Good Afternoon to you all.
I want to thank you again for your participation within the Noront HUB and contributing to the success of AGORACOM. We have developed a great partnership between our platform and your content.
On occasion, that partnership gets out of balance and I've had to intervene here before to make sure cooler heads prevail. To this end, thanks to all for your hundreds of messages pertaining to the issues our community is facing, and for your patience.
Upon careful consideration of the recent events unfolding on the forum, we have had a very hard time dealing with the personal issues amongst a very small group of participants within this forum. While we take pride and appreciate the unique nature of this forum, we find that what applies to 2000 other shareholder communities on AGORACOM is having a difficult time applying here.
Quite simply, the amount of personal conflict has become overwhelming. Though we are prepared for the fact that personal issues can and do break out on occasion, they are now becoming perpetual on this HUB.
It's obvious that one side cannot convince the other of their opinions, nor can we possibly mediate each personal conflict to determine who is right and wrong.What is clear, however, is that no matter what side of the equation you are on, all personal conflicts inevitably lead the forum into to an accelerating stream of emotional posts, instead of informative insights on the company's activities.
This does not suit anybody but those who wish to bring harm to the Noront HUB.
I am painfully aware of the number of times our community director - Andreas - has tried to provide assistance, as well as, the herculean but futile efforts of HUB leaders such as Hoov.Unfortunately, it appears that we simply cannot get a very small group of posters under control or to respect the majority of participants that simply want to talk about their favorite investment.
ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY BEING IMPLEMENTED AS OF MONDAY MORNING
Upon consultation with Andreas, we have come to terms with the present conditions of the forum and will be implementing a zero tolerance violation policy on this forum as of 8AM Monday. When I mean zero, I mean zero. No matter how senior or highly ranked you are, any violation of the rules will be met with harsh penalties.Especially those that perpetuate the personal conflicts.
Those of you who have known me understand this has nothing to do with ego and power. It has everything to do with returning this HUB to its original purposes - the constructive discussion of Noront and industry fundamentals leading to the most informed investment decision possible.
I am asking all of you to take tomorrow and the entire weekend to step away from your screens and allow cooler heads to prevail. I kindly ask everyone to consider their fellow shareholders who flock to the board by the thousands to catch up on the company's latest developments. I strictly demand you keep any personal differences off the forum.
I will not allow this community to deteriorate into Raging Bull and Yahoo Finance. If you desire that environment, I invite you to leave. We don't flip ads and generate revenue from any kind of page views. What we strive to do is build and maintain a quality community that can not be touched by ad flipping, free wheeling sites like RB and YF.
As such, as of Monday October 26th 2009, those in violation of any of the rules below will have to deal with the following:
First Foul - Have their President/Vice President Rank removed and taken down to Mail Room
Second Foul - Termination
As of Monday October 26th 2009, 8:00 AM EST, we will have a zero tolerance policy towards:
Bickering, Profanity, Name Calling, Accusations, Repetition, Posting any statements or issues that cannot be substantiated in any factual or tangible means and Off Topic personal messages on the Main Discussion board.
I think we have made it clear that our goal isn't to punish anyone, or to delete a poster who has legitimate views and opinions on the forum. Unfortunately our lenience has been distorted and our format, which works so well on 2000 other Shareholder Communities, is no longer working here.
We hope you can all use this weekend to gather your thoughts, relax, and consider how your behavior is affecting your fellow community members. We are all a team. We are all a family, even if we don't always see eye to eye. However, in order to get this family back on track, we have to get rid of the selfish players. We won't let a minority of posters who refuse to let go of their personal issues spoil it for the rest of us.
Have a great weekend and see you on Monday. Make sure to bring your best side.
Regards,
George
