163 replies to this topic

[david i]

SNIP. You lose the guys that can answer the questions - what then is the point of the board?

Roger W.

Go figure

Well, we at least are doing ok here at FPB with discussions of old pens

regards

d

[Hugh]

Well, well, well !! I notice it's also been incorporated,

Does that mean that they will have to file accounts in future?

Good question Deb !! I would think so but it may depend on where it's incorporated, the reason given was to provide legal protection to the owners, and that could be anywhere ( although the US seems most likely) . Even if in a "mainstream" country it is unlikely to be easy to find anyway ( XYZ trading as FPN or a series of holding companies ) so I doubt anyone outside the FPN owners will ever see them.

Regards
Hugh

[Hugh]

Other threads linger.

I just posted a question related to this discussion.

Posted Today, 09:31 PM
How does it work if you own or work for a pen company and moderate? Do you need to buy in? I think this exists in at least one case.

That's an interesting question. Reading the FPB Rules..etc.. this...

"Companies, Retailers, or otherwise affiliated parties without a Premium Account should post all company announcements in the Market Watch forum. A maximum of One (1) announcement per month is permitted. No pricing information will be allowed here. Please see the Market Watch Rules for the rules specific to this forum."

seem to answer that question.

Edited by Hugh, 11 April 2013 - 10:23 AM.

[Hugh]

While I'm on a roll ....

..... I'm personally not a fan of the management of FPN but I think the recent changes go a long way to addresing a number of issues by better defining the commercial usage. Overall given the scope of issues and critism I think they've made a good effort to address as many as possible, still it's not a board with the collector focus that you find here ( and that makes this better!!).

[Frank(Federalist Pens)]

I had to admit (and give kudos!) to them for listening to members! They added some forums that were long overdue!!



Frank

[FarmBoy]

Other threads linger.

I just posted a question related to this discussion.

Posted Today, 09:31 PM
How does it work if you own or work for a pen company and moderate? Do you need to buy in? I think this exists in at least one case.

That's an interesting question. Reading the FPB Rules..etc.. this...

"Companies, Retailers, or otherwise affiliated parties without a Premium Account should post all company announcements in the Market Watch forum. A maximum of One (1) announcement per month is permitted. No pricing information will be allowed here. Please see the Market Watch Rules for the rules specific to this forum."

seem to answer that question.

If the rules are as stated then your suspicions my indeed be correct. I see this rule is heavily violated in one brand forum. Though I see one moderator, without a brand forum, immediately ponied up and moved threads to the new home.

Still, if a moderator paid for the upgrade and the employer wrote the check...

Certainly murky waters

[Frank(Federalist Pens)]

Other threads linger.

I just posted a question related to this discussion.

Posted Today, 09:31 PM
How does it work if you own or work for a pen company and moderate? Do you need to buy in? I think this exists in at least one case.

That's an interesting question. Reading the FPB Rules..etc.. this...

"Companies, Retailers, or otherwise affiliated parties without a Premium Account should post all company announcements in the Market Watch forum. A maximum of One (1) announcement per month is permitted. No pricing information will be allowed here. Please see the Market Watch Rules for the rules specific to this forum."

seem to answer that question.

If the rules are as stated then your suspicions my indeed be correct. I see this rule is heavily violated in one brand forum. Though I see one moderator, without a brand forum, immediately ponied up and moved threads to the new home.

Still, if a moderator paid for the upgrade and the employer wrote the check...

Certainly murky waters

Does this mean you will NOT be moderating the new Misc Pen (aka Lamy) Forum farmboy??

[FarmBoy]

Getting better over there.

The subject is open.

[sloegin]

And another thread goes missing.

[Hugh]

Getting better over there.

The subject is open.

Thanks for the link Todd, so they reckon 25k /yr to run. No wonder they want funds. Also noted Ghost mentioning not enough people click the "donate" button, from my experience there that's no surprise !!

[david i]

Getting better over there.

The subject is open.

Thanks for the link Todd, so they reckon 25k /yr to run. No wonder they want funds. Also noted Ghost mentioning not enough people click the "donate" button, from my experience there that's no surprise !!

$25k per year is an interesting claim. Granted their posting volume is a tad higher than here, but so far FPB costs $200/year to run. Just sayin'...

-d

[sloegin]

Not only is $25k interesting, it suggests that they have been paying out of pocket until now. (discounting the CS money that hasn't been proven) They also have ignored any technical questions about their server and hosting needs.

[AltecGreen]

And another thread goes missing.

More than a thread went missing.


I just saw this on FPGeeks.



jbb, tandaina, and reprieve were all banned from FPN. They also had most of their posts for the last few weeks removed including things like reviews etc.

Edited by AltecGreen, 12 April 2013 - 12:17 AM.

