Why was SOS Formed
 

I really did not notice a big change here when IB took over there were the connection problems that were solved I guess they did not have free bling which was a buisness decision

the content relly did not change. So why SOS

I think the answer is a chance for some guys to make some money I applaud this A group of guys thought he y could make a better product and it has disolved in chaos.

Shame another good boating site is always welcomed

Thanks to IB the owner of OSO got to cash out and sold to a company that has kept this the best offshore site on the web.

Bingo!

Bingo 2 !

Correct me if I am wrong, but since Steve sold OSO and it was bought by IB, in its current state would the existance of OSO be for the sole purpose of making money? If it was losing IB money, do you think the lights would be on?

I don't know the full reasoning behind SOS but I can tell you why I migrated over there for the past year. First, I was getting tired of the slow speed that seemed to be plaguing OSO once IB took over. I was invited to join this new entity in its begining stages and thought most people would be coming over. Alot did including my NJ circle of friends. A couple weeks later, I had gotten into a heated debate here on OSO, not malicious or attacking mind you, backing a few friends in a disagreement with a sponsor of the site. Mysteriously I could no longer access this site. After multiple inquiries of why I was banned, I finally got an email stating that my account was still active and I was not banned. So I again tried logging in to no avail, asked multiple times for a new password or account access info and got no response. That is why I left. I hate drama and just want to talk about boats, events, benchrace, bust chops and have some fun!!! Since all of this turmoil over there started, I have gotten back together with the mods here on OSO who cleared up whatever was blocking me from access and I am back! :gfight:
Now I just have to learn how (or how much I need to pay) to post pictures!:party-smiley-004:

I am not "in the loop" but when IB bought OSO it lost the owned by a friend and the one of us feel. SOS tried to bring that back.

Thats accurate

True. But I am sure the $$ had alot to do with it as well. And, who wouldn't want to start a new boat website with potential for profit?

Hmmm, FREE membership. Free swap shop. Free classifieds. Free advertising.

Where was the $$ part in that equasion again? NO one was making any money out of SOS.

From someone who just likes to read about the boats and view some pictures I really dont think there was much of a difference between the two.

If this site was slow for a bit whatever.. I am sure we all have better things to do from life productivity standpoint.

A good portion of the posts here were simply cut-n-pasted over there anyway.

There are pay sections on SOS
I think the real payout is build a huge base of members advertisers will then come and the payout is then sell to a IB type company
sites cost slot to run and free free free is not a buisness model that lasts long if advertisers don't show up
unless there are real deep pockets involved

That was my understanding from the get go! I don't like the turmoil that is go'n on now!!! On the brighter side, I have made a whole bunch of new friends ( on both sites) that enrich my life talk'n bout boats & dogs & laugh'n & toast'n a few!! Summers almost here, let's get the boats run'n good & have a safe & fun 2010 boat'n season w/ our fellow sport lovers!!! Tracy

Exactly.

That's right.

There were quite a few that didn't like having no idea who was behind the curtain so to speak. Also, IB just doesn't promote the site like Steve did. Steve always had parties that you could count on, some kind of giveaway, and other fun things that always kept it fresh.

I think the OSO boats, trucks, toys, etc, that Steve always had around made a difference as well. It was always so cool to see the OSO F-650 hooked up to the OSO boat at the boat shows, & to see them doing the poker runs with everyone else. The OSO Gladiator was ALWAYS a hit, no matter what part of the country, or body of water he took it to.

When all of that was gone, AND they switched to shared servers on the site, which is what causes the glitches, AND no one knew who to call or email with a password problem, or whatever else.....people realized the days of having "one of us" that owned the biggest & best boating forum were gone.

SOS was definitely an attempt to bring back that feeling if nothing else, and it worked pretty well I think. People briefly tried out other forums that had always been in the background, but those sites have a different identity that didn't mesh with the OSO crowd, so there needed to be something entirely new.

Other than the current issues with the original SOS gang, the site itself is nice. It runs smoothly, has great activity, members, and content. It's true that a lot of the content in the beginning was just copy & pasted on both sites, but I think SOS has an identity of it's own more & more now days. There's also a pretty well defined group of members that only post on one site or the other, but still many like me that like to cruise both of them. They are the only two I surf, for now http://smiliesftw.com/x/hsughcool.gif

I went over to SOS because I was invited as a founder and mod. I really never moderated anything but liked the behind scenes action. Steve Schuble took OffshoreOnly to the top and I'll always consider him a good friend. I've been on here for almost 10 years and plan on viewing and posting on both sites.

That's really what I wanted to say!:lolhit:

Just a quick couple of comments RE: the "WHY" question.
Besides some of the IB, tech issues, many felt that a boating community or site needs or should be managed by boaters.
Boaters are a specialy family. Case in point.. most racers race for the love of the sport, and not for the $.
Furthermore, SOS started to avoid all the BS what's has been happening "here" You WILL NOT see anything like the BS threads going around for weeks, on SOS. IB is laughing all day becouse of all the posts. SOS generates good conversations and friendships, and not BS backed revenues for a conglomerate.
Many members visit both sites and other. Different atmosphere for different paople. Dissagreements are everywhere. Keep it civil, debate, make your point, argue, whatever, but no insults or personnal attackes on SOS. YOu can't be civil,? you can and will be asked to go somewhere else. SOS was created for boating related venues. Debates are welcomed. BS is not tolerated. You want DRAMA? and a chat room like environment?... for childish games?? It's not at SOS.
And for the record... many, probobly most members at SOS are die hard boaters. Many still visit many sites. Some call SOS home.. some call some other sites home. OSO was one of the best sites around for a long time. Even with all the BS, and many of us were able to ignore the BS. However. NOT ONCE anyone at SOS wished any harm or a failure to OSO. (there are lot of posts to that) Many, including the "four" has spent a lot of hours and resources on SOS.
I will be blount and speak for all SOS members in this case. Many were die hard OSO members and we, (I) started the unternet boating cummunity here. No one wishes anyting negative for OSO. For what I seen, (not in the past few weeks, though...) OSO made some good efforts.
I wish the best success to OSO and I wil do my part for the cont. success of SOS. WE all have a choice of where to go and spend our key board time.
I rather go boating, and in that thought, I got boat work to do.

Happy boating everyone.

Give it time all the bs will start
it's the natural progression of Internet based buisness
you will get the kids selling fake rolexes and the Fred Cecils of the world as the site gets bigger

sooner or later money has to be raised that's why I am a charter member atOSO a offer was made to the first 200 to chip in and never pay again
I would have done the same at SOS but I wasn't one of the in crowd

So enjoy the utopia it won't last forever which is a shame but it's not even put of it's infancy and it's embroiled in controversy of financial impropriety

Founders, Mods, Creaters need to rise above all the BS drama. That seems to be an issue on both sites I think.

1. FREE never works. Who is going to pay for the maintance of the site, software, hardware.

2. Both sites are plagued with people that have no common sense, no life, and no reason to post the stuff that they do.

3. Get real - If someone posts a real question they deserve a real answer. Ex. "I have a 30k budget and want a 25-27 foot boat. Any suggestions?" - Answer "For another 50k you can buy my 35."

4. The economy is ****, everyone is boating on a budget and enjoy what they have. Everyone deserves to have a place to ask questions and congregate without being ganged up on my the OSO or SOS people. Just because you have a T-shirt and walked around the Miami Boat show doesnt mean that you are an expert in performance boating. Get over yourself.

5. I have had alot of business dealings in my young life, and I assure you that just because someone hides behind FREE or Non-Profit does not mean that there is no money being made....and no one starts anything with the idea to lose money.

6. Things need to get back to friendly boating - it would be much better. I for one am running out of space on the "Ill knock your teeth out and hairpiece off old man" list.

Just ramblings of a young man.....2cents.

On the origonal topic, it happened before my time, only been on the sites for a short time, but I like them both. Different feel, but both good in their own way. I was spending more time there than here because I was having issues here with slow speeds etc. but has gotten a bit better. Some good folks on both sites, and some a-holes but thats just life, or any group of more than 2 people lol. Great resources for a someone fairly new to performance boating like myself. Its now part of my daily routine to browse both sites.

