Note to Pom

    • Gold Top Dog

    Note to Pom

    Dear Pomeranian <3,

    I had your concerns regarding some aspects of the forum and its daily running forwarded to me by Gina.  I'd like to thank you for voicing your concerns, feedback helps us to make this a great community.

    Regarding the posting of polls, the reason for the delay in posting your poll was MY decision to plan a discussion on how to best manage such things with other members of staff, in particular those whom I report to at the company.  As a relatively new member you might be unaware that our community recently switched the software it runs on, and the new software keeps us, perhaps, busier than we were with the old software.  One result of this switch is that only staff can now post polls, whereas before anybody could.  We had not yet had the discussion, amongst ourselves, on how to handle member requests for polls because it had not been a priority - in the months since the switch there had been relatively few requests until now.   One point I would like to mention, regarding something you said in a note to Gina, is that although we at dog.com hope that people gain knowledge here, and take that knowledge and make personal use of it, it would be at the very least proper "netiquette" to have approached a member of staff to discuss using polls for articles or other content for your own personal website.  That is not, in general, something we are here to provide - and in particular, it would be unfair to members to use their input for such a purpose without their permission or knowledge.  Frankly, to do so makes me personally uneasy - a feeling I daresay is a result of my own feelings of protectiveness regarding our membership as a whole.

    Regarding the majority of your note to Gina - the moderators and I watch the forum closely for what is judged here to be a personal attack.  Disagreement with your opinion does not qualify as such unless it is presented rudely.  Rudeness is, of course, in the eye of the beholder, and being human we must use our own best judgement to determine what falls into that category.  Should you feel that you are being attacked, you must - as all members must - use the report feature to draw it to our attention.  Reporting a post you find objectionable, and then responding to it in a rude manner yourself is going to reflect badly on you, regardless of what the other member has said.  Nobody is being permitted to attack you, it might simply be the case that you hold a different personal view of what constitutes an attack.  That is, of course, natural.  We will all hold different views, and draw different lines, and this in turn goes back to the staff here using our best judgement.  If you find that disagreeable and would prefer a stricter forum, I am sure there are such places elsewhere on the net. 

    Your opinions are not open for attack, but they are open for debate, and become so at the moment you post them.  Debate and discussion are the essential point of an internet forum, and I am pleased to say that the vast majority of the time the members here excel at handling both with dignity and grace.  Doing so yourself would possibly change the opinion you believe some members have of you, and one aspect of that would be for you to accept that everyone's opinions are valid, regardless of age, status, background or any other arbitrary qualifier.  I would like to point out that even in private correspondence, demeaning a person's views because they are a "child" or "still in college" is both unfair and unreasonable.  I repeat:  Everyone's opinions are valid, if you disagree with them you have two options - either state why you disagree in a polite fashion, or to accept that the opinion is not applicable to you and simply disregard it.

    On a final note, I'd like to inform you, if you hadn't already gathered this, that Lani, Gina and I do this job on a voluntary basis.  We are all busy women with lives outside the forum, and as much as we care about this place, great portions of those lives are more important than what we do here.  That's just the way a "net life" versus a "real life" is going to work.  We all take our duties here seriously, and we deal with problems in a timely fashion to the best of our abilities.  When it comes to forum-related issues, there is a balance.  For each issue with a member, or the software, or for me personally, administrative tasks that we have to deal with, another gets put on hold.  One of the remarkable things about the membership here is how little of our time here they actually require.  We are always, always happy to assist where it is needed, but please - again, as all members must - determine whether the issue really requires our intervention, or whether you can handle it yourself in a manner befitting the tone of the forum, before contacting us.  One of the aims from the company is for this forum to become self-moderating, with Lani, Gina and I stepping in as little as possible with our "staff boots" on.  This would enable us to enjoy the forum as members first and foremost, and as mods/admin only in emergencies.  It would be a credit to you if you could endeavour to be a part of that movement.

    Kind regards,

    Kate/Benedict
     

    • Gold Top Dog

    Holy moses that's long...well, I had a lot to say LOL.  Did I cloak it well enough? 

    • Gold Top Dog

    I think it lovely...but I also think she is far too dense to gather ANYTHING from it. LOL. But here's to hoping! Beer

    • Gold Top Dog

    Suggestions on how to reword to make it obvious?  She makes it difficult to be blunt without being rude... 

    • Gold Top Dog

    Kate you could say point blank "you bring this on yourself" and she would not get it...IMO. I think what you wrote is lovely and you should send it and when she responds asking for some point of clarification...you can decide then. IOW procrastinate....it's the Gina Motto. *cackle*

    • Gold Top Dog

    OK then, am sending!  Thanks...shall we have a beer while I procrastinate? 

    • Gold Top Dog

    Way ahead of ya!

    • Gold Top Dog

    You started without me?  NO FAIR!  I might just file an abuse report on you! Wink

    • Gold Top Dog

    Yes then I can PM you to start a Poll on beer!

    • Gold Top Dog

     You'll have to PM me 5 times before I can be bothered to do anything about it.  (Sorry, her feedback she sent through the forum was really snotty!)

    • Gold Top Dog

    she has got to be the most spoiled person I have ever "met". I feel for her man...I really do

    • Gold Top Dog

    You go to conformation class and grocery shopping, do some laundry and miss the end of the world LOL

    Nicely done Kate :) I think Gina's right though, a bit too "dense" to get it.  I'm not sure how you get someone to realize the world doesn't revolve around them.