Ron Earp
Admin
I am sorry to say that I had to recently ban a forum member. It is the first time I’ve ever felt compelled to do such a thing on the forum.
I tried to work with Oliver (John) numerous times via PM’s and emails in attempts to restrain his caustic comments and insulting (to many members) behavior over the last few months. Oliver would promise me that he would change, but the change was short lived.
Over the last three months or so I’ve received, on average, two or three communications per week about his behavior requesting that he be removed from the board. These communications came from 24 unique individuals whom I know and respect on the board. These members wish, as do I, to keep the signal to noise ratio of www.gt40s.com far above the norm for car forums.
I’ve always firmly believed that the forum should be a place for free speech, interaction, and free from censorship. But, a friend told me that a forum is a lot like a party at your house where you have invited guests. Guests are expected to be cordial and abide by the rules of your party, or, they may be asked to leave. After I thought about the comment I tended to agree.
I was extremely lenient with Oliver and probably lenient to a fault. Because many of Oliver’s acid remarks were directed at Roaring Forties, but in no way limited to Roaring Forties as some clearly know, I allowed the banter to go on for far longer than I normally would have done. Some here on the forum associate me with Roaring Forties and that simply isn’t the case, so, to insure that Roaring Forties didn’t get special treatment I didn’t take action until I felt it was absolutely due. In retrospect, had Oliver antagonized CAV, ERA,Tornado, etc. and members asked for his removal, I would have done so far more quickly. And it just isn’t associated with manufacturers, there were many personal attacks as well that people felt were unwarranted.
So that is the short version of the saga. I am sincerely sorry to have had to take action and I hope it doesn’t result in a board split as has happened on other car forums. I know that some here identify with Oliver or like the persona and I’m not faulting that, I just hope it doesn’t result in a factional board membership.
John has communicated with me via email two things that I feel I should share since he cannot respond directly on the board. One is that he feels that I have called him a fool and that I am not abiding by my own board rules (see post in the RF section). The second is the following:
----
Ron,
Since you decided to ban me, I will be unable to fill the current orders for the DVD. I'm not going to commit to ordering from the studio with limited orders. Please notify members to file for refund and individuals that sent check will be returned .
Sincerely
John
----
I’m sorry that this has resulted in the DVDs being cancelled. I know many were looking forward to receiving one, as was I, but it appears that is not possible now. Again, my apologies for how this has played out.
Best,
Ron
I tried to work with Oliver (John) numerous times via PM’s and emails in attempts to restrain his caustic comments and insulting (to many members) behavior over the last few months. Oliver would promise me that he would change, but the change was short lived.
Over the last three months or so I’ve received, on average, two or three communications per week about his behavior requesting that he be removed from the board. These communications came from 24 unique individuals whom I know and respect on the board. These members wish, as do I, to keep the signal to noise ratio of www.gt40s.com far above the norm for car forums.
I’ve always firmly believed that the forum should be a place for free speech, interaction, and free from censorship. But, a friend told me that a forum is a lot like a party at your house where you have invited guests. Guests are expected to be cordial and abide by the rules of your party, or, they may be asked to leave. After I thought about the comment I tended to agree.
I was extremely lenient with Oliver and probably lenient to a fault. Because many of Oliver’s acid remarks were directed at Roaring Forties, but in no way limited to Roaring Forties as some clearly know, I allowed the banter to go on for far longer than I normally would have done. Some here on the forum associate me with Roaring Forties and that simply isn’t the case, so, to insure that Roaring Forties didn’t get special treatment I didn’t take action until I felt it was absolutely due. In retrospect, had Oliver antagonized CAV, ERA,Tornado, etc. and members asked for his removal, I would have done so far more quickly. And it just isn’t associated with manufacturers, there were many personal attacks as well that people felt were unwarranted.
So that is the short version of the saga. I am sincerely sorry to have had to take action and I hope it doesn’t result in a board split as has happened on other car forums. I know that some here identify with Oliver or like the persona and I’m not faulting that, I just hope it doesn’t result in a factional board membership.
John has communicated with me via email two things that I feel I should share since he cannot respond directly on the board. One is that he feels that I have called him a fool and that I am not abiding by my own board rules (see post in the RF section). The second is the following:
----
Ron,
Since you decided to ban me, I will be unable to fill the current orders for the DVD. I'm not going to commit to ordering from the studio with limited orders. Please notify members to file for refund and individuals that sent check will be returned .
Sincerely
John
----
I’m sorry that this has resulted in the DVDs being cancelled. I know many were looking forward to receiving one, as was I, but it appears that is not possible now. Again, my apologies for how this has played out.
Best,
Ron
