Hi Simon and Sandy,

Thanks for sharing those thoughts and observations.... :)

Sandy, you're right about the WE philosophy.... I think that's critical to the success of the forum.... :)

Here's how things began....

When Gordon and I started the forum, we consciously wanted it to be "different" from what is out there.... We specifically didn't want "how do I get a merchant account" type posts, but more "deeper" discussion....

And Gordon posted about his philosophy of WE. It's not about me, it's about US. This is not just a philosophy of the forum.... This is how Gordon approaches everything that I've seen. I've been learning from him. :)

In addition, I also have some previous experience at moderating.... Here's something I learned from that....

I think what can work well is where you have a board with "objective" guidelines. Then people can look at their own posts and have a good idea whether they fit the guidelines of the board or not...

Also, that way people can feel more equal. I'm purposely trying to avoid the "dictator" feel of some boards.... I want you to know that if anything is deleted, it's not due to my whim or someone else's whim, but due to clear and objective guidelines.... You can never completely avoid the "shades of gray," but we try.... :)

We also wanted a positive place to be.... I've seen some other forums degenerate into places where people can get quite vicious, and we definitely want to avoid that! But there's also a flip side....

Different opinions can be very valuable, because then you get several perspectives. So we want people to feel free enough to speak about their true opinions....

Hopefully we can stay in that area in the middle, where disagreements and different opinions are OKAY, but where we keep a close watch so that things don't degenerate into insults and personal attacks....

However, WE is the main philosophy of the board, and WIN/WIN/WIN.... WE can all share and benefit. :) We want EVERYONE to benefit....

And that's the important piece of "practical philosophy" the forum is founded on, and which I learned from Gordon....

Hopefully, it's a place we can share and which we all feel is really OURS.... :)

Dien