Eor's rant

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eor

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hey folks

after reading this thread ( http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?45886-UU-VIP-Program ) my first reaction was that the smart thing to do would be to forget the soap box, shut up and go to bed.
yup... the smart thing to do...
.......but that would be going against character.

I havnt been here a long time and i dont chat or take part in many threads. If I have something to say I say it and if I have some thing to ask I ask it. Aside from that I listen. I have tried to give back to this community when I can, an example being the "ukers guide to blues harp". Its had 2000 hits so i assume its helping somebody

I am a uke beginner and dont have a extensive stable of expensive ukes, each with thier own names and fancy dodads hanging from the tuners. I dont own a solid wood ukulele. My "K" brand is Kala. Im proud of that. I have never met james hill or jake and probaly never will. I have two ukes and one was signed by Manitoba Hal before he gave it to me for playin his music and because he liked the job I did it. I am also proud of that.

Im not rich, Im not hip and Im not good looking.(well not THAT good looking) :)

I am a uke beginner, a mediocre player. I have two simple ukes but they are damn good ukes and I challenge any one of the 39000 members of these forums to come sit on my porch some warm summer day when the west wind is dancing low over the mountain and sea gulls are crying high over the bay. we can crack a bottle of home made wine and with baccus blessing we can each take a uke and look at the land and sky and water and under a thousand hues of blue and green we can play. or come over some winter night when it is so cold out side the trees are cracking like gunshots and Ill stoke the fire and make a couple of irish coffee and we can each take a uke and play and we will feel like kings and after its all over and the last note of the night has died off and the only thing left in the room is the smell of cedar and birch and chicken and dumplins you tell me if you need anything more than that.

Thats what ukin is about. Thats what music is about. .

We call ourelves the ukulele underground. Its a community I am proud to to be a part of.

We play an instrument that most folk take as seriously as if we showed up with a plastic sax. We are the geeks and nerds, the eccentrics and the dreamers, the oddities of the music world. our forum has been remarkably free of the snobbery, mysoginism,and elitism that is par for the course in other instrument forums. every body has always been welcome here. everybody

until now...

I understand the costs of business. There is however alot about the main UU site that can be made "deluxe" and charged money for with out touching the forums. I fail to see how polarizing this community along financial lines will be " helping UU and the ukulele movement stay strong"

I think UU should be offering services/features that encourage folk to become members to of the "deluxe club" not withholding things or making two tier forums to punish those in the regular forum who are not..
Even the term VIP program gets my hackles up because it implies that those of us that dont want to or cant for whatever reason lay out 45 bucks a year are some how not "very important people".

Saying that UU will be having give aways and contests again but only for the folk who pay bothers me so much I am not even going to get into it.

Contests are a much under rated and superb way to improve not just your playing but your musicianship. Restricting who can enter to paying customers is an insult to every body who was come togeather to make the UU forums the place it is. Particularly since contests have been "on hold " here after some displays of poor sportsmanship in the past. Suddenly contests are ressurected for VIP s only? Is the cost of integrity 5 bucks a month? Are folk with cash some how more deserving or more honest or cut from some morally superior cloth??

I will note however that having give aways for paying members of the vip prog ONLY may be considered a lottery and probobly illegal.

I dont imagine this rant will make me very popular around here but being a canadian I am genetically programmed to stick up for the underdog. If i didnt get this off my chest my teeth would be ground down to nubs by 5 tomorrow .

I am waiting for my UU pin to arrive in the mail and when it does I will wear it proudly.

I just hope I will be wearing it as a symbol of what is and not as a memorial of something that was.

I am going to go and play my ukulele now.

peace
eor
 
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Eh, it's their site and they can do what they want. I hope they make lots of money!
I can't join as a VIP as of yet, but will do so when I'm able. In the meantime, I'll be "slumming" here. :)

Oh, and the contests won't end. I hope to host another one in the next year.
 
