The truth is now revealed about the site, and before I tell you all what has been going on I would like to personally thank Swampy along with all the other folk for all their time and effort on this site, it is greatly appreciated by me and everyone else who has worked tirelessly to see that this site remains.
During the Quex Visit some 6 weeks back, Rob Mac approached both Steve and I and offered to sell the site to us. The idea being that steve did the leg work on the site and I took over as a sort of Chairperson. During discussions JAYB (John) also became part of the take over team, along with a friend of mine who is an IT expert.
This all sounds fairly simple, and Rob allowed us access to the management codes to run and upgrade the site in the interim period. This is something Steve undertook, and made certain individuals moderators, which in general has worked, it has also made members feel more inclusive on the site. We also had big issues with folk trying to join the site but not being able to achieve it. This was in part due to the way the security of the site was set up. During this time negotiations had proceeded at a slower pace than anticipated due to work commitments by Rob Mac. Rob also has a business partner who is his IT expert and runs the technical side of the site and server, so we have been dealing with two individuals, but needed to clarify a number of important issues with the site maintenance before proceeding.
It is not a simple matter of handling a site like this over as a working entity and keeping it going, particularly as there is the March and Shoot etc underway. One also nees to look at retaining the Domain Name, how advertisers are administered and how long their contracts are running, the ownership and copyright of the logo, and VAT issues, to name but a few questions that we needed answers to. To shut the site down would have caused huge problems, and this was proposed by Rob as a temporary measure while the site was handed over, which we insisted should not happen. To a greater extent Steve and his good lady wife have pushed this whole affair along and have taken care of the site, whilst running the business side past myself and on occassions John. Whilst all of this was ongoing Steve and also myself have had ohter personal issues with our own jobs to resolve which I am not going to elaborate on as they are private matters, but it has not helped having this to contend with at the sametime.
We are now at the point of signing a contract with Rob Mac which we have had to draw up and as long as the report from our IT man (Mark) comes back posative we can proceed. However the lines of communication have been open, but not responded to as quickly as we would have liked, and so therefore this whole affair has taken longer than anticipated. Throughout this time Steve has upgraded the site and done a great deal of work to make the site more user freindly and exciting, this has not gone un noticed and is also due to the help of many members, Swampy being one of them.
I have to admit I was not very happy about what happened with the site yesterday, this was to a greater part due to a lack of communication, and I will state that Swampy did take action that he thought was in the interest of the site, and I am very grateful of his apology, it says a great deal about a person and he is a man of integrity which is a rare thing to find in many people these days. I along with all the site members am grateful of his time and work, and indeed his valuable posts, which I sincerely hope he will continue with, and also as a moderator.
I have put this post on the site so that everyone is now aware of what has been going on over the last 6 weeks and what we have been trying to achieve behind the scenes to ensure that this site carries on. We are all aware of the idiots out there who would like nothing more than to see this site and others fail, well I have news for them, it's not going to happen to the Stalking Directory. Providing all is well with the IT side of the handover, within the next week or two the site negotiations will be completed and we can move forward.
Thank you to you all for your continued support.
Sikamalc.
During the Quex Visit some 6 weeks back, Rob Mac approached both Steve and I and offered to sell the site to us. The idea being that steve did the leg work on the site and I took over as a sort of Chairperson. During discussions JAYB (John) also became part of the take over team, along with a friend of mine who is an IT expert.
This all sounds fairly simple, and Rob allowed us access to the management codes to run and upgrade the site in the interim period. This is something Steve undertook, and made certain individuals moderators, which in general has worked, it has also made members feel more inclusive on the site. We also had big issues with folk trying to join the site but not being able to achieve it. This was in part due to the way the security of the site was set up. During this time negotiations had proceeded at a slower pace than anticipated due to work commitments by Rob Mac. Rob also has a business partner who is his IT expert and runs the technical side of the site and server, so we have been dealing with two individuals, but needed to clarify a number of important issues with the site maintenance before proceeding.
It is not a simple matter of handling a site like this over as a working entity and keeping it going, particularly as there is the March and Shoot etc underway. One also nees to look at retaining the Domain Name, how advertisers are administered and how long their contracts are running, the ownership and copyright of the logo, and VAT issues, to name but a few questions that we needed answers to. To shut the site down would have caused huge problems, and this was proposed by Rob as a temporary measure while the site was handed over, which we insisted should not happen. To a greater extent Steve and his good lady wife have pushed this whole affair along and have taken care of the site, whilst running the business side past myself and on occassions John. Whilst all of this was ongoing Steve and also myself have had ohter personal issues with our own jobs to resolve which I am not going to elaborate on as they are private matters, but it has not helped having this to contend with at the sametime.
We are now at the point of signing a contract with Rob Mac which we have had to draw up and as long as the report from our IT man (Mark) comes back posative we can proceed. However the lines of communication have been open, but not responded to as quickly as we would have liked, and so therefore this whole affair has taken longer than anticipated. Throughout this time Steve has upgraded the site and done a great deal of work to make the site more user freindly and exciting, this has not gone un noticed and is also due to the help of many members, Swampy being one of them.
I have to admit I was not very happy about what happened with the site yesterday, this was to a greater part due to a lack of communication, and I will state that Swampy did take action that he thought was in the interest of the site, and I am very grateful of his apology, it says a great deal about a person and he is a man of integrity which is a rare thing to find in many people these days. I along with all the site members am grateful of his time and work, and indeed his valuable posts, which I sincerely hope he will continue with, and also as a moderator.
I have put this post on the site so that everyone is now aware of what has been going on over the last 6 weeks and what we have been trying to achieve behind the scenes to ensure that this site carries on. We are all aware of the idiots out there who would like nothing more than to see this site and others fail, well I have news for them, it's not going to happen to the Stalking Directory. Providing all is well with the IT side of the handover, within the next week or two the site negotiations will be completed and we can move forward.
Thank you to you all for your continued support.
Sikamalc.
