SeanB and others,

I usually try to stay on the sidelines of most controversial subjects, intervening only when I feel it is absolutely necessary, because I believe the forum is just that…a place where people do have the right to express their own opinions. However, I feel like now is the time for me to offer my opinion, and I believe that I speak for the other moderators as well.

The issue of Ben being MIA is one that has been hashed over ad nauseum, so I won’t hash it over again here, except to say that if Ben were to reappear and assume control of the forum again, that would be great. Truthfully, I don’t think that it will happen, but we never know. In the meantime, when Watermom, Poconos, Carl and myself accepted the moderator positions, the understanding was that as long as the forum was in existence, (not as long as it was actively recruiting new posters, but as long as it was in existence), we would be there to run it the way Ben wanted it run. That is a responsibility each of us takes seriously, even if others think we are foolish (as has been stated in the past).

When SeanB started TFP as an extension of the PF, it did allow many people who were not able to register on PF to register in a forum that would get them much the same advice that was given on PF. That was wonderful, and in that light I think TFP was a good thing. After awhile, occasional posts with the links to the TFP forum were being made on PF and were not banned or otherwise commented on by us (the mods), in the interest of being fair to people who were not being allow to register on the PF, although by then the TFP was becoming more of a competitor than a “sister” to the PF. Still, those who were not allowed to register on PF were being directed to the TFP site for help. Those occasional posts were being followed by more frequent posts, where there was no outright “attack” on the PF, but frequent mentioning of the forum being a “dying” and “inactive” forum, usually followed by mention of the TFP site. Those were largely ignored by us. However, at this point, there are several posts throughout the forum with links to the TFP site, so further posts about how wonderful the TFP is, and how great it’s going, are largely just a slap in the face to those of us who helped build and are still in place to help run the PF site. Since Ben’s absence and the inability to accept new registrations has been discussed over and over and over, and the links to TFP have been frequently posted around the forum, at this point feels like you guys are continuing to beat a horse that’s already fallen down, and I don’t know how you can expect that we (largely the mods) won’t have some resentment toward you (that being the collective, not the literal “you”) for that. This is why we reacted to the most recent thread the way we did—it served really no other purpose than to remind us once again that we are not the forum we used to be, and unfortunately it’s through nothing that we can control.

I’m glad that TFP is booming, and hope it continues to do so. I am respectfully asking you, though, to keep TFP business at TFP and leave the PF alone. Your advice contributions are certainly welcome and encouraged, but please try to remember that constant reminders of our troubles here are really unnecessary, and in my opinion, unprofessional. There are still people who registered throughout the years at PF who are still asking questions and learning, and we intend to stay here for those people, if for no other reason. We do not come to TFP to stir up controversy for you, and I am asking you to return the favor.

I am trying as hard as I can to remain as diplomatic as possible, and I’m hoping that you will read this in the light in which I intended: I want PF and TFP to continue to coexist with some kind of relationship, which is the way the site was originally intended to be….but I am also asking you to remember that there are those of us still at PF who have invested a great deal of time and energy into making the site what it was….and feel like we have the right to be respected, too.

Janet