If a provider is no longer in the business....

[Twist of Fate]

okie dokie, Just seemed that applies to everyone but no biggie. Done.

[Brooke Wilde]

I do believe I asked for this sniping to stop. John Bull

[AlexisSoftTouch]

What is good for the goose is good for the gander.. Welcome aboard John Bull!!

[texasjohn1965]

AST,

This is the kinder, gentler, happy E. The goose and the gander will walk hand in hand and sing quietly to each other, lest they be squashed by the iron fist of happiness.

[Guest062610]

Originally Posted by texasjohn1965

AST,

This is the kinder, gentler, happy E. The goose and the gander will walk hand in hand and sing quietly to each other, lest they be squashed by the iron fist of happiness.

Come on john...give peace a chance!

LAP

[texasjohn1965]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acb15JsCGSk

[pyro]

I think we forget that herding cats takes away from everyone enjoying the board.
Some of the funniest threads I have read was written by a mod who had time to
post a thread instead of umpiring one. Again, a thankless job.

[AlexisSoftTouch]

Hmmmm,, (scratching head) seems that we are all off to a good start... Cat herding cracks me up,, ya puss, puss, yah!! Going back to my jello.......

[pyramider]

Originally Posted by texasjohn1965

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acb15JsCGSk

Why is it everytime I see Yuko Ono I feel the need to gag?

[AlexisSoftTouch]

Originally Posted by pyramider

Why is it everytime I see Yuko Ono I feel the need to gag?

Hair ball?

[obiwansalami]

Originally Posted by John Bull

It's really the members choice. I'm just here to help make it what most want it to be.

This sounds awesome in principle, but by stating that "it's really the members choice and you're just here to enforce what most want", you open yourself to a very old moderator dilemma:

Are you going to only act upon posts that get reported for abuse, or are you going to also determine yourself what constitutes abuse, even if nobody reports a post as abusive?

if it's the former, then you'll end up with having a handful posters pushing "RTM" button all the time - that is, when they're not busy pushing their own agenda that most can see through and find irritating enough to snipe at them. This is also known as "not seeing the forest for the trees".

if it's the latter, then you are imposing your own agenda and therefore creating the community that fits your own style of moderation. this is also known as "rule with an iron fist", and can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending solely on how well liked the person is in the community. I have yet to see an outsider come in and deploy this style with success, mostly because they try to emulate what worked in their local community without knowing much about what works in the community that they're tasked with moderating.

[TX Bulldog]

Well said OB1. Every good board takes on the personality of its posters. If that is interfered with, the board becomes uninteresting for the locals and eventually languishes.

[guest040711-1]

OB1 and Tx Bulldog the mods do respond to RTM however a single RTM is just one side and a good mod will read through the thread to judge the tenor of the post in the context of the thread. The ECCIE Mission Statement is a good place to see what tenor we desire, it's an adult board where members have freedom of expression, that does not mean personal attacks will be allowed.

I trust the majority is very in tune with the philosophy, trust me we don't have extra time on our hands to "Herd Cats".

[Himmler]

Originally Posted by John Bull

From now on, there will be no slamming of other members. Not in this thread, not in any thread!

The rule will be, from this time forward, play nice or don't play.

Thank you

John Bull

Real simple here guys, you don’t like the rules LEAVE! Go start your own board to constantly bitch about others and push YOUR agenda.

[enderwiggin]

Originally Posted by Stalin

Real simple here guys, you don’t like the rules LEAVE! Go start your own board to constantly bitch about others and push YOUR agenda.

Now that's not a very friendly attitude...

They're point isn't that they don't like the rules, cochise. They (and others) have seen SHMBs like this get crushed and lose participation under particularly authoritarian moderators. Whether you can appreciate it or not, we need all types around here to keep the information flowing and exchange of ideas fresh. I think perhaps they're reading things in the wind patterns and wondering about the future weather around here. Nothing more.

I don't think the mods are being particularly heavy-handed as of yet, but I do wonder about the consistency of some of the decisions being handed down. I don't know what types of warnings have been issued away from prying eyes, but I can see that some people on one side of a recent nasty spat have been shown the exit door, while others are still here pushing their personal agendas with impunity. That doesn't seem fair (not that fairness has anything to do with it), especially when one of the individuals thats been allowed to remain seems to adore making herself the lightning rod for problems.