A word from Fish-Hawk Admin

[Bobber]

Hey folks,

I started this topic off with the title, A Quick Word from Fish-Hawk Admin. When I was done, I realized I had better remove the word Quick. Guess I had more to say than I realized.

By now I'm sure you've all learned that one of the gents who has helped us out for quite some time (Markus of course) now has decided to take a break from it all. While it saddens me as much as it saddens many of you, I respect his wishes and would like to thank him for all his contributions to Fish-Hawk.Net. I have requested to keep his Nickname intact so that we (you all) do not lose the valuable contribution that he has made over the past couple of years. He has agreed to this but requests that people do not send him PMs, as he will be unable to answer them.

On that note, I feel the need to address some of the questions that I've either received via PM, E-mail, or read in posts.

Before I get to the questions though, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate you all helping to keep the Hawk Talk Fishing Forum clean, respectful, and informative in 2005. Yeah, yeah we had a few times where discussions got a bit heated, but that can only be expected to some degree. Overall I have received many messages and notes from people all over, who compliment us on the administration work we do, so as to maintain the integrity and values that we hold so dear. I'd like to take credit for that, however I cannot. It is not entirely myself nor is it Fishhawk who makes this happen. In 2005 we had the assitance and help from a select few people who are regular posters on Hawk Talk. It was they who notified us when things were brewing, removed inappropriate posts from the eyes of the viewing public, and kept the overall conversations on topic and relevant. The time they have contributed is difficult to re-pay. Thanks guys. Coupled with Fishhawk, myself, and our Monitors, there were many in the general population who also helped out on numerous occasions, just through the act of posting appropriate messages, helping those new comers understand our rules if they veared towards the grey areas, and welcoming those who may have been a bit leary to post messages.

This is the community we wish to build, and we will continue to do so in 2006 and the years to come. There will be times when we come across people who just don't fit into our overall community however. Someone who takes pleasure in destroying things, someone who has no respect for administration and rules, someone who feels like a big person if they can prove someone wrong, or someone who can talk tough behind a keyboard just because they need to have the last word, but these people are just best ignored. I urge everyone to just ignore these types of posts. Don't give them the stage they are looking for and communicate within the values we are accustomed to. No response at all, and they will leave.

There are also times when Mike or I react to a post by removing it, locking it, or commenting on the content. This is truly not meant to bring anyone out into public view, just to put a cork on something that is inappropriate for this "public" forum, or heading in that direction. We all make mistakes at some point in time, even if we don't realize it. Sometimes it's necessary in order that things don't get out of hand. What people can talk about around a campfire in the middle of the bush is quite different that what is acceptable on a public Internet site. I'm sure everyone understands this and I thank you for that. It's usually nothing personal.

In 2006 we hope to harden some of our security, implement more of a no tolerance rule to catch things quicker, continue to make Fish-Hawk.Net a fun place to drop by, and of course learn from some of the mistakes we may have made in 2005. Yes, that's right, we're not perfect, I know you all think we are, but we're not.

Now on to some of the questions I've received or read...

- Do people on this board act inappropriately and threaten others?

Based on what I've seen, I do not believe for one instance that there are reglar members of Fish-Hawk.Net who resort to threats against people here or anywhere else. If this was the case, then I would like to think that we have already removed them from our board, as these people would not be welcomed. I will say that I have never read anyone's Private Messages, as they are private, and I would not do so unless I had a very good reason to do so, so if anyone has used our PM facility to threaten, that is out of our control, unless we need to dig of course.

- What are Fishhawk & Bobber going to do to prevent people from leaving because of this in the future?

This question is refering to having people leave the site due to abuse, disrespect, and/or the worst, threats. Trust me when I say that this is on our minds at all times. We don't want to lose anyone from Fish-Hawk.Net. Ironically, we have actually been easy on people in the past, giving them warning after warning, hoping they would come around, and then evenutally had to remove them from the site due to non-compliance with our warnings and rules. We have since put in place a Zero Tolerance statement that we will be refining as we head into the new year. Some of you may actually have experienced the impacts of our zero tolerance rule. Nothing personal, we just need to harden some things up, and refine our reactions when such things come up that need to be addressed. I suppose we can only get better with experience. As for posts made on other sites against people of this site, I'm afraid there's not much we can do about that. We will try and support our community as much as we can, but there are some limitations you must understand.

- Do we track IP Addresses of posters who cause trouble?

Yes we do, however it is difficult to really get much out of these IP addressess as they are usually assigned dynamically by a users provider. This means that they change regularly, and get assigned to someone else. Looking up someones IP address often returns several other posters from that same IP address.

- How soon do we react to posts before they should be removed?

Well I suppose that everyone would have a different answer to this question. The one thing we try to avoid is reacting to something based on assumption. We all know how things can be taken the wrong way or that people may not articulate themselves the way in which they intended. How do we know that people are meaning what their message sounds like? It's a difficult thing to do, however we try our best to remove or lock things before they get out of hand. You all can help by making sure we avoid the back and forth and negate the need to remove.

- Do we react fast enough?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I will admit that we have been slow to react in the past to some things, however we are attempting to change that moving forward.

- How come we see more regulars on the site posting more messages than the admins of the site?

