a moderator question

[Mac Fan]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by wondergirl9847
[B]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew


I am a mod for a Justin Guarini site, and when the administrator asked me to be one, I had NO CLUE what my duties were,
Very cool, indeed.

I didn't either, when I asked Neil if I could be a moderator on his forum.

[wetcamelfood]

Originally posted by Doctor Brown
It started when a member created a chat room in hopes that Mick would use it for his next chat, and was promoting it on the site. He also suggested making tee-shirts and hats for board members. Needless to say the admins frowned upon this type of non-official activity. They feel that it is THEIR job to set up the chat room and determine what if any, merchandise will be created and sold. I doubt that Marty would want anyone to do this type of thing here either.

No posts would be deleted for mentioning a website. There was one thread that was deleted because of the use of profanity.

I hate to see this US against THEM spirit being fostered by some FM fans.

Admittingly, Mick's site is young, and does not have the sophistication in the actual discussion of topics, and some other features that you find here, but it does have it's place. And they are not ogres there.

I know this thread is not meant to be about Mick's site/board but I'd like to reply to this.

Now, don't misunderstand me, I don't LIKE the idea of "us against them" FM fan deal either but it's hard to be on Mick's "side" when everything has been set up at that board specifically so that he doesn't have to talk about the things he doesn't want to (as evident most recently at his chat there). On the contrary, I think they are OVERLY sophisticated in this respect as they know EXACTLY what they are doing wiith the set up over there. Why do they have a problem with anyone going in to that "special" section where ONLY Mick is allowed to post? It's not like he's taking part in any threads, he's just setting up new ones (when he has his "news" or whatever it is that he has/will post(ed) there) so it shouln't really interfere with anything he does when he goes in to do his postings. Why couldn't they just do a straightforward Q & A? or have something set up like the Nicks Fix had with the "ask Stevie" setcion (surely he wouldn't get as many questions as Stevie apparently did since they had to stop her one) as they could have an "ask Mick" section)? I mean, if he suppossedly REALLY wants to "reach out" and "get involved with the fans" and all of that other hogwash they've been trying to feed us is true that is.

Naturally, there would be moderators at such events if they were to happen to make sure nothing pornographic was said/posted etc. (as stated above by Johnny Stew) but I'm sure many fans like me just want to ask innocent factual things such as, more details on say for instance, the recording of post BN and/or Bob Welch era Mac albums but as Mick and/or his people has decided to ignore that these times in FM history ever even existed in the first place, he will not answer such "innocent questions". It's not like we'd want to ask anything about the Bob Weston affair or anything (and if someone did, I personally don't care about that kind of stuff anyways so I'd be OK with it if they decided to edit those kinds of questions out).

Granted, I can see why they were upset about that person wanting to sell Mick stuff at his site and promoting it there (as we all know how much Mick loves his money and wouldn't want others getting what should be his). However, and I can't speak for Marty obviously but, well, maybe I'll just say it this way, I'd be surprised if Marty was upset with someone coming on to the ledge and saying "hey, I set up a chat at my site, here's the link and maybe I can get George Hawkins, Todd Sharp (or anyone else that has done Q & A's here at The Penguin) to come over and join in". Maybe I'm wrong, and if so, I am sorry Marty as I admit, I'm not sure of all the policies as to what is "fair game" for sites etc. but I can't see why that would be upsetting to them. Perhaps he should have asked Knight in a PM if Mick would come over at some point rather than just say that on the board but since it was a "chat" and Mick ignored the things he didn't want to answer at his own chat then why should that one be any different, it's the same as other ones he had done recently (like the one he had done with the UK newspaper "The Sun", etc. and I KNOW those were "selective" questions because he didn't answer any of the "innocent" ones I had submitted to those "chats" and I'd be surprised if I was the only one to ask about non PG/BN era FM related topics, I know they are not considered as "popular" as the PG/BN ones but come on, at least give me that!).

If Mick wants us to be on his "side" then all he has to do is ACTUALLY get involved and not put up an allusion on his site that he's genuinely interested in "getting involved". I guess I just perfer the more direct approach of if he really DOESN'T want to get involved that he would just say so, then fine, we'd know where we stand but what's the point of wasting everyone's time by trying to get them to believe that he wants to "get us what we want" when we know (or it sure is pretty obvious) that it's not what he wants.

I visit his site less and less now so I'm not going to play games of placing "hey here's the url for fleetwoodmac.net come on over and check it out" posts to see if they will delete them or not but if anyone else has time to do this then please do post this stuff there and let us know if it does get deleted or not as I'd be interested to see if they would or not as I'd have to go by the philosophy of "I'll believe it when I see it" if they don't take out a "direct plug of an unofficial site" like that as OK, I'm sure there are links to The Penguin and other FM related sites there but I doubt many of us have time to weed through golfing posts to find them (as them being "buried" like that are probably the only reason they still exist in there but hopefully a glimmer of light will come through if someone does go there and post a "direct plug" thread there and they leave it alone, I hope they will.

I don't say any of this to try and get anyone to "think like me" as I probably am in the minority as it does seem that many do like the the site/board/club etc. (the last time I was there I noticed that many "people" that had posted that they like the idea of the fan club and have no problem with the price (or that "it is steep but" they will "save up" for it "because they love Mick (etc.)") all only have only like 1 or 2 posts each. Could it be that Mick's people are going in as "different people" and saying they are fans and that they like all of this stuff to try to get "actual" people to think that they should think positively about this? Just an idea) but as positive feelings about Mick and his site/board have been expressed here, I just wanted to say my feelings. I am glad for those of you that are happy with his site/board/club but I just personally don't think they are being very understanding to FM's blue collar fans who live "from check to check" and are simply not (and will never be) in the financial position to "save up" for a "steep" fan club for which there is a CHANCE they will get "good" tickets for a show, a Mojo CD that will eventually come out in some other form (as I was told by Knight in a PM) anyways and not much else to speak of. As I say though, I'm glad some of you are happy with his site/board/club etc., my "negative" thoughts aren't meant as persuasive, it's JMHO.

John