Underdtanding BLOOMZ

[MANORVILLE]

In good faith, I for one think it may important to explain the just cause of the recent events that led to Bloomz being banned, or accepting his banishment .

In all due respect to the admins, who I do respect, the finalization is lacking to such a large membership.

There are many credible points that have been brought up, yet none have really been addressed so that members can understand.

Locking the thread does not make the dissection of the situation go away for the many readers of the thread. Many here have come to expect more. I see no viable reason to have closed the thread so quickly, other than the displeasure of those that chose willingly to read it.
By any standards I would consider that a wrong doing.

While I may agree that maybe the thread had reached it's course, it certainly appears that many do not agree with that opinion, or sanctioning decision.

I for one, of many, :headbang: would expect more, from this hard working group.

If this is or has been deemed as an unreasonable request, I will regretfully cease to participate or post on FC, as I believe that accountability is the key here, more-so than anywhere else, during these difficult times we all face. To be censored, without exploration of an issue, and without explanation to those that have tried to help build upon the hard work of the founders, is not right,
by any standards.

Is JB a pain in the arse ? Yes Does he comply ? No
Does he contribute ? Yes, without a reasonable doubt !!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what it's all about !
Vague explanations as to why a committed member is no longer privaleged to be a part of this after so many years of contribution are unacceptable. Right or wrong, this needs to be handled differently.

 

[CHR]

Kevin -

First - JB is not banned. He received a time-out, is free to post right now and AFAIK he has never directly addressed this on this board.

The points were addressed by all 4 Admins - including me - when I said here:

I would like to clear something up....

Part of this discussion has revolved around a desire to remain 'anonymous' to prevent potential legal liabilities from words typed here at FC.

Whether you use your real name or not or use a nom de plume or enter a fake location, you are not absolved from or prevented from being personally responsible for what you say here. If you unfairly (or even fairly) post about a person or company, they can (and have) used legal measures or threats of legal measures to correct perceived 'wrongs'.

I was directly contacted by a company (who is not a member of FC) about a post I made they felt 'unfair' to their reputation. The letter from them threatened legal action if the info was not cleared up to their liking. I know of at least 3 other FCers who have had something similar happen.

You usually don't read about it when it happens since 'going public' can make a difficult situation much worse.

If you want to have strong opinions, you do need to wear big girl (or big boy) panties and own up to the words you enter here. 'Plausible deniability' is a total mirage.

Transparency makes folks accountable and also gives some pause before rumors, innuendo or worse get posted. Hard won reputations are at stake.

That's partly why we have a level if member ID here.

Emphasis mine. I called JB last Monday from my vacation and we had a lengthy conversation. He's a friend I don't like this any more than anyone else. I also know that we are all equals and we can't require every member but one or two to abide by the rules to simply include a shop name & city (not even a real name) that let us know 'who' we're talking to - rules that were overwhelmingly requested by the FC membership.

The subject has been discussed and exhausted.

 

[MANORVILLE]

No dispute with you or your judgment Cathy, or the admins. Only suggesting, that as FC has grown, that a better system of accountability may be necessary, to better represent all that admire and follow, to avoid such issues.
I have no doubt that you, and others, have gone the length,,,,,,,,,none what so ever, but there are those that are uncertain, and certainly need more than has been posted, to be able to put this to rest, one way or the other.
Closing the thread may have been deemed by some, or many, to be nothing more than censorship.

JMHO

I'll take my lumps either way >

 

[CHR]

I don't see any censorship in any way. No one is prevented from posting and as I said earlier, JB is absolutely free to post (and to obviously use the forum tools like the 'thanks' button. )

 

[Chezbloom]

I was directly contacted by a company (who is not a member of FC) about a post I made they felt 'unfair' to their reputation

Hmmm, it just makes me wonder who these Non Member companies are and why they are trolling around in FC reading posts and threatening people with lawsuits. I reckon we are not allowed to know who this distinquished company is?

 

[CHR]

Chez -

It's called 'copy & paste'. The company is not a member, but a member obviously emailed them with a quote (which was out of context BTW.)

Just because the board is password protected doesn't mean nothing said in here leaves these walls.

 

[TGDragonfly]

"I was directly contacted by a company (who is not a member of FC) about a post I made they felt 'unfair' to their reputation"Hmmm, it just makes me wonder who these Non Member companies are and why they are trolling around in FC reading posts and threatening people with lawsuits. I reckon we are not allowed to know who this distinquished company is?

Is it just me, that Witness character makes me nervous?

 

[BOSS]

Hmmm, it just makes me wonder who these Non Member companies are and why they are trolling around in FC reading posts and threatening people with lawsuits. I reckon we are not allowed to know who this distinquished company is?

Often in the past I too have been contacted by non-member companies and individuals regarding statements I have made on FC... I know for a fact that these contacts have been provided "cut and paste" quotes by other forum members.

