Some of you witnessed it first hand but for those that weren't logged in at the time, I April fooled the site to make it appear honda kids who saw us talking crap about Monday night meet spot got upset and hacked our forum. I posed as three different members and taunted the forum to make it seem it was a legitimate takeover.

Initially I thought it up solely because of the events that took place earlier in the week with the site having issues and our recent problem with imports at our meet. Viewing the prank unfold brought a few things to surface that I feel is my responsibility to address. None of this is new news either but it's something we kinda let slip by.

Our community's core has always been founded in 'regular' members. I'm talking about guys that have come, crossed from being a name on the forum to being a personal friend. People that stick around and participate in meets and events or just plan hang out with others in off time.

We had a strong core in 07-08 and it has slowly been dropping since. This is our number 1 problem as a community. They say strength is measured in the weakest link but that does not apply here. It is the efforts of every og/regular/whatever member on here that we get another chance to operate as LADSM.

I've seen other local interest based communities fail and it happens when the core erodes away. There is nothing for the new members to attach and relate to. Would you stop your Uhaul and move into a ghost town or keep moving to a large, sustaining city?

Our second problem is new members staying with us. You're just as important as regulars, it's actually your job to become one. We're not a pack of retirement aged gear heads with no sign of ever disbanding because we've been a group for the past 30 years. No, we're young adults with lives to attend to and the slightest deviation from the community can mean abandonment.

We want you to come, enjoy and stay. We throw activities and events to keep all members entertained. Everyone has a part to play or it'll all crumple away. We're a successful DSM community, one of the strongest regional ones I've seen and its something I think is worth keeping.

Our current biggest challenge right now is the overrunning of out meet spot with 'import monday' bullshit. It's out of our hands about them being there but honestly, we're doing a shit job at showing them our strength. We used to have meets with nearly two rows full of DSMs. We used to have a ton of regulars showing up. We used to introduce ourselves to noobs making their first or second meet all the time. The past two months, there's been two times I personally attended with the meet having less than 5 cars...seriously, our meet was only attended with less than 5 people from a site with over 800 members.

Attendance is not a requirement and you can never be forced to go but you have to remember one thing. We're all part of LADSM and our image that is being shown to all these guys on Mondays is an image you're represented in.

I personally look at the huge sea of gay ass cars and get a sick feeling to my stomach. I'm not nauseated at what they drive but that they drive utter shitboxes and they're showcasing them with pride. There was literally over 80 non-LADSM cars there this past Monday and all I can think is these guys have nothing to brag about but their dedication to group activity is admirable.

We're better than this, guys. I know Mondays doesn't work for everyone. I know everyone has a life. I also know everyone, all 800 of us aren't so busy that we can't attend a meet for a couple of hours. Look guys, I don't know shit about economics or the gas market but all I see is gas prices doing nothing but climbing. Your first thought might be "yeah, they are rising therefore I should skip going to the meet since my wallet is hurting!" I thought that too myself, gotta start cutting my recreational driving but you know what? When will it end? I can still afford to drive my car around and I can't predict the future. I've been attending as many DSM related events as I can because I don't know if I can afford to drive my car tomorrow. Ask IE, I've been driving a near 100 mile round trip on Wednesdays to attend their meet, I did a 280 mile road race that ate up almost two tanks of gas. I want to remember the shit I did instead of wish I could go back and do it.

I want to remember meets were dozens of DSMs attend Monday Meets and show import monday that this is LADSM Monday

I want to remember a forum where all the people I spent the last 4 years of my life bonding with still posted and and were active in whatever spare time they had.

I want to remember I didn't give up fighting to keep this community I cherish so much alive and active.

I want to remember I wasn't the only one.

I'm also urging every single member here to voice an opinion, any opinion they have in this thread. Whether it's ideas, stories or what LADSM has done for you over the years. I want to see this thread huge if this site means anything to you.

greats words shared above, my wallet is hurting and that is an understatement haha last monday was my first meet in a long time cause my car was in the shop and I used the last 10 bucks to my name to show up haha but before I got my car I didnt know shit about it or cars in general, but through members here Ive made some great friends that have taken the time to help me work on my car. ive been learning so much from everyone, I have a shit load of more learning to do, being apart of LADSM has really made my passion for cars grow a lot

I absolutely agree. i also think we should have more events. The drags is cool and all but that type of event usually isnt for everyone. Besides MOD every year we have what 1 BBQ meet? we should have a event every 2-3 months so we can stay active and encourage newer members to actually be active. I understand not everyone can make it monday but the majority have weekends off. I hope we can get the bigger crowds we use to have. That includes me being more active and I will.

nice speech, i know my personal reason for only making the monday meet once in awhile is the distance, and knowing that it doesnt get going down there till 10pm or later. i know i wont want to leave because i enjoy kicking it with everyone, but i gotts wake up @ either 530 or 430am for work and leaving the meet spot 2 12 or 1am plus an hour drive home pretty much kills me the next couple days.

and i dont like showing up without my DSM either, i still go to the IE meet because, well i started that one, so i feel like i should be there no matter what car im rollin.

im sure for others its $ for gas, but alot of people have lost their jobs recently so spending extra $ on gas is just out of the question for some.


so for me if the meet started @ 9pm with most people showing up by then i would feel better about going more often.

and for the vteks being there, well they just plain out number us, i dont see us winning that spot back even if 30 dsm show up. maybe its time to move to a new spot, maybe one closer to the IE? i know i could bring a few IE guys once in awhile especially if the spot was a bit closer.

those are my thoughts, but i shhould have my dsm running by two mondays so ill do my best to make it out to that one

Well said Christ. I feel the same for the most part. I used to come to the Monday spot all the time.. but lately I've just been busy with other shit, not to mention the car is taken apart half the time. We will never be able to out number those fucking honda tards because there is just more of them. It's a lot easier and cheaper to be a "cool jdm kid" when all your mods consist of are: A roof rack, ebay coil overs, cai, black rims and exhaust. Oh and I almost forgot about the tow hook with the gay ass faggot fucking little stuffed animal hanging from it

DSMs are and always will be a unique niche of people, which personally, is one of my favorite things. To own and modify these cars requires a level of skill/intelligence that 99% of those dumb ass honda kids will never know. I'll be at the next Monday meet DSM or not.

