Sirius Backstage Tribute Thread

[TSS Taylor]

I never posted on a Forum until Sirius Backstage. It was the first place I had made online friends. It was early 2005 and the Satellite Radio World was just waking up. I had gotten on AIM to IM with DAB, MM, PerryinLA, SISO and more.

I remember that if any info came out Backstage had it. It was like hearing all the buzz in the Satellite Radio World. Now that buzz has grown so much it can't even be contained in one place. Orbitcast was the fresh new blog, and GetSiriusInfo was the tabloid like fun blog about Sirius. It was a time when TulaneJeff was slinging gear left and right and even SIRIUS didn't think they had a business in selling radios, accessories and shirts. The fun stuff was left to us Cult like followers online.

Of course we had to fight off the evil XM Empire which was far larger at the time. Things changed and progressed. Mel K became CEO, Stern came on the air. It started to become mainstream overnight. Backstage grew with leaps and bounds helping out all the many people with questions about hardware and installs.

Backstage is what built up my business (TSS-Radio). It's what built the core group of people here. The momentum that SIRIUS started way back when continues to spread on and on.

Good Times.

 

[Grüpsaar]

I had been out of the forum business for a while, but after getting Sirius I stumbled upon SBS..I wish I could remember what the issue was I was having how I found it. I must've been searching for some help and it came up in google. I spectated for the longest time, but then finally registered to post about Octane and Howard. I got there right around the start of '06, so I missed a lot of the fun, but still, I enjoyed posting there.

Hopefully this place can be as helpful to new SiriusXM customers as SBS was to me!

 

[mrpacs]

R.i.p.

 

[Aaron]

SBS was my first forum as well. I lurked for a while and finally joined when a "post your presets" thread came around. Never expected to spend so much time in a forum and get over 2600 posts. It felt good to be part of an online community, and even get a chance to lead the forum in the most recent edition of "Walk The Dog". I'll continue to visit SBS, even though I'm very happy with this new forum.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I was at XMFAN first. Somebody mentioned a link to SBS so I figured I would venture over and visit 'the dark side'. I read and learned about Sirius. Then once I made the decision to subscribe it helped me evaluate the SL2. Once I got my SL2 I really enjoyed sharing my experiences with others having the same device.

I like XMFAN, but SBS had a more friendly feel. Even when I did not have Sirius and had an opinion or question it was always welcomed and answered. I hope this place grows to be everything SBS was and more.

Like others, I don't think I will stop visiting as long as the URL works. I have noticed that about 10% of the time it doesn't now.

 

[Sirius Rich]

SBS was my first ever forum as well. I had just purchased a Sirius radio from Best Buy in May of '03 and fell in love with satellite radio. I thought I might be crazy for having a passion for radio. I searched online to see if there were other sick people like me. SiriusBackstage was full of satellite radio sickos.

 

[DAB]

I'll tell you all this it is with the most heave freaking heart that I write in this topic. I remember like it was yesterday the first time I walked into Best Buy and seen a little display for Sat Radio. When I seen the channel listing I just had to have it. Low and behold my first setup was not SIRIUS it was XM. But after spending $500 and quickly realizing I could get a Sirius setup for $90, I returned the XM stuff and got SIRIUS. I loved it since that day. I did eventually get XM again and I've been a dual sub for 6 years.

Anyway my first exposure to a Sat Radio Forum was ClubXM, which eventually spun off to be XMFan, then in the mist of all that Jeff Hinson created Sirius Backstage. I remember Jeff personally inviting me to come join because he wanted to create a real home for us SIRIUS fans. I was on Backstage almost from day one and eventually was asked to be a moderator. Initially I declined the offer because I was busy and didn't want to commit to doing something I couldn't really give my all too. Well after about 6 months Jeff asked me again and this time I accepted. Well 20,000 plus post later and the rest is history.