I have been amazed and impressed at how well designed and functional UU is. That takes the time and expertise of the individuals managing the website. Like public radio and TV for it to continue it needs financial support. The young and talented men/women who have developed and run UU have themselves and potentially families to support. They came up with away to do that and for those who choose to contribute they came up with a few perks. I don't think they said that contest would stop for everyone else, just a little perk for those who chose to contribute. I personally do not take it as a snub or any elitist plot. I think the folks providing us with UU just want to be able to afford to continue the service. I am sure it is taking more hours as the forums grow and it cost money to provide what we all have been enjoying for free. Don't join if you don't want to. I for one understand and support the VIP membership option as away for them to raise funds to continue to have UU.
 
Oh, and the contests won't end. I hope to host another one in the next year.

He's talking about the UU contests. Not the ones we put up. Like the Kanile'a and Eleuke ones that were here. I think the difference about putting the contests in the VIP section is if people really want to complain there, they can kick them out of the VIP part. You can't really kick anyone out of anything that is free. I don't know if I'm right but that's what I figure.
 
He's talking about the UU contests. Not the ones we put up. Like the Kanile'a and Eleuke ones that were here. I think the difference about putting the contests in the VIP section is if people really want to complain there, they can kick them out of the VIP part. You can't really kick anyone out of anything that is free. I don't know if I'm right but that's what I figure.

And by doing that they can better guarantee to companies that want to run their contests on UU that there will be no mass of ppl going crazy if they don't win. That is what shut down the contests for here.
 
And by doing that they can better guarantee to companies that want to run their contests on UU that there will be no mass of ppl going crazy if they don't win. That is what shut down the contests for here.

That's what I gathered from all this too. The way some people acted during the last few official contests was a giant middle finger to UU, the sponsors, and the participants. It was cool that anyone could enter the contests even if they weren't active UU members, but I see what Ryan is trying to do here and it's ultimately a better idea.
 
hey folks

i went back and highlighted in bold print a few things in my original post because i think people were missing the point.

the folk here do a great job and shouldnt have to do it for free. and it is thier site and they can do what they want but there is more than one way to play a chord and at some point some body has to ask if the end justifies the means.

thx eor
 
I don't see what all the hubbub is about. I belong to a number of other forums who have something very similar to this, and it works. If you don't want to / can't afford to buy in...don't. It's as simple as that. They're not limiting the forums to only paying members, they're not taking away anything from the free accounts...so why do you (not directed at OP, it's a general you) care? I just don't understand.

Maybe contests should just end all together. There's too much bull crappery attached to them these days. It seems you can't give anything away without someone complaining that you're giving it to the wrong person or it's unfair or blah blah blah. Bottom line: it's not your stuff so you don't get to dictate contest rules or the winners. Honestly it just sounds like another 'I'm so cool I deserve free stuff more than everyone else!' rant to me. I don't blame them for restricting their own contests. If you want to win that badly it's $5...skip buying strings and enter the contest. Maybe it will keep out some of the bad sportsmanship or whiners about how the rules weren't fair or the judging criteria wasn't explained well enough...but honestly I doubt it, and that saddens me.

Again, they are not taking anything away from the free membership, so where's the problem?

In short, relax people. This isn't going to create divisions or give anyone a God complex that doesn't already have one.
 
I haven't joined the VIP section yet but I intend to. I've run forums before and I can tell you folks I don't think I would ever do so again. Keeping this place as clean and friendly as it is takes a lot of work. And it's pretty much not very fun work, either. Somebody is always unhappy when you have to close down a thread - sometimes lots of somebody's. I could go an and on about what a pain in the arse administering a forum is but I'll refrain.

I know not everyone can afford $45 a year - and many who can afford it probably just don't have any interest in the VIP stuff and won't sign up. That's cool too.

What I do find annoying as heck though is people who don't think that those of us who can afford the ticket and have the desire to help out shouldn't be rewarded for that - and that's basically what you're saying when you say there shouldn't be a VIP forum.

So, yeah, maybe a better name could be found but the bottom line is the guys feel something like this is needed and I applaud them for it.

John
 
I'm just amazed and appreciate all he hard work UU'ers put into UU. Thanks! Do what you need to do to keep this amazing site strong and growing.
 
