Since our AGM at last year's JAE, the committee has been reviewing the club's policy on the issue of permanent bans to errant members.

 

Having carefully considered the policy, we are united in the opinion that the notion of a permanet ban from the club is an absolute last resort; and one course of action reserved for when nothing else is appropriate in the circumstances. Hence we have decided to retain the notion of a permanent ban where the action is in the best interests of the club and its membership; as there are already finite bans in place with fixed terms - eg. of 1 week, 1 month, 1 year etc etc.

 

However we have all agreed that even if a permanent ban has been issued, sometimes some people deserve a second chance. Consequently anyone issued with a permanent ban (past or present) will now be permitted to apply to the committee for their return to the forum after a period of 12 months from the issue of their ban.

 

It's a bit like parole - one applies to return, the committee takes a vote and lets him or her know. If the application is successful, then the former banned member is permitted back onto the forum on a probationery period of 6 months. Conversely if a person's application is denied; they remain banned - although they are still eligible to apply to have their ban overturned in another 12 months. And so on.....

 

The present system of appealing against a permanet ban still remains the same - once a member is permanently banned from the club, they have the usual 7 day period to appeal against the committee's decision. As said, a permanent ban is always a last resort; we do not like having to take such drastic action against our members unless we are faced with no alternative option. And whilst the permanent ban does remain in place (when necessary), we are willing to reconsider each individual situation at some point in the future!

 

Richard

For the committee

Lee in the time its taken me to read your post ive just thought of at least 10 ex members who were banned and they have no connection with the zed scene at all anymore..also what date in the past would be the cut off point to start sending them invitations to a party celebrating there return. Mate anyone who are banned and want to genuinly return and put themselves up for a committee vote then as been said contact Richard Smith...easy:)

 

Yup - I have to concur....

 

...The key thing with any changes to how the forum is run - like anything in life - is "keep it simple." Over-complicate matters and no-one will bother to even look; add too many "if we do this and you do that" conditions, same thing. People will switch off.

 

The way we have done it, is to keep matters simple for all parties. Any banned member who genuinely would like to return will no doubt "keep an eye" on the forums still; or at least have friends here who might keep them informed of developments.

 

Any members who have been permanently banned were done so with good reason at the time; so why should I (or any other committee member) spend the time trying to contact them, asking if they want to return? That's not me having an attitude problem either, before anyone jumps in, it's just me saying it straight, so in view of my previous paragraph; anyone, I repeat anyone, serving a permanent ban is now eligible to apply to have their ban reconsidered by the committee. All they have to do is email me or any other committee member. Simples.

 

I meant it when I said that we do listen; and we do care what our members have to say - hence the reason this change has been made. And made in a way that is managable (ie kept simple) for us to implement; so whilst we are receptive to to new ideas and suggestions, until we know just how this latest change will pan out, please stop telling us how we should do this one thing and continue to suggest ways in which we can improve other areas of the forum!!

 

Richard:wink:

Edited July 9, 201312 yr by RichardS

ok, the first post/thread starter says that the banning was talked about but no changes are made.

 

Then, you will now consider reapplication after 12 months has gone by after the permanent ban.

 

In FunkySi's defense, he wrote a courteous and apologetic post on this thread, which got met with an immediate arm of the law regardless of the fact that he has been present on this forum for quite a significant amount of time without causing offence or event. Some who have developed quite clear malice towards the bloke just won't let it go though. :(

 

It is hard to read a thread here knowing that it will probably be cropped and tailored thus I probably missed quite a bit of input into this debate.

 

Overall, it is a positive gesture, but the only banned members that know about it are those that can log in, or by word of mouth, thus if this is genuine, then the bannees will need to be notified, otherwise it becomes a transparently empty gesture.

 

You know where many members you previously deemed unworthy to be in your 300ZX owner scene now frequent. It would be an appropriate forum to notify your decision, and I am sure you would only gain a positive response.

 

See you at JAE :)

 

Rose / Mrs Hollowpoint

Hi Rose and I thought my response to Si first post was positive! A well I guess you can't please everyone and you have my permission to post a link of this thread to anywhere you wont

I think Simon's apology would go a long way into a committee decision, but he still has to follow procedure of sending the email.

ok, the first post/thread starter says that the banning was talked about but no changes are made.

 

Then, you will now consider reapplication after 12 months has gone by after the permanent ban.

 

In FunkySi's defense, he wrote a courteous and apologetic post on this thread, which got met with an immediate arm of the law regardless of the fact that he has been present on this forum for quite a significant amount of time without causing offence or event. Some who have developed quite clear malice towards the bloke just won't let it go though. :(

 

It is hard to read a thread here knowing that it will probably be cropped and tailored thus I probably missed quite a bit of input into this debate.

 

Overall, it is a positive gesture, but the only banned members that know about it are those that can log in, or by word of mouth, thus if this is genuine, then the bannees will need to be notified, otherwise it becomes a transparently empty gesture.

 

You know where many members you previously deemed unworthy to be in your 300ZX owner scene now frequent. It would be an appropriate forum to notify your decision, and I am sure you would only gain a positive response.

