WBCCI doesn't own the forums

airedale · 09-23-2009, 09:34 PM

I thought this was very important to read! Seems what we thought, is indeed true.

Quote from: Tom Collier

I received your email regarding your conversation with Mr. Gibson. I regret that the exchange was not polite.

One of the items you mentioned was WBCCI's association with the forum. We are linked to the forum only as a customer and have control only for the rules of our site. WBCCI receives the service, at no cost, as a benefit for our membership. Proceeds from the classified advertisements go to the owner of the forum and not to WBCCI.

Our grievance policy states that a grievance is filed between WBCCI members. Again, I deeply regret that Greg Gibson was rude to you. We would prefer that all our members have good manners and public relations skills. I ask that you please not judge our organization based on the actions of one member.

Sincerely,

Tom Collier

This letter was not sent to myself, however, I was able to see it on the savewally.org forums. I felt the members should know who own the forums!

See more at SAVE WALLY

robandzoe · 09-23-2009, 11:06 PM

wow - I'm so anti this new WBCCI forum.. there's been just something about it since it opened.. and now I know why... does this mean that Greg is the owner? If not owned by the club... then I'm not participating to give someone an income!

airedale · 09-23-2009, 11:31 PM

Very True Rob. Well put!

Blue Pearl · 09-24-2009, 12:54 AM

Just remember folks, Andy makes money on this site, look at all the ads here. I say kudo's to Andy, to be able to make money and give us a great forum. I agree, the WBCCI should own their site. I talked to the International V.P. last week about it and the reason they didn't go with starting their own was cost. This was a way of getting a better forum then they had at no cost to the club.

LI Pets · 09-24-2009, 05:47 AM

That's is not correct ..cost?

They are soooo out of touch with the Internet, advise was offered.

This forum software that we all use cost $180

If the club needs to worry about that cost we all need to know where our dues go.

Gibson is their pet, you always love your pet no matter what they do.

**Janet** · 09-24-2009, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Pearl

Just remember folks, Andy makes money on this site, look at all the ads here. I say kudo's to Andy, to be able to make money and give us a great forum.

Some of the ads here at AIR are rally ads. They are FREE to AIR members - heck we'll even design them for you. The classifieds are also FREE. The key here is to have content that is valuable to members and remembering why we all log in. It's about Airstreams, camping, nice people and having fun.

dwightdi · 09-24-2009, 05:54 AM

The decision was a very unfortunate and uninformed one. It would seem to violate the conflict of interest requirements of the club's bylaws. The donation of the service should be canceled immediately and the club should pay the $500 to own their own forums. Our new forums would be free of ads that benefit only one member and should be moderated only by people who are members.

robandzoe · 09-24-2009, 06:01 AM

Any money made by the forums should be going to the club... not one member.... oh well.. maybe the IBT is using it to pay for their "in the red" costs of International... I won't be paying for that... I'll remain a member, to stay with the WDCU, but not for an International.. until changes are made. I offered some changes to the leadership, but was told I was cheap, and that if I was truly into it, I'd find a way... WRONG answer!

Buttercup · 09-24-2009, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwightdi

The decision was a very unfortunate and uninformed one. It would seem to violate the conflict of interest requirements of the club's bylaws. The donation of the service should be canceled immediately and the club should pay the $500 to own their own forums. Our new forums would be free of ads that benefit only one member and should be moderated only by people who are members.

Actually - The Charlie Burke had a "Zero Cost" option in front of him and he turned it down. I had offered to set up the whole thing for free in lieu of using Mr. Gibson's hosting - all for free in the interest of the club having and owning the whole thing.
The cost - Free. Software - free. Cost of a classified ad to the member - free. Number of "cooperative links to the vendor providing the service - zero. Number of banner ads that help the club - well, that depends of what the club wants.

