That would be a fair enough statement if we were talking about a random non-internet based company switching servers. Bob's car dealership, Chris' company, my little outfit here.

But IB is in the business of buying forums and "transitioning" them. They are a huge public company holding enormous assets. They have offices around the world. They paid like 50 million for forums just the first half of 2008. They have 47 job postings for their growing company.

They flat out do not care one iota about the membership of this site. They are into bigger numbers and growth, baby growth. They rarely moderate this site, preferring to let us slug it out like Lord of the Flies.

OSO Steve is a genius. I was upset at first because I incorrectly felt that we were owed some notice. That notice (having come from Steve in advance) would have killed the deal. God bless him. I hope that he did very well and that retirement is agreeing with him. He should be proud that he ran this forum better than "professional" forum gobblers.

As for me, I really don't like the other boat sites that much. I think that I may try to outlast these jokers. Maybe shame will eventually kick in when they realized that they bled all the value out of this forum in 6 months due to unavoidable tech problems and highly avoidable PR problems. Their CTO should be replaced. This was more of a PR debacle than a tech fiasco. The PR director should be exiled on Elba.

You don't have to be a big corporation to not give a $hit about you guys. I'm just a member and I don't give a $hit about you guys either!

Damn, ya'll seem to have some angry feelings about this...deep down i think you may feel abandoned? It's normal (so they told me).
LOL...

Anyway, I would argue that they don't care about the customers, if they could care less, they would not be spending and growing like you stated - but, they do have a different mind set than OSO steve had. And I agree, that if they are not keeping you up-to-date, that is very wrong.

Maybe stage "sick-out" and see if that grabs their attention. But then I would think ya'll will have withdrawals.

thanks for the responses.

Now thats funny Nort.

Holy crap....that is hilarious!!!!!

To that point, Speedgirl, Sydways, et al, do a fantastic job at moderating this place. They truly know when to intercede and when it's best to let whatever it is run its course.

And clearly, they care more than the owners of the site what goes on here.

what are the other sites IB owns?

Autos.com
CarsDirect
InstantCarLoan
NewCarTestDrive
6SpeedOnline
ATVConnection
AudiForums
AudiWorld
CamaroForums
ChevroletForum
ClubLexus
CorvetteForum
DodgeForum
F150online
Ford-Trucks
G35Driver
GreenHybrid
HDForums
LandRoverForums
LS1Tech
MazdaForum
MBWorld
MustangForums
My350z
MyG37
NorthAmericanMotoring
PassionFord
Rennlist
RX7Club
S2000.com
ScionLife
ScoobyNet
ThirdGen.org
VolvoForums
Wikicars
YotaTech
zDriver

AirlinePilotCentral
AviationEmployment
ClassADrivers
HospitalJobsOnline
iFreelance
ModelMayhem
NursingJobs
PPRuNe
RealPolice
WAHM
Apartment Ratings
BrokerOutpost
CreditorWeb
DoItYourself
ePodunk
Loan.com
Mortgage101
RealEstateABC
ThatRentalSite

AVRev
Bargainist
Boddit
DealLocker
HighDefDigest
HighDefForum
UltimateCoupons

BBOnline
CruiseMates
CruiseReviews
SlowTrav
VacationTimeshareRentals
VacationHomes
Vamoose
BikeForums
DVDTalk
EquineHits
FamilyCorner
FitDay
Flyertalk
HorseTopia
TheHullTruth
HuntingNet
MySummerCamps
OffShoreOnly
PuppyDogWeb
TrekEarth
Wikitravel
World66
VetInfo

I believe that. But I also feel like they do not have quite the same authority that they once did. Perhaps I am wrong. I do appreciate what those two do.

I sensed a decrease in locks, time outs, etc. I did notice that Speedy locked a thread that had deteriorated pretty badly a few days ago.

Not to mention that they own VBulletin.