I receive far far more feedback in support of the way this forum is run than I do complaints on this subject. However, I know that here on this forum and now elsewhere, the ferret occasionally takes some heat for his moderation decisions. Yet another example of this was recently brought to my attention. With that in mind, I wanted to take a moment to say a few things in his defense and to acknowledge how much I appreciate all that he does. (As these comments are unsolicited, I'll apologize in advance to Mickey if he happens to find this embarrassing.)
First and foremost, the ferret became the moderator here because I asked him to. He gave it a lot of thought before agreeing to do so. Having served as a moderator on other forums, he was very familiar with just how much of a headache it could be. Anyone that thinks he's been doing this for his ego is sadly mistaken. For the most part it is a thankless task that often tests ones patience and makes it difficult to remain balanced and objective. I can tell you that on many occasions he has proven to more tactful and patient than I would have been under the circumstances.
The other important thing that I want to note is that he has my full support in his moderation decisions. We almost always find ourselves on the same page when it comes to how we feel about things that happen around here. If you have a problem with the way this place is moderated, then know that this extends beyond the ferret and includes me as well. One of the things that I put in place is a word filter to prevent certain words from appearing in posts here. While a bit extreme, I've decided to error on the side of caution when it comes to this particular issue. If anyone feels that I'm not being fair letting some words pass and not others, it's probably due to the fact that I just haven't entered those words into the filter yet. This has nothing to do with the ferret. If you honestly feel that I've been over the top by including a particular word, then send me a note and let me know why.
Contrary to the small minority of folks that find themselves frustrated by the moderation efforts here, I feel extremely fortunate to have the ferret around and involved the day to day tasks required to keep this place the way it is. He brings a wealth of motorcycling experience rivaled by few along with the tendency to lead by example when it comes to treating others nicely. I on the other hand love bikes, but don't have nearly the experience and while I'm a nice enough guy, don't have nearly the patience that he does at the times when it's probably needed the most, plus I seem to have the tendency to stick my foot in my mouth every now and again. But then I'm human, and so is the ferret. I know that we can't please everyone, but we do our best to trying to be consistent. I just happen to feel that the ferret carries out the task of keeping this place in order extremely well.
I should also add that the vast majority of those who participate here don't really require moderation and that is also truly appreciated. I didn't write this post to raise the level of drama around here, which is extremely low to begin with compared to most other forums. Rather, it's all to easy to forget those who play a role in almost any operation that runs smoothy. I didn't want that to be the case when it comes to the ferret and all that he does here.
First and foremost, the ferret became the moderator here because I asked him to. He gave it a lot of thought before agreeing to do so. Having served as a moderator on other forums, he was very familiar with just how much of a headache it could be. Anyone that thinks he's been doing this for his ego is sadly mistaken. For the most part it is a thankless task that often tests ones patience and makes it difficult to remain balanced and objective. I can tell you that on many occasions he has proven to more tactful and patient than I would have been under the circumstances.
The other important thing that I want to note is that he has my full support in his moderation decisions. We almost always find ourselves on the same page when it comes to how we feel about things that happen around here. If you have a problem with the way this place is moderated, then know that this extends beyond the ferret and includes me as well. One of the things that I put in place is a word filter to prevent certain words from appearing in posts here. While a bit extreme, I've decided to error on the side of caution when it comes to this particular issue. If anyone feels that I'm not being fair letting some words pass and not others, it's probably due to the fact that I just haven't entered those words into the filter yet. This has nothing to do with the ferret. If you honestly feel that I've been over the top by including a particular word, then send me a note and let me know why.
Contrary to the small minority of folks that find themselves frustrated by the moderation efforts here, I feel extremely fortunate to have the ferret around and involved the day to day tasks required to keep this place the way it is. He brings a wealth of motorcycling experience rivaled by few along with the tendency to lead by example when it comes to treating others nicely. I on the other hand love bikes, but don't have nearly the experience and while I'm a nice enough guy, don't have nearly the patience that he does at the times when it's probably needed the most, plus I seem to have the tendency to stick my foot in my mouth every now and again. But then I'm human, and so is the ferret. I know that we can't please everyone, but we do our best to trying to be consistent. I just happen to feel that the ferret carries out the task of keeping this place in order extremely well.
I should also add that the vast majority of those who participate here don't really require moderation and that is also truly appreciated. I didn't write this post to raise the level of drama around here, which is extremely low to begin with compared to most other forums. Rather, it's all to easy to forget those who play a role in almost any operation that runs smoothy. I didn't want that to be the case when it comes to the ferret and all that he does here.
