Hall of Fame Awards
I’m honored to present the first Community Hall of Fame inductees with my co-host Polssken and my girlfriend Tracy.
The “Hall of Fame” idea actually goes way back to the original “Cruiser of the Week” feature we had on the old site. Some members suggested to turn that into a “Cruiser of the Month” feature to recognize key contributors in the community.
It eventually morphed into a “Hall of Fame” and a team of international community member hashed out the details and came up with the criteria for members to qualify for the Community Hall of Fame. Besides Marek (Polssken) and myself we also had Rick (skeeter229), Dim (Dimitra), Kat (Katbrat) and Phil (PhilCole) on the team.
We wanted to pick members who significantly contributed to the overall enjoyment of everybody on the site. We wanted to pick members that not only contributed lots of discussions, photos and videos but also participated in helpful discussions, helped other members, offered advice. We wanted to pick members that have been coming to the site frequently and have been there for a long time.
We also looked at their offline activities, for example if they organized member rallies or met up with other members for rides.
Checkout our 2012 Hall of Fame inductees:
Kyle aka ManyBikes
Kyle who’s passion for all things two wheels earned him his American Indian name of ‘ManyBikes’, converted www.cruisercustomizing.com from a bike parts online store, to an interactive and engaging community for people with a shared passion (and individual style) to come together and connect from allover the world.
Kyle has been the main force behind the development of the Cruiser Customizing Community or ‘CCC’ as it is affectionately known. He asked the right questions and listened to the community members.
Everything from engaged members, tech support, product and shipping enquiries, establishing the fun photo and video competitions, member incentives, COTW (Cruiser of the Week), TOTW videos (Tip of the Week), WWG videos (Wednesday with Greg) and a bunch of other stuff! Within the limitations of technology on the old CCC platform, Kyle brought us the basis of the community that we all share and enjoy to this very day.
It is fair to say that without Kyle ‘ManyBikes’, the community would not be where it is today. And to take it one step further, without this community, we would not have had the opportunity to meet some of the most fantastic people we’ve ever met. Across the seas or in our own backyards, we’ve all made friends for life here on CCC, in ways none of us could ever have imagined.
Don aka copperguy
A legend is not too liberal a term for the one known as ‘copperguy’ around here. A major personality of the CC Community in his time on this site, he was the first to welcome hundreds (possibly thousands) of new members as they joined the site, making everyone feel at ease as part of the CCC family.
Don always had time for others, always took the time to comment on everyone’s pictures, videos, blogs, discussions and competition entries. His own contribution to the site was always highly entertaining, humorous, generous and supportive of the community’s growth. Interacting with Don gave us all a great feeling of mateship and family, through the invisible reach of the internet and across the seas.
He made many friendships that extended beyond CCC and into the realm of Skype, mailed souvenirs and even met some members when geography permitted. Ice fishing and head pets were his signature.
Then in July 2011 we heard the shocking news of Don’s sudden death caused by a motorcycle related accident on his ride home from work on that fateful day. We never met in person, but the loss of Don’s charismatic presence cut us all so deep that all our international CC Community members were left to
mourn in his wake.
Immortalised on these pages, any time we feel the weight of emptiness his absence has created, we can log in to CCC and tune into any number of copperguy’s postings for a dose of his witty quips. Memories that all his mates will always treasure.
Chris aka outbackaussie
In an iconic photo posted by Chris ‘oubackaussie’, submitted for a CCC photo contest on ‘Reflections’, is an image that truly embodies all that is Chris, where he writes: “I had been on my bike for two and a half days travelling from medical scans in Melbourne to Longreach in Central Outback Queensland (1500 miles) and was only two hours from home when i chanced upon this lookout not far from a little outpost called Jundah. I had transversed a lot of the great country I live in spending many solitary hours considering the next steps in my ongoing battle against the big C, and just stopped looking over vast plains
of scrub reflecting on the many things that i am fortunate enough to be able to do, have done and will do
in my life.”
His contribution on the site was at the same level as any regular CCC member, however it was his significant contribution to people’s real lives outside of the website community that was outstanding and left it’s mark on our hearts.
In 2010, a large contingent of Aussie members had the pleasure of meeting outbackaussie on our first Australian CCC Rally. We’ll never forget outbackaussie’s ingenious home-made mods on the Shadow, from clear perspex lowers mounted to his crash bars for wind protection, to his home-made speakers installed into driving light housings and hooked up to play his iPod which had everything from AC/DC to Sinatra.
There was always laughter, classic tunes and good times when Chris was around.
One would never know the personal battle he fought with an aggressive stomach cancer that had already taken route before we ever met him, and eventually took him from us again. In his final months, Chris had made peace with his fate and made a huge effort to visit with as many Aus CCC members as he could, on what he knew would be his ‘last ride’ to say goodbye to all his friends and family across the country, on his
Kawasaki Voyager with his partner. He made the most of his trip and rode until the last possible moment, when ultimately he was unable to ride due to the late stages of his cancer. Chris never showed his pain, he played the hand he was dealt with such grace, even in his final moments still cracking jokes and keeping you smiling. His outlook on life under such circumstances was an inspiration to us all.
Chris is one of the real faces of bikers, true ‘mate’ material. His legacy lives on at our Australian CCC Rally’s where the prestigious “Outbackaussie Award” is gifted to only the most worthy of contributor’s at each year’s weekend trip. An honour for any CCC member.
Robin aka Robin001
Robin01 one of the ‘originals’, has been a part of the CC Community as long as we can remember. His contribution to the community has been influential in helping to set the tone and shape the community from the early days.
Particularly in the early days, but even now, contributes to the community and supports its growth, welcomes new members, shares videos, photos, advice and stories with the community, comments on other member’s media and participates in contests and other site activities. He always stands up for other members and ensures everyone had a fair go. He is someone to call ‘mate’, but he’s also a self-confessed
“Bloody Idiot”.
Together with Phil, the first Australian CCC Rally was born. Now an institution, with rally’s held annually for all Aussie members (and any international members who care to cross the seas to join in the fun). A seed of an idea back in 2009, both Robin and Phil worked very hard to organise the 2010 Mildura CCC Rally, a fantastic success that demanded an encore.
Robin volunteered a significant amount of his time to co-ordinate the very first Video Contest on CCC. With no prior format or structure to the contest, Robin worked with Kyle and the CC team to develop a fun and engaging contest, which he ran superbly.
Robin will always be one of the original that helped shape the site, and as such his valuable contribution must be recognised. All hail the President of Bloody Idiots SMC.
Earl aka EARL1
Those who knew Earl1 describe him as supportive, encouraging and funny. His contribution was in his involvement in the community, adding media, and interacting with other members.
Earl is described as always putting others first, his sympathetic approach both encouraging and supporting of others in the community. All this despite his own personal challenge which he kept silent about in the public forum. It was only after his private passing that we hear about Earl’s 17 month struggle with Lou Gehrig Disease. His wife compelled to log into the CC Community to inform the many friends he’d made
why Earl was now silent and not contributing.
For 2013’s Hall of Fame inductees we’ll want to include the feedback of all members. Around Fall of 2013 we’ll start the selection process on the site and everybody can participate and suggest future nominees.
Lets celebrate our inductees and their achievements to our motorcycle community.
Cheers,
Uwe