General Discussion: Private vs Public Forum

[anacostiakat]

Public.

[smpf67]

As Groucho Marx once famously said, "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member". Therefore, we need to make it harder to get in, so my vote is for private!

He also said "I've got a good mind to go out and join a club and beat you over the head with it."

And one final quote, "Eventually I smoked Havanas. A cigar makers' organization once said that I was the most famous cigar smoker in the world. I don't know if that's true, but once while visiting Havana, I went to a cigar factory. There were four hundred people there rolling cigars, and when they saw me, they all stood up and applauded."

[stogieluver]

I'm changing my vote from going private to staying public after reading these differing opinions. The thing I come back to is...if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I love the forum just as it is. If, one day it should become too much to monitor and control, then I may change my mind.

Keep it like it is, Prez.

[lancerv43]

I voted public. Main reason I voted public is self motivated because I would hate for such a great forum to go private and not get involved in the transfer because my post count is too low. This is a great group of people with a wealth of knowledge. I do realize at the end of the day though this is a business and Rob needs to make the decision for himself which he thinks will be best for his business.

[Rushman]

You should join *****mex, I am the only member lol also Public for me

Melies I'm still *****mex at heart!

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[Rushman]

Tough question pres. Only time will tell but I suspect private might be best in a few years but I'd love it to stay public. Alas things change though.

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[Rogers72]

I did not vote because I'm just not sure. I joined a long time ago. I would guess 2007ish. I used to be fairly active, but I rarely ever post anymore. Because of personal economic changes, I have been smoking less, buying less, and posting less. It has been interesting watching this forum grow over the years. When I joined, there were member numbers. I don't remember what number I was but sure it was well under 1,000. It seemed like there were about 30-40 active members. I loved the small community feel of the place then. I watched the member numbers climb well up into the tens of thousands as many came and went. The success of the forum is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of the Czar crew, past and present. I miss the small community feel the forum used to have, but the egalitarian, easy come, easy go feel of the place is what has brought everyone here from the beginning.

[jeremyk]

As a newbie to FOH I'm glad it's public right now cause I wouldn't have found this great forum with all it vital information

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[earthson]

Voted Public. Would hate to see this excellent wealth of info disappear for a newber and, really, this is the most welcoming and non-confrontational cigar forum I've ever been a part of.

With that, why not make some parts of the forum private like the trading room already is? I guess it's just the business end that might need to hide away from the random schmoe that Google brings in?

[HarveyBoulevard]

At its core, this is a business. It just so happens that it also has the best forum and membership on the interweb. If supply cannot meet demand and quality suffers...going private is a natural progression. If the Czar and crew can continue to provide their services in the same fashion that currently exists...staying public works.

As has been said before. If it ain't broke don't fix it. If its about to break, might want to think proactively.

Im a small business owner myself and this is my main concern. Getting to big to provide my service at the standard I set for myself is not an option. Goes downhill from there.

As a outsider, FOH runs great and provides a great service.

[Dimmers]

I voted public, but my real answer is "HYBRID"

Fact - I stumbled across the wealth of this forum after discovering the youtube reviews. Had the forum appeared as private / invite only , I would probably not have bothered (having no knowledge of how good it is), and my interest in the hobby generally may have been much less.

As a member now, the decision to go private will have no immediate impact/. But longer term, portential lack of influx of new blood will start having an impact.

Solution - lock away the sensitive topics such as LFTW related or trading activity in a "members only" forum similar to what we do now for the regional forums (which appear to work well.... to me anyway). if we wish, add some further belts & braces around joining this "members only" forum (ie post count, member duration and / or having 2 lvls of members, with VIP membership needing some form of referral or review prior to acceptance).

p.s. - Rob - don't you dare think about retiring just yet!

[DrinkSmokeGolf]

What I think you could do and what I would do if I were you is to create both public and private forums. Why can't you have both? Well you really can if you set it up right and stick to it.

Move the sensitive material such as certain discussions, sales, and etc to the private side of the forum, but still leave the public side open for FoH and Czar to be "found" to keep your new blood coming in.

As for the private side, perhaps make it only accessible and viewable to members that meet a certain threshold such as X number of posts, time as a member, and etc. Everyone else just sees the "public" side of FoH which would be more of general discussion in regards to all topics as well as cigars, but not see the private side of it till the requirements are met.

Agree with this. I would move the "retail" stuff (LFTH/LFTW etc) to a private forum and keep the rest public.

[El Presidente]

At its core, this is a business.

To be honest, yes it is and no it isn't.

Perceived wealth hasn't come from cigar sales. it is about having friends such as yourselves. To be able to go to pretty much any part of the world, chilling, laughing, spending time.

