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"A Day in the Life...



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 17th 05, 08:49 PM
Bob Schmall
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Default "A Day in the Life...

of the Administrator" no longer appears in the listing of topics on
Astromart's forums. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Bob


  #2  
Old April 19th 05, 03:40 AM
John Fitzgerald
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Herb stated that he removed that forum.
It does not appear on my computer either.


  #3  
Old April 19th 05, 02:32 PM
CHAS
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I loved that forum, thanks to a few cry babies guess it got axed!

Hope it comes back...

Chas P.

  #4  
Old April 19th 05, 03:09 PM
Bob Schmall
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"CHAS" wrote in message
ps.com...
I loved that forum, thanks to a few cry babies guess it got axed!

Hope it comes back...

Chas P.



I was one of the "crybabies" who suggested to Herb that he develop a more
empathetic approach to telling potential A-Marters why their application had
been rejected. A polite boilerplate response would save him time and still
maintain good relations with good people who sincerely wanted to become part
of the group. Besides, it's just common courtesy. Yeah, I know--they should
read the Rules before subscribing. Every try that? I'd rather read an
insurance policy.
And I didn't remove the forum--Herb did it on his own.
That said, I'm glad he did. It had become Herb's personal bitch forum that
was IMHO adding to his stress level by making him post additional comments
that just added to his wasted time. In other words, it added a lot of heat
but not a lot of light and he's better off without it. He runs a fine site
and I'd hate to see it overwhelm him.
A-Mart still needs a reader feedback area. Any ideas?

Bob


  #5  
Old April 19th 05, 04:06 PM
CHAS
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Well if ya all think Herb is rude, curt , and short with people, then
pray i never run Astromart! Trust me, i would really be a hard one to
deal with.

Herb has done a wonderful job for the astro world, and spent much time
and money to run a safe site, he plays tuff but i cant think of a
better run site.

Guess you be can be too easy on people and let a site go down hill or
be strong and stern, and run a tight ship.

Chas P.

  #6  
Old April 19th 05, 05:33 PM
Bob Schmall
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"CHAS" wrote in message
ups.com...
Well if ya all think Herb is rude, curt , and short with people, then
pray i never run Astromart! Trust me, i would really be a hard one to
deal with.

Herb has done a wonderful job for the astro world, and spent much time
and money to run a safe site, he plays tuff but i cant think of a
better run site.


I absolutely agree. But it isn't perfect, and the discussion in the "Day"
forum had nothing to do with the quality of the site. It was about tact.


Guess you be can be too easy on people and let a site go down hill or
be strong and stern, and run a tight ship.


Or you can be pleasant and still run a tight ship.

Bob


  #7  
Old April 19th 05, 06:23 PM
CHAS
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Well i guess thats up to Herb how he handles people.

Chas P.

  #8  
Old April 19th 05, 07:16 PM
Brian Tung
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Chas P. wrote:
Well i guess thats up to Herb how he handles people.


Duh. No one contests that it's up to Herb. No one has ever contested
that it's up to him, or that he alone knows what it's like to run
Astromart these days.

Astromart is a free service. Herb can run it however he likes. But
people act like those two things are logically related. *They are not.*
Herb could charge $10 a month for folks to use Astromart and he could
*still* run it however he likes, because it is *his* baby. Customer
service does not go out the window, or come back in through the window,
simply because Herb does or does not charge a fee. I have encountered
free services that made me feel pampered, and boutiques that made me
feel small just because I didn't walk in wearing an Armani suit.

Astromart may be free, but that doesn't mean (or at least, it shouldn't
mean) that Herb gets nothing out of it. He gets the sense (no mean
sense, I know) that he is doing his part for the astronomy community,
but he also gets an enormous amount of good will. I have tremendous
good will for Herb, because I can only imagine the amount of crap he
has to deal with on a daily basis, that he can never really share with
us out here. Other people, I'm sure, share my sentiments.

Sometimes, though, I feel like that good will gets in the way of anyone
trying to provide any sort of constructive criticism. Any words that
do not amount to glowing praise--whether they are pure invective or a
simple question as to how things are done--are lost almost immediately
behind a curtain of "Well, it's free!" and "It's his right!" Well, yes,
it is free, and it is his right. No one disputes that.

It is good to see that Herb inspires such staunch defense. But it does
seem to stand in the way of understanding. A frequent complaint about
Astromart membership is that Herb's decisions are arbitrary. I, for
one, doubt in the extreme that they are arbitrary. But because they
are handed down without much explanation, they clearly *seem* arbitrary
to the people they affect. Some of the time, it seems, these people
are less upset than they are bewildered. It seems reasonable to want
to reduce that bewilderment.

Bob's suggestion of a form letter seems a worthwhile suggestion. I can
think of any number of reasons why Herb should not want to do it, but
it is not my decision, or Chas's, or anyone else's. It is Herb's, and
it should be possible to make these suggestions *to him* without being
excoriated by others for the sheer impudence of proposing them.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt
  #9  
Old April 19th 05, 11:36 PM
Bob Schmall
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"Brian Tung" wrote in message
...
Chas P. wrote:
Well i guess thats up to Herb how he handles people.


Duh. No one contests that it's up to Herb. No one has ever contested
that it's up to him, or that he alone knows what it's like to run
Astromart these days.


(snip)

Bob's suggestion of a form letter seems a worthwhile suggestion. I can
think of any number of reasons why Herb should not want to do it, but
it is not my decision, or Chas's, or anyone else's. It is Herb's, and
it should be possible to make these suggestions *to him* without being
excoriated by others for the sheer impudence of proposing them.

Brian Tung


Thanks, Brian. It should also be possible to make simple, sincere
suggestions to him without having the forum shut down. That hurts too many
innocent people.

Bob


 




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