- Joined
- Sep 22, 2010
- Messages
- 7,223
An Apology to Some Former Members
As we all know, life is a learning experience. We can either observe the lessons life has to offer and learn from them, atoning for past mistakes and moving on, or continue to make the same mistakes. Recent events on another forum have served as an important learning experience for me. It is a lot easier to see mistakes by others than it is by yourself. I want to be able to learn from my past mistakes and atone from them and move on.
Running an online community carries with it certain responsibilities and requires certain character traits. Members need to know that the community will continue as it is. They need to know that, all of a sudden, the "rules of the game" will not change. They need to know that the forum will not suddenly disappear, it will not change its policies, the owner will not suddenly close it down, or sell it to make a fast buck, making them feel like they have wasted their time, or worked only to benefit someone else, or now have no place to go. Members need to know that the owner of the forum won't fold under the pressure of criticism from outside agitators, and do something silly. It's pretty easy to observe and point out these mistakes by other people- it is a lot harder to see them and acknowledge them yourself, which is why it has taken me so long to reach this point. I have made mistakes in terms of the responsibilities and character traits needed to run a forum.
Watching the recent situation at HMEM, it was really easy for me to reach some conclusions about what happened there. It was a lot harder to realize that I had basically made very similar mistakes myself, and that people who were formerly active members on H-M had predictably reacted the same way to my impulsive behavior, by leaving and setting up their own community. Rather than blaming them, I ought to have blamed myself. I did not provide the stability that is necessary to assure people that their efforts are not being wasted.
Reacting impulsively to criticism by others on a notoriously hostile forum was also disasterous. All that managed to accomplish was to drive off those faithful to this community. Moreover, reacting to those trying to keep the forum afloat by voicing an opinion by removing them was also a counterproductive and myopic reaction. To run a forum, you have to be able to tolerate a lot of criticism, and let it roll off your back. Obviously, I failed at that.
Therefore, I want to apologize to Ed Kadlec and his group at Metalworkingfun.com. You did what you did because I failed to do things properly and intelligently. I failed to deal with criticism from trolls by giving it the weight it deserved- none. I closed the forum out of frustration rather than foresight, and left doubts as to its continued viability. I failed to listen to sound advice, and allowed myself to be react impulsively. It was I who created uncertainty, not you guys- you merely responded to what I did. I blamed everyone but myself for what transpired. That was wrong, and I am sorry. I see that some of you have returned at Tony's behest. You are all welcome as far as I am concerned, should you wish to return. If not, I understand, and that is fine too.
At some point, I, like the owner at HMEM, experienced burnout. This site usurped the hobby of machining and wiped it out for me. I was stressed, aggravated, and getting nothing done in my own shop. I was tired of dealing with web hosts, and everything else that went along with running a site. However, rather than sell this forum to some commercial outfit, I have turned over the reigns to Tony Wells. Why he wanted to do this, I am not sure. But he assured me that he wanted to, and he does have the personality to deal with it. And since he is a professional machinist, he has less concerns about getting things done in his hobby workshop than I do. Although I will still be the site owner and I will be available to him for consultation, I will not be overriding his decisions. Forum style, content, moderation policy and such will be his responsibility, with which he will be working with the moderation staff; the server and script functions will still be my responsibility. I hope everyone will give him their support. Like being a moderator one cannot please everyone, but I expect him to be fair in his dealing with forum members. For most users all this will mean is that the rank when he posts will read "Administrator" and his name appears in maroon on the list of online members. Other than that, there won't be anything really visibly different. Forum style, content, moderation policy and such will be his responsibility, with which he will be working with the moderation staff; the server and script functions will still be my responsibility. Tony reviews everything that happens on here, including this message itself, and makes the decisions.
I am working in my own shop now, trying to get things set up. I will post updates when I can, and have something to say. Eventually, I know that I will be making chips, and having a lot of fun with my machines, thanks to Tony taking this over.
Again, my sincere apologies for not doing this job better. All I can do at this point is apologize to you and move on. Hope to be making chips soon.
