SNOWEST FORUMS: Member Comments on "Letter to All Members"

[tudizzle]

Happy Birthday to the new Snowest

 

[christopher]

Also where is our fearless leader for change Christopher???

Same place as always Boon. Right here, reading all these posts.

 

[MtnDoo]

Its all about perceived value.
Those that see the value will pay.
Those that see no value will bail.

In the end, we hope more will see value than not.

Exactly - SW owns the FORUM infrastructure - they DO NOT own the SW COMMUNITY.

Helpful Hint: The value is in the Community.



How much do we need to pay SW for the 4M Ride this year?
How much do we need to pay SW to get together at 15 SnowShows?

SW became much larger than software on a server - now, it's being sold out and returning to a time prior to when the Community formed.

Once this episode has come and gone, you'll be wishing you could have seen the value in the users.

MD.

 

[smwizzz]

gps

Uhhh I'm just a tradesman.... lol.

Are you suggesting that we could divide this discussion into SUB-FORUMS?

What type of navigation would be best?

Could one sub-section go into one of the two swapmeets?

 

[christopher]

I followed the link and it said you enjoy the outdoors. Does this mean you snowmobile?? Atv?? Or are you one of those super greenie hikers that want everything powersports shut down? You never even said if you ride, just that you spend countless hours on the computer.

Somehow you missed this paragraph.
http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161226

And that is how I ended up here in Rigby Idaho with another new passion in my life, Snowmobiling. Sold the boat and the Jekskis, packed up the family and moved up north to a whole new lifestyle in January of 2007!! And to be quite honest, it was the best decision of my life! I absolutely LOVE living here in Idaho every bit as much as I did Colorado.

So yes I do snowmobile, as does my wife and 4 kids.
And we play at the dunes in the summer on 2 RZRs and 3 quads.

We enjoy the outdoors as much as time and opportunity allows.

 

[dsp81]

DSP:

Again, I stress I am not picking on you, I am meerly stating that the way you approach the issue is very important. You will NEVER please 100% of the people 100% of time but if you make them feel like you appreciate what they say then you will gain their respect. On many occasions I have said no to people. Most of the time (family aside), the response is taken well because I took the time to point out the simple facts that make my way the best way. Not always true, but everyone is somewhat satisfied. Please don't point fingers and single out folks here. Don't bring crap to the table that has nothing to do with the matter at hand. It is meaningless and the respect you deserve is lost in the banter.

This is the last time I will make a comment regarding this matter. I promise!!!

I wasn't really looking for respect out of this. I'm not particularly concerned about my SnoWest "reputation." I bantered with those individuals on purpose. It's exactly the behavior they engage in, singling folks out and pointing fingers.

 

[Flamedcummins]

So after reading page 40, kinda seems like the hand is definately NOT talking to the foot, really makes harris sound like its one hell of a circle jerk over there, not saying christopher is the bad guy but they're either really keeping you in the dark and taking the money from this site elsewhere or your just not trying hard enough to figure out whats going on. I DO REALIZE you are essentially the middle man in all this, however being the middle man you are the one that speaks for the people.

 

[christopher]

Its obvious to me that Christopher has shaken the bees nest with this thread, and it has not gone the way of the admin, further evident by Christopher's apparent abandonment of the thread. NEWS FLASH! Its not the same four guys voicing there decent for your fairytale product, more so a wide cross section of new, old, posters and non posters. The writings is on the wall, question is, will anyone listen

Actually.
We knew FULL WELL that we were going to rattle the hornets nest with this letter. No expected anything less than what has been seen in this huge thread. We all knew this would be a HIGHLY controversial move on behalf of SnoWest. And for the life of me I do not know what makes you think I have abandoned this thread.??

I have and continue to read every single post in this thread, including yours.

 

[MtnDoo]

Christopher hasn't abandoned the thread.
He's been asking HAL questions & getting answers.



MD.

 

[diamonddave]

That'll be about enough of that common sense thing!!!

People are getting pretty emotional over this whole deal. It's just a few dollars for something that people are obviously very passionate about (see the hundreds of emotional posts for proof). If you are really just going to another site rather than pay the HUGE sum of $$, then do it already and prove this site is of no value to you.

I find it ironic that you've used this sight, pimping your products while not being a site sponsor and now jump on the bandwagon to in essence, have complete strangers (forum members) subsidize your advertising budget

Seems pretty simple to me your position. Nice work.

what would be the reason for no sig on dootalk?

 

[smwizzz]

K...

At least you are honest. Can't argue with that.

Keep smilin...

I wasn't really looking for respect out of this. I'm not particularly concerned about my SnoWest "reputation." I bantered with those individuals on purpose. It's exactly the behavior they engage in, singling folks out and pointing fingers.

 

[eazyduzit509]

PORTAL! ahaha....

 

[diamonddave]

I find it ironic that you've used this sight, pimping your products while not being a site sponsor and now jump on the bandwagon to in essence, have complete strangers (forum members) subsidize your advertising budget

Seems pretty simple to me your position. Nice work.

what would be the reason for no sig on dootalk?

