State of the Forum

[tikay]

wow!

internet down for a couple of days and i miss all the fun lol.

just read through the whole thread (though gutted i missed the deleted posts), very interesting reading.

as someone who is considered by many to be THE  "twat","stirrer","troublemaker"  of blonde posters i will post my twopenneth's worth at some point soon after i have digested all that has gone before me.

FYP 

Whoa! None of that, please, smiley or not!

[tikay]

I'd like to spend a little time replying to some of the comments, make an apology or two, & explain a few things.

Before I do, can I just remind everyone of this part of my initial Post;

But we could, all of us, draw a line under the history, the bad blood, the sniping, the rudeness & insensitivity, & agree to a fresh start, & do a bygones is bygones thing. We are prepared to, & I hope you all are, too.

All you have to do is, before you Post, think carefully about those 4 points.....

If you feel some or all of this concerns you then please think before you post. It is not the start of a witch-hunt, just a warning that things need to change to keep this the place we like to post on. We're not going to get in a nitpicking argument about acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.

To those who move on, enjoy yourselves, wherever you go. We'd prefer you all to stay, the loss of any Member saddens us, but please, just respect our values, & we can move on, together.

[ShatnerPants]

I'm a noobie here.

I used to look in at this place when TK started going on, and on, and on about it during his various tv appearances.

As long as blonde doesn't pay for all his tv makeup, I don't see where all the money can be going.

Sorry, back to topic.

I've actually signed up on recommendation, and I think I'll get on well here.

Everywhere on the net has it's dweebs and twonks ( you've just got one more than you used to ffs ).   But I've always though that most serious arguments are between people that 'see' each other frequently, so they get that feeling of knowing everyone on the forum, but are then annoyed when not everyone has the views they are expected to have.

It's a case of live and let live.  I have some ( many ) views that I know if I ram down the throats of you you lot, some of you would jump up and down on me until my poor old bones turn to dust.

So I tend to limit what I say.

And when someone posts something I don't like, I believe in taking a deep breath, and reading through an answer before I hit the post button.  If it's something I wouldn't say to someone face to face in a pub, I delete it and start again.

Sometimes the simple fact of typing it gets rid of my anger, so I don't feel the need to post anyway.  I mean, if everyone agreed with me, it'd be a pretty dull place to hang out ( very dull many would say ).

Sorry for an early post to be a ramble.  Nowt wrong with disagreeing, but is there a need to incite ? 

Anyway, back to the money side of things.

Chelsea have Abramovic, Blonde have Tikay.  If Chelsea sell Lampard they can afford new talent.  Who have blonde got that they could transfer for a vastly inflated sum ?

And anyway, if Tikay sells one of his oilwells, surely theres a few million quid there to go round.

[ShatnerPants]

PS a forum where everyone agrees can easily turn into an internet clique, where noone new is invited, unless you can toe the party line.

And where's the fun in that.

[Claw75]

great post Shatner!  welcome to blonde

[tikay]

We have been obliged to remove a number of Posts from this thread, following a serious "flame" of one Member by another, & the subsequent exchanges.

Subsequent action will be decided later today, until then, that Members Posting Rights have been withdrawn.

The Member has now been Banned.

We can only assume that deliberately flaming another Member on this thread was designed for just that purpose. We had, after all, specifically said, "think before you Post, please".

As I stated earlier, please think before you Post, & let's let bygones be bygones, & move on together.

Someone told me a lovely story this morning.

He used to frequent a pub, his "local", & the regulars were a great bunch, & it was a decent place.

A handful of troublemakers arrived, & started causing trouble on every possible occasion. And so the regulars stopped going there. Because they no longer enjoyed it.

We have to avoid that syndrome.

[RED-DOG]

PS a forum where everyone agrees can easily turn into an internet clique, where noone new is invited, unless you can toe the party line.

And where's the fun in that.

We don't object to people disagreeing. What we do object to is people who disagree flaming each other just because they have different opinions.

[ShatnerPants]

PS a forum where everyone agrees can easily turn into an internet clique, where noone new is invited, unless you can toe the party line.