Nelson
As we all know, life is a learning experience. We can either observe the lessons life has to offer and learn from them, atoning for past mistakes and moving on, or continue to make the same mistakes. Recent events on another forum have served as an important learning experience for me. It is a lot easier to see mistakes by others than it is by yourself. I want to be able to learn from my past mistakes and atone from them and move on.
Running an online community carries with it certain responsibilities and requires certain character traits. Members need to know that the community will continue as it is. They need to know that, all of a sudden, the "rules of the game" will not change. They need to know that the forum will not suddenly disappear, it will not change its policies, the owner will not suddenly close it down, or sell it to make a fast buck, making them feel like they have wasted their time, or worked only to benefit someone else, or now have no place to go. Members need to know that the owner of the forum won't fold under the pressure of criticism from outside agitators, and do something silly. It's pretty easy to observe and point out these mistakes by other people- it is a lot harder to see them and acknowledge them yourself, which is why it has taken me so long to reach this point. I have made mistakes in terms of the responsibilities and character traits needed to run a forum.
Watching the recent situation at HMEM, it was really easy for me to reach some conclusions about what happened there. It was a lot harder to realize that I had basically made very similar mistakes myself, and that people who were formerly active members on H-M had predictably reacted the same way to my impulsive behavior, by leaving and setting up their own community. Rather than blaming them, I ought to have blamed myself. I did not provide the stability that is necessary to assure people that their efforts are not being wasted.
Reacting impulsively to criticism by others on a notoriously hostile forum was also disasterous. All that managed to accomplish was to drive off those faithful to this community. Moreover, reacting to those trying to keep the forum afloat by voicing an opinion by removing them was also a counterproductive and myopic reaction. To run a forum, you have to be able to tolerate a lot of criticism, and let it roll off your back. Obviously, I failed at that.
Therefore, I want to apologize to Ed Kadlec and his group at Metalworkingfun.com. You did what you did because I failed to do things properly and intelligently. I failed to deal with criticism from trolls by giving it the weight it deserved- none. I closed the forum out of frustration rather than foresight, and left doubts as to its continued viability. I failed to listen to sound advice, and allowed myself to be react impulsively. It was I who created uncertainty, not you guys- you merely responded to what I did. I blamed everyone but myself for what transpired. That was wrong, and I am sorry. I see that some of you have returned at Tony's behest. You are all welcome as far as I am concerned, should you wish to return. If not, I understand, and that is fine too.
At some point, I, like the owner at HMEM, experienced burnout. This site usurped the hobby of machining and wiped it out for me. I was stressed, aggravated, and getting nothing done in my own shop. I was tired of dealing with web hosts, and everything else that went along with running a site. However, rather than sell this forum to some commercial outfit, I have turned over the reigns to Tony Wells. Why he wanted to do this, I am not sure. But he assured me that he wanted to, and he does have the personality to deal with it. And since he is a professional machinist, he has less concerns about getting things done in his hobby workshop than I do. Although I will still be the site owner and I will be available to him for consultation, I will not be overriding his decisions. Forum style, content, moderation policy and such will be his responsibility, with which he will be working with the moderation staff; the server and script functions will still be my responsibility. I hope everyone will give him their support. Like being a moderator one cannot please everyone, but I expect him to be fair in his dealing with forum members. For most users all this will mean is that the rank when he posts will read "Administrator" and his name appears in maroon on the list of online members. Other than that, there won't be anything really visibly different. Forum style, content, moderation policy and such will be his responsibility, with which he will be working with the moderation staff; the server and script functions will still be my responsibility. Tony reviews everything that happens on here, including this message itself, and makes the decisions.
I am working in my own shop now, trying to get things set up. I will post updates when I can, and have something to say. Eventually, I know that I will be making chips, and having a lot of fun with my machines, thanks to Tony taking this over.
Again, my sincere apologies for not doing this job better. All I can do at this point is apologize to you and move on. Hope to be making chips soon.
Nelson
hew: