Stormtrack Change of Ownership

[Steve Miller]

Members,
I’m pleased to announce today that Stormtrack has a new owner! @Mark Blue has been by my side since I took the site over from Tim Vasquez in 2014. Mark has the know-how and the drive to continue building the membership and the brand and I’m very excited about what he, along with our killer staff, will build for our community.

I’m not going far. I’ll continue to serve on the staff and contribute regularly. The decision to make this change is based on a couple of things: primarily career evolution and the growing inability for me to allocate time to properly manage and grow ST. Secondarily, it’s important that Stormtrack continues to evolve technically. Mark has a fresh outlook for this community and the knowledge of the capabilities of our platform to take things to the next level.

It's been an absolute pleasure building and maintaining ST with our group of volunteer staff. In the previous five years, we've doubled membership. We’ve implemented new software and features that make contributing a breeze. We’ve created enormous visibility for member content - site traffic has never been higher! We've added partnerships that are mutually beneficial in support of the community as a whole. It has been a good run!

Stormtrack is where I learned as a young chaser, it’s where I shared, and where I have created many lasting friendships over the years. It’s an amazing resource for an amazing group of people. As we move forward from here I want to challenge each and every member to work to continue to grow and nurture this community.

Please join me in welcoming Mark to his new role!

Chase on,
Steve

 

[Marc R. O'Leary]

Thanks for everything Steve! You guys brought new life to the site and knowing Mark is here to stay is great news. Best of luck with your other projects!!

Welcome @Mark Blue , STs new overlord!

 

[B. Dean Berry]

Congrats, @Mark Blue !

 

[Randy Jennings]

@Steve Miller hats off to you, @Mark Blue, and the rest if the staff for the work you do and continue to do on Stormtrack. It is a amazing community that brings together everyone from new folks to professional meteorologists and researchers to have quality discussions not found else where. It is amazing because if all the hard work you all put into it.

 

[James K]

I hesitantly clicked link to this topic thinking: oh no .. has it been sold off to some huge corporate entity?
Glad that's not the case.. & Congrats to @Mark Blue !

 

[Dan Robinson]

Steve and Mark are unquestionably the reason Stormtrack not only still exists, but does so with up-to-date infrastructure and tech. Steve's tenure was characterized by a willingness to do whatever it took to ensure Stormtrack's success, and we see the fruits of that today. Mark has been a longtime member and contributor here, and the past 5 years has seen him tirelessly putting in countless hours behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly. Both deserve our sincerest thanks for what they have done for storm chasing's oldest and most respected institution!

 

[Warren Faidley]

Thanks Steve and congratulations to Mark. I still remember the excitement of receiving Dave's printed edition in the mail and I'm so glad ST is still here. The need continues to have a monitored forum for stormchasing-related information, as opposed to the Facebook / Twitter options.

 

[Jason Boggs]

@Steve Miller You have done a wonderful job keeping ST going! Thanks for the very hard work you have done. @Mark Blue Congrats on the new adventure sir!

 

[JamesCaruso]

@Steve Miller - you have done a tremendous job with the turnaround, revitalization and enhancement of Stormtrack - thank you! I know it was a team effort, so thanks to the entire staff, and a special thank you and congratulations to @Mark Blue

I was an original print subscriber also, so I appreciate the legacy (as well as the future) this forum represents. While I am generally nostalgic about the conversion of tangible/analog media into the digital ether, Stormtrack as an online forum clearly facilitates community much more so than a print magazine ever could.

I do hope we can make Stormtrack *THE* one and only truly authentic gathering place and repository for all things chasing-related. Social media platforms have their place I suppose, but they should only be in addition to - not in place of - Stormtrack. The social media platforms are just an uncurated, disorganized, unsearchable mess of mixed content; chasing content is just another thing carried along by the river of information. I honestly do not see why any true chaser would not want to be here on Stormtrack. In fact they are doing a disservice to the community by NOT contributing content here and memorializing the knowledge, analysis and field experience associated with specific events.

I just hope we can attract more users, including the veterans, and get them to see the light. And I hope this forum will always be preserved so that content is never lost, like it has disappeared from so many other venues as well-documented here by @Dan Robinson

 

[Mark Blue]

Many faces (or names) have come and gone but we still have a core group of awesome chasers who frequent the forum regularly. It is January after all, so I wouldn’t expect anyone other than the year rounders to be here to keep up with the latest news and trends. If I can accomplish one thing that’s very important while here it would be to increase re-engagement. I’d love to see a resurgence of old members who return to see what we have to offer. I have a couple of ideas up my sleeve, but for now I want to thank everyone for the kind words. Steve and I appreciate hearing from you because you are what makes ST tick. Without you we’d be nowhere!

 

[Bob Schafer]

Thank you so much for keeping ST alive and thriving, Steve, and congratulations to Mark! Ditto to everything everyone else said, too!

 

[Joey Ketcham]

@Steve Miller you've done great things to keep StormTrack going and making it a better forum for us all, and I know @Mark Blue has done a lot for this forum as well. Congrats, Mark!

 

[Ryan Doan]

Nothing but mad respect for you guys and your dedication! I thank you sincerely for bringing this community together! I started on the newer side of storm track about a year ago. Didn´t know there was an entire community dedicated to storm chasing until around 2 years ago, but it has grown on me tremendously because I´ve never really been around folks who share this passion and very glad to become a part of it. I´m probably still a few years out from being able to post on here regularly because there´s so much more for me to learn unfortunately. Stormtrack is in great hands. Once again, thanks to all who continue to allow this community to operate.

 

[Michael Towers]

Congrats Mark, I’m happy that ownership was kept within our ranks and I’m confident ST will continue to be in great hands going forward under your stewardship!

Thanks Steve for all your efforts, great job in keeping this site THE resource for chasers and a great resource for just about anything weather related. ST has benefited greatly from your tenure!

 

[JohnHuntington]

Thanks @Steve Miller for all your hard work on this and thanks and welcome to your new role @Mark Blue !

John

 

[Bill Hark]

I am so appreciative that this forum still exists. Thanks to the hard work by Steve Miller and others who have kept this alive along with everyone who participates. Congratulations to Mark Blue!