CigarLive CrossRoads Part 1 - Final Comments

[tx_tuff]

I will admit I don't do the awards very often, not much at all! I will try to do better. But I am very active on the board! Its very hard to keep track of everything that is going on from day to day. One of the things I have done to help was not really pay any attention to the pass and bomb sections. I still look at all the pictures etc, just don't really respond to them. Anytime anybody needs anything or has any questions you can always PM me and I will do my best to help!

[Stogie]

The moderators work very hard. 4 of them also write reviews that are really in depth. Most of the time the mods are invisible for security reasons. A few are very active in researching new members that have registered and staying invisible helps. I personally am always invisible. I have to be because when I am following a suspicious member through the forum I do not want them to know I am even online watching them.

Our moderator base has stayed the same size for a long time. The way I feel is that I can totally trust these guys and they have proved it time and time again. I would not trade one for a million dollars. Two million yes maybe.........

[The EVP]

I just wanted to clear something up. I know how much work a mod has to do behind the scene as I used to be one on an old BBS (those older members will remember those) and it is a tough, and often, thankless job. There is alot of behind-the-scenes work.
They walk a fine line in upholding the integrity of the board and not making someone feel chastised when they do have to take some action and assert some authority.

I know that we all have personal lives off the board and sometimes things come up that take people away from the board for whatever reason....it happens, even to me. Mods that are doing their job need not worry about that section of my post. However, if a mod does read that and it does strike a chord because they know they've been slacking without a good reason (that's between them and Stogie), well then....I'm sorry if it hurts, but I'm just trying to be honest.

Again, I'm not signaling or calling anyone out. I don't keep track of what mod is on, when they're on and how long they're on for...I don't have that time. But I'm not the only person that's seen a slow down.

[tx_tuff]

No problem Pete, we know you are not calling anybody out. The fact that Stogie and myself responded fast just shows how much we care about the site I for one take a lot of pride in what I do here!

[baboruger]

Originally Posted by tx_tuff

No problem Pete, we know you are not calling anybody out. The fact that Stogie and myself responded fast just shows how much we care about the site I for one take a lot of pride in what I do here!

Me to, I was just pointing out a change from when I started...By the way I hope Rider just talked to the girls...

[Stogie]

Originally Posted by baboruger

...By the way I hope Rider just talked to the girls...

He was a true gentlemen indeed. They wanted to know if he really lived in a log cabin. Total blast hanging with him.

Ok back on track. I really think we are getting some good feedback here.

[baboruger]

Originally Posted by Stogie

He was a true gentlemen indeed. They wanted to know if he really lived in a log cabin. Total blast hanging with him.

Ok back on track. I really think we are getting some good feedback here.

I agree with the feedback, good stuff...hope there is more!

I was going to make a "log cabin" joke but this is not the place, I'll pm him!!!

I was also thinking about the videos and FYI, keep them coming!!!

[ngetal]

I've been pondering how to respond to this (or whether to, considering my first post in an intro thread shows an age of "one week" - I'm so new and green, I still squeak)

I'm one of those "old timers" who used to run a BBS - got it up to 4 lines at one time, network hub and regional coord. for Fidonet, back in the day.... (though not so far back that we had to carve our own modems outta blocks of wood) anyways, what I think I'm getting at is that I recognize how much work it is keeping something like this up and running, and I want to add my thanks to the chorus that's praising Daniel's efforts in promoting the CL community.

I've only been around for a little over a week, but I like what I see... folks are friendly, you can kid around with the rest of the gang - it's a fun place to be. maybe more members would be good - but I think getting more members simply for the sake of having higher membership numbers would be a mistake. I think we'd be wise to go for quality rather than quantity. to that end, I'd be of the opinion that if someone joins the boards and goes for a month without posting any messages that they should be nuked from the database (or some sort of purging of 'deadwood' - folks that drop in, take a look around then leave, never to return). if you can rig it in the system, set things so that the buy & sell sections, and probably the pass/bomb sections as well, aren't visible until they pass a specified threshold of posts

on the other hand, I'm unsure what to do about posts - sure, it's easy enough to bump up your post count by jumping into every newbie intro thread and saying "hi! welcome" or into every look-what-I-got thread and saying "looks tasty" or "nice hit" - adds to the camaraderie, I guess, but it makes for boring reading when you see there's a new reply in a thread and that's all it is.

