arbitrary rule changes

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ohio-guy

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At the risk of being blacklisted, I thought I would put my 2 cents in about the recent new rules posted by one of the administrators.

I realize this was done to reduce the "drama" of a topic that has become a little heated recently, but I don't know that one administrator making a unilateral decision is an appropriate response. Especially when he is actively involved in the thread.

I am not arguing against anyones right to voice their opinion, only saying it doesn't seem fair that rules can be changed by a single person. Admittedly, I do not know all the ins and outs of forum rules. Perhaps a better response is allowing a cooling off period, or having a concensus of two or more administrators to lock a thread. Maybe this was even discussed among the administrators...if so, it is not information I am privy to.

Now personally, I have enjoyed the threads, and don't mind a little drama....it keeps the forum lively. And I have been around long enough to know that just because someone may know a lot about a particular subject, or series of events, that that doesn't necessarily mean they know everything about the subject. Perception of truth and interpretion of events can be manipulated and spun; you need look no further than a national news source, or a government talking head to see it in action.

We all have the right to ignor a thread we don't enjoy. What do other forum members think ?

Eric
 
Eric,
the rest of the admins were left out on this decision. It will be discussed soon.
and dont worry about being "blacklisted". we dont do that (except in extreme circumstances)
 
bwester said:
Eric,
the rest of the admins were left out on this decision. It will be discussed soon.

However, I'm quite sure that at least three of us are in agreement with the changes.

Sometimes it is difficult to round the five of us up at once in the heat of the moment. I personally have no problem with what was changed, though I did not talk to John either. I believe that we state in the rules that we reserve the right to modify them at any time.

Rest assured, even if we don't talk before action is taken, the action is always reversable.

If I might add...we aren't perfect here. Believe it or not, we've never run a forum before, we try to do our best and please as many as possible.
 
I think there should be a rule for administrators that says no thread should be locked just because the administrator who posts seems to be on the hot seat because of posts from other members on this forum. I personally see that as a form of censorship. Censorship is, in part, surpressing one's ability to speak on a given topic, and that certainly is what is implied in the last statement prior to the lock.
 
oh yeah, i definitely agree with the changes.
in case my last post inferred i didnt
 
ohio-guy said:
At the risk of being blacklisted, I thought I would put my 2 cents in about the recent new rules posted by one of the administrators.

I realize this was done to reduce the "drama" of a topic that has become a little heated recently, but I don't know that one administrator making a unilateral decision is an appropriate response. Especially when he is actively involved in the thread.

I am not arguing against anyones right to voice their opinion, only saying it doesn't seem fair that rules can be changed by a single person. Admittedly, I do not know all the ins and outs of forum rules. Perhaps a better response is allowing a cooling off period, or having a concensus of two or more administrators to lock a thread. Maybe this was even discussed among the administrators...if so, it is not information I am privy to.

Now personally, I have enjoyed the threads, and don't mind a little drama....it keeps the forum lively. And I have been around long enough to know that just because someone may know a lot about a particular subject, or series of events, that that doesn't necessarily mean they know everything about the subject. Perception of truth and interpretion of events can be manipulated and spun; you need look no further than a national news source, or a government talking head to see it in action.

We all have the right to ignor a thread we don't enjoy. What do other forum members think ?

Eric

I agree with everything that you said but, that thread wasn't just getting heated, heated alone would be fine, but the deterioration of it into little circular arguments and insults was a more then a bit tiresome. And although its true --I didn't have to read it-- I was happy to see that it locked. People were not discussing they were defending, with no resolution in sight.

Additionally, although I agree that the rules should not be able to be changed by a single individual I don't think that "be kind" is a rule that anyone can contest.
 
For another perspective, the orchid hobby has been going on for well over a hundred years. Collectors were known to commit murder and wholesale environmental destruction in the competition over orchids. And I'm sure armchair debates over taxonomy have ended in fist fights.

This stuff is nothing in comparison.

On the other hand, I used to fly high power rockets. Bickering, envy, and greed among some of the most prominent members in this little community developed in to corporate sabotage, that brought the BATF into the picture. Subsequent ultra government restrictions pushed me out of this hobby.

A prominent member of our society has a saying "its only pretty flowers" every time things start getting hot to put things in perspective.
 
Well, since there are two threads I guess this might as well be posted here too.

I wasn't sure I should post again tonight. But then I thought some might think I was hiding out. I have no reason to hide. I also don't want to start another 12 page "Days of our Orchid Growing Lives" thread. Just now, I read what my fellow admins wrote above, and I think they have already said pretty much everything that needs to be said. And they said it with far more grace than I would have said it.

