Owner of SGF threatens me!

[Guest pete1969]

I have long been a member at SGF, and I continued to post there even after the hydra scandal when I sided with Hedda. On a recent thread, the owner of that forum announced he was allowing an upgraded membership for $50, and he asked for feedback.

 

I made the following post:

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"Well, I have been involved in the financial dealings of message boards of this sort (with much more traffic), and all the related fees probably run Spike $200 a year or so. Right now he makes money from donations, Google advertising, the Amazon affiliate program, and other ads which are not related to Google or Amazon. I would think it is more than enough to keep the site up and going each year.

 

I don't mind kicking in $20 a year to help offset these fees as I get lots of information from these boards. I do the same for one other forum I enjoy (one not related to LOS). The other boards where I post or frequently visit are either commercial sites, labors of love, or paid for by advertising.

 

When this board started on EZ board, it was a grassroots effort by gay men who loved Thailand and Thai men. Like now, it was fairly easy to raise contributions from users to more than pay for the upkeep and running of the board. I think many frequent users still support this concept.

 

However, if this site is being run as a commercial site by Spike, then there is really little value here for me that makes me want to BUY this product and put money in the owner's pocket. I don't use features such as photo sharing, blogs, and uploading of images. I come here only for the message board relating to Thailand, and personally I find it poorly moderated with many threads dissolving into flame wars by a handful of users using an assortment of handles. I think a number of users would probably agree that as a product to buy, this board leaves a lot to be desired. But this is just one person's opinion, and I respect others have different opinions.

 

With many commercial sites that have a message board, paid advertising is the key to putting money in the owner's pocket. The majority of message board sites are still operated like this one used to be with the users making small donations to pay for the upkeep of the site, and the moderation and administration done by volunteers. I wish it was still the way this site operated, but if the owner thinks he can make money from the site, then I guess more power to him.

 

So, I guess one either gives $50 or nothing, and the owner is making it clear that these are no longer donations merely to fund the upkeep of the board but payments to his commercial business. This board has the most traffic of any other Thai gay message board, and the possibility for advertising and other revenue is one I might explore too if I were the owner. I hope it works out."

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I thought my reply was polite and let him know that I personally would not be willing to buy the forum as a product, but I would continue to be more than happy to support any grassroots efforts of a not for profit forum.

 

I noticed my reply was not there, and I had some problems posting it, so I reposted my reply thinking a mistake had been made. I then got this very bizzare and threatening private message from the owner:

 

"How dare you!

Don't ever use my webspace to attack my livlihood. You can have your money back. I don't care. Just don't try to destroy me. I will fight to survive. I'm togher than you might think. Be careful"

 

I am a bit dumbfounded by this as I was IMO in no way threatning nor made any comments trying to "destroy" him or his business. So, obviously the owner is wanting to start a commercial site and does not take well to any feedback that he does not want to hear. I tossed in $20 or so last year to help keep his site going and planned to do the same this year. This was when I still thought it was mostly a not-for-profit, community based web board.

 

If the owner wants to have a successful commercial web business aimed at gay men who visit or who live in Thailand, then he obviously needs A LOT of work on his customer relations skills. Threatening a customer like this when he does not agree with their feedback is just crazy. I have never seen anything like it.

 

Frankly, I applaud his efforts to make it a commercial board, but I'm not sure of the actual earning potential. I would love to see the board succeed as it once was: a thriving community whose members pay for the upkeep of the board with volunteer mods and admins. But, I don't own it so that is not my decision.

 

What a crazy thing.

 

Pete

 

PS-I will no longer be a member of that board.

[Guest pgsp]

ES is sounding pretty defensive here and in some replies that were made on SGF.

 

But I re-read his original post and I saw nothing there that prevented the same level of services members have now at no charge. What's he proposing is not that much different than the way gaydar works, or recon works or may other sites on the web.

 

If your primary use of SGF is to write and read the post for info on gay thailand, it sure sounded kike that will still be there, free of charge.

 

It sounds to me that ES is trying to put the site on a sound financial basis, make some money for his efforts (which are not trivial) and perhaps have the resources and motivation to consider and expand the services offered.

 

 

[Guest pete1969]

I totally agree with that and understood what he was doing and that users could still use the board for free. I was giving feedback as a long time user about if I would purchase a $50 upgrade. I don't feel as if what I get for my money really has much value for me. With sites like gaydar, a paid membership might be of value to me.

 

Frankly, there is so much competiton and so many gay-LOS related message boards now that it would be very tough for him to make a go of a purely commercial site, but as his site gets a lot of traffic, there are many ways he can make a little money. I have no issue with that. Just be upfront and honest and don't threaten your users/customers who give polite but honest feedback on the product you want to sell.

 

Pete

[Guest wowpow]

Pete

 

Please relax and take the long view. ES has been a pretty decent owner and this latest thing will not last. I do hope that you continue making your excellent posts both there and here - your public need you!

[Guest pete1969]

WP,

 

My reason for posting this is to warn potential customers of his. The guy has my name and credit card number, and this is really the only way he can carry through on his warning for me to "be careful", and his veiled threat to cause me harm. Otherwise I am just an anonymous screen name and IP addy to him.

 

I will certainly continue to post on this board and other boards (just not SGF). I will also take much more care in the future of making any Internet donations and payments that are not made anon through a third party.

 

This guy wants to run a business that caters to gay men interested in LOS. As a businessman, he should expect that rude and threatening behavior to his customers might be discussed on these boards, just as it would if a gay bar owner or gay hotel owner or anyone else made such threats.

 

Pete

[Gaybutton]

Gentlemen, I don't think it is proper to bring a dispute someone may be having with one board to another board. I also do not think it is proper to post someone's PM, no matter what the reason may be.

 

Nothing personal, pete1969, but your dispute is with the Sawatdee forum and this board is not the place to take it up. Quite frankly, if I had spotted this post in time it would have been eliminated. I do not set board policy here, but I think GayThailand would agree with me on this. I am locking the thread and will remove the thread if the owner of the Sawatdee Forum requests it.