+1

"I would have done the same at SOS but I wasn't one of the in crowd "

You're lucky it looks like all the problems now hover around the in crowd.

unfortunately alot of you guys were not around to enjoy the good ole days of OSO back when it started in 1999/2000.....those were the days. Everyone was just one big bucket of fun....:)

I fully share the same opinion Tom and would like to thank you and all of the other friends that supported me during that time.

Suddenly I feel De Javu ... and it is sad that the same scenario had taken place once again, but now on Serious.

I eventually came back here to OSO some time ago once they resolved their Server issues.

Once I made a formal announcement that no new content would be posted on the SO site (due to bias moderators with a conflict of interests), I was being contacted by many people from this site as well as many others asking if I would start to post more of my content on their sites.

As I have explained Publicly & Privately, all I wanted was to not be restricted as to where I post and have the same rights as others. I was assured by all of the other sites including OSO that I would have the same rights as everyone else and there should be no issues...

So far so good !!! :drink:

It's great to see many of the people's screen names start to appear here once again !

Thanks to all of my SPONSORS !

Without them, I couldn't bring you the images you see here today....

Thank you OSO!
On behalf of myself, friends, customers and sponsors, we look forward to spending more time here over the upcoming season...

NOW LET'S GO BOATING & GET SOME GREAT PICS !!!!!:drink:

OFFSHORE ONLY (OSO) is the Original and the only boating website there is & Race girl is HOTTTTTTTTT .
cheers & carry on .....

Same here, I always felt that the site had its member's backs covered. Corporate entities being what they are left a bad taste for me regarding my personal hobby.

Excuse me? bias(ed) moderators with a conflict of interests?

That is a giant steaming load of BS Tim. As one of those moderators you are accusing, I always had to keep my mouth shut when it came to you and your agenda. We were instructed by the administrators of Serious to tippy toe around your constant indiscretions. Now, seeing as I am no longer a representative of either site, I think I can finally speak freely to that.

I do not personally know you. I have never met you but I can tell you this much.

Any perceived bias against you by the moderation staff, not the administrators of the board but the moderation staff was rooted in one thing and one thing only. Your inapropriate actions. Period.

I suggest before you go pointing fingers and making incorrect accusations, you take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself "Why was it only me"? Why was I the only photographer that got the attention of the moderation staff over and over again?

Aiipacker,
To my knowledge you had not sided with any contributor in which you openly admit, you kept your mouth shut. So no, I am not accusing you !

It was quite clear there were a few that had favoritism to a particular contributor.

The same contributor they allowed to advertise his product in an area "On The Dock" when the rules were Advertising was to be kept in our Media sections. After over a half a dozen Ads of his on the 1st page I decided to place ONE (1) Ad for my Neoprene Mats and it was promptly removed to a section very few would visit.. That was the deciding factor that I would no longer post my pics there.

Advertising was forbidden on the On The Dock by me and the other photogs but it was ok for him. I recall Performance Images as well as SupercatRacing having their products removed as well, it wasn't just me. Several photogs could respond to other members on particular threads but I was banned from doing so... ??? Sounds bias to me...

One more example:

Dare Devil contacted me for an Avatar of his boat in Key West, I supplied it to him with my photo credit on the bottom and the owner of the Forum himself claimed I was circumventing the Advertising Rules of the Forum. Something I was not trying to do at all. I watermark all of my images so why would that be any different? To satisfy his complaint I sent another image to Dare Devil without a watermark.

Now when I was asked to come back after the 4 had left, I was told the Moderators that were causing all of my problems were now gone. Things would be different. NOT!!!

In my best interest and the easiest way to resolve the issue that was never going to change was to no longer post my images ...

Other Forums then started to contact me. The issue was being brought there as well but at least they saw a pattern and what was trying to being accomplished by someone. They didn't fall for it. And to all of them ....THANK YOU for not holding me to a different set of Rules then everyone else !

Tim,it was far more than just your spam for mats and you know it.

Now, above, you stated in your own words " the forum owner himself".

So when he told you the "moderators" that were causing your issues had left, did that make any sense to you?

PS, only one of the group of four was a moderator. Two were administrators and the fourth was just an advisor and investor.

