The Poll, Vote for change by force

[chessspy]

It is in my opinion of great import to this group to vote in the online poll. In order to get the kind of group you, the ones who actually use it should vote now! At present only 4 dealers/dealer-collectors have voted to change things by force, this is clearly not enough. Unless you want the chess dealers who never use this site ,to loose their grip on the pure collectors who do, then you will use your vote to change things back to how they were before the internet brought this darned freedom and democracy. We dealers cannot start a new group of our own as we cannot exist without the collectors,so our only recourse is to pretend we are a silent majority and force change through. Do not let it appear we are only a gang of four,(and bear in mind before you get your friends to join and vote ,that the moderators aren't stupid and votes for change from people who rarely if ever go on to this site will not carry much weight. If we must resort to such tactics the rather say you never went on because there were too many people enjoying themselves. Always remember we want it to be like in the old days of the CCI, weekends away in exotic locations with hotels at £3,000 for 4 nights ,and if the poor collectors couldn't afford that then we let them come and listen to our pearls of wisdom for a mere entry fee of £600. VOTE NOW

[chesspurr]

majory1959 hi josh i sure would like to meet nigel ,our 17lbs rocky fats is one lazy mother of a cat . being serious now , this poll was set up due to hidden beefs on the way our group is goung . i seem to remember wishing for change months ago on B I N offers in our charter , the silent zorros by non activity created a situation where robert was forced to openly offer me a posting stating no change .... i accepted this with great reluctance , as i am but a single member , it has to be correct too, even if i am right over having some honour to the way we behave on the bay. then out of the blue we have a tide of discontent about content of our threads , and the few open critical remarks are made by members who are far from active in the group , so clearly there are others who are bubbling beneath the surface trying to mess up things for unknown reasons to me .

[cpe1991]

All The way the poll is going looks like those who want to remove or minimise off-topic and those who want to leave things alone will approximately be balanced. Then, the few votes in the middle that things will be OK with administrative intervention will be the deciding factor, which effectively is the present situation. But it will be sorted out anyway by the brilliant posting in the Net Etiquette thread, which has had little comment: r.van.der.veur (89 ) 05/14/07 05:33 AM (#39 of 40) New thread etiquette: Everybody who starts a new thread is the custodian of that thread. (like chessspy did with the The Dr. Jean Claude Cholet sale at christies thread). The custodian has to decide what direction his thread is going to. When he\she wants a message to be deleted or moved to an other thread he will ask a moderator to do so.

[chessspy]

Hi All, This discussion seems to be going along quite nicely, I see there is no need for me to comment at this stage, however remember, it is not only the silent ones who watch, I am watching you. ;) Alan D.

[hohertenor]

I would like to know what you would like to change it to? I am not an active member (too many balls in the air!) but I like to drop in an nose around when I can since I love the game as opposed to actual collecting for collecting's sake (gee I only have six sets!) Surely posts of an off-topic nature belong in the "Off Topic" post section and discussions On-Topic are under their relevant subject sections. So what is the problem? Cheers.

[chessspy]

Hello,Cheers (hohertenor) (Well, what a strange name) I had the idea that there were some people who wanted to restrict what was discussed on this, admittedly, free and easy forum. It is as you will see a vibrant and(for the most part polite)group, full of the knowledgeable and also the not so blessed, collectors, and others, like myself who are, (and we should all admit it)obsessed with chess sets and anything to do with them, (like where and when they were made and why) I thought that was worth fighting for, however the threat was mostly in my mind, due to some critical comments I had received at a market I attend regularly. However although the desire to restrict the content was only wanted by a small minority, the exercise in democracy at work was a useful one. We have prevailed. Regards Alan D.

[hohertenor]

Hello chesspy, I'm not sure to which you're referring to as the strange name, Cheers or the hohertenor!!! So I'll put your mind at rest; 🙂 by saying "Cheers" I was signing off (not my name) and hohertenor is my ebay user name which means in German "High Tenor", which is what I am as a career singer! But in future in this forum I'll sing off with my real name-now that was off topic! I do appreciate the collectors' postings as you have already explained and wish that it continues so since I for one learn enjoy learning the finer points discussed. Colin

[gevork6]

Hohentenor: Sorry to be slightly off topic but I am a regular tenor...I have been taking voice lessons for a year and a half now with a Georgian Opera singer.....I am working on the Neapolitan stuff right now....I have a recital scheduled for 5/25.....I will be singing...Vuria Vasa...Nel Cor pie non mi sento....and A Vucchella....I can't wait to start the Verdi stuff.....I love Pavarotti...too bad about his cancer...I was going to see him at the MCI center but he canceled....although over thye years the bloom in his voice has darkened no one can hit those ringing high notes like the "Pav".....By High tenor do you mean you are a Countertenor?? That type of voice is very rare....if you are one you must be in great demand for those Bellini and Mozart roles......intersting that we have at least two things in common....what kind of chess collection do you have?? P.S. I personally met Lado Ataneli (the semi-famous Romanian Baritone) at my instructors house...they are friends...he lives in Germany but is here in D.C. to do Othelo at the Kennedy Center.........you must have no problem hitting the "HIGH C" I assume......I have never heard a better one than Pavarotti's in Le fille de regiment.....talk to you soon!!

