Twenty Years Into It, You Have To Be Creative

The horsepowering.com logo appears in the header of every newsletter.  It may be the first thing you see when you open the newsletter attachment in your e-mail.  It is that important.  The younger generations may call it ‘kind of a big deal’. 

At the end of our community’s 1st full year – back in early 2013 - I sought an outlet for our community to sell their personal automobiles.  Our gatherings were growing fast and the growth was accompanied by an increase in automobiles adorned with ‘for sale’ signs and flyers.  My relationship with Greenberg Gibbons Commercial – the management team for Hunt Valley Towne Centre – was very positive and growing.  GGC’s site guidelines set limits for on-site solicitation and the ‘for sale’ signs became a focus.  As proper licensed guests, there had to be a way to live within the rules and properly accommodate our community.

My first thoughts centered on building a website.  Unfortunately, the last time I programmed anything was a horse racing game that I created on a Tandy TRS-80.  [For the ‘old timers’ in the home computing world, you may remember this computer being on sale at your local Radio Shack.]  There were a few horses of different colors moving on the screen from left to right.  Each horse was programmed with a speed that nearly corresponded with the set of posted odds.  You could bet virtual money.  That was 1981.  I was 7 and I hadn’t programmed anything since.  It’s fair to say that I wasn’t betting on my programming ability to create a website.  Thankfully, if you watch a TV channel like Discovery or Velocity for an hour, there are commercials for an assortment of ‘DIY’ website companies.  Check please!

After some window shopping, Squarespace was selected.  What will the website be called?  HuntValleyHorsepower.com looked a bit long.  Horsepower.com was probably taken when the internet was invented.  [It was.]  After staring at a brainstormed list of names, I focused on making it one word.  We’re an active community so how about making horsepower into a verb?  ‘Horsepowered’?  No, that’s past tense.  It looks like a former action...old news.  How about ‘horsepowering’?  That sounds like an on-going action.  That sounds more vibrant and exciting.  That’s it!  Since the internet had been active for about 20 years, was the name taken?  Was someone silly enough to make ‘horsepower’ into a verb?  No!  [Somewhere around this time, I ran to get my business debit card and my 7-year-old self would have easily beat me to it.  Not pretty.]  Immediately, I went into the ‘programming bunker’ at Hunt Valley Horsepower’s world headquarters, otherwise known as my living room.  On June 25, 2013, horsepowering.com was launched. 

Now, there’s a location for our community’s personal vehicle sales.  As the community expanded, sponsors were added and the website expanded to provide an avenue for authorized sponsor promotion.  You are encouraged to review horsepowering.com/classifieds as well as all of the other facets of our community’s internet home.  Learn about our sponsors.  Learn about the community outreach activities.  View photos and videos from our gatherings and activities throughout the region.  Click every drop-down menu to see where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Thank you for coming along for the ride.  If you’re wondering about the next pit stop, check horsepowering.com!