NaCl_H2O
Thu, 23rd Mar 2006, 08:27 PM
I think it is time for “The State of MAASTville”, please hold your questions until the end of the speech :P
There is a fair amount of PM traffic to BOD members, posts, and just general “anxiety” we would like to try and address. Most of this centers around: 1) Reedneck Reefers, 2) Censorship, and 3) How the new BOD has “Changed” MAAST. I’ll try to take these as separate topics, but please pardon me when I drift :roll
Redneck Reefers: Well, I guess I’ll start a bit prior to the birth of RnR. The 2006 MAAST elections, Pete’s quitting the MAAST BOD, the period afterwards when we had to rebuild the BOD, assign new BOD officers, and the activity that preceded the launch of RnR was not a pleasant experience for MAAST or the BOD. The launch of RnR started with content on their site that the BOD and many MAAST members felt was offensive and derogatory towards MAAST. That short period of time established some hard feelings on both sides, and feelings of animosity were established. A great deal of that animosity remains both among BOD members and Web/Charter members. In past weeks, RnR seems to have settled down and the “MAAST Bashing” appears to have ceased. Remember that RnR was formed to provide the hobbyist community with an alternative site, for members that felt MAAST “was not for them”, so the anti-MAAST content was not completely unexpected. Furthermore, some RnR members frequent both sites and find it necessary to fuel this animosity whenever possible. The new MAAST moderators are working to deal with this, and we have already banned two members that were contributing very negatively to MAAST. Banning is not taken lightly by the BOD, but these measures will continue as warranted.
So, we can choose to continue to let this animosity grow, or we can move on. Pete and RnR have built a site for hobbyists that enjoy a different type of content, different social atmosphere, different goals, and (somewhat) different membership. Yes it is true that they “Compete” with MAAST for members, sponsors, etc., but this is “America”! That said, the MAAST BOD is not rolling over: we won’t tolerate bashing (in either direction), links to the RnR site (due to content), and we fully intend to continue building MAAST on the foundation that has been built. The BOD struggles immensely to set aside this animosity, but we must in order to concentrate on our goals and our members … we hope our members will follow our lead!
Censorship: Hmm, it sounds so “bad” when you think of it that way! :angry This is America, we have rights, a “bill of rights”, we are going to burn our Bras! Oops, wrong speech :blush For many members it appears that this “censorship” is a new thing, but in reality our “Terms of Use” have remained unchanged since MAAST was founded. There have been periods of time when these were more strongly enforced, and times when they were enforced very little. Last year MAAST was a bit more lax in enforcing these, but when I joined MAAST in 2003 the boards were far cleaner and rarely did “flame wars” break out. This may have been due to active moderators (Don’t know, I wasn’t involved then), or it could have simply been a smaller membership that had become comfortable with one another. MAAST grew tremendously during the past two years, and with that came new unfamiliar members and conflict. This renewed “censorship” is simply the BOD “doing their job” as specified in the “By-Laws” and “Terms of Use”. Topics and polls in the Charter Member’s forum (Yes, there is a “secret” forum only for Charter members) during the past six months or so indicates that a majority of our Charter Members do actually support these concepts, and thus the BOD’s renewed dedication to enforce them. Do our Web Members agree with these concepts? Maybe not to the extent that the Charter membership does, but it is appropriate for the BOD to listen to those members that choose to support MAAST financially and through volunteer activities. All members have the option to join as a Charter member and thus have greater influence on the future of MAAST.
How the new BOD has “Changed” MAAST: Well thank you! ;) I believe most of the negative connotation here comes from the censorship topic above. Again, this is nothing new, just “Renewed”, and at the request of a majority of our Charter members. MAAST’s goals are somewhat philanthropic, that being to: “1. Encourage the growth of the marine aquarium hobby in South Texas;”, and “2. Educate and inform members and the public about care, keeping and propagation of marine invertebrates and fish”.
MAAST isn’t a “social club”, and it is not meant to be a place where members can vent their anxiety at the expense of other members. However, the social aspects and stress relieving aspects of a club such as MAAST can be a VERY positive side benefit … when things are being managed to achieve this environment, and that is exactly how the BOD is attempting to “Change” MAAST. Getting back to what members refer to as the “old MAAST”. Again, when I joined MAAST in 2003, I spent hours on-line openly discussing reef related topics, and “contributing” to a few off-color threads where we had a little fun … but it was clean and respectful fun.
I hope this message serves to focus our members on the goals of the BOD, helps to settle some frustrations, and answer a few questions. All the answers are not here, but I will be glad to address other question either in this thread or via PM. Please keep it clean, the moderators are watching and I don’t want to get banned ;)
Finally, the BOD is also working on publishing some “what’s going on behind-the-scenes information”, which will be forthcoming in the Charter’s forum in the near future.
