Web Spotlight: UnitedStangs.com, Drama Free Mustang Forum

Matt Rigney February 8th, 2009

By Matt Rigney Author February 8th, 2009

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December 31st, 1969 From time to time we will be doing a spotlight feature on certain Mustang websites to give you an inside look at what each community is about along with what they have to offer to you the Mustang fan. This time we are putting the spotlight on a fast growing Mustang community UnitedStangs.com which is owned and operated by Marc Hill, a Chief Master Sergeant (E9) in the United States Air Force with almost 25 years active duty military service. For Marc who is currently stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan UnitedStangs.com is his home away from home after leaving his 2004 Cobra behind once he got orders to leave for Japan. Marc's Cobra is 1 of 281 Competition Orange Coupes. The Cobra dynoed near 500 HP to the rear wheels. So to fill the void of driving his Cobra, Marc put 100% of his off time into tweaking UnitedStangs.com to become one of the most popular mustang sites around. With a site that is only 3 years old, it continues to grow at an alarming rate (almost 1,300 members last year alone and 120 members in the month of January this year…averaging 500+ members/guests visits every day). What makes this site so different than a lot of other mustang sites is how user-friendly it is. This means that everyone is treated with respect on United Stangs. Marc and his staff pride themselves in treating every single member as a human being and not just a screen name on United Stangs. Not only does each member get an automated delivery message welcoming them to the site when they register, Marc personally welcomes every single member the day they join the site. United Stangs is a PG-rated site and Marc likes it that way. He frequently refers to United Stangs as the “Drama Free Zone” of Mustang sites on the web. Marc says, “I don’t allow any bashing or belittling of any member on my site. This is why you can be 16 or 60 years old and enjoy United Stangs. We are one big family here.” Marc believes in giving back to his members. United Stangs frequently has contests on best avatars, best signature blocks, best looking mustangs, etc. Marc gives away cash, prizes, decals, T-Shirts and even mustang parts. Just last year Marc gave away $400 in new mustang parts from a sponsor (gears, shifter, and clutch quadrant). In the upcoming months, Marc has told me he will be giving away more mustang parts from two of his major mustang sponsors. No special requirements to be eligible to win. You could be a member with 10 posts or a member with 25,000+ posts (yes, they have members like this and more than one) and win hundreds of dollars in mustang parts. Even much larger mustang sites don’t do this for their members. United Stangs has a big military following as well. Military personnel from all over the world and deployed in some of the most dangerous places on this planet still find time to log-in to United Stangs. Marc said when he was in Iraq, that United Stangs was a way to keep in contact with his friends. And his members care for the military members! One of United Stangs’ members (TSgt Christopher Frost) lost his leg in Iraq last year. His Humvee ran over an estimated 700 pound roadside bomb. Marc started a campaign on United Stangs to collect money to convert his 2005 Mustang GT manual transmission into an automatic so he would not have to sell it. United Stangs called it the “Frosty Fund”. Marc took it upon himself to spread this campaign all over the mustang sites on the web. He personally tracked this fund on every single site. The campaign was posted on near 20 mustang sites. The fund has risen over $8K+ to date. This is what United Stangs is about…taking care of its members. Marc said, “He lost his leg in Iraq doing convoy duties and serving his country. I did the same convoy duties back in 2005 and know exactly what dangers it involves.” Marc received a Bronze Star for his actions in Iraq. He said, “Your life is on the line every time you step into the “Red Zone” over there.” Frosty is currently doing very good in rehab. He is making plans to have his mustang turned into a automatic beast! There will be a full write up on United Stangs about the transformation. United Stangs has Regional Chapters all over the world. There are United Stangs meetings and “get-togethers” every single weekend somewhere in the 50 states. People post up their pictures of their gatherings in the “Cinema” section. Each chapter has a President and Vice President that keeps tabs on all the gatherings. United Stangs is in the process of getting chapters established in England, Germany and Guam. Marc's pride and joy is his “Partner Sites” on United Stangs. You will see “US Partners” on the homepage. Marc says, “I am about connecting the mustang internet community together. We have partnered up with so many different mustang sites across the internet. We post links to their website and they do so respectively. So, we get to share our members between the websites.” This has turned out to be