Morning everyone,
Thanks again for the warm welcome. I'm going to do my best to address some of the questions/comments posted:
1. Verticalscope is based out of Toronto. As such, so am I.
2. I don't currently own any fish. I use to but in my current living situation, it's not practical.
3. I am not just a techie. My function here will be to work with the moderators to ensure this site is a well-oiled machine. It's not my way or the highway.
4. Yes, if you Google hard enough, you will find bad things written about VS. I did that when I first got here.
That said, it's in the past (check the dates of the stuff written). We've made mistakes in the past but the best part about it is that we learned from them and I have personally seen VS become way way more involved in what the community wants. That doesn't mean we're an endless supply of resources at everyone's beck and call but I sincerely mean it when I say we listen and for the most part, we implement what is given to us in feedback from the moderators, from the community. There will always been things that we have to take a stand on and say "no" but I can't predict what those will be.
5. Are we a for profit company? Yes.
6. Are we planning major changes to the site? Nope. Not that I'm aware of. Then again, there may be things that you guys have been hoping for but there wasn't the resources to make it happen before (to no one's fault)... that might be a plus depending on how you view it.
7. Are we going to spam this site with ads? I would encourage you guys to look around our Petguide.com sites we manage. I would say that 95% of them haven't been changed in terms of the look with the exception of a fresh update (i.e. new skin) every now and then. Even then, those don't happen unless the moderators and/or community members ask for it. There were some sites that we've updated over the year that had to be just because they looked like they were designed during the web explosion in the late 90's. As for ads, again, I would encourage you to look around our other sites as a logged in user and judge for yourself. From what I've seen, it's really not that much different than what you guys have here.
8. Sponsors
I'm loving that this site has local sponsors. I can't speak to how the whole sales and marketing part works because that's not my area. I will say this: On many of our dog sites, the communities are very against breeders advertising. As a result, we ensure that breeders cannot advertise at all. We also run Google ads and sometimes, these sneaky deaky breeders slip through the cracks. When that happens, we make sure to block any links requested by the community. I'm telling you this because if you see an ad here that goes against the values of this community, I'm one PM away from having it blocked.
Additionally, I would ask for a little patience to allow myself to get to know the community and to know the moderators. This will help me provide feedback to the S&M team and give them a profile of what kind of sponsors they should target for this community.
9. Finally, I am a Leafs fan. This alone should win me lots of sympathy votes.
I'm hoping that Brian Burke doesn't get suckered into taking on Luongo's albatross of a contract.
If I missed anything, ask away. We have nothing to hide. Not even my good looks.
