John Langevin
Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2007
- Messages
- 246
Bailiff whack his pee-pee and see if it festers then! Good riddance!It is the only negative thing to occur here since I joined.
Matthew you handled it very well as always, please keep up the great work that benefits all of us!
Quote is from an earlier "I am being monitored" thread.
The betting window is now closed.
Great job Matthew! If anything, it sounds like the consensus indicates that, if anything, you were too lenient. This consensus does not come across as a criticism, but simply a minor preference. And, of course, some did not agree with any 'censorship' at all. Bottom line: This forum is so successful, and so congenial, and so helpful, SOLELY due to your core principles, your hard work, and a multitude of fair and reasonable decisions that guide this forum on a daily basis. When you are considering changes, you always solicit our opinions -- much appreciated. Whether you do this or not, however, I have TOTAL CONFIDENCE in your ability to keep things on track.
At this point, I would support (99%) anything Matthew decided to do, at any time, under any circumstances, for any reason, just because he is Matthew, he has earned our trust, he has worked hard for us, and he has demonstrated that he is fair and reasonable under difficult circumstances. (The 1% is reserved for offering respectful opinions from time to time.)
Great job Matthew!
iggy
The betting window is now closed.
Great job Matthew! If anything, it sounds like the consensus indicates that, if anything, you were too lenient. This consensus does not come across as a criticism, but simply a minor preference. And, of course, some did not agree with any 'censorship' at all. Bottom line: This forum is so successful, and so congenial, and so helpful, SOLELY due to your core principles, your hard work, and a multitude of fair and reasonable decisions that guide this forum on a daily basis. When you are considering changes, you always solicit our opinions -- much appreciated. Whether you do this or not, however, I have TOTAL CONFIDENCE in your ability to keep things on track.
At this point, I would support (99%) anything Matthew decided to do, at any time, under any circumstances, for any reason, just because he is Matthew, he has earned our trust, he has worked hard for us, and he has demonstrated that he is fair and reasonable under difficult circumstances. (The 1% is reserved for offering respectful opinions from time to time.)
Great job Matthew!
iggy
Corwin
Member
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
- Messages
- 2,624
Even before this whole "PesteringFool" fiasco began, I had often felt that this board has shown a great sense of right and wrong. Let's face it, aside from special rules that apply to sales-related posters, the typical poster only has three rules to follow -- two are common to many forums that are not specifically for those topics, and the third must surely be unique to this forum and has earned its place amongst these rules. But, that still leaves much left in the free-for-all category...
This example is not the first problem that has occurred here, yet, like this action, previous issues have been dealt with directly and appropriately (well, at least in my opinion). Some have made remarks about products from a country other than their own, and wrote questionable comments about the people of those countries. In each occurrence, posting members on this board have responded and pointed out the errors. Other kinds of situations have come and gone, but though those times this board has stood her ground. I have not spent any time on other woodworking forums once I found the FOG, as each of those boards I viewed did not seem a place I wanted to hang around. The FOG's more unique rule on posting may have made some here quick to take action on posts that hint of trouble. Sometimes a new unsuspecting poster may get a hasty education, but in addressing each issue in the mannor that this board has from time to time, this board has remained a great place to interact with others interested in Festools.
Matthew, THANK YOU for creating such a great forum. And thanks to one and all for keeping it so.
Corwin
This example is not the first problem that has occurred here, yet, like this action, previous issues have been dealt with directly and appropriately (well, at least in my opinion). Some have made remarks about products from a country other than their own, and wrote questionable comments about the people of those countries. In each occurrence, posting members on this board have responded and pointed out the errors. Other kinds of situations have come and gone, but though those times this board has stood her ground. I have not spent any time on other woodworking forums once I found the FOG, as each of those boards I viewed did not seem a place I wanted to hang around. The FOG's more unique rule on posting may have made some here quick to take action on posts that hint of trouble. Sometimes a new unsuspecting poster may get a hasty education, but in addressing each issue in the mannor that this board has from time to time, this board has remained a great place to interact with others interested in Festools.
Matthew, THANK YOU for creating such a great forum. And thanks to one and all for keeping it so.
Corwin
Matthew Schenker
Member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2007
- Messages
- 2,619
Everyone,
Thanks for your support and input on this situation. It does offer an opportunity to reflect on what we've created here...
My goal, from the very beginning, was to have members -- not a set of rules -- define the culture, attitude, and reputation of this forum. To do that, I knew I had to leave as much as possible open to individual choices. Following all discussions here on the forum, and also considering my massive offline correspondence with members (about 100 e-mails a month) I have tried to get a sense of what people want, finding trends in members' wishes. Bit by bit, I've tried to have the forum reflect the general sense of what I'm hearing from people, online and offline. What I hear is that people want both sides: structure and openness. The tricky part is creating enough rules and definitions so that people feel they are entering a space with a particular character and structure, but leave things open enough that every member actually has a stake in the character of this forum.
I'm not naive about human nature! I know openness is a double-edged sword: you have the possibility of creating a very unique space, but you also run the risk of having that space abused by those who don't respect it. My belief was that, once the culture of the forum was established, members would feel a sense of ownership in this forum and therefore any abuses would be apparent and the correction naturally taken care of.
At this point, I think we've been successful at creating a truly member-driven forum -- a space you want to be in because of the people and the culture as much as the subject matter itself. With that said, I'll admit that there have been a few times when I was struck by the fact that, no matter how open this forum is, sometimes there's something I must do, plain and simple. Sometimes, I just have to wield those administrative powers! It can be a bit lonely, but the careful use of that power is also a reflection of what members want. If I did not act at those times, it would be worse for the openness we all value. Again, members want openness and structure and the same time.
As I said, this situation was a wonderful test case. This discussion can stand as a record of the process we all went through, and we can use it as reference if a similar situation arises in the future.
Running the Festool Owners Group has taught me a lot!
Matthew
Thanks for your support and input on this situation. It does offer an opportunity to reflect on what we've created here...
My goal, from the very beginning, was to have members -- not a set of rules -- define the culture, attitude, and reputation of this forum. To do that, I knew I had to leave as much as possible open to individual choices. Following all discussions here on the forum, and also considering my massive offline correspondence with members (about 100 e-mails a month) I have tried to get a sense of what people want, finding trends in members' wishes. Bit by bit, I've tried to have the forum reflect the general sense of what I'm hearing from people, online and offline. What I hear is that people want both sides: structure and openness. The tricky part is creating enough rules and definitions so that people feel they are entering a space with a particular character and structure, but leave things open enough that every member actually has a stake in the character of this forum.
I'm not naive about human nature! I know openness is a double-edged sword: you have the possibility of creating a very unique space, but you also run the risk of having that space abused by those who don't respect it. My belief was that, once the culture of the forum was established, members would feel a sense of ownership in this forum and therefore any abuses would be apparent and the correction naturally taken care of.
At this point, I think we've been successful at creating a truly member-driven forum -- a space you want to be in because of the people and the culture as much as the subject matter itself. With that said, I'll admit that there have been a few times when I was struck by the fact that, no matter how open this forum is, sometimes there's something I must do, plain and simple. Sometimes, I just have to wield those administrative powers! It can be a bit lonely, but the careful use of that power is also a reflection of what members want. If I did not act at those times, it would be worse for the openness we all value. Again, members want openness and structure and the same time.
As I said, this situation was a wonderful test case. This discussion can stand as a record of the process we all went through, and we can use it as reference if a similar situation arises in the future.
Running the Festool Owners Group has taught me a lot!
Matthew
Michael Kellough
Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2007
- Messages
- 7,096
Corwin said:
I concur 100%.