Last week I signed up to "Tip" the UU guys. I am happy to do that. I buy lots of stuff (except ukuleles, sorry UU guys) from the UU store. I will give these guys whatever I can because I love this place. And up until last week it was totally FREE to me. I decided to tip them as I want to help them.

Best as I can tell, UU doesn't change if you aren't a "VIP". You can still read and post to the forums. You still get the lessons and videos. yada, yada, yada....

Quit bitching. It gives UU a bad name. Isn't this place wonderful? Think about it. Really. They are not demanding anyone do this. I guess I thought they did it to hep keep this place alive and well. If you don't wanna give them money, don't. Nothing will change for you. :-)
 
I joined strictly to support the guys who put this whole thing together for us. I could afford the $45 for a year so I happily ponied up. The added space for PM's is a nice benefit. I have never entered a contest to win anything here and probably still won't. Most of the contests require some amount of musical talent which I am sorely lacking.

I think that Deach said it best in the recent thread about the scandal invoving the Undies and cheating. Things have changed here, not all for the better. But come on people, lighten up. It is still THE BEST forum for anything on the web and let's just leave it at that. I think that we all could take a little dose of the Aloha Spirit right now.
 
I joined strictly to support the guys who put this whole thing together for us. I could afford the $45 for a year so I happily ponied up. The added space for PM's is a nice benefit. I have never entered a contest to win anything here and probably still won't. Most of the contests require some amount of musical talent which I am sorely lacking.

Heh, heh. That pretty much sums it up for me, too. I've entered contests but with no expectation of winning - they're just fun. I suppose you're born with talent so I'll never have much hope in that regard but, who knows, give me another ten years or so and I might develop enough skill to win a contest some day. :)

John
 
I don't really like the term "VIP" either, but I like everything else about the new thang.

I was happy to be given the opportunity provide some financial support to this wonderful forum and the people who run it, and I don't see anything wrong with getting additional perks for doing so. Public radio and art-related entities such as museums, symphonies and opera and ballet companies all offer perks to people make an annual payment (typically called memberships or subscriptions), and many provide levels of benefits according to how much someone has given or paid. Like Mike, though, I don't like the term "VIP." I'm hoping the mods will get rid of that term and find another term, maybe something like "benefactor" or "supporter." I also don't like the fact that as a result of having paid the annual VIP fee, I'm now identified in every post I make as a VIP. I prefer to support things like UU quietly and without fanfare. I'd prefer if I could be a benefactor or supporter without having some "UU VIP" icon next to my name wherever I appear on the website.
 
hey

was this really needed??.....

. Bottom line: it's not your stuff so you don't get to dictate contest rules or the winners. Honestly it just sounds like another 'I'm so cool I deserve free stuff more than everyone else!' rant to me. . If you want to win that badly it's $5...skip buying strings and enter the contest. .

cause its pretty much an example of why folk are often scared to give honest opinions on some topics around here and pretty much why i have to take a public flogging to try and make a point. :)

.

as far as me coming across as "thinking im so cool" i am bummed out cause i was trying for thoughful and articulate...
oh yea ....and polite.

once again I have no probs with the nice folk at UU finding funding.they do a great job.

i dont care if there is a free and pay side to UU.

i dont care and mean no disrespect to you if you want to be a "VIP.

go ahead ...fill yer boots and have fun.... be as very important as your five bucks will get ya

I just dont think the forums should be held hostage to do it.

its ironic when a forum started by musicians because of predjudice and exclusionism towards thier choice of instrument takes this kind of turn.

I think we all, including the UU staff (great folk, love what they do ect ect ect ect) should be careful to remember how we got here
 
The only part that concerns me is the reference to 'VIP Boards'. Does that mean more forums for VIP users? It seems like that could water down the discussion for paying and non paying forum users. But if that's what it takes to keep UU going, then I support it.

And responses like, 'Quit bitching.' are uncalled for.
 
h
I just dont think the forums should be held hostage to do it.

I agree with ALMOST everything you say, actually. Here is my confusion: Please tell me what part of the forums are held hostage by this. IF someone chooses not to pay money for the site -- which is NOT mandatory -- what changes for them?

I'm just asking, as I really don't understand.
 
nobody will be held hostage for anything!
 
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