Board Direction

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Posted By: barrysloate

Hi Leon,
As you know I have taken a sabbatical from the board due to an unkind and unprovoked personal attack against me, but hey, you can't hold a grudge forever and I told you I would come back again one day, so now is as good a time as any. What is my opinion about all this? For starters, go back to one board. I know you want to focus mostly on cards but you have a large group of lurkers and posters with a diverse area of interests, and people have a right to participate in any topic that is of interest to them. It is likely the majority of posts will be about vintage cards anyway, since vintage cards are so popular today. If collectors have other interests, let them express themselves as they choose. This is what they most enjoy to do. Each thread has a title and everyone recognizes from a cursory glance whether or not it is a subject that appeals to them. It only takes a few seconds, and then one can just move on to a new one. As far as the personal attacks, while I find them abhorent and infantile, I don't think they are going to go away unless you Leon wave your magic wand and with a press of the delete button make them disappear. You can't change someone's demeanor, but as owner you can make them disappear. You might even want to turn the board into a police state, and make collectors disappear, never to be heard from again, but perhaps that is a bit too severe. As far as personal attacks go, I have been reading the Josh Evans and Dave Bushing posts closely. Are those personal or professional attacks? A little of both I guess, but do you delete them? I don't think so, because those who read them will learn a great deal about the business and about human nature, too. So what's my conclusion? Go back to one board, rule with a gentle hand, but feel free to pull the plug on anything that hurts someone personally and at the same time offers nothing worthwhile to the reader. I too will disappear again, for good this time, if I am attacked in the manner that I was. And I think you might consider banning posters who offer nothing useful and are on the board merely to vent their spleen, air their personal frustrations, and make a fool of themselves. We talked about this, it's in your hands. Your friend, Barry