[Hugh]

Bit of a difference in what David pays and what FPN "claim" it costs them.....perhaps it's a bit exagerated or in some $ other than US ( it could be rupee, 25000 of them is about $440..). As I mentioned before I haven't much time for the owners/Admins of the FPN and from above it's clear the BDC ( that's Wimg who some of us refer to affectionately as The Big Dutch Cheese ) has been engaging in his trademark "Kim Jong Um" style of leadership, somethings don't change. To a degree I feel priveledged, I had the chance to leave before being kicked off , unlike the newest "victims" who probably have never been major "stirrers". How absurd to ask for input and get the s#$ts when it's not all "positive", simply shows it's just an exercise in "spin". Hopefully they will wander over here and join us.

Those running the FPN really do have some issues when it comes to common decency.


Regards
Hugh

Edited by Hugh, 12 April 2013 - 08:23 AM.

[JonSzanto]

How absurd to ask for input and get the s#$ts when it's not all "positive", simply shows it's just an exercise in "spin".

Precisely.

Hopefully they will wander over here and join us.

It could be that some will. One should keep in mind that while FPN was pretty much a 'generalist' kind of site (with less, at least in recent times, to do with vintage), FPB is more about collectors, and (therefore) vintage. There is nothing at all wrong with a nice focus to a forum, far from it, but without the more casual banter and a easy tolerance of n00bs who want to use a Preppy or NoNonsense, I won't hold my breath for a tidal wave of new members. I'm encouraging a couple, backchannel, however.

Those running the FPN really do have some issues when it comes to common decency.

+1,000,000

Edited by JonSzanto, 12 April 2013 - 04:12 AM.

[Hugh]

FPN has been a real hit over at FPGeeks , so much so my "dear friend" the BDC ( or Wim) has actually posted. Just shows what a bit of bad press can do....

Regards
Hugh

[AndyR]

FPN has been a real hit over at FPGeeks , so much so my "dear friend" the BDC ( or Wim) has actually posted. Just shows what a bit of bad press can do....

Regards
Hugh

I saw it, along with your admirable response. Not sure it will help your chances of ever getting a reinstatement over there, though...........!!!!

Andy

[Frank(Federalist Pens)]

Getting better over there.

The subject is open.

Thanks for the link Todd, so they reckon 25k /yr to run. No wonder they want funds. Also noted Ghost mentioning not enough people click the "donate" button, from my experience there that's no surprise !!

$25k per year is an interesting claim. Granted their posting volume is a tad higher than here, but so far FPB costs $200/year to run. Just sayin'...

-d

I agree! I am sure their fees are higher than here, or over at TFPC! But 25k seems a bit of a stretch..
EDIT- A simple check to see what Invision Power Board's (IPB) maximum monthly/yearly hosting fees will give an estimate of how much FPN pays. I would be more inclined to believe $250 per month/$2500 per year (10x other boards)

The board dues at TFPC are around $300 per year ($25 and change per month)
This includes Live Chat/Games/Calendar that all members can access/edit!
EDIT-My board is hosted by Activeboard, not IPB.

This is why I'm doing everything from "begging" (LOL!)
to giving away pens every year!

Yes, I am personally responsible, and I have paid the dues myself from time to time. I know other admins have done so as well, including Wim (and David).

Frank

Edited by Frank L, 27 April 2013 - 02:03 AM.

[david i]

I agree! I am sure their fees are higher than here, or over at TFPC! But 25k seems a bit of a stretch..
EDIT- A simple check to see what Invision Power Board's (IPB) maximum monthly/yearly hosting fees will give an estimate of how much FPN pays. I would be more inclined to believe $250 per month/$2500 per year (10x other boards)

The board dues at TFPC are around $300 per year ($25 and change per month)
This includes Live Chat/Games/Calendar that all members can access/edit!
EDIT-My board is hosted by Activeboard, not IPB.

This is why I'm doing everything from "begging" (LOL!)
to giving away pens every year!

Yes, I am personally responsible, and I have paid the dues myself from time to time. I know other admins have done so as well, including Wim (and David).

Frank

Hi Frank,

If I follow the model you put forth, I note that using IPB's own "hosted communities" is a bad measure of cost. It is based on members online at once and the costs rapidly get exhorbitant. A better sense of scale would be to assess how monthly MB/Bandwidth rates go up from webhosts (vs community hosting, which is a special service of IPB, which most busy boards *do not* use). If you actually mean bandwidth for website hosting, then... never mind

Currently my fees are around $200-250/year. Based on prior casual perusal of webhosting fees, even 100x the storage/bandwidth I suspect would cost well less than 100x the cost I pay. I might have to check. I'd hate to be terribly wrong.

regards

d

[Hugh]

I've been loving the "FPN" topic over at Geeks, is it just a sadistic streak that I get so much enjoyment out of my dear friend Wim's problems? No!! If anyone deserved it Wim does... It's starting to look like FPN is simply imploding and may never recover fully, in the "big picture" that's rather sad and hopefully will be adverted as to many it's been a good forum.

Regards
Hugh