Like for instance, if I were to bash a wire service, there are members here that are still loyal to those wire services, and they may choose to copy and forward my statements. So be it.

 

[Tracy D'Amico]

Is it just me, that Witness character makes me nervous?

7 posts, only 2 visible and no discrernible connection to an actual business. Online all the time, but the profile reads not online.

It's not just you.

 

[lori042499]

I myself have been questioned by people who are non-members here at FC about comments made not even naming the company...just someone knowing me, knowing where I have worked and using that info to deduce who it was I was speaking of, Thank God it was nothing embarrassing or derogatory...but I got the feeling still that the person did not like that it got back to them, and I kind of don't blame them...I did explain that it was nothing bad and they were never named...and was told that they knew all of that, so it must have been read by them...


And within the flower world, I am a virtual nobody, especially compared to Mark, CHR, Bloomz and others who have rubbed elbows with many mucky mucks, if it can happen to me and noone is watching imagine what can happen to people that some watch...

 

[CHR]

All 7 posts are visible. 5 are in the 'Anything Goes' (password is DIRTY) forum so if you're not a subscriber to that forum, you can't read them.

Witness' city is clearly not correct. Duly noted.

 

[TGDragonfly]

7 posts, only 2 visible and no discrernible connection to an actual business. Online all the time, but the profile reads not online.

It's not just you.

Always viewing a blog or photo 1 minute ago. "If I can't see them, they can't see me". And Blooms was given a time out? Flowers and Wine, try to find that, anywhere.

 

[BOSS]

You guys are paranoid.... I'll look into it....

 

[Tracy D'Amico]

and now he's gone from the online list.

where's my tinfoil hat.....

 

[theRKF]

Tracy,

Sorry that the Witness account has caused so much paranoia

It's an inactive account now used for testing programming and other things.

Nothing to be concerned about - but I will update the profile info accordingly.

Ryan

 

[Joe Cool]

Okay, here are my two cents worth. As a member, I want to see what is being said about my company (Syndicate) whether it be good or bad. If its good, that's great. If it is bad, well we have something to work on. It is usually the negative comments that make you better.

As a member, I have the opportunity to respond to any thread about Syndicate whether it is to correct misinformation that is posted or answer questions that are asked. What more can I ask for? Freedom of speech, its what makes this country great.

I for one do not like the anonymous posts. If they are negative, I don't know who it is. If I can identify the person who posts, I have the opportunity to contact that person and either try to solve their problem, change their opinion, etc. At Syndicate, we have always had a saying that we try to live by. "If you are going to say it, be willing to put it on the front page of the paper and put your name on it."

Any company that wants to complain about what is being said on Flowerchat, should join the forum so they can have a voice as well.

 

[Tracy D'Amico]

Tracy,

Sorry that the Witness account has caused so much paranoia

It's an inactive account now used for testing programming and other things.

Nothing to be concerned about - but I will update the profile info accordingly.

Ryan

um, Gee, if you weren't the owner, wouldn't that be a violation of TOU, having multiple accounts, with bogus info.

just sayin'

 

[theRKF]

um, Gee, if you weren't the owner, wouldn't that be a violation of TOU, having multiple accounts, with bogus info.

just sayin'

Tracy,

We need to have accounts with different access levels to test the many, many configurations of FlowerChat. There are many different user account levels, each with its own permissions settings on each of the forums AND various features of the board.

What I see with my admin account is not what you see with your full member account, which is different from what a new applicant sees with their account, which is different again from what someone with an upgraded membership sees. With me so far?

For us to test the "average user" experience on FC, we need an account with "average user" access. When the account went dormant I left the details in tact. Since we're not posting via that account, it seemed best to keep the details as they were when the few posts were made, for consistency.

Ryan

 

[goldfish]

Any company that wants to complain about what is being said on Flowerchat, should join the forum so they can have a voice as well.

Exactly! That's why I want Wesley Berry, JustFlowers, etc all join here.

Test: 1-800-flowers sucks. Hello?

 

[HeatherTuckey]

Tracy,

We need to have accounts with different access levels to test the many, many configurations of FlowerChat. There are many different user account levels, each with its own permissions settings on each of the forums AND various features of the board.

What I see with my admin account is not what you see with your full member account, which is different from what a new applicant sees with their account, which is different again from what someone with an upgraded membership sees. With me so far?

For us to test the "average user" experience on FC, we need an account with "average user" access. When the account went dormant I left the details in tact. Since we're not posting via that account, it seemed best to keep the details as they were when the few posts were made, for consistency.

Ryan

Why not just name the member "test acct" or something to that effect... with a short description in the contact info explaining what you just stated in your post?

Why use a fictitious name with no location details violating your own TOU, especially when this is such a "hot topic" recently.