The debate board.. please read

[RachelEllen]

Originally posted by momof3disneyholics
Ok, I just don't get it. This is Pete's board. He can do what he wants. Be glad its here. If you want to go crazy on the debates then find somewhere else to go.
I love this board. I spend sometimes over 4 hours a days on here. I love the fellowship and companionship I get when I come here. This place is a real phenomenon!!! I feel like I "know" some of these people and I feel like I have real friends on here. People I may never meet have touched my life, given me advice on my kids and taken my advice on their pets, showed me their garden and remodeling photos, let me watch their children grow, made me actually look forward to that next picture and feel joy for them.
I came here looking for Disney advice. What I found was so much more. Here is a group of people just like me! Everyone loves Disney like I do. Noone here is going to shake their heads and look at me like I'm crazy when I talk about planning my 5th Disney trip this year. You feel me, you know what I'm thinking. Most people I know in the real world have only been to Disney once if any at all, and most can't carry on a conversation with me about it. I love Disney and here I feel like I have people who can understand and relate to me.
So, what if we want to start talking about "soccer mom" fluff. It's this kind of stuff that brings us closer together.

Maybe you understand better than you think. I also started out on this board for disney planning questions. After a while, you learn what you need to know, and those boards aren't as informative. I found a really interesting community at the debate board. I'm a pretty infrequant poster, but I read the board almost daily. I think you expressed community really well in your post, and that's what the debate board was to many people who posted there, a community. A really different community than the this board, but that's why it's felt as such a loss.

So, different people from the debate board are reacting differntly. Some complaining, some not posting at all, some angry, some just sad. But I think there would be upset too if this board just went away. So while I have no illusions that there is some 'right to the debate board', and it's completely up to the board owner's what is posted, I've got some compassion for people who are upset.

Anyhow, thanks for the several years of debate board we did have! I learned a lot. I had some great discussions at home out of the issues. And I probablely stuck my foot in my mouth several times. It will be missed.

Rachel

 

[BostonTigger]

Originally posted by WebmasterKelsie
In all fairness to Alex, he did not make this decision alone. As he stated, it was a "management' decision.

That's fine, but he still has the power to create and 'de' create at will...after all, it is his little world.

 

[RobinMarie]

Just curious,

I understand removing the debate board was a management decision. Was any consideration given to those who pay to sponsor these boards? I'm wondering how those who used the debate board often, and paid for sponsorship, were considered in the decision.

I'll miss the debate board, I often read posts but did not reply because it would have seemed redundant. I do wish there was a better way to moderate a debate board rather than eliminate it.

 

[DSNY FN]

Still a big joke IMHO. Closing the DB was a mistake.

 

[ear_poppin]

Ive just posted on the other thread. In fact a lot of the militants demanding " rights " for the debate board were not even sponsers!!!

 

[jrydberg]

Ok, let's be clear. No one has demanded anything. No one has asserted that they have a fundamental right to debate here. We are not militants -- simply some folks who are upset because they took away our little hangout in the community. Is that so difficult to fathom?

As for sponsorship, I'm sure there are DBers who sponsor the site. I'm not one of them since I just found the site a little over a month ago and certainly want to know the place better before I shell out $$$ for it.

 

[Brer_Papa]

Being a sponsor doesn't give a person any more "rights" to post than a "non-sponsor" does it? ...or did i miss something?

At this point, I am a "non-sponsor"...and so are you ear_poppin.....

sorry...I just don't see the point you are trying to make.....unless you are saying survival of any board will depend on the ratio of "sponsor vs. non-sponsor" posters....

 

[ear_poppin]

At this point, I am a "non-sponsor"...and so are you ear_poppin.....

No that is right but then I am not slating the Dis for removing the debate board.

If you read some of the posts there are people stating the debate board is their "right"...no it is not their right....it is a commercial operation. No one has any right to do any thing if the webmasters says no!