[cpe1991]

Art Did you vote for banning all off-topics in threads? Alan

[gevork6]

I think I voted to leave things the way they are.....I like the loose format it's fun.........I have to deal with so many rigid regulations in other spheres of my life that I'd like to keep things relaxed here if possible...... Art

[chesspurr]

gevork hi art thats the way .... the real collectors must stick together like glue . ]:)

[chessspy]

Hi, All, and welcome Colin, Although this thread has served its purpose , and should be allowed to slip quietly into oblivion, this seems like a good time to discuss off topic conversations. Not all members will be happy with giving their e-mail address on line especially newer folk. Intelligent people often have several interests running concurrently, and where,(as here)we have two members with a common interest,(in this case voice, but it could be anything, music, motorcycles, lumberjacks, crossdressing.)Oops sorry, don't know where that came from. We should be allowed to make contact, on any thread and at least expect two or three exchanges before the respondents get together on another format. That's my take on it anyway. Alan D.

[noybear]

Alan, You have hit a major part of the issue exactly. The statement of "before the respondents get together on another format" would resolve the issue, but to do that either a member must offer their private contact info in one of the other threads or in response. This is not being done and this site is being used as an "additional mail site" for many who do not want to divulge that information. I personally know people with multiple email addresses and ID's. I have my home and one through Yahoo. I use yahoo for B/S. This group and its members are important enough to me to give my home address. I also agree that members have additional common interests ( I have 2 motorcycles, extensive 50s-60s-70s vinyl library, know a lot about lumber but am an ex-Marine that "would rather fight than switch") but I would not discuss any of these things or many others in a public forum. On this site, I will discuss dolls (created for a chess game), clocks, furniture, pieces/ sets, clothes (t-shirts and more) or other things related to the subject of the game of chess. I will not discuss my social life with regards to meeting someone for introductions or drinks or dinners or discuss where I will be staying whenever. It is no one else's concern about these matters. Before someone thinks that I am reclusive and too guarded, pictures have been discussed about faces and arses and I would wager that in this entire group I am the only member with a real picture of myself visible on the "About Me" page of eBay? In reality, I am possibly more open about myself with regards to the public than any other member. I have no interest in your cat or girlfriend or your yard and estate from the outside. So much excessive babble makes it much harder to find an appropriate thread to ask a question or to read an answer and I have made this mistake myself a couple times because I could not find the appropriate subject. If someone were to contact me to discuss a set or design or some technical question, I would be glad to discuss issues with them. If we arrived at a conclusion that is valid, they or I could offer a statement to the group or ask a relevent question. I would always welcome solid opinions that can be backed up with reasoning such as a knight's profile having the shape of a camel's nose rather than the nose of a fine stallion because ... noybear@earthlink.net / damnedcabinetmaker@yahoo.com

[dancing_with_volves]

Hello Clayton and All Please note that the most active members have all supported their e-mail addresses in this thread. Nothing should prevent private discussion of topics which fall out of the scope of this group. 6 members have provided their images in the Happy Faces album.

[chessspy]

Hi, Noybear, I find myself agreeing with most of your sentiments, however I do not see the getting together on another format thing as insurmountable in any way. I should think ,that if (for example) two respondents were not able to give their e-mails out, it is the work of a few keystrokes to create a temporary and disposable e-mail address, to be used for this purpose.(although I admit to being 25 years out of date with my computer knowledge (the internet was called the arpanet when I first dialed up.)) I have looked at a number of other "chat forums"(foria?) antiques and other fancies, and I cannot find anything to match this site for vibrancy and frequency of use. We could by democratic vote try to change this one, it is however in my opinion a problem to decide how to change things for the better without "throwing the baby out with the bathwater". I see from the last use list, that there are members that pop in to read what is being said ,without commenting, these "silent watchers" are missing the point rather, (1) We can see who they are and it's clear they are harmless. (2) It's much more fun to get down and dirty with the other collectors, not all of whom have large ammounts of disposable income to spend on chess sets , but whose input is still valid. (3) This media is the future of chess collecting and even those collectors who for various reasons do not use this site are , by and large in contact with those that do and make use of the information gleaned from these pages. (4) We are no longer in thrall to an elitist group who exclude working class collectors of "cheaper" sets by means of access costs. I realize my view is in some way extreme and the CCI probably never meant to be excluding, however, in my opinion it was. I also realize that chess set dealers have been doing business in a secretive way for so many years that this new loudness (I wanted to use the Russian word but I don't have a cyrilic keypad)will not suit them and they may never be entirely au fait with it. I think that explains my reasons for not wanting to change this forum, I'm only sorry I had to sick it on you noybear. 😉

[chesspurr]

to all rather than get personal to any member. i guess a second apology is necessary . i aoologise for offering my photo , i apologise for mentioning my love of cats, i alpoogise for suggesting a meeeting place for collectors in public at bloomsbury auctions, i apologise for offering information on my personal life. i apologise for opening non related chess threads. i apologise for opening chess threads since i am so objectionable that an apology was ignored to a certain member . i apologise for existing . i apologise for voting ... ]:)