unbiased. I am fortunate that I don't need the money  that we could make here. Money that we have generated here has all gone  back to the company to make it better and better. Wait and see what we  are going to do next for 2011! I have a career and have always been very  lucky and fortunate in my business life. I started WRX not make a buck,  but to have a special place were we can be proud to support and be a  member.

WRX is first and foremost a place for us to hang. To  feel that we can dedicate hours upon hours of our lives adding opinions,  developing relationships, starting threads, adding pics and reviews. We  add all these hours of our lives here in confidence WRX will not turn  around and roach your experience here. Reverse the direction it promised  to travel for years. Start selling gear and only propping up what we  are selling??? Death card. We would never do that in fear of becoming  biased. So when I hear comments that we have changed directions it is  painful to read. We have NOT!. Did we take down the R11 pics after Tmag  told us to? Yes we did. Rare but the bridge we didnt burn will provide  more first looks and spy pics for our membership than the R11 was worth.  Burning bridges is bad for members. We only remove 1 or 2 pics a year.  Simply it is not good for membership to burn bridges so well traveled  for one pic.

I added a lot of time in my life to sites before WRX  was around to only find out they weren't a place I could be proud of.  They became so poorly managed that the site stopped operating properly  or in some cases they became so greedy they put profit before their  members.

We started WRX so we would be proud of the community we  helped to form. As a member we will want to add this value to WRX  because we don't run it as a business but as a place that will stand the  test of time. We will always put members first here at WRX. We have and  will. I apologize if you had experiences here that made you feel less  than what you should have. We aren't perfect. We had times that our Mods  were stretched so thin only 2 or 3 of them were effectively managing  the place.

If you were one of those guys, after the three  thousandth violation you might be short too. We had some complaints and  we brought on more Mods to help. These are growing pains. I hope you  know I am speaking from the heart here.

We are today as we were  in the beginning. There have been twists in the road but at the end of  the day we are here  for the same reasons we were in April of 2005.  Built by golfers for golfers!

Lastly… we are only as good as  our members. Were are here to support our members. We make all of our  decisions with that in mind. I hope you and anyone else can feel as if  they can PM or email me if you want to understand that in more detail. I  am sooo passionate about this place and for the preservation of our  membership, goals and principles I want you to know we will always act  in the best interest of or community.

Thanks- Richard

richard@golfwrx.com

[/quote]

Our  passion here on WRX is simple and pure. We do not ever want to fall  prey to the lure of the dollar or the need to sacrifice our principles  to grow or stay on the top. The internet is a huge place and there is  always room for many other golf communities that want to bend the rules  of what is right or wrong to gain publicity. We do not want our name  drawn into public controversy, rather we will maintain the integrity of  our values. Our passion for the game and support for the truth in  opinions and reviews is most important.

We offer unique custom  packages for the small start up golf company. Why do we give preferred  pricing to a small ma and pa shop? We feel that there are great products  out there that need to be found. That deserve the seat at the table  along with the major Golf Equipment companies and we allow them to  afford that here on WRX.

To be the best Golf Forum on the  internet we have to continuously work hard to improve and add  improvements here. If we slow down then a better mouse trap will  eventually come. We believe that there is and will never be another  community or website that has better intentions for the golfer than us.  For that reason we feel an obligation to maintain the top position among  golf social networks in fear of losing golfers to a site with spin and  then to be mislead. That goes to the heart of why we are here. To  provide the truth with no spin. To arm the golfer with the best advice  so they can make the best decisions and ultimately avoid mistakes.

Connecting  golfers and promoting the game of golf globally is our what we are  doing. Here is a look at the preamble to our rules rewrite we are  working on…

[quote]Golf is unique among all sports for several  reasons. First and foremost is the special relationship that exists  among golfers. Although competition is frequently fierce, golfers  uniformly treat each other with respect and consideration, both on the  course and in their lives. Golfers would never tolerate any action or  attitude that would belittle a fellow competitor because of gender,  race, nationality, age, or sexual orientation.

Golfers are  incredibly generous. Most major competitions are organized to benefit  charitable organizations and causes. This special relationship between  golfers and those who are less fortunate is indicative of the kind  hearts and good fellowship that characterizes the "spirit of the game".

Golfers  are not only respectful of the history and traditions of the game but  are also dedicated to the future of the game. They support advances in  equipment, techniques, and mental approaches that make the game more  enjoyable and accessible to future generations. Golfers provide for the  continued growth of the game by supporting young people as they enter  into our community.

Governing bodies are accepted by the sport as  the final authority about the rules of golf. While golfers may not  always agree with the actions of these bodies, golfers' respect for the  rule-making process supersedes all other considerations. Golfers accept  the ruling of these bodies with a reverence that is unparalleled in  other sports. Golf's rules are surprisingly simple. Competitors are not  only expected to know the rules but to enforce them even when it is to  their detriment.

It is around these fundamental principles of our  sport and the realities of running an enterprise in the larger legal  and ethical environment that the rules of GolfWRX are based.[/quote]

Sorry  for being long winded but some are new and don't know the history. We will be launching some killer improvements in teh next 6 months to make this place better than ever. Don't understand our mission. We welcome your comments and advise how we  can improve.

Richard  

richard@golfwrx.com

Come and discuss it in the forums… http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/495517-golfwrx-mission-and-promise-to-all-of-you/