Any charter members still around ????
 

Any charter members still around ???

Yes. I still have the package of goodies that was sent although I forget what was in it. I know there was a sticker for the boat.

Yep, I check out the forums nearly every day to make sure everybody is playing nice with each other:boat:

I don't remember what designated a "charter member"? I do know I am member #69.

Yep

From what I remember, when Jeffrey owned OSO, he offered any present OSO member at the time, a chance to become a "Charter member", if they kicked in $20 each to buy a bigger server, the sticker and all the neat little goodies t-shirts that came with it also

I've always wondered how the site was promoted, how you long timers ( Charter members ) found out about OSO, after all its been about 19 yrs since the site was founded by Jeffrey, word of mouth, racing events ??.

I think I stumbled on to OSO by a search engine. You didn't have to register at first and it was chaotic at times. Back in the early days, every HP boater that was computer literate seemed to be on here. You would go to races or boat shows, etc. and meet other members all the time.

Been here posting for a long time or so it seems but only 13000 posts. but seen a lot of drama, and a lot of people come and go.

So true Pete.

I think I was member #80......

I didn't pay to be a charter member but I've been here since it was just a classified board with crappy basic graphics Cheng created to sell his used boats (no offense Jeffrey). I remember the announcement for charter members and the sticker with your member # and I think shirt that you got if I'm not mistaken.

When Jeff fist started OSO It was mostly west coast / S.C.O.P.E. guys in the very beginning but as social media etc started blowing up, and the boating world (world in general) got smaller people started to connect more over their passion for this hobby / sport. Information on various events were more readily available and as people visited other areas for events and made friends OSO was kind've their meeting ground. When Steve bought it he did a phenomenal job of promoting it going to a ton of events with the OSO cigarettes and really promoting the OSO brand. When he sold it to IB coupled with the economy crashing, that was pretty much the death of the era. But man, those early days of OSO was a lot of fun. I've made life long friends from all over the world via this website. I hear many people say often it was the best boating times they've ever had and some of the best times in their lives. I'd agree, there was something magical about it all.

I was a charter member and then something happened with my user I.D & password and had to rejoin the site and lost my charter status. ed

I'm still here and I check the board at least once a day M-F while at work...other then that i try to stay off the computer all together as i do way too much of it for work! :D

Didn't it crash once and everything was lost? Would have been around 2000 which is why so many of us have the 2000 join date. Maybe that's why the server or whatever it was needed to be upgraded.

I think that is when they required users to register.

Not a "Charter" in the true sense But I have been here since 2002 and can't imagine where I'd be without the people and experiences being a member has brought to my life. Still here multiple times a day and trying to spread the brand as I travel to events every year.

I know I was on here in the early days under a different user name (BAJAHA if memory serves) and then was gone for a bit and returned and the site was totally different and my old user name wasn't valid anymore. Been back steady since '05. Site was very,, very crude back in the day. So many people gone from way back when. Good to see some OG's still around.

Still get on here.

October of 2000 is when it became an actual forum/message board where you had to register with a screen name in order to post. Prior to that it was basically a chat room with a classified section. Maybe about 6 months later, Jeffery needed to upgrade the server and asked for 300 people to contribute $30. You got a Charter Member sticker and T-shirt for the contribution. Charter members also got all the perks that the future paid memberships would have for free forever. There were not actually any paid memberships at the time and maybe only a couple sponsors.

Good background info. It was not a paid member site when I first stumbled across it.

I just seem to remember everyone losing their original join date or member #s or something. Lots of complaints ensued because it was like losing your seniority. I might be mistaken because of how long ago it was.

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OSO Chicago

Don't remember the t-shirts. Back then no one knew or expected any of this to be a paid site. I would say back then all of just wanted the site to stay up. Best $30 I ever spent. I have OSO to thank for meeting a great deal of people including Griff.

Still here. I'm a cruiser guy now, but the water calls me just as much.

Yep, have t-shirts and stickers to prove it, LOL

. Very little in the way of Offshore Powerboating sites back in 2000. Came across the site, they had me when I saw a member "Blonde Cig Chick" who owned a Gun with twin 900s IIRC. Seemed to be a SCOPE member site so I lurked for the better part of a year before joining. Found out much later that the site was in its infancy when I started lurking. I remember the Charter Membership thing didnt realize the $30 was to upgrade the server, maybe I should have read it lol .......LOTS of drama over the years holy sh it! I remember saying that the name should be changed from OSO to "As The Propeller Turns".Have been boating steadily since I bought my first boat in '95 The race car takes up time these days. I have minimums now....if the weather isnt calling for 75 or higher I dont go out lol

And hey Allan 4 is a putz!

We should have a OSO party at next years shootout at LOTO like the old days.

Still hangin:)

I was around from almost the beginning. I lurked for quite a while before actually registering. My number is 747 i believe

I lurked for a while before I joined too. I sure do miss the E-Dock vs SBRT days, those were some good times.

Same here. Its a little to PC recently.

If you can't laugh at yo self then Pizz Off :riding:

And fountains Still Suck :cool: :ernaehrung004:

Rivergirl and Doc now there is a blast from the past.

Still Here. - Same as CashBar, Since 2002