What happened to BOI????

I'm seeing two discussions here:

1. Whether the BOI should be continued due to legal liability issues (which I am not qualified to comment on)

2. How to get people to become contributing members (which I do have some ideas about)

So, on point 2, I can think a few ways that might prompt those of us who thought membership was "Just for the traders" to put our $25 in (as I have finally done). As I am a computer retard I have no way to know which is feasible, but this site seems very technically able to me, and I'm sure Rich can work out what's do-able without taking days of time to set up.

Putting something on your signature (Thanks Mooing Tricycle!) to encourage lurkers reading threads to join.

Putting a short automatic response out to new people introducing themselves in the new members room which both greets them and gives a short (one paragraph?) explanation of how the site is maintained and the importance of contributing.

Similarly, setting up an automatic contribution request to people after they have made more than a certain number of posts (maybe 50?) so that you are targeting those who are demonstrably interested in being active on the site.

I'm sure there are more: maybe this needs a new thread to discuss away from the BOI debate?

Sorry, Allen, but I'm not too keen on your idea. What keeps people upset over something stupid and pointless (i.e. a bad buyer) from giving terrible feedback? I realize if most customers are happy the seller should have a majority of good feedback, but if we can't see why people didn't like the transaction, then what good is it? I'm sorry, but I don't trust people. I want to hear both sides of the story and I want to see how both sides behave. Then I can make my own decision as to whether to purchase from the seller or not. For example, there are a few people around here who have good reputations, but I would never buy from them because of their attitude.

Also, you might want to go into detail about what your "verification process" would be. Angry people will jump through all manner of hoops just to make themselves look better or to continue scamming other people. I think the only thing that would keep the majority of people from making alt accounts is to charge a fee to make a new account, and even that won't always work.

As for some of the other recommendations about making it easier to figure out how to contribute (by making a sticky) or whatever, it's not going to work. People are lazy and they refuse to READ. No matter what online community I've visited, the vast majority of the users never read stickies, never try to figure things out on their own, and never use the SEARCH FEATURE to try to find threads where perhaps someone else has already asked their question. No offense intended to those who have had trouble, but it is very, very easy to figure out how to contribute--you just have to be willing to spend a couple minutes looking for it.

I'm not going to get my hopes up that people are going to come out of the woodwork to support the BOI. All people ever do--for the most part--is take stuff for granted and whine when either (1) they suddenly have to pay a pittance to keep the thing going or (2) the thing gets shut down because no one would support it. You'd think people would learn after a while, but no, they keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Good people just continually get taken advantage of, and then when the good people say, "screw it," then the good people suddenly become the enemy.

My suggestions:

1. If nothing else, please keep the BOI as a read-only archive.
2. Do what will make you happy, Rich. If that means saying, "screw it," and leaving the entire site, then by all means, do so. Many of us will be sad, yes, but you shouldn't have to make your life miserable to make the whiny 90% happy.

Originally Posted by xanaxez

You're right. i am not a paying member but i paid and sent out letters just liek alot of other non paying members did. i also signed all petitions. i called the news channels in my area and even did an interview with one that aired it on the news so the remark majikal made was useless and absurd. just because some dont pay to be a member of a site doesnt mean they dont contribute to the hobby in some way. if they feel that just because they sent in a few petitions and payed to be a member of a site makes them above others and able to talk trash to the ones that dont pay only shows how ignorant they truely are. i spent my share of money and did my share of fighting for my hobby just as alot of others did that arent paying members so we are just as good as the paying members in my eyes. i guess majikal thinks he/she was the only one in the fight and won it all by themselfs.

Let me again say that what I said was directed at the people Ken commented on. The ones who have been in the discussions all along knowing the BOI needs help to survive and have refused to do something, letting the rest of us do it so they can continue to enjoy it for free.

What's you not being able to comprehend what you read got to do with me?

To those who have contributed since this started - THANK YOU!

Sheesh... I had to set up a pseudo BOI forum just to point it to this thread. Getting tons of emails from people wanting to know why they were banned or blocked from the BOI.

As for the offer to buy this site, seriously, just based on the comment that people were willing to pitch in a few hundred dollars towards that goal plainly tells me that the only intent for buying this place would be to scuttle it. Otherwise you would know that the cost of getting a site to have anywhere near the traffic it is getting would be astronomical, and even then no guarantee that your money would reach the goal you seek. I had a guy approach me a while back about buying this site. Offered me $1,000. He got a little offended when I laughed at his offer. So he raised the offer to $5,000. Well he got pissed at me because I was still laughing.....

No, the site isn't for sale. That's not to say the someone offering me REALLY big bucks wouldn't change my mind, but I don't even have a suspicion of a hope that such an offer will ever be forthcoming.

And as for someone doing a better job then me here and having the brains and management skills to make this into something better than I have been able to do, well, good luck with that. I've seen MANY sites start up that thought they could do that and where are they now? If there was a better way, I think I would have thought of it and tried it. Lord knows I've tried everything I have been able to think of, but when push comes to shove, I honestly believe the absolute best way for this site is just the way I am doing it now. Basically a benign dictatorship with a slight attitude towards malicious assholes (pardon my french...).

