Christopher,
While I personally disagreed with the change by Harris Publication and I voiced that opinion, I had no reason to think negatively of you as a person. It was a business decision, a wrong one, but still their choice.
I have seen the childish, ignorant behavior against Snowest flaunted on the other site that you keep replacing on posts (how rude you cannot allow that site name on here!) and found it offensive. I have even been flamed for calling them out for it and being told to go back to SnoWest since I was defending it. I COMPLETELY understand the bad actions taken by this group, yet I understand their frustration with that changes and how that drives their behavior.
This quoted section though in your current email has harmed you, indeed becoming just like the idiots and jerks who behaved childishly and rudely. Characterizing them as a "gang," name calling (trolls), and assuming they don't really care about the sport is going too far.
I objected to the move to a pay site and will not pay for the premium service and I am not any of your characterizations. You have now offended me with your "either with us or against us" over-simplistic grouping. You have drawn battle lines that allow for no gray and that is just wrong.
Please learn from this in the future and grow beyond giving them vindication with your actions. You must keep the emotion out of it, no matter how much they attack you and keep the reasons business professional no matter what others do. Act, do NOT react.
"Sadly there has been a small gang of naysayers who have used this as a rallying cry to support their personal agendas and have taken it upon themselves to do as much damage to the site as possible by spreading their anger and discontent through what seems like an unending series of hate filled posts and threads, and of late spamming the site with pornography. (If you have not seen any of this you can thank all of the volunteer moderators who have been working overtime at cleaning it up as fast as it appears. If you have been the recipient of their scorn or abuse, please don't hesitate to report the post so we can remove it from SnoWest. Life is simply to short to have to put up with this nonsense) Unfortunately, the vindict!
ive and spiteful actions of these few people serve only as another reason why we are moving forward with the paid member option. Even when it only costs 2 cents a day, paid memberships act as a filtering system to separate those who give our sport a bad name (the Trolls) from those who really care about our sport, it's people, and the community at large. Members with a vested interest in the success of the SnoWest Forums will seldom squander that investment for the opportunity to trash other members or the site itself. Our paid premium members will also have a real voice in helping us choose the direction of the SnoWest Forums as we move forward, and will discover that we now have the resources ready and available to help make SnoWest work the way they want it to."
