Thank you Susan Porter

[b1gcountry]

I just wanted to say Thank You to Susan Porter for putting together her wonderful book, Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy. It has been an invaluable reference for anyone diving on Bonaire.

I've only talked with her a couple times over email, but she is very friendly, and puts a lot of time and effort into her book. It's easy to jump on a person in an online forum, and its easy to misunderstand someone, or call names when you don't have to see them in person. I can understand that when you spend so much time on a book like this that you would become a little protective of it. I think that same ethic is what makes her try so hard to improve it every year.

So thank you, Susan, for your wonderful book.

Tom

 

[DiveMaven]

Agreed. We found the book to be invaluable for our first visit to Bonaire earlier this month. It gave us a confidence in choosing dive sites and made our trip easier and more comfortable.

 

[Ann Marie]

I just wanted to say Thank You to Susan Porter for putting together her wonderful book, Bonaire Shore Diving Made Easy. It has been an invaluable reference for anyone diving on Bonaire.

I've only talked with her a couple times over email, but she is very friendly, and puts a lot of time and effort into her book. It's easy to jump on a person in an online forum, and its easy to misunderstand someone, or call names when you don't have to see them in person. I can understand that when you spend so much time on a book like this that you would become a little protective of it. I think that same ethic is what makes her try so hard to improve it every year.

So thank you, Susan, for your wonderful book.

Tom

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Hi Tom,

I've read through the three threads and unless there is another thread that I'm missing there has been no name calling that I'm aware of that is directed toward Ms. Porter. There has been the implications made that one of our members has stolen her property, which is simply not true; but like all things here on ScubaBoard the issue is debatable.

If I have missed something (as much as I hate to admit it I do make mistakes) please use the

in the lower left corner of that post. Personal attacks are a violation of the Terms of Service of ScubaBoard. By using the

a thread is automatically generated into an area that is for moderators and advisors. Sometimes these reported posts are clear-cut and dealt with immediately while other-times they are discussed before action takes place. Not all reported posts are determined to be violations of the ToS but we do take reported posts seriously.

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[Ann Marie]

I too have purchased Ms. Porter's book and have enjoyed it immensely on my trips to Bonaire. I have made my own comments in the margins of the book. I sincerely hope that once she has seen that this particular member's work as not infringement we'll see her as a regular poster here on ScubaBoard.

 

[The Kraken]

I love Shakespeare . . .

the K

 

[b1gcountry]

Ann Marie, Please don't bring outside complaints into this thread. I would like to express a simple thank you without having others quibble with my choice of words.

It is easy to name call over the internet. I have seen it at Scubaboard. Some of it does get moderated, some does not, but it shouldn't exist in the first place. Name Calling, Being Rude, Over-Reacting, and taking things out of context on purpose are all things about public forums that I have noticed, and I do not appreciate. They are all things that I do not notice in person, and I believe they all spring from the impersonality of the internet. I am sure that being a moderator, you have seen this in spades.

But I digress, this note was directed to Susan, so that she could see that I and anyone else who would like to chime in really appreciates all the work she has done on her book, and to offer our support of her and her work. It was prompted by other threads, but it was not meant to directly respond to any of the comments outside of this one. Thank you, Ann Marie for your second post. I was not interested in sparking disagreement, just as a way for anyone who found Susan's book helpful to say so.

Tom

 

[Charlie99]

... this note was directed to Susan, so that she could see that I and anyone else who would like to chime in really appreciates all the work she has done on her book, and to offer our support of her and her work.

Please post a copy of her book, so we can all see how great it is.




















Just kidding, of course. I figured by today everyone would have cooled off a bit.

 

[Ann Marie]

Tom,

I've been debating on whether to make this post or just to send you a PM. I decided to post as I would like my reply to be seen by other members and not just you. Because it is next to impossible to determine when someone is being serious or sarcastic I would like to let you know that I am being sincere in all of my responses in this thread.

My first post in this thread was made as an Advisor for ScubaBoard (hence the little guy and the post being in red). We have new members joining every day and we have a lot of members that haven't read the Terms of Service (ToS) and may not know about the "Report Button". I was replying directly to your comments in this thread about name-calling (which are personal attacks and against the ToS). When I posted I was not bringing any outside complaints into this thread, I was replying to the complaint that I put in red that you had posted and I quoted. Our ratio of staff to member is very small and I can assure you not every post is seen by a staff member. We are members first and don't going "looking" for posts to moderate but engage in threads that interest us. Sometimes we run across a post that needs moderation and sometimes we don't. When we do run into posts that cross the line and we have participated in that thread, we like any other member use the

instead of moderating that thread ourselves. Because we don't see every post that is made here; this is where we really rely on our members to notify us when they feel a post has violated the ToS. That is what I was trying to express in my post, that if you had seen something that I had missed that is a violation of the ToS, I would hope that you would report it so that a Moderator could review it and deal with it.

In post #1, it was implied that Ms. Porter had been called names. What kind of message would it send if I as an Advisor, had replied to your post with my own post (post #3) but didn't address the issue of her being personally attacked?

My second post (post #3) was also in thanks to Ms. Porter. I have never spoken or corresponded with her in any way but feel that her book is a very nice resource to have when visiting Bonaire. I can also appreciate all of the hard work that it must take to put something like that together.

 

[skynscuba]

I can't seem to find my copy from two years ago, and am heading back next week. My GF just bought a copy of the Lonely Planet Bonaire book, which has been updated since my last trip, and is much improved. It is now better in some ways, but I'd rather have both.

 

[DiveMaven]

The book is available all over the island. Check your dive shop when you check in, they are sure to have a copy.

Have a GREAT trip!