I want to discuss the subject of people who have to be banned. One of the moderators recvd a email from someone sorta throwing down the gauntlet and saying, if I get banned, I'll be back in another form anyway..

I love the fact that I am so new to stuff like this. If I refer back to the charter, COMMUNITY first. The charter of this forum, and that accepted by the moderators at my request, was to build the community. All of us have an obligation to do this in an honest and forthright manner. The whole concept of banning someone is unsettling to me, but not as unsettling as a person who seeks out conflict and enjoys the process.

A long time ago I read a Harvard Business Review Case Study that identified four types of people (customers). I have found this article invaluable and wholly true over the years. Here are the four profiles...

1. The Average Joe: That's most of us. We are happy and reasonable. We get annoyed like anyone and we enjoy the journey.
2. The Apostle: or was it "The Saint". A guy who loves an idea, concept, company. Harley Fan with tatoo, etc. These guys lead the community and when I look at FFR we are lucky to have a huge percentage of these guys in the community... we've got more than customers of the slap-chop.
3. The Mercenary: This guy is all about price. Loyalty, made in china, nothing matters but getting a price or getting something free.
4. The Terrorist: This was written before 911 so apologies for the reference. Anyway, a Terrorist in this profile was described as a person who enjoys conflict. We all know these types, and while there are not many of them out there, it seems they are always arguing with someone or finding a way to cause grief.

The email sounded strangely confrontationalist, but no-one should pre-judge anyone, and I feel previous conduct on another site is no reason for negative action on this site. All are welcome to the new community. I think that the jobs of the moderators are to keep the charter clear. A forum is just a music hall. The participants bring all the music and entertainment. If the music hall is dark and dangerous and unfriendly, or if a few people make it not fun, then the moderators owe it to the community to ask some patrons to leave.

In my world, all are welcomed with a warm handshake and friends until they act different. None of us are more important than the community, and I'm one of those crazy guys who actually believe that folks should be accountable for what they do and say. The group of moderators on this site were selected because they are all really kind, professional, knowledgable nice people, the kind of people you want to call up on a friday night for beers. The kind of people I am honored to call friends. A person would have to TRY to run afoul of these great folks!

I will take off my modesty hat for one second here. Factory Five has become the great company that it is for many reasons, but one of the biggest ones is that I HAMMER constantly on the team to remember every second that the guy who walks thru the front door is the boss. Here on this exciting new forum, I want all of us to remember that service, humility, kindness... these are the path to the Force. Arrogance, Pride, Deceit, Fear... These things lead to the dark side.

Thats what I think.

Dave Smith
FFR001