 

See you at JAE :)

 

Rose / Mrs Hollowpoint

 

Hi Rose,

 

Thanks for your input - always appreciated! And to respond to your comments about Si's apology, is was indeed duly acknowledged by the committee. Gary certainly did the right thing by leaving it, along with the responses, to remain on view. Gary did then follow the forum rules about a banned member logging on under an alias and did what he had to - still leaving Si's apology on view. None of us want to attach anything negative to Si's application to rejoin the forum; and that certainly will not be held against him!

 

Si did the decent thing by apologising - and he did ask for my contact details, which he duly has received - but let's not forget, Si was not contacted by us about being eligible to have his ban overturned. HE found that out himself, whether by still visiting under an alias, or via friends from here or over the road! Word does get about.....

 

As for your other comments about the thread being hard to read, nothing has been cropped; save for Si's subsequent posts to his apology for reasons above. Contrary to what you believe, we don't edit/delete threads for our own propaganda purposes!! This isn't like the old Eastern Bloc.....:wink:

 

I would happily have my opening post restated on your forum; and like Gary says please feel free to do so. I have reservations about doing it myself, naturally so perhaps it's for the best that me and our committee abstein from that:wink:

 

Good to see you are still around - although sadly I shall miss JAE this year as the revised dates clash with my holiday.

 

Richard:thumbup1:

Thanks for coming over rose, hopefully in time both you and your other half can return here and be able to participate as you are both valued members of the community.

Thanks for coming over rose, hopefully in time both you and your other half can return here and be able to participate as you are both valued members of the community.

 

As above, have friends on both sides of the road, we all know and comment on the fact the zed scene is struggling !

And it's seems a shame that we can't all get on, as I'm sure there are good people on both sides who could help up push on with a united front :)

 

I've only been on the sites just over a yr so I don't know ALL the history, but just seems a shame :(

 

I've been watching this thread for some time and its just my thoughts on some of the stuff on here, and maybe the the under current which seems to be coming up, also relating to prev thread on how our car scene is struggling :(

 

Is it too late to bury the hatchet (on both sides) for the good and future of the NISSAN 300zx ?

 

Just my pennies worth :)

"I would happily have my opening post restated on your forum; and like Gary says please feel free to do so. I have reservations about doing it myself, naturally so perhaps it's for the best that me and our committee abstein from that"

 

Done.

Guys you can vist any club you want it is of no concern to the staff here. As for one 300zx club yes I would love to see that day when we can all be one big happy family.But back on topic this thread is about banned members and a lot of work has gone into this idea of bringing some banned members back. So keep watching for new updates.

Also so that no one gets ahead of themselves, please remember that, not all previous banned members may be successful in their appeal, so dont think its a free for all comeback.

The grounds for any decision by the committee is based upon what is best for the club in moving forward.

please stop telling us how we should do this one thing and continue to suggest ways in which we can improve other areas of the forum!!

 

Sorry if I'm taking this the wrong way Richard and I'm not sure if this was directed at me but I felt it a little blunt if it was considering you've welcomed our opinions until that point and I was only making a suggestion!

thing is lee, this new thing to the forum is for banned members to contact richard and their banned status shall be discussed to see if they will be allowed back, it isnt an invite to all the banned members to return

 

they were banned for good reason and lets be honest a lot of banned members may not want to return

I absolutely agree Al, I'm just saying that the committee have welcomed suggestions etc which has been great and that last comment (if aimed directly at me) sounded get a polite 'get lost'.

 

Feel free to mod that comment if I'm barking up the wrong tree here. Might be just how it's came across.

 

I think this is a great idea.

Sorry if I'm taking this the wrong way Richard and I'm not sure if this was directed at me but I felt it a little blunt if it was considering you've welcomed our opinions until that point and I was only making a suggestion!

 

Hi Lee,

 

I accept my post was a little blunt; but it was not directed at anyone specific - sometimes a written post can come accross the wrong way. I (along with the rest of the committee) do indeed welcome suggestions on how we can improve the club for the benefit of our members; and value our members' opinions. Which is the reason we have implemented this change....

 

.....And, it seems, everyone generally things it is a change for the better. However everyone also needs to remember that the committee runs the club in their spare time around work and family committments; so we are limited to the time and availability we have. Hence if we are to implement changes etc, we have to ensure we can do things within those capabilities. Which is why my response was aimed at all the suggestions that we should make more effort to contact those serving permanent bans to ensure they know of the change. To put it bluntly, we just do not have the time or resources; plus peoples' contact details change etc etc.

 

This is a new idea for us as a club; and we have no idea how things will develop either, so committee and moderators will just have to manage the situation as and when things evolve - and make tweaks to the new system as the needs arise! Hope that makes sense mate....

 

Richard:clover:

It does mate. Thanks for posting back and clearing it up. Have some rep.

It does mate. Thanks for posting back and clearing it up. Have some rep.

 

Cheers Lee!!

"I would happily have my opening post restated on your forum; and like Gary says please feel free to do so. I have reservations about doing it myself, naturally so perhaps it's for the best that me and our committee abstein from that"

 

Done.

 

Thank you Steve - I hope that it is accepted in the manner in which it was intended. And on that bombshell, I have an announcement to make.....

 

.......which will shortly be a new thread in "club news and announcements"

 

Richard:wink: