Homepage Poll???

I think some of us are in danger of taking ourselves too seriously. I mean, c'mon...let's be real. If growth is your concern, the more human we appear, the more welcome other humans will feel.

The forum gets out of control due to lack of moderation. I do not mean moderation by the BOD, I mean dedicated volunteer moderators to specific sections of the forum. And yes, there are alot of members and guests who get out of hand in inappropriate areas in the forum. OT who cares but the Tech section is generally a worthless pissing match. Pick 2 or 3 level headed soles not on the BOD and have them moderate and take care of the forum and I believe the forum will be much much better.

Ok, first off, where exactly in the bylaws does it give anyone the authority to censor another member in the forums? It doesn't. In fact, the bylaws do not address how the website administrators and moderators are selected, what their duties are or what authority they have. It seems to me that any organization with nice lawyery sounding bylaws would have an article concerning the website and how it is administered. Did we just pick this junk up from bylaws.com? Maybe a bylaw change is in order to address this issue.

I looked around for any set of rules concerning posting and couldn't find any so I asked the authority on the website, Jerry Horn. He referred me to the bylaws which I had already read. So if there are no set rules concerning posting and instead we just go by the decisions of a bunch of people who became moderators and administrators of the website by some decision of some group of people acting totally beyond the scope of our bylaws, then who's to say I'm not a moderator or administrator? I'm not saying that the administrators of the club shouldn't be in charge of the website or that there shouldn't be any decency standards concerning the site, but where is it written down? NOWHERE

You know, recently the American public was informed that the Federal Government was wiretapping certain people's phones without proper authority from a federal judge to do so. Now, nobody opposed to the wiretapping itself if it served to make our country safer by combating terrorism. But what enraged any intelligent citizen was that no one gave the government this authority. In fact, they overstepped their authority. By doing so, they violated their own rules. How can you have a set of bylaws and then have people taking authority over certain functions of the group without that authority being granted in the bylaws?

There are vague duties assigned to the Board of Directors and the administrators in the bylaws, but vague doesn't cut it in my book.

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Purpose:

To coordinate and support off-road events, and to foster fellowship among Delaware and surrounding area Jeep owners. To promote responsible use of public lands, and help protect our rights to enjoy our hobby. To bring together people who enjoy the common hobbies of trail riding, traveling, camping, and working on their Jeeps.

Foster fellowship is about the only subject that may address off-topic posts. But sometimes my off-topic posts have fostered fellowship by bringing together jeepers with similar senses of humor. I would have never discovered what a funny fellow Chuck Boltz is unless I fostered some fellowship with my off-topic posts.

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The BOD of the Delaware Jeep Association shall consist of a President, Vice President, Administrator, Treasurer, and Trail Boss, and shall be known as the Board of Directors (BOD). It shall be their duty to draw up an agenda for all meetings, conduct day-to-day business, take such actions as might best fulfill the aims of this organization, and to audit the books of the previous administration.

Censoring other members who are just goofing off and trying to enjoy their time spent on the DeJA website? So that 'best fulfills the aims of this organization?' One or two individuals deciding what is appropriate and inappropriate based on personal opinions best fulfills the aims of an organization which is directed by bylaws and governed by the majority?

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ARTICLE 10
Duties and Powers of Officers:

The PRESIDENT shall preside over all meetings and shall be present at all events when possible. He/She shall be the executive officer and shall have the duty to carry out the policies and decisions of the BOD. He/She will delegate necessary duties to other Officers as seen fit by the BOD of each individual administration.

The VICE PRESIDENT shall in the absence of the President, serve in that capacity. He/She will perform such duties as may be assigned by the President. He/She shall receive and answer all general correspondence pertaining to the organization. He/She will also be in charge of keeping/ updating member files.

The ADMINISTRATOR shall keep and preserve all records and minutes of the meetings of the membership and the ledger roll call and determine the number of voting members present so it may be known if a quorum is in attendance.

The TREASURER shall keep accurate and complete records of the funds and accounts of this organization. He/ She shall collect all dues and maintain a record thereof, and make only such disbursement from the funds of the organization as are directed by the BOD and/or membership vote. He/She will provide a current financial report at each monthly meeting, or if not in attendance, provide this information to another BOD member.

The TRAIL BOSS shall setup, organize, and lead club trail runs when possible. He/She will provide accurate information of cost, registration, directions, meeting location, etc. as necessary for each club trail ride. He/She will be responsible for assisting members to locate he appropriate trail level group on a club trail run. He/She will list trail runs and their appropriate information on the club website calendar for member sign up.

Responsibilities of each Board member may be altered and/or revised within each administration as it sees fit to best serve the needs of the club more efficiently.

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Nope....no authority over the website spelled out in there. In fact, it states that the president shall have the duty to carry out the policies and decisions of the BOD. So did the BOD appoint him or anyone in charge of the website? I'd kinda like to know. Even though I was not around to elect the current officers, I do have a vote and a voice. I paid my dues and I read my bylaws.

If we have vague duties and responsibilities, then I'd like to run for president. If I win, then I'd like to 'foster fellowship' and to 'bring together people who enjoy the common hobbies of trail riding, traveling, camping, and working on their Jeeps' by mounting a huge 'Blues Brothers' type loudspeaker on my Jeep and driving around telling other SUV drivers they suck and they should purchase a Jeep or commit suicide. Sound cool? No, I didn't think so.

So I submit to the President, the Board of Directors and the general membership the following: Either adopt an amendment spelling out exactly who is to administer the website and what is to be considered appropriate content or drop the issue.