I do want to add one thought. I do not, and will not apologize for anything I have said since this forum started. For better or worse, we all have to share the same space here on our portion of the internet. If you truly want to get along with me, meet me with grace and a good attitude and I will be your strongest supporter. It's really not hard.
 
:
Originally Posted by Ron-NY
I personally feel that a public forum on slipper orchids should have their administrators portray more decorum than what I have seen in this thread.

This a a quote from the rules of this forum "1. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Name calling, rudeness, extreme profanity and posting of pornography are actions not welcome here."

Phrag said:
"I am sick to death of this. Where is it written that administrators have to act like Jesus Christ while members of the board can act like total assholes? If you want to be treated with respect and admiration, and be spoken to like a decent human being, then act like a decent human being when you come to this board.

You are all here without charge, never asked to contribute anything more than conversation. And yet, you act like spoiled houseguests, demanding that the owner of the house bend to your every whim and do it with a smile. Well, I don't live like that. If you want to ignore the bad behavior of certain members of this forum, that's fine. But don't sit there and rub it in the administrators faces when they decide they don't like the attitudes of a couple of orchid divas.

I am locking this thread. I will lock every thread about this subject matter until Glen Decker or H.P. Norton want to post about it. If you want to quote rules to me, look up the one about not starting drama on this forum."

I had no intention to rub anything in anyones face. I apologize if I came off that way but if you are going to make rules for all I think you should also be responsible enough to abide by them. No one ever said administrators have to act above how we are required to act but if you are going to hold us to standards I would expect no less from the administration of this board.

I don't agree with some of Peter's attitude, but being a bit of an inside person in this thread, I did not see much that I did not know to be a truth and not a rumor.
 
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Has any of you seen the GREMLINS movie series?
As soon as the cute one get wet it pops in multiples gremlins:wink:
Now I have to followed two threads instead of one.:D
 
Ron-NY said:
I had no intention to rub anything in anyones face. I apologize if I came off that way but if you are going to make rules for all I think you should also be responsible enough to abide by them. No one ever said administrators have to act above how we are required to act but if you are going to hold us to standards I would expect no less from the administration of this board.

I don't agree with some of Peter's attitude, but being a bit of an inside person in this thread, I did not see much that I did not know to be a truth and not a rumor.


Ok.
I've really been trying to lay low here because I don't have a lot of time for bickering lately and I'm going through some personal stuff that's more important. This has just gotten so petty. But apparently some of you see me as the level headed one in this so here I am.

I support the rule changes. There should have been some discussion beforehand but failing that, there was discussion afterwards. Blake and I talked, John and Blake talked. I'm not sure if anyone got in touch with Jon or Zach, I didn't have the time, I'm afraid.

John also probably should have reigned in his language before drawing attention to the rules. :)However, I think anyone who's been here any amount of time recognizes that this is often how John just is. He's pretty black and white and when he gets fed up with something, he takes some sort of action. We've all seen it before, nothing new, so why bother getting all in his face about it again. Accept it and move on. We all have our quirks.

FWIW, you should know that all this crap makes me want to NOT admin this forum. From fixing people's quotes so the posts are easier to comprehend (when you see I've edited a post, that's often what it was) and duplicate messages, to constantly managing spam, to dealing with all this... It's often more trouble and time (at least right now) than seems worth it sometimes. Keep that in mind when you are judging the administration of this forum.

Let's move on to orchids, shall we?
 
And for what it's worth. When we started this forum all those many months ago, there were only two Admins. Heather and I built this place, and at the time there was so much to do that I took on the task of writing the rules and she read over them for approval. Now, there are five Administrators who run the show, and this is the first time I felt a change needed to be made of this degree.

So we don't have all the kinks in the system worked out yet. But if you think anything that happened here over the past few days makes this place "less free" I think you should put all of this in perspective and think about the policy of some of the other forums. I think we continue to get it right more often than not. And in this case I still stand by my actions as the right thing to do.
 
I think you have done a great job of creating a place to share information on slipper orchids. I commend you on that.:clap: John did not delete the thread it is still there for all to read if they choose. I have voiced my opinion and stand by it as well. I am ready to move back to the subject of orchids.
 
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Ron-NY said:
I think you have done a great job of creating a place to share information on slipper orchids. I commend you on that.:clap: John did not delete the thread it is still there for all to read if they choose. I have voiced my opinion and stand by it as well. I am ready to move back to the subject of orchids.

I second everything said here. Heather, John, Zach, all the admins, do a wonderful job. Let's just get back to the plants.
 

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