I have always loved Backstage, because it was a place like a family. Folks would come in and ask questions. I didn't always know the answer, so I had to find out because I wanted to help folks. Much like I do in my professional life at work. Often times I would purchased equipment to do reviews and find out what was different and/or better. I forged relationships with vendors and even the folks at Zing to try to provide the best level of support that I could. Back then all the mods and admins were exited and just wanted to make SBS the best we could. We did that too over these years. But then about 2 years or so ago, Jeff decided he was ready to work on his career and was ready to let SBS go, eventually selling it. During this time SBS was on the decline because the fire that we all got form Jeff was slowly extinguished.

I remember getting mad one day and in the moderator forum, I told everyone we needed to get off our asses and make this place like it was. RyanM stepped up, along with many of the other mods. The fire sort of got lit again, but after about 6 months things just went down and down until we reached the place we are today.

No one wanted to start another forum, no one wanted to leave SBS. We pushed, we begged, we pleaded to get things going again. But when the owner doesn't respond and months go by. You quickly realize that your hoping against hope itself. The last few months I've felt lost and really bad about the forum. Many of you were pleaded with us to resolve the issues, many of you asked to make donations, even said you'd help with the forum too. All this was passed along and all fell upon deaf ears.

Taylor, MM and myself talked about it. We wanted to get a fresh start and get a new community up and running. Thus DRC was born. Not to hurt anyone at SBS, but to allow our community to survive rather than just fade away. You all are what this community is all about. The thought of you all going away and us losing this community well that was just not an acceptable alternative.

Anyway seeing so many of you here today and all us talking and having fun. Its been like a family reunion. I just want us to keep that spirit alive and be the great community that I know we can be. Thank you all!

 

[SISO]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

I remember joining Backstage, becoming a top dog, becoming a mod, running the chats, etc. What a great community it was! I especially remember when we were in contact with SIRIUS and how lively the place was and how enthusiastic everyone was.

Unfortunately, as DAB has stated over and over again there was just no leadership. It was bad when I left, and as I see now got even worse. Nothing runs properly for long without a capable leader. But alas, just like civilization you learn from the mistakes from the past. I hope that this forum can learn from those mistakes.

It is hard to fathom how many subscribers SBS saved Sirius, and I always hated that Sirius didn't appreciate it the way they should.

I didn't always agree with Backstage, but you have to respect a forum with over 15,000 members. It proves that even with the forum in shambles behind the scenes something was working. If anything Backstage's success shows that people are good, you saw it there all of the time. Those people, the one's who posted, were the heart and soul of that forum and undoubtedly what kept it afloat for so long.

Having worked in some capacity with MM, DAB, and Taylor I know there is a great team behind this puppy.

 

[MAJ Badmotherfarker]

To all the retards and mexicans.... I loved you all.

 

[Grüpsaar]

To all the retards and mexicans.... I loved you all.

So sincere! Haha.

 

[MM]

Ahh the memories.

I got Sirius for Christmas in 2004, a year after I moved to New England from Seattle. I was very excited for this new technology (and for Stern).

About a week later, thanks to google, I found SBS. This was also my first forum that I joined. As DAB and others did, I answered as much technical info as I could. I was on for hours and hours a day, just doing my part. It felt good to help people out who were in my situation, new to satellite radio.

Almost six months later (I think) I was made a Top Dog. Then a few months after that I was asked to be a Moderator, with the backing of DAB, SISO, and roscoryan. Again, I was happy and did my part, came up with ideas and helped run the site the best that we could.

During this first year, I met paintedantenna (Taylor). I bought product from him and did reviews on SBS, both for his business and our members. We started chatting on SBS and IM'ing and quickly became friends. We both are from the same part of the midwest and we had other similar ideals, etc... We talked on the phone a lot to keep up with what was going on. I always talked to him when he was going to the post office and I was ready to go to sleep (he was in LA and I was on the East Coast). To this day, I consider Taylor a great friend. He has met my family, talks to my wife, and is my daughter's "Uncle."

After TulaneJeff decided to part with SBS, things could of been shut down immediately. Someone stepped up and took over the site from Jeff. We had great momentum for a little while as DAB said, but things began to slow down...literally. We lost contact with Sirius (this is a whole other story). The ball was being dropped a lot.

