You know, I think the board is basically fine the way it is. Sure, minor tweaks could be made but only those that serve to improve the forum as it already exists - perhaps with a more controlled management of the membership to avoid further debacles leading to splinter-forums and the like.
There seems to be a lot of slightly Utopian suggestions relating to product development that overlook the reality of commercial confidence and the fact that these are
German tools.
I can't see Festool USA (let alone Festool DE) opening their doors here to anything truly worthwhile without the existing dealer network already being in the loop. Those guys already do a pretty good job of keeping us informed of whats going on so what's a few extra hours of advance notice going to give the forum?
Essentially I don't think trying to "grow" this forum in so many new directions is a good idea... particularly just because Festool USA is now running it. A lot of these suggestions sound great but I wonder how well they can be implemented without some sort of financial input from its members or more overt advertising. ???
Sorry if this sounds like a whole lot of cold water. I'm certainly not against Festool USA taking ownership of this forum, just wary. I'd just hate to see the forum become a extention of the company's marketing department when I think most would hope it's run by a member of a more "technical" department within the company.
I guess the first big test will be to see how the new moderators handle the next product challenge e.g., the US Kapex introduction...
;D 
8) ??? :
:-[ :-X :-\ :-* :'(
