Temporary Change Of Forum Administrator

It is with great regret that I must announce my need to stand down as administrator of these forums, at least for the short-term forseeable future.

Due to a very serious personal situation which could consume months of my time if not more, it feels only fair for me to entrust the running of the forums to a fellow member, for the time being at least.

As many of you know, the member with the original "grand vision" and proposition to create this place (as well as coming up with one fine idea after another back then and more along the way) was Lazenby. These forums wouldn't exist without him, it's really that simple. Laz has been entitled to an admin rank from day one, a position he refused to take when the forums were first launched. It was initially my intention to exist here as administrator on a temporary basis for the "breaking in" of the forums, after which the plan was for Lazenby or somebody else to take the reins. I wasn't even what you'd call a Bond fanatic at this point. But so many exceptional people on these forums made being administrator here an absolute pleasure for me, to the point where I not only decided to remain on as administrator, but I became a true diehard Bond fan in the process.

As somebody who has constantly refused to accept even a position as a moderator here in order to simply remain "one of the members" during his time here, it wasn't easy to convince Laz to take over the mantle from myself. In fact, it was only after I'd revealed the extent of my current personal situation that Laz agreed to my request and offered to do anything he possibly could to help. He's also the only member here in possession of my telephone number, so that hopefully any difficulties which may arise can be dealt with very swiftly.

Lazenby definitely has the intelligence to keep the forums moving in the right direction, and any technical tasks he may need to perform are detailed extensively in an e-mail I sent to him on the eve of the launch of these forums over two years ago, an e-mail I have since re-sent to ensure that all technical bases are covered during his tenure as administrator.

As the practical founder of these forums, Laz has taken a real weight off my shoulders here in fittingly stepping up and finally taking a much-deserved lion's share of the responsibilities which come with running the forums here. His recent absence aside, he's practically been a co-administrator anyway during his time here, mainly in that he has helped me with many decisions here such as moderator appointments (all of them well-chosen), forum layout, content, art direction and much more. When my own imagination or decisions sometimes threaten to go wrong, he's always one of the main people reining me in and pointing me in the right direction. The commitment he has always had towards these forums becoming the best place to discuss Bond and so many other topics is immeasurable and greater than my own. With the asistance of our ten excellent moderators, whom I trust will be on hand to help, these forums can hopefully remain the best of their kind.

Lazenby has something of a reputation for fault-finding and a desire for things to be true, real and full which I think will benefit the forums greatly. I can't express just how much I appreciate him agreeing to take this on, because if faced with having to choose one moderator as full administrator here, I'd have honestly not known which one to choose without fear of offending others who are equally good. A co-creator and right-hand man with respect among many of the members here is hopefully the best alternative to me havng to make such a near-impossible choice.

I hope everybody here can get behnd or alongside Laz and help to keep the forums moving forward. I know that Laz wants no fuss to be made over this appointment, but that doesn't mean he might not need some assistance from time to time.

Thanking you all for your continuous support in making these forums what they are.

Sincerely,



M

Will miss your fairplay...this guy Laz is gonna tear Craig a new asshole.

For that, he can kiss my avatar's ass :face:

Hope everything works out well for you, M. You have my best wishes.

M wrote:

I hope everybody here can get banned or alongside Laz and help to keep the forums moving forward.

Corrected. ;)

Great choice of appointment, M. Hope your personal crisis works out for this best.

All the best, M.

Lazenby. is a great choice, and hope all goes well for you M so you can eventually join the discussion of SKYFALL when it hits theaters.

M, I don't know the details of your situation, and I'm probably in no position to help, but if there's anything I might be able to do, just let me know.

And I'm sure Laz will be more than capable of running this site in your absence, so no worries there.

Best of luck indeed M.

The best of Luck M, I hope for you that everything will work out for the best.

Largo's Shark wrote:

M wrote:

I hope everybody here can get banned or alongside Laz and help to keep the forums moving forward.

Corrected. ;)

Great choice of appointment, M. Hope your personal crisis works out for this best.

Ditto.

Does this mean I'll have to agree with Laz for real until you return?

Hope everything works out for the best, M.

AMC Hornet wrote:

Largo's Shark wrote:

M wrote:

I hope everybody here can get banned or alongside Laz and help to keep the forums moving forward.

Corrected. ;)

Great choice of appointment, M. Hope your personal crisis works out for this best.

Ditto.

Does this mean I'll have to agree with Laz for real until you return?

Thanks for all the support guys (and Dog Bond), I was dreading a mass walkout.

I know as well as anyone what a good job M has done, so I won't do anything silly to risk undoing that.

The new porn section will be activated this Friday at midnight. :*e*: ;)

Best of luck to you both. Hope everything works out, M.

Lazenby. wrote:

The new porn section will be activated this Friday at midnight. :*e*: ;)

:face:

Hey Laz, some thoughts on what’s needed.