As for the other "contributor", that drove us crazy too but you follow orders from the administrative staff or you leave which most of us have done.

Ok then, accept my apology.
It should have been stated Mods/Administrators.
Honestly, I did not know there was a difference.

And for the record, it was not the quote of the owner that stated all of the people that was moving an deleting my posts had left.

Apparently you had no say in what was happening to my posts.
Thank you for at least abstaining as I personally did when I was in the Board Room.

I abstained my vote on any decisions that were made involving other Photographers as I knew I had a conflict of interest and knew it would not be fair.

And yes, I am glad you recognize the fact I tried to the best of my ability to follow the Rules as another did not. I can show you the games he was and still is playing which lead us to having our own Media Sections.

Yes, I have proof of it but I no longer further wish to discuss the past here on OSO. If you want proof ask me in private. I prefer to leave the last 18 months of dedication of long hours to that site behind me...
It was a total waste of my time in labor and time from my family all for nothing ....

P.S.
Correct me if I am wrong, but am I posting to SCOTT ??? or do I have you mixed up with someone else...???

The " in " crowd was the group of individuals that interacted directly with CS on mostly a daily basis.
The other good volunteers had little or no knowledge of the mechanics of administering the site or the finances present and future.
It is because of that first hand knowledge and the correspondance with CS that was in question a decision was made to rectify it or leave.
To remain would be aiding and abetting.

To rescue it, could never include the continued ownership or participation of Chris sunkin.

We left.

What you people have to understand is how SOS was presented to the volunteers. It was presented as never being a business, ever.
It was presented by a person that told everyone that he was a very successful businessman who had a long history of boat ownership and knowledge and a ton of close personal relationships with icons and business owners in the sport.

He has told more than a few people that he " threw" 120k at the software and then on top of that another 30k at adding the classified section.
When volunteers hear these things and read daily exploits of owning 14 different boats and falling 3 times out of a boat over 75 mph they follow along.

But when you discover by reading Rob Freemans stuff, which by the way I sincerely thank him for, you begin to look closer and the emporers clothes start to fall off.

When you check the software story and especially the classified story and its very not true, you ask questions.
Everything that he has said he is, he is definately not.

Back to the 4 comment.

The 4 called Chris Sunkin out in writing TWICE. Both answers were BS.

Chris Sunkin has gotten away with his exploits for one reason only.
He surrounds himself with people with credibility.

Given that it was decided that SOS is actually the future of his money source and the stage that is available to pontificate from it is a disaster in the making for someone or a group of people in this industry.

3 things specificately brought me to the end.

1. Chris Sunkin attempted to take money from a charity until I caught him.

2. Chris Sunkin attempted to use his connection with me to drag some of my dearest and best friends into his Saccenti boat venture as a dealer.

3. Chris Sunkin used the very hard work, resources and connection with others to propagate this mess.
Moderators were being chosen on who they know and what lake they were from rather than their loyal commitment to work hard solely for SOS.

There are countless times we were lied to and deceived. And as volunteers that is shameful.

The volunteers that remain or are supporting the site currently do so because they felt it was theirs. It was.

SOS has a cancer. To live, the cancer has to be eliminated.

Under the current circumstances it is very odd that the solicitation of banner ad revenue has just now started.

I personally was involved in the planning of bringing SOS to a pay site. Up until 2 weeks ago it was not to happen until a major image and feature change was finalized.

It was disheartening to me that all that was never started since it was promised to all the volunteers in December.

So you understand, any retort that comes from CS is manufactured crap. And any coached support is just that.

Straight up...this man duped a lot of trusting hardworking loyal volunteers .

There have been others that have had fundraisers in this sport.
I remember one where a person took some money that wasnt theirs. I also remember what happened to him.

A few years later we have the same thing happen and I read on here that some stupid dummy suggests giving the guy some slack.
Have we gone so low or are we so desperate to be FOUNDING MEMBERS that we will accept that behaviour?

At one point the other volunteers knew little of what 4 people knew. They all now have equal knowledge...and yet they remain.