Thanks for reading … any questions?
There is a fair amount of PM traffic to BOD members, posts, and just general “anxiety” we would like to try and address. Most of this centers around: 1) Reedneck Reefers, 2) Censorship, and 3) How the new BOD has “Changed” MAAST. I’ll try to take these as separate topics, but please pardon me when I drift :roll
Redneck Reefers: Well, I guess I’ll start a bit prior to the birth of RnR. The 2006 MAAST elections, Pete’s quitting the MAAST BOD, the period afterwards when we had to rebuild the BOD, assign new BOD officers, and the activity that preceded the launch of RnR was not a pleasant experience for MAAST or the BOD. The launch of RnR started with content on their site that the BOD and many MAAST members felt was offensive and derogatory towards MAAST. That short period of time established some hard feelings on both sides, and feelings of animosity were established. A great deal of that animosity remains both among BOD members and Web/Charter members. In past weeks, RnR seems to have settled down and the “MAAST Bashing” appears to have ceased. Remember that RnR was formed to provide the hobbyist community with an alternative site, for members that felt MAAST “was not for them”, so the anti-MAAST content was not completely unexpected. Furthermore, some RnR members frequent both sites and find it necessary to fuel this animosity whenever possible. The new MAAST moderators are working to deal with this, and we have already banned two members that were contributing very negatively to MAAST. Banning is not taken lightly by the BOD, but these measures will continue as warranted.
So, we can choose to continue to let this animosity grow, or we can move on. Pete and RnR have built a site for hobbyists that enjoy a different type of content, different social atmosphere, different goals, and (somewhat) different membership. Yes it is true that they “Compete” with MAAST for members, sponsors, etc., but this is “America”! That said, the MAAST BOD is not rolling over: we won’t tolerate bashing (in either direction), links to the RnR site (due to content), and we fully intend to continue building MAAST on the foundation that has been built. The BOD struggles immensely to set aside this animosity, but we must in order to concentrate on our goals and our members … we hope our members will follow our lead!
Censorship: Hmm, it sounds so “bad” when you think of it that way! :angry This is America, we have rights, a “bill of rights”, we are going to burn our Bras! Oops, wrong speech :blush For many members it appears that this “censorship” is a new thing, but in reality our “Terms of Use” have remained unchanged since MAAST was founded. There have been periods of time when these were more strongly enforced, and times when they were enforced very little. Last year MAAST was a bit more lax in enforcing these, but when I joined MAAST in 2003 the boards were far cleaner and rarely did “flame wars” break out. This may have been due to active moderators (Don’t know, I wasn’t involved then), or it could have simply been a smaller membership that had become comfortable with one another. MAAST grew tremendously during the past two years, and with that came new unfamiliar members and conflict. This renewed “censorship” is simply the BOD “doing their job” as specified in the “By-Laws” and “Terms of Use”. Topics and polls in the Charter Member’s forum (Yes, there is a “secret” forum only for Charter members) during the past six months or so indicates that a majority of our Charter Members do actually support these concepts, and thus the BOD’s renewed dedication to enforce them. Do our Web Members agree with these concepts? Maybe not to the extent that the Charter membership does, but it is appropriate for the BOD to listen to those members that choose to support MAAST financially and through volunteer activities. All members have the option to join as a Charter member and thus have greater influence on the future of MAAST.
How the new BOD has “Changed” MAAST: Well thank you! ;) I believe most of the negative connotation here comes from the censorship topic above. Again, this is nothing new, just “Renewed”, and at the request of a majority of our Charter members. MAAST’s goals are somewhat philanthropic, that being to: “1. Encourage the growth of the marine aquarium hobby in South Texas;”, and “2. Educate and inform members and the public about care, keeping and propagation of marine invertebrates and fish”.
MAAST isn’t a “social club”, and it is not meant to be a place where members can vent their anxiety at the expense of other members. However, the social aspects and stress relieving aspects of a club such as MAAST can be a VERY positive side benefit … when things are being managed to achieve this environment, and that is exactly how the BOD is attempting to “Change” MAAST. Getting back to what members refer to as the “old MAAST”. Again, when I joined MAAST in 2003, I spent hours on-line openly discussing reef related topics, and “contributing” to a few off-color threads where we had a little fun … but it was clean and respectful fun.
I hope this message serves to focus our members on the goals of the BOD, helps to settle some frustrations, and answer a few questions. All the answers are not here, but I will be glad to address other question either in this thread or via PM. Please keep it clean, the moderators are watching and I don’t want to get banned ;)
Finally, the BOD is also working on publishing some “what’s going on behind-the-scenes information”, which will be forthcoming in the Charter’s forum in the near future.
Thanks for reading … any questions?