very successful. Many mustang sites are doing this as well and following United Stangs’ lead. I venture to say you can’t log into 5 different mustang sites on the web and not hit at least one site that is not partnered up with United Stangs.” Speaking of the homepage, United Stangs features local “United Stangs News & Events.” These are big events held by our members that we feature as news stories. We also post the most recent “Mustang News” (from yours truly “MustangBlog.com). All are updated monthly. With the site growing at such a phenomenal rate Marc says, “If not for the help of my staff, there is no way I could run this site on my own. Brian Mayfield (Administrator), Michael Dumont (Moderator) and Ryan Burleson (Webmaster) help run United Stangs. This 4-person team runs the entire site. Most sites with just half this member base will have twice the amount of Administrators and Moderators. This is a testament on how easy going United Stangs is. The members make this site. They are well behaved and need little or no moderation. Without them, United Stangs would not exist.” Marc is planning a military business trip to the United States in September. He is planning on taking a trip to Texas for maybe a First Annual United Stangs Site Get Together. It would be held in the Houston/San Antonio area if everything works out. So if you are looking for a mustang site that is “Drama-Free” and will treat you with dignity and respect, UnitedStangs.com is your site! Marc says, “I guarantee you, if you give United Stangs a chance, you will be hooked on your first post!” Check out some of United Stangs' forums and their descriptions below to see if you have an interest in joining this fast growing Drama Free Mustang forum. Tech Talk / Mustang Forums: You can talk about any mustang you own, any type, any year. Sponsors: Currently United Stangs has 24 Sponsors with more coming on board later on in the following months. United Stangs’ sponsors offer great deals to all members on the site. Each sponsor receives their own forum to advertise their products and answer questions about their products. Not only do they give United Stangs’ members good deals, but even prizes in give-aways. The Dragstrip: A place to talk about trips down the track. Talk about your “wins and losses”. HEINZ 57: We don’t want to discriminate for those folks that might not currently have a mustang. This is a forum for folks to talk about other cars they might own as well, even their daily drivers. Orange Crush: This is the first and only registry for Competition Orange Cobras on the internet. United Stangs is trying to track down all the competition orange cobras all over the world. Forum Classifieds: Here you can find cars, parts, and other items for sale. Newbie Section: A place to get to know United Stangs’ “Newbies”. The Newbies are treated like they have been members of the site for years from day 1. United Stangs don’t allow any initiation, hazing or harassing of are Newbies like some sites do. Community Activity Center: This is the Lounge where you can talk about anything. The Police Station: This is where our Law Enforcement Officers hang out and answer our member’s questions concerning law enforcement issues. United Stangs’ Administrator for the site, Brian (Bulldog Stang) is actually the head Law Enforcement Officer in that forum. Cinema: A place for videos and photos. Bombs Away: This section is not for the light hearted. This is pretty much a “no holds-barred” section with mild restrictions to talk about your frustrations. The Chapel: Serious issues go here. Health & Fitness: Our diet, fitness, and health issues forum. Sports Talk: Talk about all sports here. United Stangs have a board-wide fantasy football league ran here every year with the winner receiving some sort of prize. PostWhore Forum: People can postwhore here. This keeps all the postwhoring out of our normal sections. They talk about everything and anything to bring up their post counts. They receive credits for every post to use in the Casino and do some virtual gambling. Casino: United Stangs have 10 different casino games to use the credits you earned for posting on the site. Arcade: United Stangs currently have near 50 arcade games for our members. ChatBox: United Stangs members can chat with each other real-time using an instant messenger type program. Personal Gallery: A place for all your personal pictures. Site News: We list all updates to the site here. Feedback and Suggestions: United Stangs take constructive criticism from members here and try to implement changes to the site when necessary. Upcoming changes to the site are posted here as well. Test Site: Test pictures, video, signature blocks, avatars, etc. here. Speaking of signatures and avatars, we have people specifically designated on our site to make every member an avatar or signature block. “SCOOTER” is the #1 signature maker on United Stangs and he is very good at what he does. Normal turnaround on a signature is less than 3 days. You will see some of the nicest signature blocks you ever saw here on United Stangs. Partner Sites: Located on our homepage @ UnitedStangs.com

