Spyderco Forums

I posted this in a specific thread, but given the multiple threads that I could have posted it in I decided to copy it here and give it its own thread. I've paraphrased a bit for clarity in an independent thread.

I'm reading through several threads to see what I missed while trying very hard to have 2 days home with my family in between trips and then what else I missed while flying across the country today. I'm honestly at a loss. I could go through and edit every inappropriate post, but I don't have that kind of time. I could just close the thread, but between all the unnecessary posts there are actually some great posts.

I've said it a thousand times before, but I guess it needs to be said one more time. The "Ignore" feature is there for a reason. I'm not choosing "sides" if we can call it that because quite frankly there is plenty of fault to go around. To the few who chose to post in a thread and stay on the original topic, thank you. To those of you who chose not to stay on the original topic... why? Don't answer, that's a rhetorical question.

This forum is going through something, something that started with the announcement of the forum knife and it's only continued from there. Any guesses on my opinion of a forum knife after this one? Now, I've seen the forum go through these things before. Usually there is a trigger, the holidays, summer vacation, etc. But we always pull through the challenges and we will this time too.

My Mom (funny to post this on Mother's Day as I sit in a hotel nearly two thousand miles away from my own kids) always said "if you don't have anything nice to say than don't say anything at all." I can modify that a bit, perhaps apply CQI, and say "if you don't have anything productive to say than don't say anything at all." That doesn't mean there cannot be disagreements or debates but we should be mindful of how we disagree/debate.

This forum is NOT like others. It's SPECIAL. It always has been and it always will be special. No, you aren't going to like everyone or agree with everyone. No one is asking you to. For those of you who can't ignore a post here, please tell me if you were in Spyderco's atrium (we'll call it Spyderco's living room) would you get in someone's face and say what's been said here recently? Is it because it's a faceless medium? Again, rhetorical question.

We have members from all around the world. Members of every race, every religion, every political affiliation. We have members who range in age from 14 to 70+. Not everyone is going to get along, but we do ask and expect everyone to respect this place and each other.

In the 8+ years that I've been an Admin for this forum I've seen it go through many things. I've encountered some amazing people and some people who have proven to be a challenge. Some of those challenging people have actually turned into amazing people given a little time and encouragement. Sal himself has been a part of some of those transformations. Not every challenging person turns around. We know that, but we try to be fair. We do not judge others based upon things that happened elsewhere. We do not assume that someone is going to fail.

Also please remember that very few people are aware of what's going on behind the forum. Trust me when I say that I have been actively involved.

We, all of us at Spyderco, appreciate ALL of you more than you know. We spend a great deal of time involving ourselves in this and other forums for a reason. We listen to you, each and every one of you. You wouldn't believe some of things we've heard, but we still listen. This isn't just about a business or just about knives. This is about people. This place is about people. We do this because we genuinely care. Believe me, I wouldn't spend the time it's taken to write this if I didn't care.

Kristi

Thanks Kristi. Will do my best to focus on knives and jovial things.

Thanks Kristi,

I get what your saying 100 percent. I hope it lightens up a bit too. There is an ebb and flow with this forum and I think as much as things where going down the wrong path they are starting to come back around. I come here for knowledge but also for enjoyment and I know when different opinions lock horns it isn't always easy. But your right, sometimes its better to ignore than engage, I for one have adopted that stance, you have to pick your battles and we aren't talking about world peace here. I appreciate that you take this forum as much to heart as you do as I am sure everyone on the forum does as well. Here's to better times.

Thank you!

:)

Well said, thanks Kristi

Kristi, Happy Mothers Day.

Thank you kristi and a Happy Mother's day to you and your mom! :)

Unfortunate it had to go this far, but this is what the people want... A peaceful forum. Insults may not be against forum rules per se, but it shouldn't be tolerated and it has no place in any debate. Some may get a bad rap for engaging/stooping down, but it is because they have had enough of being insulted and felt they had to take it this far for the "issue" to be addressed. This was unique in that, it wasn't about topics in contention or opposing viewpoints... It was about common courtesy.

I am happy to see that everything is on the up now and hope to stick around as an active member because there is definitely a lot of good in this forum and I feel it is worth being a part of.

Thanks Kristi, Happy Mother's Day. See you around the boards!

I will also try harder to avoid conflict.

Thank you, Kristi. Hopefully, your comments will re-calibrate the forum! :-)

It's sad that it had to come to this but it was kind of a forum physics that happened...action and reaction.

Thanks Taz, I'm sorry that you have to do more work on my account. I did try the self police approach, it just happened to backfire. If it were not for the forum knife, I'd impose a temporary suspension on my own posting. It'll have to be after the forum knife. In the meantime, Blerv will just have to put me on his list. :D

chuck_roxas45 wrote:If it were not for the forum knife, I'd impose a temporary suspension on my own posting. It'll have to be after the forum knife. In the meantime, Blerv will just have to put me on his list. :D

The Crayon-scribbled one on my fridge?

Seriously though, I've been working a few long weeks straight. I probably deserve to be on that list too.

Blerv wrote:The Crayon-scribbled one on my fridge?

Seriously though, I've been working a few long weeks straight. I probably deserve to be on that list too.

Haha, but yeh seriously too, it's not about deserving or not to be on the list. I guess it's just personal dynamics between people that will decide on what list we land on. :)

Thank Kristi. Too bad you had to jump in on this one. Unfortunately, sometimes PBJ sandwich time doesnt stop the insanity...

Kristi,
Thank you for your post. I am truly sorry that we disappointed you. We will try to be better. We need to be more tolerant. Ignore feature is a great thing, but most of us very hesitant to use it. Since I joined the forum, I used it four times. Twice lately. This is the great forum and we have to keep it this way.
I hope you will have nice time with your family when you come back and have a nice Mothers day than. happy mother's day and thank you for being here.
Roman

Thanks for the time and energy you put into this forum!

Thanks Kristi! You are 100% right!

I also posted this in the other thread, but will add it here, since it fits the topic better.

Thanks Kristi, Happy belated Mother's Day to you and to your Mom. Sorry that you had
to spend the day baby sitting us on here. Your words are right on point and we all need
to take a look in the mirror, take a deep breath, look at our loved ones at home and proceed
accordingly.

We are all drawn here by out love for Spyderco knives and then have grown into a family
here on the forum. We spend time each day visiting, reading, responding and posting. There
are people from all over the world with many different ethnic, religious and lifestyle views
and experiences.

I think that it is time for all of us to take a deep breath and think twice before typing.
I have had my share of typing before thinking moments. Sometimes even the best of
families and friends get into a bit of controversy and arguments here and there, but
they eventually open their eyes and start respecting each other once again and move
on with the day.

Stay safe and take care all.

Excellent post(s) Taz! Thanks for the inspiration.

Pneumothorax wrote: Unfortunately, sometimes PBJ sandwich time doesnt stop the insanity...

I have never before in my life found anything that couldn't be made better by peanut butter. This was a first. I'm still kinda in shock over the whole thing.

Ken

Thanks Kristi. Sadly, this morning I decided I have use the ignore function for the first time in my forum membership. I hope things settle down and get back to normal.