I'll be showing again sparingly. I'm trying to get all of my legal drama taken care of first before I start showing on a regular basis. I used to risk losing my car, $1500 impoundment and a $1000 ticket. I still go. Stupid? Yes.
But that's how much I enjoy hanging with you guys. And it feels good just waltzing through the lanes, as all the vtac kids all glare, knowing none of them can step up.
I do agree with Christ, A lot of you should come out, we used to get a ton more cars, I'm sure the Honda's aren't going to leave, even if we happen to outnumber them just as much as we aren't leaving no matter how much they out number us. But just miss the large turn outs we used to get. I do agree that we need to do more events aside from the senior members parties and bullshitting, BBQ's (miss the old school one at the rose bowl, it was bad ass.) We should do another Cruise/BBQ or just simple cruises. I remember an old BJ's lunch and Malibu's canyon cruise. WE've become very performance oriented, and we have a good time at the drag races, but its the same guys racing. New guys dont feel shy about just going out there, we arent going to dog on you for running 14's (maybe a little), there was a time the most of us ran 13's and 14's and were super stoked on our first 12~13 sec passes.
People have been hitting me up for a dyno day at RRE, and Its fun and all. But, the fun has sorta been taken out since I've been the one dyno tuning everyones car. LOL I know what all of you make. LOL. But theres Dustin, Adam and some of the IE guys Im interested to see, Frank with his new cams, Me on AEM, and any new guys who want to see what you put down. If any interest in a dyno day let me know.
Everyone is welcome to set up any events or throw any ideas out there.

Well said Christ, I greatly enjoyed hanging out with all of you guys at the meets and just around whenever. And I am hoping that when the Navy lets me get back to Ca LADSM will still be there and be strong.

im definately interested in a dyno day, hopefully i'll have a new clutch in by then.....

oh yeah and nice prank by the way......i thought i was dreaming when i saw a honda on the homepage of ladsm....hahaha.....

but on a side not....i haven't been a member of this forum for very long or attend regular meets but i've loved dsm's since i bought my first one in 04-05....and now on my 4th dsm....I just wanna say its nice to see the same passion that i have for sports cars and dsm's in others such as this forum....it reminds me that i'm not crazy as everyone says I am for putting up with my car as long as I have.....I would like to go to more meets/events soon as my car stops giving me problems again

+1, well said. Personally, my favorite thing about this entire club/forum/community has always been the Monday meets. Even car clubs that I've had to pay dues to be in only had monthly get togethers rather than weekly. I've learned a lot at the meets and have been able to share what I've learned with others. The meets are also a great motivator when I'm feeling defeated by my broken down jalopy of a car. I'm willing to do what it takes to keep the Monday meets alive. I'm up for an earlier start time. Why not start at 7 or 8 instead of 9 (which really ended up being 10)? 8:00 might be the golden time that gives people enough time to get home from work and eat dinner before showing up to the meet. Also, I know I've said this time and time again, but I get tired of hearing the excuse "my DSM is down" as a reason not to show up to the meet (unless, of course, your DSM is your only means of transportation). The community is built on people, not just the cars. Several of us have shown up in alternate transportation when our DSM is down, and that keeps the numbers up at the meets. I feel that the Monday meets are so much more than "hey...check out *my* DSM". It's a place to meet people form different age groups and backgrounds who share a common interest. It's a place to share the enjoyment of DSMs and learn more about them. It's a place to bounce ideas off each other and even give each other shit to motivate them to aim higher with their vehicle, be it a better ET, trying their hand at autoX/road racing/rally, or having the cleanest looking DSM.

There are hundreds of DSM forums on the internet, but very few groups that have a strong local community that meets regularly outside of the internet. I think that it's a waste to let that slip away.

if i can keep my car running for more then a week every 3 weeks id love to jump on the dyno just to see what she makes. and i rly want to see what number she puts down on this open mani setup before i switch it out for the twinscroll big HX35 so i can compare the numbers

Heres an observation of mine that i have noticed even personally when i was new and didnt really know any of you guys. you do tend to make fun of people (usually new comers) cuz of thier ricey look or the cars a beater, or they smell bad and they might not feel very welcome @ the meet. sometimes they are just shy and "we" as the core of the meet, might really have to put forth effort to get them involved. and sometimes we are involved in our own conversations and dont want to go talk to the noob standing by his car in the corner of the parking lot. but its something that we are going to have to do to start building up this group. im not pointing fingers at anyone but i notice i even do this sometimes @ the IE meets and i catch myself and then try to get them involved. Dustin is really good @ walking up to anyone and getting them involved with the group @ the IE meets whenever theres a new face

i know im a new member here, and havent really made an appearance on this forum until just recently, but id like to get to meet you guys at the next meet. it seems like some of you guys are a pretty cool people. perhaps its the same interest in dsm's and willingness to help each other out that started the camarederie within this community. i want in.