Missdirected
Contributor
Marvel:While we understand that a few of you may have misunderstood the restructuring of the Conch Divers forum or may not agree with it, 2 mods and an advisor have made it clear that this is what the vote was designed to decide. This decision was reached by an overwhelming majority of the Florida Conch Divers (45-21) & is now in effect. All trips are to be posted in the main Trips & Marketplace forum.
FYI- Typically, forum restructuring is not something that El Orans decides on his own- it is reviewed by the advisors & is sometimes, as in this case, put to a vote by the members of the forums in question. Once a decision is made, El Orans is tasked with implementing what is decided. Although El Orans is THE man behind the magic, he is not the arbiter of board policy. Given the many fantastic enhancements he has made & the way he adroitly manages the day to day tasks required of an admin, it is easy to see why many may misunderstand his role. Certainly, that must be the case here since this is a decision that was reached among the Conchs themselves.
We know that this decision will not suit all of the Conchs- no decision probably ever will- but it was made after much discussion among the forum members & after a clear majority vote was reached. As the Conchs continue to grow, we will, of course, revisit the forum structure & there is always the possibility that it will change again down the road to better suit the needs of the community at a whole but at this time it has been determined by the community itself that all Florida trips & happenings should be posted in one central location.
Scuba_Jenny:
Jenny, you are correct that SB is for everyone. However, the innuendo that only "certain friends" are invited out is is preposterous. It is SB LOCALS when it is a small local trip. The implication that we are a clique, not open to all new SB'ers local to our community, is incredibly sad. If you ever hung around, you would know better. Further, the message that comes through in the statement does nothing to promote what many of us work hard to do here, which also happens to be what this board is about; attempting to make locals feel comfortable, want to come out more, and stick with the board.
I was once told that there were not enough people here to do anything with. That newbs would just have to come out to one of the big Conch events like Ginnie Springs - anything different wasn't acceptable. So many of us started networking the local area on one lil thread, that is all we were allowed to have, and we have grown. Now it isn't one brand new diver/SB'er going to a conch event. It is usually, locals joining up and traveling together.
I just felt there were some discrepancies, as did some others, and wanted some clarification. you speak of "As the Conchs grow...". Well heck, the way many people seem to have interpreted the vote and conducted themselves accordingly; people were coming out of the woodwork over the last couple of weeks talking, posting gatherings, and the like. Now when we ask for clarification we get short, sarcastic, angry answers, essentially saying we are anti-conch, anti-growth, anti-SB :w-t-f:
