>Recently a post by Ken Chase has turned a bit ugly when a fellow WC contributor gave Ken a "dressing down" in a private e-mail.
I have been in contact with both parties, and I believe the problem has been solved. The guilty party has apologized, and as far as I am concerned, the incident is over.
As moderator, my job is to inspire others and unfortunately, solve problems when they arise. I am a pretty easy-going guy, but: I expect all who contribute here to remain civil, and treat each other with respect. There is no place on this site for negative comments concerning another turner; they will not be tolerated.
This is a great site; let's keep it that way. Thanks, Keith
I see that you used the Admin tag on your post. That is interesting to me. I am not one to critizise anyone for anything that they post. But if you are going to try to control what people say in a privite email message I believe you are over stepping your duties.
I did not send a email to Ken, but it is not for anyone to decide if I can.
I believe you do have the right to control what is posted here on the forum. But to tell me what I can do on with my personal emails is not going to fly with me.
>I think you did the right thing Keith and am very glad you took care of that problem. That type of problem has happened before and should never happen again. We don't want to chase away good people like Ken.
>But Keith, how can you control private emails? You can't. Nor should you even attempt to control private interaction between individuals outside the message boards. I agree with the efforts to keep posts on the boards "civil" but that's really all the jurisdiction you or any other Admin have. Whenever you have such a diverse group of people pulled together on a regular basis, you are going to have the occasional disagreement. It is the nature of the human beast. That being said, I can't recall ever seeing a really "nasty" post on WC...not even in the "Apology" thread. In fact, I think that thread was good for the group. It served as a reminder to all that behind the "words on a screen" are real people with real feelings.
I read this in a little bit different way. I could be wrong of course, but my understanding is that at as a result of a disagreement in a private email, a person posted here with an apology for his actions on the board. That post generated a lot of support for the poster, and apparently the offender saw the error of his (or her!) ways.
Keith got involved as the moderator of the board, and while I see that he took the time to go a little further to resolve a conflict between two people, I do not see any authority being exercised here on his part, mainly because he has no authority to exericse! I agree that he does not have the authority to control what went on between people in private emails, but it says a lot about his character that he attempted to help resolve a situation where he did not have to get involved.
For the record I do not have any inside or extra information from Keith, Ken, or the other person, I am only drawing some conclusions based on what I am reading here. Maybe I am just jumping to them. He is stating that negative comments about another turner will not be tolerated on this site, but that is here, and can only be here. I guess he could exercise the option to stop someone from posting here, but that is extreme, and I cannot see it being used except in cases where a person can't behave themselves here. That still has no bearing on private emails.
>As to what 2 (so far) people have pointed out about Keith not being able to control personal emails, I'm certain Keith had no thought that he could nor would ever want to. At least he didn't say he felt he could, should, would.
Personally, I think the whole problem was caused by Ken posting the fact that he received the email. The emailer did not post a public criticism on this board. If any of us receives a private email, we should handle it privately. Also we all know when reading something, we don't and can't hear the tone or which words are stressed so we all come away with a different intrepretation. You all know that. Everyone responded, and blew this thing slightly out of proportion, on how Ken related what he read from the email, he didn't reprint the email word for word. There are many times I'll read a post, read a response and wonder, "where did he get THAT from? I didn't read it that way".
Keith, you're doing a wonderful job. This forum is not for refereeing, cheeze it sounds like my grandkids..."Grandma, he said I was fat!"
Well now, that's more than any of you asked for, right? sorry, it's my take on the situation
>I agree, in theory, that Keith has no jurisdiction over private emails. However, I do believe he has the right to chastise anyone who gets out of line, even in a private email, due to the fact that Ken Chase's identity and his personal email is available to us only through this forum and this forum is what prompted the critical remarks. There has to be some kind of oversight to maintain some semblance of order....otherwise the site would eventually deterioriate.
>Thanks Keith for going to extra effort to resolve the disagreement. This is the greatest board on the net. Too many of the other forums 'flame' people far too often. I have learned a lot by reading Ken's question and the excellent answers. Wayne
>HI Dave, I didn't mean to imply that I am trying to control anyone's personal e-mails....however, when the problem stems from a WC post, and ends up on my doorstep to be resolved, it is no longer a private matter.
WE all e-mail one another....usually with a great sense of community. Unfortunately, as moderator, I am learning that this is not always the case. In these cases, I will attempt to resolve disputes WHEN I AM ASKED to do so. Many of these "personal" e-mails are in reality unprovoked personal attacks, unsolicited critiques, or worse.
All I am asking is a bit of courtesy on the site, nothing more....thanks, Keith
>As Admin/Manager of another website, I know this must have been a difficult situation for Keith to be in. We Admins do not enjoy having to resolve situations like this because many times it can put us in between two people we consider friends. Fortunately it sounds like this one came to a amiable solution.
I won't give my 2 cents as to whether I think Keith did the right or wrong thing as it would simply be my opinion, but I will commend him for taking on what can be a difficult and sometimes time consuming task of moderating a web forum.
>Keith. The job you have taken on as moderator is a thankless one. No mater what you do or say as moderator some will agree, some will disagree, some will not understand, and some will misinterpret. It looks like we have just seen some of each.
No mater what others say here I think you did the right thing. Keep up the good work.
