Members -- Please Read
 

I have been THREATENED twice, in as many weeks, due to the behavior of certain members on this forum. As a result, I feel it’s necessary to make the following post:

The first thing I want to point out to everyone is that all messages on this forum express the view of the author, and neither IndianaOpenWheel.com, nor Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.

Many forums fall apart after becoming consumed by petty squabbling or having useful information drowned in a sea of stupidity and nonsense. Folks, we are real close to this happening here. I’ve heard over and over how things are just not the same; many of the more seasoned members are no longer posting as a result. You are right, things have changed. I wake up to that reality every morning and I'm doing the best that I can. You, the members, are what makes this board so ask yourself whether you have had a positive or negative influence. Please comply with the forum rules if you have ANY respect for Bill and what he created and want this site to remain active. Each member agreed to these terms when they registered.

Personal drama should be taken elsewhere. This board, including private messages, will NOT be used as a tool or resource to display it. Trust me when I say I have enough of this in my own life. I certainly don’t have the time or energy to deal with anyone else’s. You know who you are. It appears to go both ways and I am monitoring the situation. Please STOP if you want to continue to be a member!

Please do not post any messages that harass, insult, belittle, threaten or flame another member or guest. If you are addressing someone by anything other than their username or given name, you might want to reconsider your post.

We reserve the right to remove, edit, move, close or even delete any thread for any reason. If a thread or post is closed or removed, DO NOT REPOST.

Rant over……….
Mrs. G

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Rant on, you can do it, and deserve to. I've noticed lately, that there is little to no info required to be a member, maybe, if you increased that amount of info, it would help weed out the undesirables that use this forum to flame, or post untruths about members, I for one, wouldn't mind a bit, to provide more info, altho there isn't much more you can get, when I joined, it was about everything but your SS number, it would require more on your part up front, but it might also discourage the CS's that threaten you, and others on this forum. Just a thought, but it might tend to weed out those folks that like to hide, and lurk behind a bogus front name! Bob

Bob, I certainly appreciate your feedback and will take it into consideration!

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

go gettem mrs g,,this is ur baby and u do a great job,,i know for one,,id be lost without this forum,,and im sure im not alone,,,,,,,,,,,big d in alabama:6:

Everybody should just act like adults and show some respect to each other and this site!!!

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Scarey!!!
Thank you Mrs G :9::9::9:

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If it wasn't for Mrs. G and Bill. Many of us would have never met each other and continue to be at tracks probably sitting beside each other never knowing. Its so great to go to non home tracks and have friends to chat and enjoy the races with as well as when they come to yours.

Sorry Mrs. G. You getting threatened is just totally beyond B.S and putting up with my and others rants is also.

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

This is one of the nicest communities Ive ever been a part of,proud to be a member.Thank You.

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

I hate to hear that Mrs G - I really appreciate the info on the Forum

Some boards I'm a member of you have to be approved by a moderator before you can post. This helps discourage those who show up solely for self promotion, classifieds etc. helps weed out those who aren't here to contribute to the community maybe ask a question that a true fan not a bot should be able able to answer

I agree with tq29,if you're man enough to say it put your name on it!

Wow. Just wow. I've met so many fabulous people through this board and it is an absolute shame that some folks have to ruin it for many of the diehards.

You do what you've gotta do Mrs G. You know you have my support.

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Thats why i ALWAYS make my user name, my actual name. I just wish that was mandatory on message boards.

Just sucks theres always a small percent of children who are allowed to use computers these days to ruin things for everyone.

Keep on laying the law down Mrs. G

Please do not let this place become like hoseheads forums. This place has been a great place to come even when there is disagreement.

Would it be possible to add a button before the submit post or the submit new thread buttons that asked something to the extent of

Will your post or thread benefit racing in a positive manner?

[] Yes [] No

I understand this would not be fool proof but it may detour some of the negativity.

Another option would be a series of say 3 questions such as mentioned above. The questions would maybe give members a few moments to ponder the negativity they are about to unleash. Kind of a "cool down" period.

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Nice to see the boss not let this forum go to the trash can. Mrs.G, you've done a great job keeping this ship a float, and it's nice to see that you're not afraid of rapping knuckles on occasion. Keep up the great work.:6:

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Thank you for monitoring the board. I posted on Nov 10 on Hoseheads Forum how people might want to share information and ideas about our sport in a constructive way, rather than turn the forum into an immature bashing and name calling contest. Sadly Hoseheads Forum is done for, as it is dominated by rude people sniping at each other and not much positive and interesting information. I was about to post on Hoseheads that readers should look to IndianaOpenWheel as a place where mature people post and have good discussions, but then decided I didn't want to lure the worst offenders over here. Feel free to censor to keep this forum great like it is.

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Exactly! Sorry to hear about that. Mostly I've gotten lots of good info here, & everyone has been friendly. Unlike Hoseheads, which has WAY too much childish name calling & insults.
Threatening somebody on the Internet is inexcusable & really pretty chickenshit. I doubt if people would do that to your face. I would immediately bar anyone who threatens...

