Chopping off their own feet....
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Charging MSPs in a place where nearly all participants are other MSPs doesn't work. All you do is initiate a witch hunt. Already people are looking to lynch anyone that they don't like for recommending anyone who isn't a vendor.
It's encouraging a system where if you don't pay to advertise your product can't be recommended. If someone recommends product X or vendor Y and that company doesn't pay for ads, people jump all over even veteran community members and accuse them of working for that vendor.
It's like the red scare. Don't like someone, just accuse them of working for an MSP or vendor. That's all it takes. Just accuse.
There is no way to know who does and doesn't work at an MSP. So all that is going to happen is real MSPs will lie about who they are and honest IT pros will be threatened and beaten down unless they tow the line and only promote paid vendors.
That's what making MSPs pay to participate in the community is already doing.
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Don't forget that the MSPs provide the bulk of the content that makes them their money. MSPs have always "paid" by giving away valuable content.
MSPs equally could ask why they aren't being paid to participate. Until recently it was symbiotic. MSPs give content in exchange for a minuscule amount of advertising. MSPs give way more than they gain. It was not the MSPs getting the free ride. The benefit was almost all one sided then then tried to take even more.
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Here's my 2.2 cents (incl GST) <Au tax joke>
This crap happens everywhere that there is an Internet based community. Very common in gaming communities (egotistical arrogance & intolerance mixed with egotistical pre-pubescent arrogance & intolerance... same as the former but magnified. Think XBOX Live).
Same crap different bucket... same dog, different tree... etc We all know the story:
One group will set up a Haven of Righteous Intentions (not directed ant any ons site. It's a blanket term I'll use to describe any forum/community on the Internet) only to be infiltrated and brought down to squabbling, infighting and back stabbing.
To combat this, the Haven of Righteous Intentions (HRI) can add moderation/moderators who more often than not, deploy the concrete donkey of ban (image 1.1) upon the person who dare defile the HRI <optional: insert reason here>. Like intra-veinous caffiene, this is an insta-fix but fills the baldder faster... users get pissed and leave (puns!).
Then the sneaky self righteous back stabbers manage to infiltrate and either get into positions of power or raise an angry mob and the HRI is turned into a shadow war of snarky comments, "I'm not talking to you", assassination plots and other school yard antics that we were supposed to leave behind after graduation. Hydra is everywhere.
Somewhere along the line, comprimising consessions to the HRI are made to soothe ruffled feathers or to attract the floating clouds of cash (sponsors, vendors, investors etc) and the community begins to change. Sometimes, this is a good change but usually this is a bad thing and it then makes things worse.
Then the split happens and a new HRI is formed. The trick of setting up a successful HRI split/offshoot is to look long and hard at the founding principles and culture. A nation born out of infighting & rebellion will always have issues with infighting & rebellion UNLESS there is a culture change and the founding principles are written with a better future in mind, the means to get there and not solely based on the past and present conflicts.
I really like SW and I hang out there a lot but I am concerned with the fanboi-ism and "Hail SW" that I have noticed lurking in the shadows. I find it disturbing when a company or a person (in general, not directed at anyone) always has the "I'm happy and everything is awesome" mask on. I have allergies to BS and I know when something isn't right. Something is wrong at SW but I'm not sure that it's the community (it is possible that it's the one displaying the symptoms and copping all the crap). I think that there are deeper issues.
In saying all that, I'll still continue to hang out at SW and help out when I can because I like it but I have concerns. My Spidey sense is tingling.
Don't forget:
"You have to get behind someone before you can stab them in the back" - Yes Minister (ReferenceImage 1.1
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The issues are definitely not the community. I'm surprised at how many people are shocked by the moderation issues. They are bad, but it's just moderation and I never thought that it was very big but a lot of people are seriously miffed about it. There are or were so many much more massive issues that the moderation issues are, to me, just background noise. I forget that for a lot of people, those are the ones that matter.
The community has declined and changed, no question there. The approach and attitudes are not what they used to be. The goal of the community has been changed and that obviously is a big part. But the community has changed some too. It is still a great community, but not the same one that it used to be.
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There is something different at SW. As to the moderation stuff, I dropped being a mod primarily because I was tired of hearing so many people bitch about it. Like others, I just enjoy helping others. I do miss some of the powers though when I see a post in the wrong forum. It is going to be interesting this coming Spiceworld. Might be my last, but we'll have to see.
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@DenisKelley said:
. It is going to be interesting this coming Spiceworld. Might be my last, but we'll have to see.