Those people that run successful fundraising, please ask yourself if after a lot of doorknocking and effort and jumping in freezing water so your balls shrink to a pee ...would you allow someone attempt to keep your money from its intended destination.????
THINK everyone THINK

Thank you

I will not wait until it is said that this was Alec's doing and that the rest of us were somehow duped into following along and helping him. I personally was aware of every e-mail, PM, and conversation around this subject and decided there was no other choice than for myself or Chris to leave. When Chris was given the offer to pay him back the money he invested in the site (as close as we could figure since there were no true numbers to be had) it was with my full knowledge and backing. Make no mistake that I/we were willing to give up countless hours of work, thousands of dollars of our own, and a place we all loved and built because we could no longer cover for this person. As for why we chose to try and do it privately and not involve the whole Advisory Board....look how well that worked out when Chris did it.

I concur with Alec and Ted's statements above. My goal was to be not associated with Chris and to not be subjected to the lies anymore on a daily basis. I would welcome any lawsuit if one is brought against me/us. If that is the route he chooses, I would imagine that there could be a subpeona of that PayPal account as well. That would be interesting ;) This entire deal has been extremely embarrassing for me and I am done for a while on the internet boating sites. It's just not something that I need right now in my life. One other thing that I would like to address is the fact that there was no "backdoor" that we've been accused of creating to get back into SOS after sunkin blocked us out and chose to lie about us and our motives. I think that he forgot that we have friends that we've known forever. You know, like people that we've shared the love of boat ownership with. :D

The bonus part is that I actually have three boats and plan on enjoying the chit out of them. Hope to see my fellow boaters out there.


Signing back off...
Craig :)

So where the heck do we go now? :D I hate the idea of giving "corporate" any money.

hey Craig

Just noticed you were from MD I get out there about 1/2 doz time a year. Next time I am out there how about a ride in the Gun Where is Edgerock?

Klaw

Ted and Craig hang in there guys. Just come back to OSO and blend back in when ever you are ready. It is still the same group of bumbling idiots that ran it when Steve owned it. :D It is actually faster now then it has ever been. :D

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

It's a sad shame what happened; a disgrace, really. I can't tell you how disappointing and heart-breaking this has been - after the thousands of hours that we've all collectively put in. We lived and breathed that site and everything it stood for.

In the end, we had to make a judgment call. We couldn't stand back and continue to watch the wranglings, we couldn't remain idle while bearing any further embarrassment.

During the course of the last few months we've been becoming increasingly aware of some circumstances which necessitated that either we leave, or he does. We could no longer in good faith remain on board in any official capacity, nor continue to deliver any more of our volunteer efforts.

We delivered an offer, an opportunity to quietly remove himself in an effort to preserve our credibility, the credibility of others, and to preserve all of our hard work as well as the site itself. We resigned after it became apparent that the offer was declined, as we refuse to be associated any longer. Others have since followed shortly thereafter.

We all very much appreciate all the thoughtful and supportive words we've received of late.

Kind regards and best wishes to all.

Standing on my soap box....

Yes a corporate company owning OSO leaves a bitter taste, and I too was very skeptical when OSO was experiencing problems.... However, many of the issues have been resolved and the moderators of OSO are all dedicated to "the sport" and making this the best place to visit!!

While IB pays the bills, it falls to the moderators to keep things running smoothly. IB is not a "boater", they are a business. Unfortunately, that can create an impression that is somewhat less friendly that it was when Steve was the owner. Your moderators, on the other hand, ARE boaters, board members, and your friends. IB has left it to the moderators of OSO to keep the community feel to the board. We do our best and of course there are times that our opinions don't mesh with those of others on the board. The moderators ask that everyone please keep in mind that we do what we do on a volunteer basis and try to keep personal opinion out of our decisions.

I would say that I take to heart the "this isn't home or family" posts since I put a lot of time into OSO - for free.... I have made some great friends from OSO and nothing can take that away....

I feel for all of you guys involved. It was obvious you all put some tremendous effort and sweat equity into it. If it's any consolation, you all did a tremendous job, and created a unique personality at the site.

All of you should be respected for how you handled the situation, and left behind that which you labored so hard to build. It's pretty easy to figure out who the good guys are here, and it's nice there are some left. I have a lot of respect for how this was handled, and admiration for the "WHY" is was handled that way.

Thanks for sharing a truly sad story.