Here is a question - for those of you actually using the forums, how many of you are getting blank pages or server timeout messages? Well, I as well as a few others are. A very clever girl may have found the answer. Apparently - there is a nice little hack that can target individuals and make them get blank pages, make them wait a long time for a page to load, make the "Server Busy" message pop up and all sorts of nasty things.
I can't prove it, but I suspect that the powers that be over at those forums may have installed that hack and may be using it to target certain users.
The info is HERE.
I have asked Cindy Reed to look into the matter and have given her all of the information.
BTW - If you ARE having trouble using the forums, please let me know by PM'ing me. I am compiling a list of others like myself who may be blocked or otherwise prevented from viewing the forums. I am a member in good standing in the WBCCI - If this is a "member benefit" and if I am indeed being blocked or otherwise screwed with, should I tolerate this?
IF........

65GT · 09-24-2009, 08:36 AM

The sad truth is that the Electronic Communications Chair had a completely ZERO cost option before him, but chose to team up with what was a non-member outside vendor that would ride on the coattails of the WBCCI historic image, reputation and trademark instead.

The club had a no-cost, hi-tech, all-member, 100% WBCCI owned reliable option in front of them, and instead decided to let an individual profit from the venture instead. The WBCCI could still have that FREE forum, complete with pre-approved banner ads that would profit the WBCCI, but this episode is considered closed, and they've finally resigned themselves to the fact that THEY DON'T OWN THEIR OWN FORUMS anymore...

Here's the revealing quote -- courtesy of our current IP...

WBCCI Forums are not WBCCI's

__

Airstream01 · 09-24-2009, 09:45 AM

Meh, its just the internet folks, who really cares who owns it as long as it promotes the club. I suppose I'm just too young to care.

RickDavis · 09-24-2009, 11:51 AM

I am a member of that forum and check it many times a day. I have NEVER had trouble accessing it or received a "server busy" message. It was down several hours this morning for "maintenance and software upgrades"
I hate to think that any member of the public or of the club would be blocked from viewing the public pages however it appears to be happening. This appears to be round 2.

Buttercup · 09-24-2009, 12:38 PM

Yes - and I have just received some more information that the Miserable Users hack is indeed probably installed. Awaiting the proof... What users are attributed, and more importantly, what IP addressses are attributed to those members will be the important key. You can add a user to the forums with any name - say that it was a spammer of sorts and add that to the Miserable users list. And for that user, attribute any IP address - like mine or another outspoken user of the forums - and press the save button. Bam - user effective blocked.
If that is the case, i would be asking for the server logs - the admin logs, the users logs for the forums and I would ask the simple question - why use this hack when you can just ban the IP address? Why screw with people??? Oh wait - I think I know that answer.
I can use a proxy and do to view the forums. It is pretty hard to block them, but there are ways to try. Problem is that eventually, you block the very people you actually WANT to see your forums.
Bottom line is this - it is still Gibson's forums and he can block whomever he wants. What say does WBCCI have?

Over59 · 09-24-2009, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by airedale

I thought this was very important to read! Seems what we thought, is indeed true.

Quote from: Tom Collier

I received your email regarding your conversation with Mr. Gibson. I regret that the exchange was not polite.

One of the items you mentioned was WBCCI's association with the forum. We are linked to the forum only as a customer and have control only for the rules of our site. WBCCI receives the service, at no cost, as a benefit for our membership. Proceeds from the classified advertisements go to the owner of the forum and not to WBCCI.

Our grievance policy states that a grievance is filed between WBCCI members. Again, I deeply regret that Greg Gibson was rude to you. We would prefer that all our members have good manners and public relations skills. I ask that you please not judge our organization based on the actions of one member.

Sincerely,

Tom Collier

This letter was not sent to myself, however, I was able to see it on the savewally.org forums. I felt the members should know who own the forums!

See more at SAVE WALLY

WBCCI not owning their own forum is about the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time. This is what happens at all levels of the club when a handful of people need to keep absolute controll.