Christopher,

you fix these freeloaders taking the free ride and i'll gladly step up and pay.

 

[MtnDoo]

1999 SnoWest 1.0 version:

 

[christopher]

<<In order to keep this thread clear of "debris", a separate thread has been created to discuss this. Please post your comments, questions, and replies over here:>> --Brian

So, 728 user comments for and against are just "debris"?

Wow - this is clearly more than just Christopher's antics.

MD.

I was getting dozens of e-mails saying people could not read the opening post. So we decided to separate the letter from the comments. Why Brian choose to use that word is beyond me, unless he is getting the same PMs from people who don't want to be part of this dialoge that has rapidly degenerated into a bash-fest of one side attacking the other side. Either way, When I saw it, I edited it out, as I was the one that asked all the members to comment.

 

[MtnDoo]

Dude, if I spent 3 years of my life pinned to a little Cisco lab studying for my CCIE written & practical, counting DDTS reports in IOS, and ended up working at a magazine publisher, I'd be pretty callous too. No worries.

MD.

 

[christopher]

I'm not trying to discredit the opposition. I think they do a pretty good job of that on their own. I'm not picking sides here because I honestly don't care which direction things go. Don't know Christopher and have never met him. I've only been back here about 5 times in the last 4 years.

I was around, however, when the FuseTalk was updated - and there was a riot (And there was usually a riot every time an incremental upgrade occured). I was also around when the change to VB happened - and there was a riot. I was also around when the SwapMeet changed - and there was a riot. You may be seeing a pattern here. I was simply commenting that this happens every time. And as an aside, it's usually the same people leading the revolt.

As a moderator, you can't banter with the membership because then you are asking for everyone to question every decision you will ever make. I invite you all to open your own site, add 30,000 users and try to play referee. People will say the damndest things perched behind their keyboards. It really isn't that fun reading through every thread trying to pick out (sometimes highly) objectionable material or looking for morons who post **** on a site with this much traffic.

I do, however, find all this angst aimed at me pretty entertaining. It doesn't matter what I say, MPS, MtnDoo, and their ilk will go after me. They perceive me as the enemy because anyone who disagrees with their position is not only wrong, but stupid (and they probably just don't like me, the person they've never met). They'll grasp at straws and shoot back the obligatory "I know you are, but what am I?" (which has already happened a couple times). I don't take what they say personal because I have no clue who they are. In real life I'm sure they're nice enough guys. There is just something about anonymity and distance that gives people the confidence to say whatever may strike the brain.

But the fact is that they're still not really privy to all the information involved in making the decisions for the direction of the forum. I understand that a lot of people here feel like SnoWest is their home and they feel like their home is being bulldozed. But this is a business, and I'm guessing that Harris Publishing is in a better position to decide how best to monetize their assets. User feedback is important, but not dispositive. At some point, they have to make a decision and push towards it.

Perhaps people could refrain from launching personal attacks at the owners and accusing them of poor business management. Or they could voice their displeasure once, instead of writing the same thing half a million times and attacking anyone who might disagree with them. If you're really that displeased by the direction, then go start your own site and have a go at it. If it really is a bad business decision, then SnoWest forums will fold and you'll all end up on your feet at some other forum. I doubt it will happen, but prognosticators will be prognosticators.

Wow.
What a post!

 

[Mountain Doo-OLD]

Fair?

There are some on here that realize that there is a recession going on
Sounds like our medicare ridden president-

"A change has come to America" Ahem I mean "Snowest".


BAD timing -Bad Timing for sure.....
Our economy is not going to get any better in 2010./ we are just only 1/2 into this crunch
And Now This!!!!!!!

Good luck

MD

 

[christopher]

What will happen to the account i have now with this new change

There will be NO changes to your account as we move forward.

 

[christopher]

I am seriously at a loss for how some of you guys are posting incorrect information. I completely understand that emotions are running high right now, but please open your ears (or eyes for that matter) and read the full post on the upcoming changes, and please don't read between the lines because this HAS NOT BEEN FINALIZED. Stick around and give the site a chance, I am NOT saying pay for a membership and then see if you like it. I AM saying stop jumping the gun, and see for yourself if you like the new content when it gets here, and then if you like it, join up and support this site AS WELL AS AN ORGANIZATION SUCH AS SAWS OR BRC. If the new content is not what you want, then stick around in the free section and enjoy the new servers at ZERO COST to you.

You are not paying for the site as it stands right now. You would be paying for a revised SnoWest that includes info from different mfg companies as well as from the big 4, online subscription to the mag....and that is just the starting point! Y'all are not taking the additional content into account when you are making your knee-jerk responses and threatening to leave.

Its been said by nearly every mod on here....Stick around to see if you like the changes before you make your decision. We are just asking for folks to keep a cool head about this so you can all make a rational decision when the time arrives.

Thanks for an excellent post!