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Just looking at a post with 217 replies and 49,000 hits on it. That would mean that about 50,000 people are watching IOW with some sort of regularity. That is doing pretty darned good. With 50,000 people you will attract a few not so enjoyable people. These people could cause problems. I know for a fact Bill would make a well placed PM to tame me down when I got a little out hand and I respected that. With so much activity it would be a full time job for several people keeping track of so many different post and reply's. You guys are doing a great job. An old adage I learned in Jr High School "A word to the wise is sufficient".:)

Honest Dad himself:6::6:

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

I must admit I have sent a PM to somebody who bashed me. So I'd like to apologize to this board for taking my heat. Mrs G I am so sorry that happened to you, I don't know what else to say but I'm sorry

All that I can say is that I'm thankful for being a member of a organization that bill and his family have put together for all the great things that we all love and thanks Mrs g.for keeping his dream of providing a great website that is worldwide and our racing families have met so many great racing fans and hopefully we all can make more friends and enjoy this house that bill built. Thanks to you and your family for all the great things that you guys do for us racing fans and racing teams. Thanks

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Pretty good read here:
http://www.onedirt.com/features/dont-be-the-joke/
AJ (the Able-Bodied Pit Doll) always reminds me that the idiot I just honked at on the freeway may be the next Charlie Manson, and I may be the guy who caused him to go over the edge. I fear we as a group may have been guilty of setting a certain individual off in Mrs. G's direction and I'm truly sorry if I played even a small a part in "honking at Charlie". For the most part what goes on in IOW is a good thing. Thanks, Mrs G, for putting up with us and keeping Bill's vision alive.

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Jim

Most of us are living in "Glass Houses" so I ain't throwing any stones. We all go off just a little one time or another and that is when Moderators are handy people to have around. Sometimes just a "Pm" to a friend of yours that made an off handed remark can stop a lot of this stuff early even before a moderator is even needed.

Now I am not too sure about threatening "PM'S" that is on the record, and try as you may you can not erase it once it is put out there>>> we have politicians that can confirm that. Best to save that discussion for a personal confrontation with the person in question.;)

Honest Dad himself:6::6:

Jim, you better take it easy, your PO is compiling her final report and will bring it up for review next weekend! LMAO

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I have been on this board infrequently the past couple of weeks, not for fear of retribution :3: but it just has been a busy time for me right now. The things you miss by not checking in more often.

I can't think of anything profound to say except you have my unconditional support Mrs. G. I'm sure most will say the same thing.

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

I would like to thank Mrs. G for starting this thread, no matter what the reason was. This is what we all need to hear.

Thanks for grabbing us by the scruff of the neck and pointing to the paddle, Mrs. G.

It worked every time growing up.

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

I have a friend on FB, we disagree about just about everything, do we get mad & insult each other:26:? No:). We respect each others opinion, we agree to disagree & go on living our lives:16. Didn't say normal lives cause I'm not sure what that is anymore, to many selfish people in this world. Be like Bob, read the post, agree disagree voice your opinion, if other person disagrees move on. :32:

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

THANK YOU for everything you do for us Mrs. G.
Phil Thrasher

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Posts should have names. That would end a lot of nonsense.

___________
Wes Stafford

I don't get on here as regularly as I use to, however I am glad I did this time.
Mrs. G, THANK YOU for keeping this forum alive and for everything you do!! If it wasn't for IOW I would not have had the opportunity to meet other IOW Members, and get to know more of the racing community outside my comfort zone...lol..As days go by, I have been taught a very valuable lesson...technology is taking over the world more each day...This is one of the reasons why we are loosing so many fans, drivers, car owners, sponsors. .etc. a lot of people want to post all the negative and bad things about the promoters, tracks, each other not just on here, but all social media websites...which isn't good for us and it leaves a bad impression on the first timers as well...we need more positive feedback as well as more fans in the stands..i realize money is very hard to come by these days....(yes father I do listen to you, once in awhile!..lol)
I do want to thank each and every one of the track promoters and staff, for all of their hard work!!

Thank you again Mrs. G
I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to meet such wonderful people this year! I hope to have the opportunity to meet more IOW members next year!!

Kasi Chapman

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

What she said! :6: :9: :)

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

My sentiments precisely. I typed a pretty long, not so nice reply in a thread that ended up being locked the next day. I have to imagine that thread played a part in Mrs G feeling the need to take us to task.

I want to apologize to Mrs G for any backlash she dealt with, and to all the IOW family who make this one of the last great boards on the web.

My username is a combination of my first initial and last name, but I have to remind myself that I am still somewhat anonymous on here to members who don't already know me. So to anybody who thinks I hide behind a screen name I also apologize.

Sincerely,
Dustin Arnall

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

Just put this out there. My Screen Name ScottyCbus comes from the fact that my name is Scott and I have lived in Columbus Indiana most of my life. I'm not hiding behind a screen name. I to have commented on here and Bill let me know very quickly that I didn't necessarily say something that was bad but it could have been taken the wrong way as such. I told Bill that this wouldn't happen again and to date all is good. Thanks Mr.G for keeping this board alive and doing what you do. For that we love you, Just like we will always love Bill for making this all possible.

Sincerely, Scott McCloskey

Re: Members -- Please Read
 

The saddest part of this whole thread is that it's even needed. Given how much of a niche sport sprint car racing is, I have never understood why people get in pissing matches.

I don't know about you, but I get tired of when I tell people I like racing they say, "oh you like Nascar." Ah, that would be a negative. I'm not part of the brainwashed crowd that thinks that qualifies as actual racing.

Don't understand why people get into it with others. There are a lot of things said on here I don't agree with ("the I wasn't there, but" crowd is my personal favorite), but I'm not getting into an argument over it. There are things said by people that don't know the whole story behind something. Not saying everything should be all positive just to be positive. If something was a negative, it should be commented on as such. Just don't understand personal attacks.

I fall into the category of someone who used to read/post a lot on this site. I find myself not coming here as much because I have better things to do with my time than read pages of personal fighting.