In any event, sure, throw me a SERIOUSLY hefty offer and we'll talk. Otherwise you may as well get the idea out of your head that I will sell this site for a song just so you can have some cronies pat you on the back and congratulate you because you were able to buy your way into scuttling the BOI for a song. Ain't going to happen, captain. I only SEEM to be stupid at times....

Obviously stopping the BOI has worked to draw attention to the issue: so I guess you can conclude there definitely is a want to keep it going. Seems like a good time to start an aggressive membership drive to me.

Sheesh... I had to set up a pseudo BOI forum just to point it to this thread. Getting tons of emails from people wanting to know why they were banned or blocked from the BOI.

And the first thing they see is that I am grading crappy student papers that make me want to hurl! Hope that doesn't deter people from reading! LOL

So if this time out from BOI generates a lot of sponsorship, it is bound to be a crisis boost. The real question then is how to keep sponsorship up without using hard love.

I really can't contribute until after the 25th, but I don't want BOI to go away.

Back to the papers . . .

Ken your response is another fine example of what I am telling you. Brother I don't need help buying a site. You probably got a kudo or something for your post but that is the crap people are sick of.
Cheryl laugh to the bank. That is what I have been doing for years now while everyone slammed me for saying that yes I am in this industry to make money. Wow what a concept. I think Rich finally gets it. Wonder how long it will take you or anyone else to realize that if it don't make money it don't make sense(cents)
Looking at the BOI from the outside looking in, it has potential. Who knows my idea may fail, but it has just as good a chance at working. Either way you will not see me coming on a site threatening and pleading for help. I would give the site the financial backbone that it needs to weather the turnaround. The problem is not an easy fix, and will take time and money to overcome. However the solution will come. I am not saying that I would get rid of the threads in the boi. I would however listen to the advice of several lawyers. Great to have a judge in the family. The legal liability would be the deciding factor.
I will say it again, the BOI has a place in our industry and by changing the format of how it is used, I think it would be a great site. I am willing to put my money up to prove that I feel this way. As many others are showing, I will not put the money up to support the site the way it is being ran now. Where someone who's buddy's, girlfriends, dad's, best friends friend said that he got a raw deal from person X about a snake that he saw someone else buy. See that is so silly you will have to read it 4 times to understand part of it.
Drama not Karma.
Another post on last page is a great example as well. The guy don't know me or has never done business with me. However is saying that he knows enough because of the bad karma score. Grow Up! I am sure if you will watch that score it will rise more soon after this post. But only because I will not sit back and let Rich think that the economy or any factor other than the childlike behavior that has transpired here has driven the site to where it is now.
So why me? Why say these things?
Nothing personal to Rich. Don't really know the man, Heck I might even would like him. I am all business. I see a need for something like the BOI to be in the industry. The truth is that the masses some have refered to are speaking out and they are not being heard as much as they are being felt. It is just what I have been saying for several years now. There are a handful of people here (you put your own number on what a handful is) that like the way the site is ran. They love being able to say whatever and have the so what attitude, because they are in the pack. The word wolfpack brings out both defense and laughter from the people involved. It is their way of feeling like they are somebody in this industry. They live for the drama and suspense of being judge, jury and at times even exocutionor. This will soon stop reguardless of me buying the site or not. People talk about buying the old records. If Rich is in hot water over what is said in there, don't you think as new owner you would be putting yourself at risk as well?
I am putting my money where my mouth is that's all!
Allen Belcher 706-615-4772

Originally Posted by WebSlave

So he raised the offer to $5,000. Well he got pissed at me because I was still laughing.....

Then you must be making a ton of dough off this site to turn down 5K only to keep your "headache" of a site running. Frankly, all the hits in the world mean nothing unless you can turn those hits into dollar signs and you keep saying that they are not enough dollar signs. So which is it? Moneymaker, headache or pride: 'I'm keeping this headache because I am the only one qualified to run it"

wouldn't it be possible for people to subscribe to such a forum there are enough people even for a small fee would carry itself and more I imagine. How else are people to help contribute to the site???

Rich I have asked for you to contact me where we can talk about price and details. Instead you want to mock and make fun of an offer for 5k. Which by the way was not me. Stop boasting to your peeps and swallow that big ball of pride. Pick up the phone. The only time I think about you and the word stupid in the same sentence is when you post up crap like this instead of calling me and getting real. While some people might call you and offer you money on your snakes or your site, that is not me. It is yours I will listen to your offer and I have several financial questions for you and then base my decision on the facts and the numbers. Don't treat me like a fool and I won't treat you like one. I hope you don't expect us to do this over this thread! If you are serious about selling call me. If not I will take this as one of the many pleas I have seen to get a bit more money from people. Also don't call with an attitude you can have that here on your site, not on my dime. Your very own actions displayed in the last post is exactly what is driving the many in the industry not to support you. The post is that of a school boy running to tell everyone what he did or did not do to gain respect or appreciation from his buddies.
Sad thing is that your buddies can not or either will not carry your burden. So we have here one of two evils, either broke busted and disguisted or stupid.
I will wait to determine which it is as I see how this story unfolds.
Allen Belcher 706-615-4772