 

[froglady]

Originally posted by Van Helsing


I hope in some way my posts made some people take their rose coloured glasses off. And i personally have come away thinking i've learned some new things.

Another "here, here."

Although I had my share of people calling my remarks "stupid" (or more often, just ignoring them completely) I had respect for many of the posters, even when I didn't agree with them. It certainly made me think about issues that I wouldn't ordinarily consider, and also made me examine some of my opinions. Heck, it even got me to change my lifestyle and lose that weight that I was "genetically" destined to carry.

I guess my mean side will have to go back into hiding.

 

[Brer_Papa]

Originally posted by ear_poppin
No that is right but then I am not slating the Dis for removing the debate board.

neither am I...I already posted that it within the perogatives of the powers that be to add or delete boards...

I am having difficulty understanding why sponsorship has any bearing on the discussion at hand...

perhaps your comments inferred being a "non-sponsor" makes me a second class citizen here...

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by BostonTigger
We all mourn the loss of the DB....

...................

 

[DSNY FN]

That is the way I am reading it to Brer Papa and if that is the case then there are alot of on here that are like that and that could be an issue on it's own. I have never felt like that at all so I have no idea why the sponsor thing is really and issue here.

 

[sha_lyn]

I find it ironic that a non sponsor is voicing their opinion that other non sponsors don't have a right to their own opinions.

 

[RobinMarie]

By bringing up the sponsorship issue, I really was just curious if sponsors were considered.

It was not my intent to say non-sponsors are less entitled. In fact, I believe I have contributed in some way by booking through Dreams Unlimited more than once.

However, I would be disappointed had I become a sponsor who enjoyed having the debate board only to have it removed.

 

[Penny12]

Originally posted by BostonTigger
That's fine, but he still has the power to create and 'de' create at will...after all, it is his little world.

BostonTigger, with comments like that it's obvious that it's not Alex in his own little world

Re-read what Kelsie said - this was not Alex's decision but a management one. It was something Pete and the Assistant Webmasters debated, uh, discussed ( ) at great length - we didn't just wake up on Friday morning and say 'Hey, I feel like canning the DB today, how about it guys?'

You may not have liked the DB - fine.

You may not like the DB being removed - fine.

But let's get one thing straight here - it was a team decision - so quit shooting down the messenger, ok?

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by hrh_disney_queen
Actually, I saw a thread on the CB where other posters just about ripped a guy to shreds, so nowhere is safe....

 

[sha_lyn]

It was not my intent to say non-sponsors are less entitled. In fact, I believe I have contributed in some way by booking through Dreams Unlimited more than once.

You were not the one I was referring to by any means.

I too have used DU... and have used the services of some of the companies that sponsor the DIS... I really don't get the point of sponsoring anyway. Isn't part of the reason this site here to help generate business for DU? It's like the local B-B-Q place that sells pigs for people to put their names on, then they all go on a hill behind the restaurant. Basically they are asking the customers to pay for their advertising and their gimmick that at tracks more customers.

 

[DSNY FN]

Ya i do believe the thread was about how teens and so on dress with low ride pants and belly shirts I was the guy getting clobbered on the thread so you are right no where is safe just double standards is all it seems like to me.

 

[onecoolmama]

I remember a thread on the CB that attacked all the northeasterners! LOL! But, if I remember correctly..this person was sooo unhappy. She didn't liek her life at all...so again, thick skin and no hard feelings!

 

[DSNY FN]

So WMP why not a little advance warning about the closure of the DB atleast then it wouldn't have been a shock to everyone that hung out there when we went to check in and found it not accesible etc. Just to quick onthe trigger I think. I also have some PM's from Alex that are not less than admirable IMHO but that is not the topic here. Just like my signature lines being fine for 6 months or more then I start to post about my dislike of the loss of the DB and I get a message about how my sig is to long and then it was gone. Now I looked around and there are lots that were larger than mine and they have no warnings etc so what gives. I just feel it was all done in haste and we should have been warned of the pending closure of the board etc it would have made it a little easier to accept.