Penny and Blue Boy are leaving

[Richard]

Penny and Blue Boy have asked to leave the forum for good on 3rd September.

I personally wish them all the best for the future and am grateful to both of them for their contributions to the forum.

Many of you are asking why threads about them leaving have been deleted.

The reason is that both of these threads starting to drift way off the original topic and started to become personal attacks on me.

I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinions but I do not agree with personal attacks about me in a forum that I own.

Here is a summary:

1. Penny announced she was leaving.

2. Several people said they were sorry to hear that including me.

3. In my post I politely asked her on what date she wanted her forum account closing.

4. I received countless abuse back from other members saying that was not an appropriate thing to say.

5. I responded and said that we had a obligation to remove member personal data on their request under the Data Protection Act and was only acting accordingly.

6. This generated further personal abuse against me.

7. Penny then said she wasn't actually leaving and wanted to post from time to time.

8. I responded and said that was no problem and I was pleased to hear that.

9. More personal abuse came my way and I received several private messages from other members supporting me and saying they thought the thread should be deleted because it had simply turned into an attack against me.

9. I chose to delete the thread for this reason. It ended up being 30% Penny leaving and 70% attacking me.

10. Penny then posted another thread which was a direct personal attack against me and saying she was now leaving forever on 3rd September.

11. Blue Boy then posted a thread saying he was leaving too which then also became a personal attack and so I deleted it.

If anyone chooses to leave the forum forever or for a short time then that is their choosing but I don't think we need a thread each time a member is taking a break or leaving which then just turns into attacks on people.

The Childminding Chat area is for general chat about childminding. It's not for people to say they are leaving or for people to attack me or anyone else.

I have supported this forum for the last few years by being Pauline's largest advertiser and spent thousands of pounds in advertising to help keep the forum going.

I then spent a very significant amount of money buying the forum to ensure it's future and plan to spend more money improving it further for the members such as iimplementing the 'Like' button you all requested and also mobile apps for the iPhone and Andoid.

Running this forum is not cheap. It costs thousands of pounds per year.

Some people seem to really take the forum for granted. They perhaps don't appreciate the amount of work or money involved in keeping it going.

I have said several times the forum will always be free and that there are no plans to charge for it ever. This is my personal guarantee.

As the owner of the forum I do not believe I am god but I think it would nice to have a little respect from the members since it is because of my hard earned money and generosity that you are all able to use this platform to communicate with each other.

Please let's all calm down. The forum is supposed to be fun. and we should keep it that way.

Thanks for all the private messages of support I have received.

Richard

[ziggy]

I dont know the people you mention but its sad to read this

just wanna thank you for this site, without it i would go insane lol

[gegele]

so i go for a bit and this is what happen!!!

i hope we manage to keep the good spirit this forum has always had. come on people play nice.

have a good day

[Richard]

I dont know the people you mention but its sad to read this

just wanna thank you for this site, without it i would go insane lol

Thanks ziggy and thanks for all the nice PM's and emails I have received too.

Richard

[Bear23]

[miss mopple]

All sounds fair enough to me Richard

Haven't been round much to see all the goings on, but as long as the forum is around and is a happy place to be I'd like to stick around and wish you lots of luck in the running of it. I have no issue with change of leadership (I've pondered it alot) but can't be doing with reading threads that turn nasty on anyone.

Lets just get back to the business of childminding everyone and be grateful that we still have a forum on which to chat about it

[Maza]

Thank you for all the hard work you do. I had no idea what was going on but I hope everyone is okay. x

[AliceK]

All sounds fair enough to me Richard

Haven't been round much to see all the goings on, but as long as the forum is around and is a happy place to be I'd like to stick around and wish you lots of luck in the running of it. I have no issue with change of leadership (I've pondered it alot) but can't be doing with reading threads that turn nasty on anyone.

Lets just get back to the business of childminding everyone and be grateful that we still have a forum on which to chat about it

Totally agree
Lets not turn this wonderful forum into the likes of another forum (we all know the one I mean)

xxxxx

[Pauline]

I hope it is ok to stick in my two-penn'oth.

