Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
- Vince Lombardi -
At times over the past few weeks ActiveRain has been slow and even sometimes unresponsive. I want everyone to know that we know about the problems and take them very seriously. Our members invest themselves to create content with the hopes that it will eventually reach their customers or other industry professionals. It is our calling and responsibility to ensure that we maintain the platform so that when your customers and colleagues try to find you, they can.
We are very dedicated to fixing our site stability problems and have invested significant resources towards this goal. The root cause of the problem has been the significant consumer traffic increases that we have been experiencing on a month over month basis; we are now seeing over 1.5 million visits to ActiveRain each month! We initially built this community on a shoestring budget so at times during our initial growth we had to take shortcuts just to make things work. We are paying for those shortcuts now, but the good news is that we now have the funding to build the infrastructure correctly, and we have made significant progress on that front over the past 5 months.
I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Below is a list of our current initiatives. They make up what we believe to be the final tasks to bringing ActiveRain to the robust professional level where it needs to be:
1. We are in the process of upgrading the hardware on all of our
servers, which should substantially improve performance. At the same
time we are also doubling the number of web servers.
2. We've contracted with another firm to provide 24 hour a day
maintenance and support for our systems. They will be able to react
to any issues that come up much faster, and will also be working with
us to make sure the system as a whole is stable.
3. We've moved some of our development resources from new projects to
fixing a few issues that have been identified.
My heartfelt thanks go to all of you for engaging your peers and your clients through ActiveRain. The near future holds some great opportunities and with your involvement we will move the real estate world forward.


Jon- I always like transparency. People can accept almost anything as long as they know what it is...this tech stuff for a platform this large has got to be a nightmare when you thought it was just going to be a small back office operation... LOL :) thanks for everything.
***I love your VW Bus, it's a classic***
Jonathan...
I loved the part about the short cuts. Ever notice how those damn things either catch up to us or get us lost :)
I still think I should get extra points for the patience I have shown in relation to commenting in spite of the fact that AR keeps Burping on me :)
Okay...On a more serious note...Thanks for letting us all know.
Some of the member's were concerned that perhaps no on liked them :)
TLW...ROAR!
Here in Texas we don't mind an occasional 'Slow Rain'.
Thanks for keeping us in the loop about 'our' little place!!
Jonathan - thanks for the updates and all of your efforts to continue to ensure this is the BEST place to be on the Internet. It HAS been pretty frustrating, especially when there is little time to spend on writing, etc. Keep up the good work.
Jeff
Woohoo! Thanks to all of you! And that's all I have to say :)
No matter what, I am still appreciative for you guys (and gals!) to be able to provide this service to us really really cheap :)
I am most appreciative of all that you do. I can imagine there are a lot of challenges as the numbers continue to grow. Thanks for all your efforts and caring enough to address the "growing pains".
I am most appreciative of all that you do. I can imagine there are a lot of challenges as the numbers continue to grow. Thanks for all your efforts and caring enough to address the "growing pains".
Jonathan, thanks for the update. This site has grown sooooo quickly, and I am so glad it is generating some (a lot) of consumer interest. Congrats! We appreciate all you guys do. ;-)
So does this mean we're moving the servers out of the VW van?
Thanks for keeping us informed! Acknowledging problems goes a long way toward keeping the trust and morale up!
Personally, I want to thank you again for Active Rain. Please thank all the other people I don't know about who keep this thing running!
You guys are great about keeping us informed and that means a lot to me. Yes, we all feel the growing pains but you guys know the cure!
Ahhh, we had all of that figured out.
Not a problem. It didn't slow me down.
Jonathan,
Thank you for the update. It's good to know that you know there are issues. Thank you for addressing them and keeping us in the loop.
Jonathan,
Thanks for being upfront with us...we supply the content, you supply the intent...what a great winning combination!!! Thanks, Fran
Thanks Jonathan,
Greatly appreciate all you and the crew are doing to keep things running smoothly and to fix problems as they arise.
Jo
Aloha Jonathon,
Thanks for keeping us informed. I was wondering what was happening and hoping it was't being caused by all of us updating our blog pages.
Peace,
Thanks for the update. We are so glad to hear that AR is on it and that it is growing so quickly.
Great job!
Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group Vancouver WA
Thanks and kudos for what you have done so far. While at times we are all impatient with things that do not run smoothly I am sure every member here on active|rain understands the trials and tribulations that come with growing pains.
We all apprciate what you have created for our use.
YOUR SUCCESS IS OUR SUCCESS
I suspect the worst of the growing pains will be over very very soon, thank goodness.....
The wonderful adult years are ahead......
;-)
Jon... I agree with many comments.... the way you guys go out of your way, even back in the day before having a major investor, has been very responsive. The people behind AR have been tremendous and I am also very appreciative in all you all do.... THANKS
PS... I like what you did with your header...
Mr. Washburn,
I must say that your Vince Lombardi quote brought a tear to my eye. Keep up the good work my friend.