Geez, how to say this without causing a massive, intersite, cross-net flamewar....
Don't make it easy for me or anything, Sal!
Ok, here goes:
In the beginning, there was USENET, and on these newsgroups there was (and still is) a newsgroup called rec.knives. Then the World Wide Web began to be used by more and more people, and knife users began to use it to find out information. Cold Steel, Langouile and Benchmade added a particular forum script to their sites, which is relatively primative compared to the software currently in use here, but was revolutionary at the time.
Users were able to go to these sites and ask questions about the models of these manufacturers, but felt uncomfortable discussing general knife issues or knives made by other companies. Around this time, another site was opened, this time by a knife dealer, ostensibly for general knife discussion. Unfortunately, due to poor management, this site rapidly went downhill in terms of quality and moderation.
This is about the time that I came upon the online knife scene. At the time, I was employeed free lance for another knife retailer, and realized that such a site, when properly run, would be of great benefit to the knife scene as a whole. So I approached my then employer and suggested that we could implement the same ideas, but make it successful by simply managing it better.
The different policies and management turned out to be one of the key factors in the success of these new forums, as the users were getting tired of what was occurring on the other sites. Shortly after those forums were opened, I found a forum software product that was at least an order of magnitude better than the previous forums being used. This new software had several features that helped it stand out from the rest, the most important of which are Member profiles. Unique profiles prevented identity theft and impersonation, a very big problem then which has now been for all purposes eliminated. This software also has a friendlier user interface, and several other key features that were previously lacking.
Using this software practically ended the trolling, flaming, and other activities that were prevalent on other sites. Based on my input and recommendations, Mark McWillis at Benchmade made the switch over to this same software format, and their problems died as well.
Once these new forums were opened, the others effectively died. Unfortunately, the issue of poor management raised it's head again, and in a very public and ugly split I left the other site.
When this occurred, Mike and I discussed the current situation of knife discussion on the Internet, and we decided that if we learned from the past mistakes, we could create a true public service for knife users on the Internet.
We decided that:
<OL>[*]The Forums couldn't be run by any knife retailer; they had too much to lose in sales to truly run an impartial, "public service" site.
[*]Rather than setting a whole bunch of restrictive rules, we let the members have close to free reign, as long as they followed the all important "Golden Rule". They, in effect, moderated themselves by setting good examples.
[*]If we encouraged all knife dealers, makers, and manufacturers to participate, everyone would benefit. Previous sites couldn't do this at the risk of losing their sales to the competition; we don't have retail sales so we have nothing to lose.
[*]By having the best moderators actively encouraging discussion, more people would be likely to join in.
[*]By actively listening to, and acting upon member suggestions, we would grow where they wanted. As a result, we now have features like IRC Chat, an open links database that any user may add to, Member Knife Reviews, and other, better features in the works.
[*]By making the site easy to use, with as many features as possible, more people would come to it
</LI>[/list=a]
The results speak for themselves. In just over three months, we are the fastest growing and most popular forums site out there. Our moderators haven't had to do much work, thanks to the quality of the members that have been attracted here, and thanks to their example, there have been almost *zero* incidents. We have more to offer than any other knife forums site out there, and that is due to the input we recieve daily from the members: their suggestions are what keep us on track.
More than that, Mike and I know that we are doing the right thing here, and by trying to help out however we can, we are helping the knife industry grow as a whole. We welcome everyone here, whether they be knife novice's or experts, first time grinders or ABS Mastersmiths, bargain shoppers or custom collectors.
We just hope that we live up to the expectations of everyone here, and with the Member's help, I am fully confident that we will meet and exceed those expectations.
Spark
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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com
Insert witty quip here
