Howdy to all the InfoPoop folks.....just kidding....I hope you're ready for us.... {:o) Ya'know how it is when you marry into a family....you get the whole family....Oh'boy, are we having fun now, huh?
First, I'd like to do something I haven't seen anyone do yet....I'd like to congratulate Rick Baker on kicking some serious bootie on the
www....for bustin' his tail to give all of us greedy forum builders every whimsical thing we ever wished for over the past few years....and letting me and my staff, and the dozens of clubs we support, have such a great scriptset to work with at a price we can afford.....and I hope all his hard work has finally paid off bigtime for him with this merger.
He's put in alot of work for pennies on the hour....it's payback time. I hope this move gives him the support team he needs....maybe adds a script rattler to do his dirty work and gives him time to work on more whimsical wishes for his loyalists....and opens ourpast "wishlist" dialogs to a real time reality. If this thing works out like it has the potential to, we could find our little project moving into everything we ever imagined it could be.
OK....reality check....I doubt it could ever move beyond the extreme dreamers like myself....radical ideas, huh?....CSS and Templates and Customized User Settings....great hacks too....let's not forget Mateo, Gerrit, Sixpack, rlevant, dgermann, Manhattan, Eileen, Dredd, Muhammad, mario2, Jhariden, Pilgrim, poil, dannylin, Brewskie....and so many other folks....
Like SixPack, Mateo, Gerrit, Eileen, Muhammad, and all the other loyal W3T members who I've learned so much from and grown to care about in this community of community builders....and shared so many "wishlists" and hacks with, I'm in shock more than anything else.
We are seriously devoted to our communities. We are not corporate communities....they can't survive because the basis of their existence is the almighty dollar....not the community they claim to support. We are the builders who searched the web and found what we believe to be the finest scriptset on the internet....and have thrown ourselves into it's future on the web....and ultimately, the future of our respective communities.
As for myself...I can move with the times and the times are going to change....it's the web....we strive on change. But many of the W3T users are refugees from the UBB mega-growth period that can only be descibed by many as the web community builder nightmare years.
Only time will tell if this change will serve our needs....or cut our throats. I just hope I don't have to report back to the staff of 5 Admins and 16 Moderators on our forums that we are having to start with a new scriptset and another project of community builders because our project got sold out to a corporate machine that has no further need for our small time mentality.
As for my community's feelings about InfoPop....Our Co-op of forums operates very small boards for dozens of non-profit webmasters....over a dozen were prior UBB users who were disgusted with the lack of support.....some even felt their needs and requests were intentionally ignored, like peasants groveling for support they felt they paid for....so, I hope you can understand the general sentiment you may encounter here.
I'm sure we all here on the W3T site feel similar emotions right now........a sense of hopefulness about the potential of Rick having the time, the backup support team, and financial backing to move W3T into what we've all wanted it to become....like a family raising a child and watching things grow and develop.....turning mistakes and difficulties into opportunities to learn and grow.
....a sense of being sold-out to a company that has a less than supportive reputation...at least for many of us, and those we work with, creating forums for others. Will our future go the way of so many other bought out software developers? Will all our work and devotion to the project be honored with support in the future or left to die by like a grandfather with no family?
My concerns are simply and probably shared by many of us....Will W3T fall victim to the super growth that plaqued UBB some years back and caused so much havoc with the staff/team being too small to give adequate support?
Will W3T...and Rick....become a corporate entity focused on it's own survival and growth more than the support for the small time community builders that made it possible?
Wlll the same thing happen to W3T that happened to UBB when the decision was made to move to the new InfoPop server setup and Client License issues with the outrageous pricing out of the reach of the very people who made it great?
Will those of us who have loyally devoted time and effort to this community and this project be given any longterm incentive to continue if or when the pricing and licence structure changes?
Will we be able to even continue to access ALL THE INFORMATION we've gathered within these boards....or will a few token tidbits be salvaged and the rest scraped as yesterdays' trash?
Will we all find ourselves treated like pawns in a corporate plan to take over the forum and community scriptset market...leaving us feeling used and looking for a new project to support?
Will InfoPop use this merger as a way to eliminate the W3T as competition and integrate it's features into a new InfoPop project that doesn't even resemble our beloved W3T?
If there's anything I can contribute to this adventure, I hope Rick or any of the other staff that may be involved will let me know. Our futures are definitely moving down a new path.
I hope to see you all in the weeks to come. I hope we all will get a break in this deal and be given some sort of legacy to work with. I hope we can survive.....after all....we build communities.
Bobby Beamer
Spring, Texas
The Texas Offroad Network
www.TexasOffroad.netTexas Motorized Trails Coalition
Board Member - User Group Rep.
www.texasmotorizedtrails.comNational Off Highway Vehicle Conservation Counsel
NOHVCC - Texas State Rep.
www.nohvcc.org/Trail Riders of Houston (TRH)
www.trh-cycle.org[email protected]
