Hoot Owl wrote: Well Mtn Gramma, there is no secret to who is on the BOD
one click
Group Information
Group name: Board of Directors
Group description: Members of the Pinecam Board of Directors
Group membership: This is a closed group: no more users accepted
Private Message Username Posts Location Email Website Select
Group Moderator
Pinecam BOD 23
Group Members
beachrobin 15412 Here! Where else?
Lo-bay Lady 10726 Lo-Bay
Rak 9096
ridgewalker 7851 Bailey
shelbob 3967 Bailey
Lobay at least 6 years
Beachrobin about 5 years
Shelbob about 4 years
Ridge longtime poster and fairly new to the BOD
Rak lead mod and PIA for way to long
Since I created the Pinecam Board in 2005 and turned the website over to the Board in Sept. of 2005, your guesstimates are off for Lobay and BeachRobin. When I left in Sept. 2005, the original board members were in place and Lobay and BeachRobin weren't on the board at that time. That was five years ago. I've never met Shelbob or Rak and the current makeup of the board was a surprise to me in that respect. I've very glad to see Ridgewalker on the board. She is a tireless community volunteer up here.
As I've commented before, I never understood why the Pinecam Board decided to quit publicly announcing new Board members. IMO, the Pinecam community should know who is running things and when management changes are made. That's why I posted a welcome to Xenon as a new board member on Pinecam when he was appointed -- because Pinecam management hadn't bothered to mention it publicly. I had hoped it would spur them to get back to announcing new Board appointments, but it didn't. Even in LoBay's comment on Xenon's post she opted to keep the board members secret and spoke in generalities. I guess the only way to find out about Pinecam Board changes is to click on the BOD group link every once in a while.
Xenon and I have been friends since the Hi Meadow Fire, when he offered maps of the fire for Pinecam. As I told Xenon in a personal email, I am sorry to see him go. He had some great ideas for Pinecam, but I understand burnout. I happened to me, too. Xenon replaced Tillerbee as the head tech guru at Pinecam and she left because she was tired of fighting with certain members of the board and I know she was never given the recognition or position she deserved at Pinecam after putting so much work into the site behind the scenes.
I also don't understand why Xenon decided to bring 285Bound into his resignation speech. They are two local websites with very different approaches to how to serve the public and interact with the public. I don't see 285Bound as a Pinecam copy. And yes, while anyone can put up a forum, it's how the forum is managed that sets forums apart. Many have come and gone since Pinecam's first forum. Even though 285Bound and Pinecam both have forums, the management thinking behind the operation of the 285Bound forum is very different from what appears to be the thinking behind the Pinecam forum, in terms of freedom of expression and how to treat posters. The rest of what 285Bound offers is very different from Pinecam, including a blog, email alerts and local business offers emailed to 285Bound members, IMO. Competition is good because it forces business to do better. As an example, I offer the 285Bound Facebook page. Many people had suggested Pinecam start a Facebook page, but the Board wasn't interested. When I agreed to consult for 285Bound, it was one of the things I suggested. I got the green light and had it up in two days. A few days after that, Pinecam put up their Facebook page, although it was clear they didn't really have an idea of what to do with it. This morning, the 285Bound Facebook page has 367 members and Pinecam's has 137 members. Same platform, but two different approaches to social media.
I don't think Pinecam is going away, unless the server crashes and they don't have anyone in place technically capable of bringing it back to life.
The Internet has changed dramatically since I put what was to be Pinecam on the web in 1994. I made a lot of mistakes, because I didn't know what I was doing or made bad decisions. It was learning experience for me. But, here we are 16+ years later and Pinecam is still there, so apparently I got something right. How each site adapts to and incorporates changes and opportunities on the Internet, will help determine how successful they will be in the community. But most of all, as Jim C. says, it's about the customer experience and how they are treated that will be the deciding factor in their success -- just as it is with any business.
BeachRobin once told me in an email she thought I was out to destroy Pinecam. I don't know if she's changed her mind about that but I want to unequivocally state here and now that I hope that Pinecam is able to get though this latest crisis and continue serving the community. Would it be a bad thing for our community if both websites succeeded?
(On a side note for all you longtime Pinecam followers, I saw Henry at King Soopers the other day and he's going through some challenges. Please keep him in your prayers, if you know him. He and Kurt Boyer were the two people who were guiding forces for Pinecam back in the day.)