Someone who posts comments concerning parents PMing him about innapropriate content and that they shouldn't have to explain these things to their children should not be posting Debbie Does Dallas in the 'favorite movie' thread. How does a parent explain why their kid can't watch that when they want to see why the President found it so entertaining?

To conclude, in my opinion, the forums are very tame compared to others. Some may not like my opinion. Tough. No bylaws outlawed my opinion or prohibited me from expressing it. The bylaws certainly don't allow for my thoughts to be censored by another individual, regardless of their position. I actually like the friendly atmosphere of the boards. (I know, shocking!) I think they should remain that way. That's why I ask that we adopt standards and formally decide who is going administer the website and what content is allowed. Until that is voted on by a two thirds majority, then our opinions, avatars and jokes will just have to be casualties of the Glass House Dwelling Stone Throwers Association.

I agree for a need for the by-laws possibly to be re-considered and revised, with a full majority vote....

These forums are very tame compared to others, like trey said. If you go spend some time in the JU OT forum, you prolly would be disgusted, even there tech section....and they could care less.

Agreeing with zeke from earlier, if you "goderate" then you will loose people because they can't post freely what they feel.

As far as rules go, if we are going to have moderators, or even edit/delete posts some rules need to be posted and explained with any questions someone might have. Some people need to know what they can and can't do. I would say right now everyone on this site is a fair and good person, and has not done things like post Mature content on the site.

"We live in a rated R world..."

Another perspecitve--

I'm not a parent by far, but take a look at whats on TV these days.... If I recall not to long ago, there was an orgy on television....I would say that DeJA is far better than some of the networks out there on television, and we are without rules

maybe a few are thinking too hard about this

there are a few threads on here that have started as a serious thread
and have gone downhill b/c of some replies to the thread

this thread doenst fall into any catorgory other than whats best for the site

i will be the first one to admit that i am not perferct
and i have gotten carried away on someone elses thread

it doenst matter where the thread is
either in off topic or the tech forums
a thread is a thread and should not be hijacked as i have done and seen done in the past

its one thing to piggy back a thread its another to completely take over the thread with b/s replies that have no buisness in there in the first place

what ppl have to remember is that this is our only real way of being displayed to the public
this is our PR machine
if we cant control our site
what will ppl think about us as a whole ?

if ppl cant use the honor system or police themselves
them it should be done for them

we have an O/T section for a reason
if a thread gets carried away no matter where it is
it shouldbe moved , deleted
or started as a new thread where it belongs

we run the risk of losing a few valuable guest and memerbs here
that is something i dont want to risk

basically stop and think for minute

Call me radical, but can't this club be both? A social gathering/commradre for those who wish to immerse themselves that far, but also have a wealth of info for those looking for it? We don't have to be so dualistic in our defining of ourselves, do we?. I like the idea of a hybrid.

I'm also not going to vote on the poll because I (like hsss) don't feel there is a correct answer listed either. I would say, yes, we have a lot of useless banter on here and I would agree that, at times I get sick of it. Will it drive me away from the club? Probably not, but does it drive others away? I think at times (especially in the past year or year and a half) it has.

When I joined this club 2 1/2 yrs ago this website was a wealth of information. I'm not saying that its useless now but now it seems like a social gathering more than a Jeep club. I would say that 50% of the post have nothing to do with jeeps. I agree that if we have lower post counts people will not visit as often, but I also agree that if we have a lot of useless post people will also not visit as much.

Here's what I see has happened to the club. (Note: I have nothing against any of these people or groups of people) When I joined there was a great core group of guys (mostly the slow and the stupid, Slimer, Quadna, Da Mutt, 1tontj, and a few others) who were always on these boards helping out individuals. They talked jeeps, jeeps and more jeeps. There were the occasional off topic post or jokes amongst friends but mostly it was jeeps. Most of those guys have since left because they outgrew what our club could do for them. They were the hierarchy (if you will) and no one could answer their questions, and they outgrew our trail runs because no one else could run with them. Since then they have started 2 more clubs that deal with the harder type wheeling. I don't knock them for leaving, they simply got bored here. They are all a good bunch of guys who love jeeps and trust me anyone of them are more then willing to take the time to help out a fellow jeeper.

Since then I've also noticed another group of guys have come towards the club. Its the younger (more eager, if you will) group of up and coming jeepers. They ask a million and one questions and have a lot of energy (and time) to be on the board. This crowd tends to post alot more because they are used to the AIM, chat rooms and other fluff websites that they grew up on. They type what they feel whenever they want. They basically just want to be heard and to get involved with the club. They are basically trying to get to know each and everyone of us by way of the website. Its not that they try to be annoying but they don't have a lot of experience with jeeps so they talk about subjects they know. I understand DrJ's comment about myspace.com. They (being the younger crowd) are used to websites like that when you talk about anything that comes to mind and you talk to as many people as you can as to make new friends.

In a PERFECT world we could all come togethar under one website and work togethar. In a REAL world people go where they want and the harder core guys have decided to go it on their own and the younger guys have invited everyone they know with a jeep to come join ours. I personally have gotten my jeep to the point where I'm happy with it (I always tell my wife that anyway) so I'm not always searching for tech insite. I come here to hang out with a bunch of cool people who have a common interest. There are others though that come here in search of answers to questions about there jeeps and go away knowing what our favorite music, food, and movies are. I understand both sides of the argument but I'm not sure of an answer. I'll continue to stay since I've made a lot of good friends here but I do frequent many more JEEP websites when I'm in need of good info. Don't get me wrong, there are still a lot of good guys here willing to answer your tech questions, but they just don't tend to visit the website as much as they used too.

My $.02