I became an Admin to help with more of the day to day operations: forum changes, updates, etc... I stayed away from the server side of things because, well, I'm a Chef, and I can't cook with a server. As the site began to have issues, I did my best to get the other people to get things fixed. There is only so much emailing, IM'ing, and calling one can do. When people begin to not give a shit, everything will go. That is what has happened. Many mods/admin found different hobbies or whatever and just stopped coming by and mostly, stopped caring for what was built by TulaneJeff back in 2002.

Trust me, it breaks my heart to see what has happened happen.

But during those hard times, the last four to five months, DAB, Roadrunner, and myself tried to keep the site alive, we really did.

Now, we all have DRC. A new home. A new excitement. A new era.

"How do you take your Radio?"

 

[MAJ Badmotherfarker]

So sincere! Haha.

Retards need love two... and by that, I mean in twos.

 

[MAJ Badmotherfarker]

But during those hard times, the last four to five months, DAB, Roadrunner, and myself tried to keep the site alive, we really did.

That's all you needed to say, negro!

 

[TSS Taylor]

That's all you needed to say, negro!

I liked what he wrote. Especially those nice things about me

 

[ProperModulation]

Once day in October of 2004, Howard said "I'm going to Sirius when my contract ends in December 2005" so I immediately started looking around for the best way to get Sirius at home and in my car. In doing the necessary research I stumbled upon SBS. It was an awesome place where I got tons of info and advice from the community. It seemed that DAB had reviews for just about every radio out there, which helped a lot! As I got more educated about the world of Sirius hardware I tried my best to contribute and help others who were thinking about signing up, or having trouble with their hardware. My thinking was that SBS made it easy for people to get past the technical hurdles and just enjoy the service without being frustrated with problems that have been solved by others many times over. Plus, the Howard forum was pretty fun after the mods figured out how to keep tings friendly (for the most part anyway... )

Seeing TSS evolve from selling painted antennas to the shop they are today was very cool as well. Where else do you find a guy whose only business at the time was selling painted antennas but if you asked him, he would tell you exactly how to do it yourself! They've been customer-oriented from day 1. Although I do have to say that I preferred it when they were located in L.A. I could order something on Monday morning and it'd be at my doorstep on Tuesday!

The downfall of SBS is pretty sad becuase it was/is a great online community. DRC is a great idea and I'm excited about being a part of it!

 

[memebag]

SBS was fun, but I've been through so many BBSs, fora, Wikis, enclaves, retreats, secret underground bunkers, etc. that it doesn't stand out for me. One thing they all have in common is that they died. Oh, two things they have in common: they diedand I participated in them. Coincidence?

This place seems nice. Start the clock.

 

[ProperModulation]

SBS was fun, but I've been through so many BBSs, fora, Wikis, enclaves, retreats, secret underground bunkers, etc. that it doesn't stand out for me.

Same here, but SBS did stand out for me. It's really the only board that I have actively participated in, versus just extracting whatever technical information I needed to fix whatever thing I most recently broke...

 

[Davis]

I stumbled upon SBS quite a while ago. I was debating between XM and Sirius so I decided the best thing to do was to look at forums to find out hardware issues. SBS seemed like a great community so I went with Sirius. A year or so passed by, I changed jobs, and I forgot my user name so I had to create a new one. When I came back it was in the S50 buildup so the forum was still rocking then.

All forums go through ups and downs. It was just unfortunate to see SBS not go back up.

 

[kingchuck69]

My download speed's only 1.5 megs (and thanks to the lack of a fiber cable system, much lower most of the time), and getting into SBS during the day became too much of a bitch. It's like swimming through frickin' molasses! So far, this board's running like a dream.

 

[blyons200]

I found SBS when I was doing research on whether to get XM or Sirius. The good folks at SBS convinced me to get Sirius (plus the great lineup) back in May '05. Made a lot of friends and enjoyed my time there. I have been members of other forums, but I lost interest after a while. I never did lose interest in SBS, because of all the interesting cool people. I could vehemetly disgree with someone in one thread and strongly agree with the same person on another topic. Here's to DRC!

PS I promise to try to never post drunk!