A new era begins

[sjw_11]

Hello everyone,
Just to let you know I have taken over the management of the forum as of today. My reign of terror will begin now
Many, many thanks to Gavin for running the forum for so long and allowing me the chance to take it over and keep it going.

You will notice a few very small aesthetic changes as the forum software has been upgraded. The web address is now forum.auswine.club or auswine.club but forum.auswine.com.au will continue to redirect here. Otherwise, from the perspective of users there will be minimal change.

I may at some point build some kind of site for the main auswine.club domain of which the forum would then be a part honestly I am not sure... but what I will promise is the forum part at least will remain 1) free (obviously); 2) largely advertisement free (as now); 3) an unconstrained forum for relaxed debate provided people maintain a pretty basic level of respect (which honestly everyone does 99.9% of the time).

Oh and one other thing- being that the site is now "independent", discussion of wine offers/retailers/etc is now allowed. But I still encourage people to consider shopping at Gavin's site.

I am happy to receive any comments, questions, suggestions or complaints! Otherwise, please continue as normal.

Best
Sam

[Rossco]

This is fantastic Sam!

Thank you so much for this, and words cannot express my sincere gratitude to Gavin for
hosting this forum for such a long time.

[DaveS]

Well done Sam and thank you Gavin for creating and persevering with such a great forum.

[GraemeG]

Thanks Sam, very generous.
I should post more, in the same spirit!

[Ian S]

Bravo Sam

[phillisc]

Thanks Sam for continuing this.
Thanks Gavin for the support over the years and indeed the purchases that I have made.

I will make of note of being more relaxed

Cheers Craig

[daver6]

Thanks for taking over. Great to see the site using HTTPS as well now!

[Michael McNally]

Great stuff thanks Sam

And thank you to Gavin for hosting the forum for such a long time.

Can I humbly suggest that "discussion of wine offers" etc. apply to genuine forumite discussion and prohibit direct (or cloaked) marketing - perhaps with the exception of the occasional post by Gavin? Just a thought. We might need to break out the spam tin gif from time to time I guess.

Cheers and thanks again

Michael

[phillisc]

Michael, I tend to agree, or that the PM option is the way to go.

I am on another forum that explicitly looks at deals and that's where that (for me) will stay. Gavin (and Sam) still have a consumer front, so mentioning crazy deals is probably best elsewhere. Apparently there is a site Oz something that looks after all that and a very prominent etailer that advertises online everywhere...targeting hipsters I think
Cheers Craig

[cleanskinlover]

Thanks - I promise not to promote cleanskins

[mse]

Thank you Gavin for facilitating this wonderful forum, and Sam for keeping the torch alight. Kudos to you both wonderful human being. ^_^b

[phillisc]

Thanks - I promise not to promote cleanskins

ha ha that said, I do have some Coonawarra Cab, Barossa Shiraz and Clare Riesling cleanskins in the cellar
Cheers craig

[rens]

Thanks Gavin for all the years of support. A toast to Sam for taking over.

[Ian S]

Thanks Gavin for all the years of support. A toast to Sam for taking over.

Echoing both of those comments. Thanks to Sam and Gavin.

[sjw_11]

Great stuff thanks Sam

And thank you to Gavin for hosting the forum for such a long time.

Can I humbly suggest that "discussion of wine offers" etc. apply to genuine forumite discussion and prohibit direct (or cloaked) marketing - perhaps with the exception of the occasional post by Gavin? Just a thought. We might need to break out the spam tin gif from time to time I guess.

Cheers and thanks again

Michael

I have been thinking about this one... and I get the point. But I want to encourage maximum engagement while limiting spam... So, I was thinking, in the past Gavin had a top level board for his specials. Does anyone strongly object to swapping that as a board to generally share offers/deals/etc? So that if you want to share you do there and in that context there is good leeway (unless you are a total spam bot)... otherwise you could say where you bought something or occasionally mention an offer, but basically if you spam the main board with deals it is an instant warning/ban? Happy to hear thoughts on this ...

[Ian S]

No objection to that Sam.

A FB group in a different hobby have an approach, that commercial posts are allowed, but only if they ask the moderators for approval for every commercial post (and approval is granted). It helps keep the frequency down and also weeds out the most egregious marketing / spam.

[Waiters Friend]

Sounds plausible, Sam. You can always trial it, and withdraw the option if it gets too spammy.