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BRAG TIME. Your Admin Team at work.


EffBee

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I've been an Admin, and now caretaker, at BMWST.com for 18 years. So I sometimes get to the point where I take for granted all the work that the Admin Team does to keep this place moving forward. I caught myself doing that the other day, forgetting all that they do. So I'm going to brag about them a little (maybe more than a little) and hope you'll acknowledge them.

 

Every day I wake up and the Admin members in the East and Central time zones have already taken care of the member registration approvals/rejections that come in overnight. And then in the evening, the more western Admins take care of those that came in during the day and after the East Coast guys have called it a night. And the reason why I added the word "rejections" to the approval/rejections process is this . . . we get some funny, weird, and downright scary member applications, and the Team jumps through hoops to verify and validate them. As well as reject the undesirables. I'll call it Extreme Vetting, and state that I intend nothing political about the use of the term.

 

• We get spammers. Boy do we get spammers! But hopefully you'll never see them. I don't want to jinx us, but it's been a while since someone came on here and tried to sell everyone a bunch of $25 Rolexes, or worse. This is because of the work the Team does.

• We get other forms of buffoonery as well. Guys selling paint sprayers (yeah, I know, who doesn't want a good Third World paint sprayer?). Life Insurance. Medical devices. Doomsday food bundles. And more.

• We get survey requests, too. Usually they say they're from some university and they need to ask a few questions in order to work on a Master's or Doctoral thesis. Yeah, right. And some don't tell us anything, but there's something hinkey about their application. So, how do we know they want to survey us? We check various sites where these people get listed, by both IP and email. A few might actually be legit. But we're not here to have our info picked at, nor do we want anyone here queried, and then concerned about where any info they gave out ends up.

• Lastly, we get people who might be interested in doing the board harm. Sure, we ask you for your donations every year and we use that to pay a very good company to host this site and back it up, etc. But there are bad guys out there and that's where we want to keep them.

 

If a new member application is from someone from the U.S. or Canada, and their IP address checks out (we have several places we go to get verifications, and they'd better match up), and their email address is legit (we have places we go to for those verifications as well), that's easy. Approved and "Welcome to the family." But why is it sometimes legit when we get an application from the UK with an IP address in France, but not OK when we get an IP address from Poland but a location in Turkey? Because the Internet works a little different in europe, so we have to chase that down and see if they're legit or not. And what about China, VietNam, India, and other places from which spammers too often originate. Insta-ban? Could be. But occasionally they're for real. So if they don't show up on a list somewhere, we email them them half way around the world and sometimes have to wait days for a response, with an explanation of their intent, as well as the photo we request of them and their bike. So, during various parts of the year, any Admin might have several separate international emails they're chasing down or waiting for a reply.

 

And then there's keeping the board running smoothly. Making sure each post is in the right forum is relatively easy. Just read EVERY SINGLE POST. OK, we try, but we know if a longtime member has posted something, it's probably in the right place. But we do miss one or two every now and then. And that's where the members on this board step in and you guys will email us and let us know we might have missed one. Thanks. We truly and sincerely appreciate your help. We're also charged with keeping the Classified section free of direct replies, comments, and public offers that might interfere with the negotiations you're involved with using Private Messages. That's why we do insist on PM's between the interested parties. So your negotiations can be between just you and the buyer/seller. Posting replies to Classifieds is usually a Noob issue, and it's understandable. When signing up, they check off that they've read the Rules and Guidelines without actually doing so. Kind of like checking off that you've read the entire Software Licensing Agreement when you install something new on your computer (and don't say that you haven't done it). They're lengthy and pretty much all say the same thing. So if software has the same rules, then BMWST.com must be just like any other forum, right? Sign me up and let's get to posting.

 

Not so fast, there, young feller.

 

Occasionally, some hackles get raised. People will step on each others' toes, whether intentional or not. Disagreements (which are fine) become arguments (which are less fine) become personal (which is not OK at all). Smoothing ruffled feathers is also in the job description. And then occasionally those doing the ruffling take issue with us. Oy!

 

I could go on because there's a lot more that they do. But I guess what I really wanted to say was that there's a ton more going on behind the scenes than most people realize. And here's the Team that tackles it, dives in, bangs their heads against the walls, walks on eggshells, gently guides, wags fingers if needed, plays amateur psychologist, goes digging through international spammer lists, and tries to figure out every new way that the bad guys figure out, before they get past the BMWST security wall. We joke among ourselves about who's using the BMWST jet this weekend, or is staying at the condo on the BMWST private island, or heck, let's double our salaries again. Woohoo!!! But every one here is an unpaid volunteer who LOVES this place. And they give it an hour or two of their time every day. Some for as long as this place has been around. That would be about 700 hours x 18 years, or somewhere in the area of 13,000 hours. And in recent years, since they can get the website on their cell phones, it's probably more. But at 13,000 it comes out to 77 weeks, 24 hours a day. About a year and a half of their lives.

 

It's riding season. You should be out racking up miles while the weather's good. Give 'em a wave as you roll by.