I get a lot of these questions actually. Is it a message to us? Should we be concerned with this? I don't think so. The truth of the matter is that we didn't build this website for us. We built it for you. You all are the heart and soul of what fish-hawk.net represents. Many of you have more to offer than Fishhawk or I could possibly even make up. We are learning and making friends just as many of you are. We also spend a lot of time working on other things, building relationships with vendors, coming up with new things for you all to take advantage of, and just trying to think things up that no one has already thought of. This is where the folks that have volunteered to monitor for us have helped us the most. They have freed up time for Fishhawk and I to concentrate on other things, many of those behind the scenes and not made public for a while until we have lined up all the ducks, so to speak. So, post on, I believe there are still quite a few to catch Markus. He has big shoes to fill.

- This person looks like they are going to be trouble, you should remove them now before they do something wrong.

While we appreciate and encourage any and all assistance we can get, we want you all to understand that there are times we cannot react unless we have absolute proof that indeed there is trouble. We cannot disable a user because we "think" there is going to be trouble. It must happen first, then we can react.

- Should we consider making the site more secure? Do we close it off to Lurkers?

Yes, we should always be considering making the site more secure. This is something we are always thinking about as mentioned above. Do we close it off to Lurkers? I don't think this will do anything really, Guests cannot post, only read, so there's no harm there. Open to any ideas though.

In summary, I hope I may have addressed some of the questions you may have been asking yourself or just wondering bout. We strive every day to build a site that is informative, exciting, and relative to the content of Angling. We have values associated with this site and try very hard to up hold those values.

For those who contribute to Fish-Hawk.Net in a positive manner, you will always be welcomed and respected. For those with the intent to destroy or disrespect, you will find your stay with us will be quite short.

Thanks everyone for your time. If you have any particular questions you'd like to have answered, please feel free to either send me an e-mail, or ask here.

[Pints]

You and Fish-Hawk have my full support on all your decisions. Keep up the great work.

[g unis]

good read good thoughts supported here whole heartedly

[dana]

Well written
Well thought out!!
df

some of the questions are hilarious:

My Fave:

- This person looks like they are going to be trouble, you should remove them now before they do something wrong.

[birdman]

I think you guys do a great job with this site and I appreciate the priviledge of participating. I'm a fairly new user and have not seen the abuses you allude to so they must be minimal.

Is there any way to convince Markus to stay? I've thoroughly enjoyed his posts and aspire to be a real fisherman like him when I grow up.

Thanks again.

Birdman

[bottom feeder]

This site is the 1 site I frequent regularly and that is because it is well run by Admin. and the posters are awesome when advice is needed.A very friendly community of anglers.
Keep up the good work.
Norm

[Nassau Frank]

Good job, well said. Is it my imagination or does this become more of a problem over winter?

[Bobber]

Thanks folks for your words of encouragement. It makes it all worth while. As for the admin part, Fishhawk and I mostly just put the rules in place and act when something comes up. The monitors in 2005 (RJ, Bacon, John, & Marcus) did most of the work. My hat is off to them. They really help us.

For those who are not familiar with some of the goings on that are, how should I say it, not condusive to productivity or useful information, this is great. It means we are catching much of it and dealing with it regularily so that you don't have to view it. It's really not worth the view. There are also times where comments from Anglers are taken the wrong way. The way they are worded, the assumed tone, the little jabs between friends in fun, taken the wrong way by someone who is not in the know. Most of the time it is all good, and I encourage that, but if one person reads something and takes it the wrong way, it sometimes gets a little heated. There may also be some who just love a debate, and I encourage that as well, but a respectful debate, not an aurguing and calling people out. That is no good.

As for the winter being worst, I don't know if that's really the case, but what we have found is that during the winter months people who don't ice fish as much as they fish in the summer, frequent the site more to participate in the discussion. More people, more oppinions, more chance that something is mis-understood. It's also the time for OOS fish, which many of us have been down that road before and don't want to hear it again, but on the flip side, some have not, and we have a unique opportunity to inform those who may not know they have caught an illegal fish through the ice. As a community here on Fish-Hawk, we can help spread the understanding in a manner which does not talk down to, or call out people. We're all learning. It has come out every year, and I expect it to come again this year. It's all in how we, that means all of us, decides to help. We also find that it seems like people get shack wacky after the ice disappears and we are waiting for the season to open again. What do you expect I suppose with a community of dedicated and enthusiastic anglers. Again, if we all do our part to provide informative information, in a respectful manner, everything will work itself out in the end.

Thanks again, folks. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.

[SALMON]

Cant beat the site..its a great place to meet new people who enjoy the sport of fishing..all kinds of fishing.

[TroutSlayer]

You have my support and respect for the work you do!

[gorfman007]

i do not frequent other sites so I can't compare. All I know is that when i "hooked up" to this one I did not feel the need to go anywhere else. mind you my interests are limited and the type of fisherman that i am does not command me to go anywhere else. This site is very informative and although i have met only a few few of you I certainly feel very comfortable here.

You guys have done a good job developing this site and the participants contributed equally well to its success.

[wolfe]

i do not frequent other sites so I can't compare. All I know is that when i "hooked up" to this one I did not feel the need to go anywhere else.

My thoughts exactly. I've learned a lot from people on this site -- it's the every-day, real-life people who frequent this site that make it what it is: a place to exchange info, laugh, learn and make some friendships along the way.

W.

[tinbanger]

Although I don't contribute as often as others I have learned more here than anywhere else combined.
It can be addictive ( as I sit in a parking lot in Thunder Bay typing this )

But most of all it is a place where my family and I feel welcomed and secure .Both on line and in person ( Fishstock 2005 )

Thanks everyone for making this a great place