Forum moderators

admin

Hi guys - just a quick one; due to a couple of disagreements over direction, we've had to make the decision to relinquish Tim of his joint Admin status but he remains Moderator, should he so choose, and a valued member.

Tim's contribution has been huge and, in particular, we thank him for the valued work he's done on the technical side over the past months.

Finally, just to let you know, Kelsey has kindly agreed to manage any technical issues over the next few weeks.

Any probs/questions - send me a pm!

cheers
A

galumay

Whoa, thats a bit of a shock. Not sure how I feel about that!

RichardM

The work that Tim has put in to this site has been massive. I have 100% faith in Kelsey, but as someone said recently "there is way too much politics in Coffee!". Without knowing the details (though I can guess based on a thread that is now missing), let's hope Tim stays around as such an active participant and rolemodel for the kind of friendly, non judging participation that should be shown on all community driven sites such as these.

galumay

Without speculating too wildly, if in fact the issue relates to the deleted tamper thread, then its potentially another case of the problem of having sponsors with a financial interest in the site. We have seen the massive problems this has caused on the commercial site Coffee Snobs, but even a community forum like this is not immune from them once sponsors get involved. Thats the end of my wild speculation!

Lacehim

admin wrote:

Hi guys - just a quick one; due to a couple of disagreements over direction

Ashley, Is it possible to know the direction it's going in?

RichardM

Lacehim wrote:

Ashley, Is it possible to know the direction it's going in?

Let's self moderate here....and give everyone involved the benefit of the doubt until we hear the full story, hey?

admin

Ok guys, here goes... basically the thread of conversations leading up to this are in the Private [Mod discussion] thread, but if all Mods agree, I

galumay

Thanks for the update, I guess it raises a couple of questions, firstly the need for clarity about the rules regarding commercial postings from non sponsors, especially where a poster may be a supplier to retailers who are sponsors. (those rules may already be clear, i havent looked in that detail.) Secondly, if in fact Tim made himself an 'Admin' without the knowledge of the forum operational group, then he can hardly be surprised if they remove that access. Especially if he used that access in order to do something that was not within the rules. I guess my concern is that we have all seen how much Tim has contributed to the forum, so hopefully he is happy to continue that role as a part of the moderator team. I do appreciate the open discussion on such matters, its not easy to do without creating a shit storm and I hope people are at least respectful of the openness and avoid any personal stuff. In life we do have disagreements with our partners, workmates, children, friends etc and the mark of maturity is the ability to focus on the issue and not the person and find a way to move forward constructively.

admin

Hi mate, bottom line is - this is as close to a non-commercial forum as any forum can be - we only have the few [highly valued] sponsors mentioned below... policy is that there are no commercial postings otherwise... yes, do hope Tim would like to continue in his original mod role, but that's his decision. A

galumay

Thats pretty clear then Ashley, lets get back to talking about coffee then!

Tim

Busy evening with 8 guests here for dinner. At some stage the truth may be allowed. The decision which I supported removing the first thread posted by Greg was fine and if that conversation was printed in full would show that as correct we collectively thought it OTT. The lack of communication by Ashley to a specific question from that member over it I did have a problem with. In that same thread some of Ashleys reasons for that non reply were spelled out. Result is I finished up being emailed by Greg over it. The difference of opinion is far more wide reaching and goes to the heart of the operations of the forum and as there appears to be an issue with trying to have a dialogue of any sort about it in private there is zero point talking about it in public so I wont. The Coffeesnobs like axing of me as programmer and admin it a huge burden lifted off my shoulders. It represents several hundred hours of unpaid work with little recent support from Ashley when asked for him to do a task or participate. Best of luck Kelsey in particular and the rest of the mods in taking this up. As to staying on as a Mod I am yet to decide anything resembling that or the future. Should this be censored in anyway I will be be happy to place it elsewhere as no one side should be allowed to stand against a moderated opinion.

galumay

Thanks for posting your thoughts Tim, I just hope you find a way to continue to make a positive contribution on the forum - whether that is just as a member, or as a moderator. I have been through similar issues in other organisations and its never easy, the important thing is to move on and not let personal differences spoil your happiness or well being, life is too short to let this sort of stuff get to you. I know that personally the hardest thing is the sense that my reputation may be damaged by events like this, time has taught me that this is rarely the case, and the best way to maintain my reputation has been to be positive and happy and get on with life.