1. Stop members from hiding. Registered users shouldn’t hide their presence, moderators least of all.
2. Be a strong leader. BABs has been rudderless for a longtime.
3. Dump the deadweight; there are moderators in this forum who have barely posted in the last year. Sack them.
4. Most of the women have left - why? What can be done to encourage them to return?
5. Forums should be about interaction, but some of BAB’s members are talking to themselves. For instance, one moderator has now made 11 consecutive posts in the Mad Men thread. That sort of self-indulgence should be confined to WordPress.
6. ‘American Politics and News’ is BAB’s most provocative thread, but makes a poor shop window for the forum. Curtail the more repetitive disagreements or hide them from public view.
7. Ask yourself ‘Who’s BABs for?’ So many seem disillusioned with EON-Bond that maybe a change in forum direction is required.
8. Get a door policy and enforce it. The management’s tolerance of J7wild’s witless anti-Semitism and scattergun conspiracy theories was shameful: he wrecked the joint while the moderators stood around and laughed. No individual should be allowed to dumb-down or dominate BABs like that again.

Anyway, good luck with fixing things.

Erica Ambler wrote:

4. Most of the women have left - why? What can be done to encourage them to return?

You might have just solved our problem there. Give it a few days and they'll be back.

Dog by nature, you should be Dog by name. Get Laz to change it.

EDIT: Sharky tells me that until I see the forum archive I can have no idea what's been going on here. How do I get access?

Erica Ambler wrote:

4. Most of the women have left - why? What can be done to encourage them to return?

Have the government issue a federal mandate that requires insurance carriers to provide "free" contraception. Or have Laz declare that BAB's "War On Women" is now over since there has been a change of administration.

Erica Ambler wrote:

5. Forums should be about interaction, but some of BAB’s members are talking to themselves. For instance, one moderator has now made 11 consecutive posts in the Mad Men thread. That sort of self-indulgence should be confined to WordPress.

At least they weren't two-word posts.

But I'll combine them into one post. I know I'm a bad person.

Thanks Ambler. I won't be sacking any mods though, because there's no real need to do so. They're all great guys as far as I'm concerned. Compare the mod behaviour here to the often childish use of mod status at MI6, where you'd be told off in blue pen for next to nothing, be discriminated against because of what Bond films/actors you like or don't like, be chastised unfairly or patronisingly by PM by mods you'd beaten in an argument on the boards, get suspended for bizarre reasons and watch one arsekisser after another be given mod status ahead of the loyal and hardworking writers who provide the forum's very lifeblood (sole exceptions Tux & St George). The mods here are mostly people who MI6 didn't have the sense to promote, and all of them have shown impeccable tact and common sense since becoming mods here. No change needed there.

The two main focus points for me are forum promotion and maximum generation of discussion. People need to come out of hidden mode and open themselves up to forum conversation more often. The presence of quality usernames at the bottom of the forum is so much more beneficial than simply seeing "4 hidden" all the time.

And don't worry about anybody else causing trouble around here. If people want to behave like racist assclowns, they can do it elsewhere.

Lazenby. wrote:

Compare the mod behaviour here to the often childish use of mod status at MI6, where you'd be told off in blue pen for next to nothing, be discriminated against because of what Bond films/actors you like or don't like, be chastised unfairly or patronisingly by PM by mods you'd beaten in an argument on the boards, get suspended for bizarre reasons and watch one arsekisser after another be given mod status ahead of the loyal and hardworking writers who provide the forum's very lifeblood (sole exceptions Tux & St George). The mods here are mostly people who MI6 didn't have the sense to promote, and all of them have shown impeccable tact and common sense since becoming mods here. No change needed there.

You might consider opening The Dungeon to to the wider membership to see if they agree with you.

In my opinion nothing that went on at MI6 compares to what's been happening here. Hierarchies exist for good reason. This was a case of the lunatics taking over the asylum.

The White Tuxedo wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

5. Forums should be about interaction, but some of BAB’s members are talking to themselves. For instance, one moderator has now made 11 consecutive posts in the Mad Men thread. That sort of self-indulgence should be confined to WordPress.

At least they weren't two-word posts.

But I'll combine them into one post. I know I'm a bad person.

Oh Tux.

Lazenby wrote:

I won't be sacking any mods though, because there's no real need to do so. They're all great guys as far as I'm concerned.

Lazenby, remove me as a moderator. My idea of what a moderator should be and my style and temperament are probably not in sync with what you, M, or Largo's Shark had, or have, in mind for the site. I'm the odd man out in this equation.

Thank you.

I'm a Mod, but I don't really do any "Modding". I think I was just asked when this place took off and agreed, but I just post here, to be honest. So I'm not sure if I'm really Mod material. :scratch: I really don't care to police the forums or get involved in disputes.