I felt really sorry for Richard yesterday.

It was a Bank Holiday Monday! I am sure he had better things to do with his family on such a day without having to worry about what was happening here.

I know from experience that it can sometimes seem that you spend all your holidays and personal time sorting out problems or having to 'be available' to sort them out and it can get you down, especially when things get personal about you or the way you are running things.

Richard is only human, I don't think any of you realise the amount of work involved in keeping this place going, isn't it time give him a break?

[Richard]

Thank you very much Pauline. I appreciate your support and that of others.

I've had some lovely emails from forum members this morning.

Richard

I hope it is ok to stick in my two-penn'oth.

I felt really sorry for Richard yesterday.

It was a Bank Holiday Monday! I am sure he had better things to do with his family on such a day without having to worry about what was happening here.

I know from experience that it can sometimes seem that you spend all your holidays and personal time sorting out problems or having to 'be available' to sort them out and it can get you down, especially when things get personal about you or the way you are running things.

Richard is only human, I don't think any of you realise the amount of work involved in keeping this place going, isn't it time give him a break?

[VINASOL]

Penny and Blue Boy have asked to leave the forum for good on 3rd September.

I personally wish them all the best for the future and am grateful to both of them for their contributions to the forum.

Many of you are asking why threads about them leaving have been deleted.

The reason is that both of these threads starting to drift way off the original topic and started to become personal attacks on me.

I agree that everyone is entitled to their opinions but I do not agree with personal attacks about me in a forum that I own.

Here is a summary:

1. Penny announced she was leaving.

2. Several people said they were sorry to hear that including me.

3. In my post I politely asked her on what date she wanted her forum account closing.

4. I received countless abuse back from other members saying that was not an appropriate thing to say.

5. I responded and said that we had a obligation to remove member personal data on their request under the Data Protection Act and was only acting accordingly.

6. This generated further personal abuse against me.

7. Penny then said she wasn't actually leaving and wanted to post from time to time.

8. I responded and said that was no problem and I was pleased to hear that.

9. More personal abuse came my way and I received several private messages from other members supporting me and saying they thought the thread should be deleted because it had simply turned into an attack against me.

9. I chose to delete the thread for this reason. It ended up being 30% Penny leaving and 70% attacking me.

10. Penny then posted another thread which was a direct personal attack against me and saying she was now leaving forever on 3rd September.

11. Blue Boy then posted a thread saying he was leaving too which then also became a personal attack and so I deleted it.

If anyone chooses to leave the forum forever or for a short time then that is their choosing but I don't think we need a thread each time a member is taking a break or leaving which then just turns into attacks on people.

The Childminding Chat area is for general chat about childminding. It's not for people to say they are leaving or for people to attack me or anyone else.

I have supported this forum for the last few years by being Pauline's largest advertiser and spent thousands of pounds in advertising to help keep the forum going.

I then spent a very significant amount of money buying the forum to ensure it's future and plan to spend more money improving it further for the members such as iimplementing the 'Like' button you all requested and also mobile apps for the iPhone and Andoid.

Running this forum is not cheap. It costs thousands of pounds per year.

Some people seem to really take the forum for granted. They perhaps don't appreciate the amount of work or money involved in keeping it going.

I have said several times the forum will always be free and that there are no plans to charge for it ever. This is my personal guarantee.

As the owner of the forum I do not believe I am god but I think it would nice to have a little respect from the members since it is because of my hard earned money and generousity that you are all able to use this platform to communicate with each other.

Please let's all calm down. The forum is supposed to be fun. and we should keep it that way.

Thanks for all the private messages of support I have received.

Richard

Richard, I think you need to seriously think about how you are coming across to members in what you do/how you respond. Firstly, none of us were given any indication that the site was being sold (totally understandable move by Pauline); BUT it is been a huge shock for many of the members who have been here for years.

We are all adults here so perhaps rather than just deleting posts that you don't like or think that are attacking you personally (I don't recall blueboy mentioning you by name/didn't get a chance to read the Penny post) without discussion or warning you discuss what is being said. I think that you are being over-sensitive and rather than add fuel to the fire, you need to add a touch of water!

