Little Bif Of Honesty

So about my name change to Grandmaster Puff...
 
Everyone can change their custom title now :) Enjoy.
 
We have no problem with it, and we won't be suing anybody.

For me this forum has been a completely positive experience, on a personal level as I could help people out with their questions and learn quite a few things myself - On a business level, because it gave me insights into the mind of the SA vaper and a chance to chat directly to my customers in an open forum.

At no point did I feel that any vendor here got preferential treatment or that any vendor's 'agenda' was forced upon any of us.

I also know of plenty of community forums where the forum owner is also a supplier and as long as they keep themselves to the same standards as other suppliers, there will not by any issues.

As to ECF... First time I found ECF the newest post was over 2 weeks old. True it was growing steadily, but if you look at the rate that this forum has grown compared to ECF's slow growth, then it has to mean that ECF was doing something wrong.

I think ECF is brilliant for the US, and for countries that do not have local forums, but in my experience people would rather go local if the option is available to them. Getting countless stickies and adds that in no way related to you or your country tends to make a forum user feel alienated and unimportant - at least that's what it did to me.

Personally I have had to deal with the admins of ECF and let's just say, dealing with Gizmo is a lot more pleasant, whether he is vapeking or not.

I still check in on ECF and will continue to post there - if it continues to grow, I would be very happy - two forums are always better than one, but over there I'm not allowed to post my products, tell people what I'm planning to order or in any way do any kind of advertising unless I'm willing to pay mucha USD for banners per click nogal.

The only place I'm allowed to post the above is in their suppliers forum - along with thousands of other suppliers - and no South-African is going to check that massive forum for a possible SA deal.

So posting here just makes a lot more sense to me and as long as vapeking is bound to the same rules as I am, I have no issue with who does the coding for the forum at the end of the day
 
Seriously though, this thread has inspired me...

Everyone, I am the owner of Google and inventor of the calculator watch and tuxedo T-shirt.

Please don't judge me. :cool:

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4
 
Now if you had said you invented the internet, I would have been impressed :)
 
Exactly Derick. If I had some sort of motive I would have refused to do your review or promote your business. I am not here to just market my small business, If that was my ultimate aim this forum would have been vapeking banner infested. Which is just tacky and really not what I want to do regardless if it increases sales. I love all the people on this forum, I actually love vapers. I found vapers to be really friendly people and this forum is a blessing to have so many great active member.

But anyway I think it would best to lock this thread in case it gets spiteful. Would you guys agree with me?
 
nah, keep it open - locking it would seem very dictator like IMO. No one has become abusive or otherwise offending.

Mathee is stating his opinion and I think he (and anybody else) should feel free to do so without fear of repercussion or censorship - providing they do it in a civil manner - and so far everything has been.
 
Yeah - freedom of speech - provided we all behave like adults. We can't all be expected to agree, but we can be expected to respect that another person's view is different to our own
 
Name calling will not be tolerated on this Forum
I'm being silly since those taking offence to this confession are being patently absurd.

Have been here for two days and have stuff in a cart at Skyblue and waiting for CVS' new stock, so Vapeking isn't doing itself any favours (other than community and goodwill) by owning this forum. I see no conflicts whatsoever.

Anyone whose been keeping abreast with the international attitude towards vaping will realise that we need to stick together, most of all those making a living from it. The consumer stands to lose a crutch for their addiction, but businesses stand to lose their investments or livelihoods.

Besides, Vapeking is a ridiculous name anyway. We've grown out of monarchies! I say VapePresident! Or at least VapePrimeMinister! Aaaaaaaaaand we're being silly again. :D

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4
 
haha I love the members of this forum :) you guys really know how to make a person laugh
 
I do not like being called "patently absurd". That clearly is becoming personal and offensive. And should be warned against.

The threat of closing this thread clearly illustrates the conflict of interest here. Was that contemplated in the interest of the forum community or the commercial interest of VapeKing? And how do we ensure that VapeKing is bound to the same rules - we cannot, we must take their word for it. And if it is abused in future, Skyblue, will you walk away from all of what you have invested in here or will you be tolerant for the sake of commercial interests? It is, however, true that on the face of it no harm has been done since inception up to the point of confession.

That all said, I have immensely enjoyed this forum and hope to have contributed some as well. And agree with Derick that local is certainly lekker and better. I hope to be able to set this matter behind me, belatedly accept Gizmo's apology and continue as a member whose opinions are not always agreed with, but are always respected.
 
Awesome

And yes - Melinda and I are the kind of people that would walk away if we didn't agree with the way things were run. It might not make much commercial sense to do that, but I'm sure you can tell by now that we are not in this for purely commercial reasons :)
 
Well I would also be more then keen to have another core admin of the forum. Meaning full access to the backend of the website. This person would need to have knowledge of website administration like Derick has if he would be keen to take up the role?
 
Then you have two suppliers running the forum :)

I think it would be a better bet to get someone in no way related to the industry, other than being a vaper and a member of the forum - I know crafty has some knowledge, perhaps he would be up for it?

Besides, my knowledge is really sketchy at best, I've done everything with our site via opensource, themes and a lot of online tutorials :D
 
Mathee, my unreserved apology. No harm or insult was intended.

Hugs?

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4
 
Well lets see who takes it up. As I said I am open to it.
 
Wow, what happened while I was gone?

I went out for most of the day and came back to read this thread and all the posts.

Here are my views

The Good
1. I've loved this forum and learnt a lot
2. It has helped me on 1 occasion to avoid a stinkie
3. I placed an order with SkyBlue, VapourMountain and was still intending on visiting VapeKing soon (since they're near me)
4. As a result, I've learnt a lot, had a few good laughs and found new products and flavours to try out, which I probably wouldnt have easily found without this forum

The Strange
- i always found it strange why eCiggies wasnt part of this forum - maybe now we know why

The Bad
- I agree with Matthee. It is wrong to start anything and let people think you are just a vaper starting something for the community. That is a lie.

The way forward
- I do believe that this community should ideally be run, controlled and managed by someone who is not trying to sell products etc. If not, there are likely to be challenges down the road. But that is the ideal situation - now we have something a bit different.
- Given the situation and that Gizmo has done a really fantastic job - I can also understand why despite the "lie", it has been a good thing for everyone.
- If the forum continues as is, I will continue to be a happy contributor. I can't see why this can't be done. However there may be challenges down the line, given the inherent conflict of interest.
- If it gets one sided or abused, then I will contribute less and less

One thing though - credit to Gizmo and Stroodle for "coming clean" and apologising. I accept your apology.

I continue to think this forum can grow from strength to strength - provided the conflict of interest is managed very carefully.

We soldier on - and here's to finding the ultimate vape.

;-)
 
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