I've noticed as well, not all sections will show up in the "latest thread" sidebar - is there a way to edit that so a member can control which show up and which don't?

in terms of having sponsors for the website - others have said it, and I think I agree - it's great to have help in shouldering the burden of carrying the website, provided that it's not heavy-handed. deal with criticism - don't bury it. I've seen far too many online forums, mostly dealing with the various online multi-player games, that tend to deal with unpleasantries by locking or outright deleting threads - in my opinion, that doesn't solve problems. it only underscores the inability to deal with issues. having active reps from the various companies to respond to issues helps everyone - the complainer gets an answer for the problem, the company becomes aware of a problem and probably the reasoning behind it. they may not be able to solve it to the complainers satisfaction, but at least it's not being swept under the carpet either...

moderators - yep, doing it right, I think... for the most part, they shouldn't be seen doing their job - it should just get done. you know... like the tooth fairy or the easter bunny... as membership increases, as posting increases, so will their job. yes, it keeps things cozy by having a small number, but you could be doing them a misservice by increasing their burden but not giving them help to deal with it. maybe it'd be an idea to spin off the responsibility of processing awards to a few other people, so that the moderators can focus on keeping tabs on what's going on?

those members who are relatively active on the boards are somewhat spread out, far and wide. a "Cigar Live Fest" might be an idea, but that's going to take a lot of planning to make it happen (toughest part will be finding a place where we can smoke) :arghhhh: maybe you can convince the various sponsors to take turns hosting it, and we can all go to Nicaragua or Dominican or Honduras for a holiday at the same time depending on when and where, I'd probably go for it.

short of that though, regional gatherings could maybe be set up where there's several members within an hour or two drive - not everybody is going to be able to make it to every event, but hopefully there'll be some effort to eliminate as much overlap as possible - opposite sides of the country on the same day is ok, but it's rough on folks when there's more than one event the same day in neighboring states (as an example) - the boards have a calendar, right? let's use it, and maybe set things to display all, instead of only pieces of what's going on?

hmm... for a 'new guy', I guess I had a lot to say... hope some of it's helpful

[tx_tuff]

Hey Daniel I was just thought of something as I was looking in the Gallery. We are posting pictures so fast on here could you make two rows of pictures on the front page so that you picture will stay up there more then a few hours.

[Stogie]

Originally Posted by ngetal

I've been pondering how to respond to this (or whether to, considering my first post in an intro thread shows an age of "one week" - I'm so new and green, I still squeak)

I'm one of those "old timers" who used to run a BBS - got it up to 4 lines at one time, network hub and regional coord. for Fidonet, back in the day.... (though not so far back that we had to carve our own modems outta blocks of wood) anyways, what I think I'm getting at is that I recognize how much work it is keeping something like this up and running, and I want to add my thanks to the chorus that's praising Daniel's efforts in promoting the CL community.

I've only been around for a little over a week, but I like what I see... folks are friendly, you can kid around with the rest of the gang - it's a fun place to be. maybe more members would be good - but I think getting more members simply for the sake of having higher membership numbers would be a mistake. I think we'd be wise to go for quality rather than quantity. to that end, I'd be of the opinion that if someone joins the boards and goes for a month without posting any messages that they should be nuked from the database (or some sort of purging of 'deadwood' - folks that drop in, take a look around then leave, never to return). if you can rig it in the system, set things so that the buy & sell sections, and probably the pass/bomb sections as well, aren't visible until they pass a specified threshold of posts

on the other hand, I'm unsure what to do about posts - sure, it's easy enough to bump up your post count by jumping into every newbie intro thread and saying "hi! welcome" or into every look-what-I-got thread and saying "looks tasty" or "nice hit" - adds to the camaraderie, I guess, but it makes for boring reading when you see there's a new reply in a thread and that's all it is.

I've noticed as well, not all sections will show up in the "latest thread" sidebar - is there a way to edit that so a member can control which show up and which don't?

in terms of having sponsors for the website - others have said it, and I think I agree - it's great to have help in shouldering the burden of carrying the website, provided that it's not heavy-handed. deal with criticism - don't bury it. I've seen far too many online forums, mostly dealing with the various online multi-player games, that tend to deal with unpleasantries by locking or outright deleting threads - in my opinion, that doesn't solve problems. it only underscores the inability to deal with issues. having active reps from the various companies to respond to issues helps everyone - the complainer gets an answer for the problem, the company becomes aware of a problem and probably the reasoning behind it. they may not be able to solve it to the complainers satisfaction, but at least it's not being swept under the carpet either...

moderators - yep, doing it right, I think... for the most part, they shouldn't be seen doing their job - it should just get done. you know... like the tooth fairy or the easter bunny... as membership increases, as posting increases, so will their job. yes, it keeps things cozy by having a small number, but you could be doing them a misservice by increasing their burden but not giving them help to deal with it. maybe it'd be an idea to spin off the responsibility of processing awards to a few other people, so that the moderators can focus on keeping tabs on what's going on?

those members who are relatively active on the boards are somewhat spread out, far and wide. a "Cigar Live Fest" might be an idea, but that's going to take a lot of planning to make it happen (toughest part will be finding a place where we can smoke) :arghhhh: maybe you can convince the various sponsors to take turns hosting it, and we can all go to Nicaragua or Dominican or Honduras for a holiday at the same time depending on when and where, I'd probably go for it.

short of that though, regional gatherings could maybe be set up where there's several members within an hour or two drive - not everybody is going to be able to make it to every event, but hopefully there'll be some effort to eliminate as much overlap as possible - opposite sides of the country on the same day is ok, but it's rough on folks when there's more than one event the same day in neighboring states (as an example) - the boards have a calendar, right? let's use it, and maybe set things to display all, instead of only pieces of what's going on?

hmm... for a 'new guy', I guess I had a lot to say... hope some of it's helpful

Great post, lots to think about. For sure we need to lock some things out of site like the buy/sell.

[smokinj]

Originally Posted by tx_tuff

Hey Daniel I was just thought of something as I was looking in the Gallery. We are posting pictures so fast on here could you make two rows of pictures on the front page so that you picture will stay up there more then a few hours.

Very good idea Frank. Also add more and different "Smiles&Emotions:english:"

[ngetal]

Originally Posted by smokinj

Very good idea Frank. Also add more and different "Smiles&Emotions:english:"

yeah, definitely more smilies - I miss the selection that the game forum that I sometimes frequent has - there's something like 500 of them there...

[patefengreen]

Originally Posted by ngetal

in terms of having sponsors for the website - others have said it, and I think I agree - it's great to have help in shouldering the burden of carrying the website, provided that it's not heavy-handed. deal with criticism - don't bury it. I've seen far too many online forums, mostly dealing with the various online multi-player games, that tend to deal with unpleasantries by locking or outright deleting threads - in my opinion, that doesn't solve problems. it only underscores the inability to deal with issues. having active reps from the various companies to respond to issues helps everyone - the complainer gets an answer for the problem, the company becomes aware of a problem and probably the reasoning behind it. they may not be able to solve it to the complainers satisfaction, but at least it's not being swept under the carpet either...

Very well said ... for a Canadian. j/k Rick! Very well thought out.

[amateurke]

First ; I love this place so if all stay this way it is fine for me!!
But I'm already a long time with something in the head that can be added to this forum. I thought to "Cigar of the month". What do I mean ; let a few days the members choose witch cigar they like as cigar of the month. The cigar witch is named most is it gonna be. Afther that, everyone can his findings and reviews about this cigar post for a month. It would be nice if the cigar is what concerns price and availability, in everybody's opportunity is!
This is maybee an idee for getting people to place some more reviews and findings on the board!

Just an idee!!

[CHRIS7891011]

I have some comments but it's 4AM. It'll be post tomorrow.

Thanks for listening Daniel!