united stangs

Enlarge Photo

From time to time we will be doing a spotlight feature on certain Mustang websites to give you an inside look at what each community is about along with what they have to offer to you the Mustang fan. This time we are putting the spotlight on a fast growing Mustang community UnitedStangs.com which is owned and operated by Marc Hill, a Chief Master Sergeant (E9) in the United States Air Force with almost 25 years active duty military service. For Marc who is currently stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan UnitedStangs.com is his home away from home after leaving his 2004 Cobra behind once he got orders to leave for Japan.

Marc's Cobra is 1 of 281 Competition Orange Coupes. The Cobra dynoed near 500 HP to the rear wheels. So to fill the void of driving his Cobra, Marc put 100% of his off time into tweaking UnitedStangs.com to become one of the most popular mustang sites around. With a site that is only 3 years old, it continues to grow at an alarming rate (almost 1,300 members last year alone and 120 members in the month of January this year…averaging 500+ members/guests visits every day). What makes this site so different than a lot of other mustang sites is how user-friendly it is. This means that everyone is treated with respect on United Stangs. Marc and his staff pride themselves in treating every single member as a human being and not just a screen name on United Stangs. Not only does each member get an automated delivery message welcoming them to the site when they register, Marc personally welcomes every single member the day they join the site.

United Stangs is a PG-rated site and Marc likes it that way. He frequently refers to United Stangs as the “Drama Free Zone” of Mustang sites on the web. Marc says, “I don’t allow any bashing or belittling of any member on my site. This is why you can be 16 or 60 years old and enjoy United Stangs. We are one big family here.”

Marc believes in giving back to his members. United Stangs frequently has contests on best avatars, best signature blocks, best looking mustangs, etc. Marc gives away cash, prizes, decals, T-Shirts and even mustang parts. Just last year Marc gave away $400 in new mustang parts from a sponsor (gears, shifter, and clutch quadrant). In the upcoming months, Marc has told me he will be giving away more mustang parts from two of his major mustang sponsors. No special requirements to be eligible to win. You could be a member with 10 posts or a member with 25,000+ posts (yes, they have members like this and more than one) and win hundreds of dollars in mustang parts. Even much larger mustang sites don’t do this for their members.

United Stangs has a big military following as well. Military personnel from all over the world and deployed in some of the most dangerous places on this planet still find time to log-in to United Stangs. Marc said when he was in Iraq, that United Stangs was a way to keep in contact with his friends. And his members care for the military members! One of United Stangs’ members (TSgt Christopher Frost) lost his leg in Iraq last year. His Humvee ran over an estimated 700 pound roadside bomb. Marc started a campaign on United Stangs to collect money to convert his 2005 Mustang GT manual transmission into an automatic so he would not have to sell it. United Stangs called it the “Frosty Fund”. Marc took it upon himself to spread this campaign all over the mustang sites on the web. He personally tracked this fund on every single site. The campaign was posted on near 20 mustang sites. The fund has risen over $8K+ to date. This is what United Stangs is about…taking care of its members. Marc said, “He lost his leg in Iraq doing convoy duties and serving his country. I did the same convoy duties back in 2005 and know exactly what dangers it involves.” Marc received a Bronze Star for his actions in Iraq. He said, “Your life is on the line every time you step into the “Red Zone” over there.” Frosty is currently doing very good in rehab. He is making plans to have his mustang turned into a automatic beast! There will be a full write up on United Stangs about the transformation.

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Posted in: News

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By Andrew #1, Posted: 2/8/2009

"Proud to be a member"

Just wanted to congratulate Marc for having a great site. being a member since it's inception, the site has become better and better. The people are great and helpful. It was an inspiration for myself to start a Mustang site in our area. Congrats Marc!
www.southtexasstangs.com
By Bulldog Stang #2, Posted: 2/8/2009

"Thank You"

Thank you for posting this on Mustang Blog!!! I spend most of my time behind the scenes on United Stangs keeping the Mods & Hacks updated and finding new ones for our members to use. I try to make the site as easy as possible to navigate. Not everyone is an internet junkie...LOL
Thank you again for posting this on the Best Damn Mustang Information Site out there :)
Brian
AKA Bulldog Stang
By Marc #3, Posted: 2/9/2009

"Thanks!"

I want to thank Matt and MustangBlog.com for running a story on UnitedStangs.com! I work very hard on the site to make it a great site for everyone to visit. If you are tired of the drama on some mustang sites, please visit us at www.UnitedStangs.com! We welcome all of you!
Marc
United Stangs Site Owner
By sdavis #4, Posted: 2/9/2009

"Proud Partner Site"

Marc, congratulations man! I'm going to have to follow in your footsteps and see if I can get some recognition as well. :D You definitely deserve the exposure. Thanks for letting your website be my websites big brother. haha...
By PennMustangs #5, Posted: 2/9/2009

"Congrats Marc"

Marc is a member on PennMustangs.com as well. He currently is the Car of the Month winner for February. Congratulations again Marc. www.PennMustangs.com to read about his car.
By Sir Charles #6, Posted: 2/9/2009

"Proud to be a Partner Site to United Stangs"

Marc, I would like to send out a Congrats to you and all of the United Stangs members for this recognition. You have been a great mentor by teaching myself how to run an honorable site and how important partner sites are to form a quality network. You are an excellent leader as you help out other sites to set a standard code of conduct.
Your Partner site,
www.MilitaryTuners.com
By SammyDeez #7, Posted: 2/9/2009

"Awesome!"

Way to go Marc! If anyone deserves it you do!
By Kenneth AKA Scooter! #8, Posted: 2/19/2009

"Thanks"

That you for this post on mustang blog! I spend most of my free time making signatures for US, and its great. I love helping them members of the site by making them custom signatures that they like, and support.
By Dennis Brake #9, Posted: 2/26/2009

"Congrats to you Mark"

Congrats Marc! I have spent a lot of time visiting mustang forums and blogs and your website is definitely one of my favorite.