Hey, the dude pretty much put Domebo’s house in order, and that was while they were shitting on his lawn.
The thing is, the idea amounts to Ed Zotti having to sell Ms. Fredericks…er…um…whatever unknown entity ranks above Ed in the CL food chain, on the notion of putting someone with a potential motive for wanting to hose the system and with the knowledge to hose the system, in a position to well and truly hose the system with vigor and alacrity. I just don’t see that flying in a corporate environment. Handshake deal between gentlemen, yeah, something could probably be worked out…but this is a bigger deal than that.
Nothing against Seven, that’s just the way I’d expect the CL to look at this situation.
I don’t understand why you’re baiting Dex like this. Honestly.
And again, nothing against Seven, but what if he got the board up and functioning beautifully and perfectly and then suddenly became unavailable to keep it running – maybe due to a new job that requires all his time; maybe due to getting hurt and an extended hospital stay; maybe to falling in love with someone from another country and moving there, etc., etc.?
Any number of things could happen that could cause Seven to no longer be in a position to administer the board. TPTB would then find themselves in the position of a Cessna pilot who suddenly has to take over the controls of jet airliner. In other words, seven’s knowledge and expertise seem to far outweigh those of the board’s current operators (and absolutely no criticism or disrespect of any kind to any of the board’s administrators is intended by that comment), and so how would those operators continue to keep the board functioning once that high-level expert is no longer running things?
ETA: This is just a concern that I would have if I were running the board. It may be entirely possible that once Seven gets things in order the board’s current administration could continue to operate it just fine. I simply don’t know, and that’s the reason for my post.
I am not baiting Dex. Honestly. I ask the same question of all of you. Why can’t you opine about this? Why must you be silent about it? Can’t comment? Can’t comment? Why not?
Your scenario would open all sorts of avenues for SDMB to file lawsuits against Seven and his companies. It’s ridiculous.
Lib, my take on it was that Dex’s comment didn’t mean to imply that he couldn’t comment on it at all, only that he couldn’t comment on whether or not Seven’s offer would be accepted.
Ah. I’m sorry, then. Sorry, Dex. I misunderstood you.
I’m not saying he’d do anything bad. I’m saying the CL is unlikely to put him in a position where he could do bad things. From a management point of view, suggestions like this go in the “Won’t get me laid, could get me fired” pile. And in greener corporate regimes, go on to be shredded and line pet cages/litter boxes. Such is the circle of life.
This kind of generous offer has come up every few months for the past ten years.
Ain’t gonna happen.
This board is just a little offshoot from a little indy print rag.
Ain’t gonna happen.
I can go you one better Klaatu,
It’s been offered and refused too many times to count in various manifestations.
It might resolve the ongoing issues, pleasing the subscribers.
Yeah, it’s not going to happen.
That is one dead character, I tell you what. And what’s more, it looks like it’s been assassinated.
Here’s one more voice of confidence that Seven could do it. He saved my server from a weekend meltdown once. 
Seven, if they take you up on your offer, I got five bucks that says sending searches to a slave DB works wonders.
As has been said, offers like this have been made before, and dismissed out of hand.
Whatever the rights or wrongs of the situation, the fact that **Seven **has had a fairly major bust up with TPTB certainly won’t be a plus point on his CV. I do think, though, that it is an extraordinarily generous offer.
We, the users are, I’m sure, unanimous in our desire to see this board perform much better, but, in all sorts of aspects, TPTB have always seemed, at best, rather disinterested in improvements. That’s not to say that they don’t happen (e.g. polls), just that they have given the impression that they’re not a priority.
I hope that Claire Beauchamp’s post explaining how poor board performance cost her two thirds of her user base has been taken on board.
So what you are saying, in effect, is that TPTB should never engage ANYONE to improve the board. Because anyone, not just Seven, could get a new job, have a baby, get sick, or otherwise become less available. By that reasoning, no one should ever do anything, since one can generally dream up a scenario in which things go wrong.
I don’t know the first thing about message board administration, but I do know a little bit about what goes into being a professional in any field. Usually, you keep clear written records of what you are doing, inform other people of your activities (including the rationale behind them, what they are intended to accomplish, and what the next steps will be), and have back-up plans so that others have some idea of how to cope in the event you become unavailable for some reason.
As I said, I know nothing about Seven’s field. But since he is a successful professional, it seems likely that he understands how to manage risk. Certainly, I would not dismiss his offer because my imagination is equal to the task of dreaming up something that could go wrong. I’d at least explore the issue with Seven - “so what happens if you are suddenly unavailable?” Maybe he has an excellent answer to that question.
Yet another person weighing in to say that I’ve seen **Seven’**s hardware (sounds so dirty). He’s got a whole level of a building just dedicated to a board. Seems to me that it would be great to have that kind of help. I hope it seriously gets looked at and, at least, talked about a little by the upper management or whoever it is who’d get to decide these things.
Hardly. What I’m saying is that since Seven’s level of experience and expertise is likely a good deal higher than that of the people currently in charge of running the board, they may be find themselves lost in the event that he should leave. Remember my Cessna/jet airliner analogy? I don’t think notes and records would be adequate to tell the Cessna pilot how to fly the airliner, and I think it’s quite possible that notes and records would be insufficient to instruct the board’s current operators how to operate it in the event he should leave. I don’t know that this is the case, but I do think it’s worth consideration.
Perhaps he does. If so, it won’t be a problem, n’est-ce pas?
Both points are true, which is why the admins are so reticent to discuss this. It’s a sensitive issue.
I am a little surprised that Seven posted this offer publicly. I’d think this is something that would go to Ed one-on-one.
May be he’s working on the assumption that he’ll garner quite a lot of support amongst us Teeming Millions, and therefore to have a bit more leverage when Ed deals with this.
Perhaps.
But I fear it may have exactly the opposite effect. Far better that the offer had been made behind the scenes.
Okay, gotcha. Thanks for having the patience to explain your positiion. And ordinarilly, I would agree. But this board is so bad, compared to other boards, that as I say, it’s like a third-world nation. That is a shameful condition for a board that purports to fight ignorance and to host the smartest people on the planet.
It’s like having a car that breaks down all the time, and debating over whether to allow a mechanic to look at it. I think that in this instance, there is a “probably would get me laid” factor that is missing from your otherwise reasonable dichotomy.
I can see why you would say that, but the problem is that Ed might not quite grasp the depth and breadth of improvement Seven is suggesting. If he (Seven) is successful (and given the chance, he will be) the board’s problems will be solved almost from A to Z. Blinding fast responses, searches, and far more efficient use of bandwidth. No more timeouts. No more database errors. I think Seven made it public — not to speak for him — so that those of us who are in the field can corroborate both his credentials and the effects of what he proposes.