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Posted By: Joann

Barry - I agree it's speculation, but I do think it's highly likely. This board has a reputation and great status and momentum. It is likely to be around for a very long time. I am assuming that the board will be here after Leon leaves and even several moderators after that.

At some point, it's hard not to imagine that the banner ads will come into play in a big way. We just don't see it now b/c Leon is being so reponsible about it. I think that his behavior in this situation is actually highly unusual in that we probably could not expect most people, including future mods, to do the same.

I look at this as a transition time. The board, going back to fullcount days, has always had the feel of a co-op and community, with the moderator being a position of trust and not necessarily the owner in the strictest sense.

With Leon being moderator, it still has that co-op kind of air to it. But with banner ads the foundation is in place for it to become less homey and more commercial. With Leon in place, we have both - ads and informal feel. I'm not sure such stewardship will be that easy to find in the future, and the ads will already be in place.

And a few people have commented in this thread that have started participating in the board more recently. Comments like "this is Leon's board and he can do what he wants with it", and "Leon is the owner and he can do what he wants and you can leave if you don't like it" scare me quite a bit.

Even though this is, in a technical sense, Leon's board, it has never felt like that to us and he's never acted that way (note that even the banner ads were open for discussion, and he only moved forward after the majority of the board said no problem). This board has been passed down from person to person, and the moderator is a position of trust and respect of the community - not an "owner" who can do as he pleases.

Thankfully, Leon acts like it's a position of trust. We may not be so lucky next time, especially now that there will be money involved in the position. Leon took it because he loved the hobby and was willing to put the time into it. He loved it so much he'd do it for free! lol. What's not to doubt about that motive?? What will the motive of the next moderator be?

J

Oh - and PS, (no, not PS as in PostScript, PS as in Peter Spaeth!) I know we can vote with our feet - that is true. But as mentioned above this board has reputation and momentum that will be hard to break, and hard to get everyone moving elsewhere, especially if the change to a more commerical air is gradual. As also mentioned above, we already have newcomers saying it's Leon's board and he can do what he wants. I don't really remember people saying that a lot in the past about moderators. Maybe I missed it.

I guess I'm just kind of a throwback in this sense. Freedoms in the world are often surrendered voluntarily and over time, not taken by force. Stupid analogy, but I do think of it when I hear comments like that. So voting with our feet would certainly be possible, but probably difficult to do and maybe even difficult to see when the need has arisen, exactly.