The Forum - Three Years On
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New tattoo
[/quote]Hmmmm worth considering in a way if its ok re copyright?
somehow a living patch on my behind back, Looool -
That is a great looking logo!
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Given the recent spate of uncivil behavior, I would like to bump this and refresh folks' memories.
Please pay particular attention to the fourth paragraph, which I have bolded for your convenience…
State of the
NationForum Address….It’s coming up to three years now since I set up the Iron Heart Forum. When I established Iron Heart UK, one of my goals was – and still is - to provide outstanding, world class service to our customers. The creation of the Forum was an extension of this customer service: a vehicle whereby I could announce forthcoming products, and more importantly provide a place for customers to ask questions, provide feedback and indeed come up with suggestions for potential new items. It has evolved into so much more than that, and has become a large and international resource for views and information on dozens of topics, a place for a chat about our lives, and an active trading arena. Meet-ups have taken place all over the world, firm friendships have been forged and we are continually amazed and delighted at the way the Iron Heart “family” is growing.
To enable our members – and us – to get the most out of the Forum we decided from the outset that it should not be overly moderated, it was important to us that people felt they could talk freely without being over policed.
How to create and run a forum has been a massive learning experience for me (and the Mod Squad) and we’ll be the first to admit that we don’t always get it right. At times we have policed too much, at times too little. I know that from the outside what we do on a day to day basis may appear trivial, but it actually takes an enormous amount of time and effort and I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to moderators past and present, I simply could not do this without them.
Recently, there has been a somewhat negative trend creep into the Forum: we have prided ourselves on the Iron Heart Forum being a fun and friendly place, we josh and joke and rib each other, give praise, encouragement and advice. Of course not everyone will have the same opinions and tastes, so agreeing to differ and offering constructive criticism in a respectful manner is fine. However, petty sniping, personal vendettas and downright nastiness is unacceptable. Apart from the drain on my and the other mods’ time and emotions, I don’t want new or existing members to think this is normal and acceptable behaviour on our Iron Heart Forum. Going forward we will clamp down on petty, nasty or vindictive behaviour (and I hope wholeheartedly that we very rarely have to implement this).
We publish a huge amount of information and encourage our members to influence the direction we take when creating new products. I expect the quid pro quo to be that all members treat other members and the Mod Squad with respect. Please remember also that we have contributors from dozens of nations throughout the world, with differing cultures and many who make the effort to post in English as a foreign language for them. Misunderstandings will happen, but can be dealt with in an adult and respectful way.
We’re in the process of sorting out some stuff that will introduce a bit of new fun and interactivity into the Forum. As soon as I have got my act together, you’ll be the first to hear about this.
The original idea behind the Forum was to give us a direct dialogue with and between our incredible customers. We continue to welcome your critique and suggestions – we are working hard to maintain the Forum as a great place to visit as it grows, so feedback on what we could do better is welcomed.
Thanks to you all for your amazing support, let’s move on to year four of the Forum with renewed energy and positivity, and let’s have lots more fun!
