Statement to the members.

[Snatiramas]

As always in life the following quote tends to hold sway

"The only people who do not get anything wrong are the people who do nothing in the first place"

I have no idea what went on this weekend. I am also being honest when I say I do not want to know. In every confrontational situation both sides will have taken positions that they maybe wished that they hadn't.

I hope all parties with a view can just take one step back and we as a group can start posting some of the most entertaining threads to be found on a web site...poker based or not.


Okay off my high horse now and going to make a cup of tea

[M3boy]

Milk with one Sugar please...........

[byronkincaid]

we were struggling to keep the tone & mood right

IMHO the tone and mood is set to some extent by the mods cos they are representing blonde. Some of the posts by mods seemed to be getting a bit defensive around the APAT thread time, and now seem to be getting more aggressive.

I may be reading it wrongly but the attitude from some mods now seems to be if you don't agree/have a question about/take an interest in what we are doing then FU.

Say anything derogitory about tribeca/BPL FU.

We are the mods and we have a thankless job. FU.

You might see this an attack but it really isn't it's just trying to show you guys how you are coming across to me and possibly other people. I have met most of you IRL and think you're all cool people. You can of course come across/do anything you like on your own website.

Hope i don't get banned now

It maybe that it's only me getting this impression, if so please ignore me.

[Acidmouse]

Let them mod, if you don't like it pm them.

I think half the problem is the mods explaining themselves over small matters, don't it just feeds the sharks.

[Royal Flush]

Maybe the mods should be paid?

[tikay]

Maybe the mods should be paid?

I'd like them to be James, but we don't have the money right now.

We have around 8 Mods, we need, I dunno, 12 at a guess. If we only paid them £100 a week - an insulting sum for the hours they put in, especially at night & weekends - that would come to over £5,000 per month! That kind of money can only be obtained by going overly commercial on the Forum, or charging for Forum use. I don't intend to go down either of those routes.

But many of them simply would not accept payment for blonde Modding, they do it because they want, I suppose, to be part of what they consider a special place.

Why do you think paying them would help? It's ike paying Football Referees - it does not make them better refs! IMO, that is......

I am, by the way, desperately trying to recruit more Mods, but that's not easy, either. We need female Mods, too, but again, it's not easy finding folks who fit the bill, can cope with the grief they'll get, & have the time available.

In my next life, I'm gonna run a Car Park. That's pretty much the perfect business model!

[AndrewT]

I have perceived a slight change in the way that some people have been posting recently. Where, in the past, situations would have died down of their own accord, recently some board members seem keen to 'keep poking at things with sticks'.

Mods then ask them not to poke, and to move along.

Members then say 'I want to know why this is here. I don't think it should be here. Why did you put this here?'

Mods then say 'Look, don't all crowd round it poking it - you're blocking the way for everyone else. Just leave it be. It's there for a very good reason, trust us.'

Members: 'Tell us why it's here'

Mods: 'It's here because of reasons X,Y and Z.'

Members: 'I don't agree with those reasons, or the decision. I want it moved.'

Mods: 'You don't know the whole story.'

Members: 'Then tell us the whole story.'

Mods: 'You have no idea how busy we are - there is tons of stuff going on behind the scenes. We all evaluated the situation, made a decision and that's that. If you don't agree then send us an email about it.'

Members: 'No, I'm going to stand here in the middle of the street and shout my grievances to all and sundry.'

More people crowd round, traffic comes to a halt, no-one goes anywhere and nothing gets done.

(I am aware of the irony that, by posting this, I may be perceived as a stickpoker. It is simply a fact that, in order to get people to stop looking at something, you have to tell them what it is you don't want them to look at, drawing attention to it).

[Royal Flush]

If they are paid they would then have a duty to mod, it would be a priority, a few of the arguments over the last couple of weeks have come because a Mod has not had enough time to do the job, they have said afterwards "i was busy playing x many tables" etc Thats fine because its not a job. That used to be perfect for blonde imo, however its a diffrent beast to what it was a year ago, many new members and a lot more posts. More importantly a lot of the people on here don't know each other in person (i wasn't on blonde at the start but when i came along i knew most of the posters already) when people don't know each other the chance of a misunderstanding or a disagreement increases. You wouldn't need 12 mods as well, less mods more hours.

I am not sure why you NEED female mods? IMO the priority should be those who can devote the time needed, not the gender! However if its just so someone can clean up in the mod room then fair enough

As for car parks, i have often wondered how easy it is to get involved, it looks an easy way to make money. Crematoriums are another one, what a massive growth industry that is going to be come.

[turny]

moderators have a thankless task.

they do a great job on here and long may that continue.

as far as im aware rookie too has been given a final warning, i will be advising him to take it on the chin and ignore people deliberating trying to wind him up in the future.

he needs to do what he does best get back to posting constructivly especially in the internet poker and hand analysis sections.

long live blonde!

[AndrewT]

As for car parks, i have often wondered how easy it is to get involved, it looks an easy way to make money. Crematoriums are another one, what a massive growth industry that is going to be come.

I started up a crematorium business once.

Sadly, it went up in smoke.

[Royal Flush]

As for car parks, i have often wondered how easy it is to get involved, it looks an easy way to make money. Crematoriums are another one, what a massive growth industry that is going to be come.

I started up a crematorium business once.

Sadly, it went up in smoke.

groan

[Rod Paradise]

I started up a crematorium business once.

Sadly, it went up in smoke.

I started a Chess shop once, but I ended up rooked.

[tikay]

If they are paid they would then have a duty to mod, it would be a priority, a few of the arguments over the last couple of weeks have come because a Mod has not had enough time to do the job, they have said afterwards "i was busy playing x many tables" etc Thats fine because its not a job. That used to be perfect for blonde imo, however its a diffrent beast to what it was a year ago, many new members and a lot more posts. More importantly a lot of the people on here don't know each other in person (i wasn't on blonde at the start but when i came along i knew most of the posters already) when people don't know each other the chance of a misunderstanding or a disagreement increases. You wouldn't need 12 mods as well, less mods more hours.

I am not sure why you NEED female mods? IMO the priority should be those who can devote the time needed, not the gender! However if its just so someone can clean up in the mod room then fair enough

As for car parks, i have often wondered how easy it is to get involved, it looks an easy way to make money. Crematoriums are another one, what a massive growth industry that is going to be come.

Ahh, I see where you are coming fom now.

We are short of Mods - FACT. That's a part of the problem. With some of the Members getting more & more difficult, I need more Mods, end of story. But I don't want Mods who only wish to do it for money.

Female Mods? It is my opinion that as one in 5 or 6 of our Members are Female, we ought to have Female representation amongst the Mods.

I am afraid that as blonde grows & grows, these problems, "difficult" Members etc, will accumulate. Surviving growth pains will determine whether we survive as an entity or not.

Believe me, running this Forum is not easy, it takes up more time & effort than the whole of blonde.

Ah well, as I always say, a little wind in our face does no harm.

[TheJagster]

As for car parks, i have often wondered how easy it is to get involved, it looks an easy way to make money. Crematoriums are another one, what a massive growth industry that is going to be come.

I started up a crematorium business once.

Sadly, it went up in smoke.

I thought you got fired?

[TightEnd]

Crematoriums are another one, what a massive growth industry that is going to be come.

Dignity plc is quoted on the LSE. I own shares in it

In the next 20 years as the baby boomers age and the number of retireees expands enormously this is going to be a market where volumes rise and prices charged can go up (unpleasant but true)

Well run business too