Unless someone drags me kicking and screaming, I don't plan on going this year. The previous two years I went because the ticket was free, but I didn't get anything out of the content.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Don't forget that the MSPs provide the bulk of the content that makes them their money. MSPs have always "paid" by giving away valuable content.
MSPs equally could ask why they aren't being paid to participate. Until recently it was symbiotic. MSPs give content in exchange for a minuscule amount of advertising. MSPs give way more than they gain. It was not the MSPs getting the free ride. The benefit was almost all one sided then then tried to take even more.
I would guess that most MSPs are very geographical. I mean an MSP in Texas can advertise to me all he wants, I'm not got employ him when he's five thousand miles away. Whereas most vendors sell all over the world.
The geography is what I love most about SW. My boss asks me how I fixed the server last night, and I'll say "Oh, some guy in Montreal sorted it out for me. For free."
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@DenisKelley said:
There is something different at SW. As to the moderation stuff, I dropped being a mod primarily because I was tired of hearing so many people bitch about it. Like others, I just enjoy helping others. I do miss some of the powers though when I see a post in the wrong forum. It is going to be interesting this coming Spiceworld. Might be my last, but we'll have to see.
I'm still trying to make it my first, I'm wanting to do some networking and see if there's anything I can take away from it as far as knowledge and vendor contacts.
What miffed me was inconsistency at times when it came to doing moderation stuff. I think I also spent more time moving topics than I did deleting topics/posts that were garbage.
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@alexntg said:
@DenisKelley said:
. It is going to be interesting this coming Spiceworld. Might be my last, but we'll have to see.
Unless someone drags me kicking and screaming, I don't plan on going this year. The previous two years I went because the ticket was free, but I didn't get anything out of the content.
If you get another free ticket, I will take it
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it's on my agenda to go this year... assuming the boss gives me the time.
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@DenisKelley said:
There is something different at SW. As to the moderation stuff, I dropped being a mod primarily because I was tired of hearing so many people bitch about it. Like others, I just enjoy helping others. I do miss some of the powers though when I see a post in the wrong forum. It is going to be interesting this coming Spiceworld. Might be my last, but we'll have to see.
They were supposed to be working on a non-mod category for me so I could do cleanup stuff only. But it never materialized.
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@alexntg said:
@DenisKelley said:
. It is going to be interesting this coming Spiceworld. Might be my last, but we'll have to see.
Unless someone drags me kicking and screaming, I don't plan on going this year. The previous two years I went because the ticket was free, but I didn't get anything out of the content.
The networking is great. The content is awful.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Don't forget that the MSPs provide the bulk of the content that makes them their money. MSPs have always "paid" by giving away valuable content.
MSPs equally could ask why they aren't being paid to participate. Until recently it was symbiotic. MSPs give content in exchange for a minuscule amount of advertising. MSPs give way more than they gain. It was not the MSPs getting the free ride. The benefit was almost all one sided then then tried to take even more.
I would guess that most MSPs are very geographical. I mean an MSP in Texas can advertise to me all he wants, I'm not got employ him when he's five thousand miles away. Whereas most vendors sell all over the world.
The geography is what I love most about SW. My boss asks me how I fixed the server last night, and I'll say "Oh, some guy in Montreal sorted it out for me. For free."
Most. NTG is a rarity that we cover the US, UK and more.
SW system is set up only to work for locally focused MSPs though. And it does nothing for them either.
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@Bill-Kindle moving topics is like 90% of it.
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@Dashrender said:
it's on my agenda to go this year... assuming the boss gives me the time.
I'm there but only because it is free. I stopped going until I got a free pass then started again. The speakers don't even get in for free let alone paid.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@alexntg said:
@DenisKelley said:
. It is going to be interesting this coming Spiceworld. Might be my last, but we'll have to see.
Unless someone drags me kicking and screaming, I don't plan on going this year. The previous two years I went because the ticket was free, but I didn't get anything out of the content.
** The networking **is great. The content is awful.
That's my main driver for wanting to go this year. I want to meet some of the people I converse with. I've started going to local SC meetings here in Cincinnati and enjoy them. Last one I was actually thanked by another pro who I never met before prior because I had helped them solve a problem that had been tripping them up for a long time. I was humbled.
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Speaking of which, we need to figure out an ML meetup!
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@scottalanmiller said:
Speaking of which, we need to figure out an ML meetup!
Start a Google Hangout or a skype session.
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@Bill-Kindle said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Speaking of which, we need to figure out an ML meetup!
Start a Google Hangout or a skype session.
I'm game, I live in the Scott Alan Miller time zone.