Pauline and Graham were not softies by any means but they would at least respond to a thread before deleting it and giving their reasons for doing so -- you are making people very nervous.

With regards to the logo. No one mentioned it in your survey so you thought that was a negative? In interests of trying to keep everyone calm, would it have killed you to post a thread saying that you wanted to update the site etc etc and ask the people that have used this site for years (who in the main are childminders) to make a comment and feel involved in a site that they have used and loved for many years.

[VINASOL]

As the owner of the forum I do not believe I am god but I think it would nice to have a little respect from the members since it is because of my hard earned money and generosity that you are all able to use this platform to communicate with each other.

Richard

Respect is a two way deal Richard, and certainly respect needs to be earned! I feel this paragraph is insulting quite frankly.

[Richard]

Thanks for your comments.

I will always involve the members in any future big changes. That is why I posted the competition thread asking what eveyone liked about the forum and what they would like improving.

Based on this feedback we are planning to implement the popular suggestions.

[wendywu]

I for one am happy that we still have the forum and it is the best support that i have. I would hate it to close.

I did not realise what had gone on the latter part of yesterday, but Pauline wanted to sell the forum and Richard has bought it. He is very kind in saying that it will always be free and putting in things that we asked for.

So i think we need to draw a line under all this and go on from here xx

[VINASOL]

Sorry you are insulted Vinasol.

I've had lots of nice emails of support this morning.

Would you be interested in buying the forum off me and running it yourself?

If so, please PM to discuss further.

Richard

Actually LET me re-word what I just wrote.

THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!! You can't answer a question can you. You are very sarcastic for no reason. If you can't take constructive critiscim Richard, then perhaps you should have remained behind the scenes where you do not have to have contact with real people.

Yes, let's draw a line under it.

GOODBYE!

[francinejayne]

Oh my goodness, I think I missed it all!

Without knowing the FULL facts it is hard for any of us to comment, however if what Richard is saying is true then I think it is acceptable to delete the offending posts. Perhaps there could have been some notification that this action would be taken, but hindsight is a great thing!

Prior to my life as a childminder I worked as a computer programmer (going slightly off tangent here!) and almost all of the time that I was working on a new computer system, or changes to the original one, the users of the system met me with reluctance and DID NOT want the change to happen at all! People generally are against change - until they realise that actually it isn't so bad after all! Hopefully this is a case of this.

Other than the millions (slight exaggeration) of posts on here saying that the forum will change under the new owners, and the posts attacking the new owners, and the people leaving threads, and the new logo (which by the way was announced on here, so it seems that you can't do right for doing wrong!?), I don't actually see many changes - it still feels like the same forum to me - IF you are able to ignore all of those things I mentioned!

I think everyone needs to blooming well calm down, and try to get on with what this forum is all about - childminding! Being there for each other, supporting each other, helping each other, offering advise and constructive criticism and differing opinions in a polite and respectful way! And long may it continue!

[breezy]

I for one am happy that we still have the forum and it is the best support that i have. I would hate it to close.

I did not realise what had gone on the latter part of yesterday, but Pauline wanted to sell the forum and Richard has bought it. He is very kind in saying that it will always be free and putting in things that we asked for.

So i think we need to draw a line under all this and go on from here xx

here here,

[VINASOL]

I don't think we should talk money in this thread but if you are seriously interested please PM me your offer.

I would consider selling it for what I paid for it plus the legal fees and other costs associated in buying it.

Have a nice day.

Richard

Oh I'm having a fab day already Richard, thank you.

[moogster1a]

Would you be interested in buying the forum off me and running it yourself?

If so, please PM to discuss further.


Gosh, what a horroble sarcastic comment. I think you need to grow a pair. You're coming across as a petulant little boy. ( feel free to delete this for going against the "be nice to Richard and don't criticise" rules

[~Chelle~]

Would you be interested in buying the forum off me and running it yourself?

If so, please PM to discuss further.


Gosh, what a horroble sarcastic comment. I think you need to grow a pair. You're coming across as a petulant little boy. ( feel free to delete this for going against the "be nice to Richard and don't criticise" rules