 

Mike Boomgarden

Mitch Patrie

Glenn Reed

Mike Greiff (also handles the BMWST Calendar)

Matt Banks (IT)

 

And let's not forget the couple dozen other Admins who have given of their time to this site over the years. Men and women who loved this place and without whom we would not be where we are. Lastly, thanks to the three previous BMWST owner/caretakers, Cary Littell (founder), David Baker and Leslie Edmunds, who guided us through challenges, growth, change, and improvements that last to this day.

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Appreciate all you guys do behind the polished veneer we see everyday. I had no idea so much went on below the water line - pretty much always without making waves.

 

DRINKS ON EFFBEE! :wave::beer:

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it is something to be proud of...all that work none of see and without a single covfefe :) And if you consider the hours times the hourly rate..it's quite a bargin Hx0= A big thank you

Edited by Skywagon
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Thanks FB for taking the time to remind us why this place is so great.

 

I have to say that of all the forums I frequent, the members here are the highest quality individuals around. Haven't met any that I wouldn't want to share a ride with our have stay at our house.

 

Mr. Roger's Neighborhood is alive and well thanks the the effort of a fantastic owner/mod team. :clap::wave::thumbsup:

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I'm going to give at least one of those boys a fine ceegar in the best of BMWST traditions, and an offer of free adult beverages to a few others at the upcoming UN. Thanking them personally will be my honor, but really I'm hoping to bribe them. I need all of the leniency that I can get.

 

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realshelby

I spend a decent amount of time on some other motorcycle forums, a bit on other forums not bike related.

 

I am CONSTANTLY amazed at how well this site is run! I appreciate every Admin and everyone else that puts time in here to keep up the standards this site has.

 

 

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I'm going to give at least one of those boys a fine ceegar in the best of BMWST traditions, and an offer of free adult beverages to a few others at the upcoming UN. Thanking them personally will be my honor, but really I'm hoping to bribe them. I need all of the leniency that I can get.

And I will be right behind him backing him up!

You are all Rock-stars and as a group you are the reason we get to have nice things. Thanks again for keeping the Neighborhood safe for us to play in. Party on Garth.

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As a newbie to the site, I'd like to also thank the behind the scenes guys that keep the shutters off the windows in this place! It really looks to be a great and friendly community, with a wealth of freely-shared expertise that is really helpful to me as part of the "new to beemers" crowd. FYI, the approval of my membership request was lightning fast (like within 20 min's). Maybe that means "cyber-me" looks less sketchy than "real-life me". :grin:

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Shiny Side Up

All I can add is that I second all the comments.

I haven't been on the forum much recently, but appreciate all the knowledge that is so willingly shared.

Thanks for all the Admin staff does - there's always more to any job than meets the eye!

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greiffster
...the approval of my membership request was lightning fast (like within 20 min's). Maybe that means "cyber-me" looks less sketchy than "real-life me". :grin:

 

Special thanks to Glenn (Der Spammer Hammer). :thumbsup: He does a lot of the heavy lifting regarding user registration.

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Dave_zoom_zoom

Well said EffBee!

 

My hat is off in respect, and a salute of appreciation to all of you that are helping to make this forum happen and those that have made this forum happen over the years.

 

I sincerely thank you for your unselfish efforts!

 

Dave

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A useful reminder EffBee. Like some of the others who've posted, I never realized quite what all is involved in the Board's "care and feeding". Thanks to all who make it run so smoothly.

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I can't say enough good things about this site. I've learned much, bought and sold a few items, and conversed with fellow riders with whom we shared a passion. The mods have not interfered with this process and deserve a great big "THANK YOU!" WELL DONE!

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Cary Littell (founder), David Baker, Leslie Edmunds, Fernando Belair

Mike Boomgarden

Mitch Patrie

Glenn Reed

Mike Greiff

Matt Banks (IT)

 

I know there have been others, however, these are people that "we", that use and appreciate BMWST.com, must constantly thank for their numerous hours and efforts on our behalf!

 

Thanks for reminding us Fernando.

 

 

Edited by Endobobdds
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BF204 : I'm not an admin here, but as someone who has done similar work in other contexts, it's hard to overstate how valued is feedback like this. Many people like to complain, and kudos are greatly appreciated.

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Special thanks to Glenn (Der Spammer Hammer). :thumbsup: He does a lot of the heavy lifting regarding user registration.

 

NOW his sig makes sense - I always wondered. Thanks Glenn!

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Glenn Reed

 

Special thanks to Glenn (Der Spammer Hammer). :thumbsup: He does a lot of the heavy lifting regarding user registration.

 

NOW his sig makes sense - I always wondered. Thanks Glenn!

 

Y'all are quite welcome. :thumbsup:

 

There are quite few stories I could tell you, but you'd probably be bored out of your mind! :rofl:

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Great job guys, it is really appreciated. This forum has got me through a lot of cold Indiana winters for many years.

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Charles Elms

Even though my RT got to heavy for me and I moved to another brand, this site still fits me perfectly. Thanks for all your work.

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Clive Liddell

Thank you all for a "bullet proof" site! I have logged on every day for the last 16 or 17 years and never had a problem... I don't comment much but have learnt so much, all I can say is best wishes for the future!

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