Random Thought about the Pond

[Angelo Schembari]

Was it just me or did anyone else notice that after announcing the closing of the Pond, Wayne pretty much let it run on its own, without sending notices to people who stepped on the rules?

I think that it ran itself pretty well this last month. Maybe if Wayne had let it run like that it would not have consumed so much of his time and it would still be there.

I'm not bashing Wayne and really appreciate what he did for the woodworking community, and am more then happy here, I just thought that it was a little ironic, thats all.

Cheers,

Angelo

[Sean Murphy]

I agree, many of the rules were not nessassary

[Jim Izat]

Come on fellas, let's not go there. The pond's closed, its in the past, let's move on okay?

Jim Izat

[Ian Barley]

I would not be quite so sure that it ran itself. Wayne carded me once early on 'cause I posted a link to my commercial website.

Nobody knew about it but me and him (and the rest of you now I guess!).

I think it would be real interesting to know just how much of the pond atmosphere was because of the people there and how much was because of Wayne's quiet, discreet but firm intervention.

Ian

[Angelo Schembari]

Originally posted by Ian Barley

I think it would be real interesting to know just how much of the pond atmosphere was because of the people there and how much was because of Wayne's quiet, discreet but firm intervention.

Ian

That was the point I was trying to make. I think a lot of it was just b/c of the people that were the pond.

[Bill Pentz]

Angelo,

I would agree that the people made the pond. But at the same time, Wayne's rulles filtered those out who were unwilling to abide by those common rules.

Not many know, but I wrote some of the early software that was used for wood and other forums. I also was foolish enough to help try and keep a couple of sites going.

Our main challenge early on was the script hackers who enjoyed coming in under an assumed name with a bogus email and practicing their HTML skills to render our forums and posts totally unreadable or try and erase our data bases. After a few years of that kind of babysitting I got to the point I could type the HTML commands to restore the sites in my sleep, and to permanently block certain IPs from ever returning. Doing so caused so much upset, I used a different handle and one of the no can trace throw away email providers.

Our second most difficult challenge was dealing with the flame wars. Strangely, people get pretty passionate about their work, their work methods, and especially their tools and custom shop aides. It was not unusal for a few to go from passionate to pure abuse with strong doses of profanity and totally uncivilized behavior. Slamming one of those kinds of threads closed was more than difficult as the offenders would pop up all over. The only option was booting them permanently by disallowing their IPs and in some cases where the IP changes with each log-in whole subnets.

By requiring real names and real email addresses, both of those challenges went away. People tend to be far more civil when the one they are talking to and others can see who they really are. Frankly, I wish I would have implemented that same requirement, it would have made my job far easier.

There also were some uncomfortable rules on BP that I never understood and yes, I got my hand slapped a few times for trying to share information. It just was way too much work to cut and paste from my web pages when a link would have been so much easier. I understood, but that pretty much pushed me out from being a real active member for this last few months.

bill pentz

[John Piwaron]

I know Wayne spoke of BP being a heavy load for him to carry. Because of that, I understand why he would eventually have to drop that load.

But thing I don't understand is why he didn't find a few kindred souls that could also police the forums and carry some of the load for him. That would have lifted the burden at least a little and as a result BP might still be around.

I never had any problem with any of Waynes rules. The lack of profanity, flame wars and baseless bashing of one thing or another is/was a definite attraction. More considered ways of stating your position resulted in an attractive place to log in. No one had to become angry. It looked to me like the people that took exception are those more interested in an incindiary way of saying something than the message being communicated.

[Mike Cutler]

Hey Fella's. I wasn't a member of BP for long before Wayne decided to close the pond, but the experience was priceless. In a world where civility, decorum and manners have been eroding the Pond was a welcome respite. Some of the rules I found amusing, some I didn't quite understand. I did abide by the rules however because the forum was worth it. We can "what if" about Badger Pond until the cows come home, but as Wayne stated Badger Pond was the people and not the place. Had it not been for the closing of the Pond would Keith and company have been able to get this site off the ground as succesfully as they have, and would we have attended. Can this site replace Badger Pond. I don't think so, and I'm not looking for it too. I don't expect this to be Badger Pond 2. It's not fair to Keith and company to place this unreasonable expectation upon them. I look for this to be the first incarnation of Sawmill Creek, not the reincarnation of Badger Pond. If we help Keith and ourselves this will become, I believe, a unique site on the net. One that we can all be proud of being a part of. The body collective of any society is the ideals, experience and social norms of it's inhabitants. Lets make this "society" an example for all others. My .02 FWIW. Also, if this place is good enough for Ken Salisbury, it's good enough for me.

[Phil Phelps]

I think you have enough people here already who are looking for serious conversation, tips, help, banter, etc. Bill Pentz told me of the earlier times. I think we can take care of ourselves. No need for 24-7 watch. Nothing wrong with a little sideways activity. We're adluts. Every now and then we'll get a bandit. I believe this site will ebb and flow just fine. And, when someone gets outta' line, we'll tattoo his ^@%&* to his %*)@$% and $&%*(# his little @%&*(!! :D :D

[Gordie Anderson]

Just my .02 cents worth, but the way this site is set up it will far exceed BP. Nobody wants it to be another BP. These folks are good listeners, the mark of a successful salesman! My hats off to Keith & Co. for a great start! Keep up the good work! Gordie

[Andrew Field]

Originally posted by Angelo Schembari
Was it just me or did anyone else notice that after announcing the closing of the Pond, Wayne pretty much let it run on its own, without sending notices to people who stepped on the rules?


Angelo, having talked to Wayne a number of times I know that he was as busy as ever clearing the garbage from the pond. What you might have noticed was in increase in posting of web address and discussions about other forums. I think you had two things going on here. First, Wayne wanted to let people find a common place to hang out. Second, I know that as the place wrapped up people had business to finish up. I was one of the people who posted web address to the pond archives and such. There were all done with his permission.

I don't think the rules really changed at all at the end.

[Bruce Page]

Originally posted by Angelo Schembari
Was it just me or did anyone else notice that after announcing the closing of the Pond, Wayne pretty much let it run on its own, without sending notices to people who stepped on the rules?

I don’t know if anyone noticed, but a few hours before the Pond went read-only, someone posted using a handle instead of his or her name. The post was normal “how do I?” type post. I wasn’t but a few minutes before Wayne had his “Welcome to Badger Pond….”

I just had to smile.