And where's the fun in that.

We don't object to people disagreeing. What we do object to is people who disagree flaming each other just because they have different opinions.

I agree

[Acidmouse]

I think people staying away from the football threads would help alot, for some reason there the ones prone to cause problems. 

I been guilty in the past but uncle Kev had some words of wisdom and i 'try' and respect all on the forums. Just a little blip on this thread last night shouldn't derail it

[bhoywonder]

I'm going to Curacao this Autumn.  Just thought I'd share that with everyone...

Is that near blackpool?

Is that the place where there is a very high proportion of women to men?

nice work


not near blackpool though

[tikay]

OK, a few points.

Many of the replies say something like "thanks tikay/tony da de da".

This suggests I may have worded the OP clumsily or badly - because it's not me, the Post was the collective work of all the Mods. I just Posted what we'd all agreed. Yes, blonde Forum was "me" for the first few months of '05, along with Iron, but since then, it's been as whole bunch of us that run it. In fact, these days I hardly do anything, the Team do most of the work.

Some background to the Thread.

The tone & mood of the Forum had been slipping for a while, & it worsened just as I went to Vegas.

It was agreed I would do a sort of "State of the Nation" Post. But I was a bit blown away with work in Vegas, so I asked the Mods to draft it for me. They did, I said I'd use it as a draft, & work it up from that in my own words.

Of course, I never got round to it, kept putting it off, too busy etc.

Meanwhile, the Forum mood lurched further south, & The Mods kept saying "well, once tikay drafts up his Post, it'll be OK, until then, we are  buggered". So I had to sort it, the day before I left Vegas.

I drafted it overnight in Vegas, the night before I left. I woke up next morning, & the Mods have fiffed & faffed with my draft, added bits, removed bits, corrected lots, & agreed it was fine to go. So they said "ok tikay, Post it".  So I did. It's our Post, our view, not mine. We are all 100% of the mind that we need to straighten blonde Forum up a bit.

I'm flattered that so many thanked me personally, but embarrassed too - it was a collective thing. (Code for, "I blame the Mods").

[tikay]

Some of your replies refer to the business as a whole, &/or the cardroom specifically.

I've decided I will do a "State of the Cardroom" & "State of the Business" thread, too, because I think letting everyone know where we are is a good thing, & this thread has had a much more positive effect than we dared dream.

The "Forum" thread was the responsibility of all the Mods.

I shall write a Cardroom thread, the joint responsibility for which will be Rich, Kev & myself.

And for the Business Thread, responsibility will sit with Rich & I.

It's good to talk.

[tikay]

The "erection ads" have been mentioned by several Posters.

We got caught bang to rights there, but it was not planned or intended.

Rich explained it all, but in plain language, we did a deal to sell advertising space to an Agency which pledged to "pluck" unspecified ads from a Pool of ads, using their skill to match ads to forum types. They thought erection ads would suit a Poker Forum. They were right in broad terms, but not this one.

We are trying to sort the situation, but it's proving a bit tricky. We got, & get, no prior notice, or right to know, what ads they plan to put up - they put them up themselves, via an adserve doobie thing. Next time we do such a deal, we'll know better. We got caught with our pants down this time.

We apologise.

[ripple11]

We got caught with our pants down this time.

No wonder the ads went up.....they saw the evidence.

[tikay]

I may also have over-eged the importance of the Forum in relation to the Cardroom, insofar as the idea of the Post was not to promote the Cardroom, but to straighten up the Forum. I say this, because Kev's been flooded with enquiries (well, more than a dozen, if not actually a flood), & I've had a bunch of PM's to the same effect. That was not in the plan, but happy days!

It was not the intention to promote the Cardroom in the Post. But it's relevant, & had to be mentioned.

There was no planned "guilt-trip" by anyone, or for anyone. The blonde Forum remains free & independent. But of course we'd prefer more of you to play on blonde Cardroom. Of course we would!

I shall do a seperate Cardroom Thread as soon as time permits. Please hold off on Cardroom comments until then.