Finding friends in unexpected places.
By Edward A. Sanchez
Van fans make a comeback.
Posted May 4, 2006
Even in a job as "fun" as this, the day-to-day routine can sometimes sap the passion out of your work. But it's the appreciation and enthusiasm of readers and other enthusiasts that end up making it all worth it.
It turns out there's been a long-lost segment of enthusiasts lurking out there in cyberspace looking for a home: Van enthusiasts. I'm not saying there are no van enthusiast sites out there. There are probably hundreds. For sure, I know of one, www.vannin.com.
When I began to earnestly dive into the long-moribund Truckin' message boards, I found a few forlorn postings from van enthusiasts lamenting the fact that Truckin' had in fact started as a custom van magazine, but that our coverage was spotty, and that there was nowhere within the boards that they considered their "home."
Well, using my benevolent wizard powers as the proverbial "man behind the curtain," I created a section dedicated to van discussion. It only took a few mouse clicks and keystrokes to create. I figured it was the least I could do. Little did I know or expect this would soon be the most active area in the message boards, and what an outpouring of gratitude I would receive from the van enthusiast community. I've been frankly overwhelmed. Even though I haven't met any of the participants in person, I feel I've already made some friends in the course of the last month or so since I've started that section.
While Truckin' has moved well beyond it's beginnings as a pure van magazine, and now encompasses nearly every category of vehicle that could remotely be considered a truck, (Even a Honda Element!) I hope that it will always have a place for the van guys. They're some of the friendliest and most good-natured guys I've "met" on the boards. Sure, there's a little trash talk that goes on, but most of it is all in fun, and so far, I haven't seen any mean-spiritedness that unfortunately plagues many other online communities. I hope it stays that way.
I invite all of you to check out our message boards, regardless what your specific interest is. We have sections for nearly everyone. Just click on the link to your left.