I am blessed to be able to do so. Business is one side, but I (personally) would have no idea what any given member orders in quantity (the team knows but I never ask). I really don't care as long as they are satisfied. If not then I will find out soon enough.

We run here along the lines of "Separation of religion (Love of cigars) and state (money). Di and the team take care of the latter, i am alowed to take care of the former without the burden.

When I pass, i will not remember the boom months of cigar sales. I will remember spending time with family, Di, Lisa, smithy, Ken, mates. yourselves.

It is all but a game. Play it well. Come out a nose in front. love hard, live large and passionately. You will be in the top 1% who have traversed this panet.

[Skyfall]

To be honest, yes it is and no it isn't.

Perceived wealth hasn't come from cigar sales. it is about having friends such as yourselves. To be able to go to pretty much any part of the world, chilling, laughing, spending time.

I am blessed to be able to do so. Business is one side, but I (personally) would have no idea what any given member orders in quantity (the team knows but I never ask). I really don't care as long as they are satisfied. If not then I will find out soon enough.

We run here along the lines of "Separation of religion (Love of cigars) and state (money). Di and the team take care of the latter, i am alowed to take care of the former without the burden.

When I pass, i will not remember the boom months of cigar sales. I will remember spending time with family, Di, Lisa, smithy, Ken, mates. yourselves.

It is all but a game. Play it well. Come out a nose in front. love hard, live large and passionately. You will be in the top 1% who have traversed this panet.

Make no mistake, he didn't make his money on cigar sales, he was the kingpin of all kingpins in the 80's Miami drug game!!!

The game has changed but the wardrobe and hair have not!

[maxcjs0101]

This is how i see it too.

Rob has become a victim of his own success,his family business is reaching its limits while trying to maintain a quality lifestyle

Staying public can only mean further growth

Going Private & you can better control the flow

On a not so lighter note Rob you can always cut back on the booze & Smokes & join the FOH Fat Bastard Crew

get in better shape if its become to much like hard work!

I think he looks quite good already.. Well, probably better than me. haha

[Ginseng]

First rule of fight club is

No cuts, no butts, no coconuts.

Wilkey

[HarveyBoulevard]

To be honest, yes it is and no it isn't.

Perceived wealth hasn't come from cigar sales. it is about having friends such as yourselves. To be able to go to pretty much any part of the world, chilling, laughing, spending time.

I am blessed to be able to do so. Business is one side, but I (personally) would have no idea what any given member orders in quantity (the team knows but I never ask). I really don't care as long as they are satisfied. If not then I will find out soon enough.

We run here along the lines of "Separation of religion (Love of cigars) and state (money). Di and the team take care of the latter, i am alowed to take care of the former without the burden.

When I pass, i will not remember the boom months of cigar sales. I will remember spending time with family, Di, Lisa, smithy, Ken, mates. yourselves.

It is all but a game. Play it well. Come out a nose in front. love hard, live large and passionately. You will be in the top 1% who have traversed this panet.

That is a great place to be. Doing something because you love it and not because you must to survive (I hope to be there soon. I love it, but still need to do it).

With that being said, it then comes down to fun and enjoyment. I think the forum runs great from a user's prospective. I have no idea how hard or much time it takes to admin or mod so I cannot speak to that part. I would say, as long as it works and is still providing as much pleasure and enjoyment as it always has, there is no reason to go private. Only when it becomes a chore instead of a pleasure to run this great site would I think of making the shift from public to private.

As some here have said before, I found this site from the youtube videos. I smoked NC's for years before being turned on to CC's by my father-in-law. Since then, I have shifted my smoking habits and was lucky enough to find this site. I lurked around other sites before and was not particularly fond of the format, lack of moderation, and general attitude and demeanor of many of the forum members. Since finding this site, my enjoyment of the hobby has drastically increased and have a lot of fun on this forum. I don't have a lot of smoking buddies due to my time constraints but can share my enthusiasm and passion for this hobby with a lot of great people around the globe.

Bottom line...if this was a private site, I'm not sure I would have ever found it or managed to become a member and that would be a shame. I spend a lot of time here and love every minute of it.

My 3 cents worth (too verbose to be 2 cents worth)

[cigaraholic]

I hope very much that FOH can remain a public form. But if there's one thing I understand it's cover your ass!

Avoiding Imperial entanglements should be job one. It's sad, we're talking about cigars, not the spent fuel rod or yellow cake club.

If you have to get out of Dodge and open up a private club in Tombstone I understand.

I just hope it doesn't come to that.

[GTS21]

I say keep it public

[Stogieninja]

It seems as though nearly every concern voiced about going private could be addressed with a hybrid public/private model.

Nearly everything could remain public except for those things which out of necessity or convenience would be better in a private subforum, but all the wealth of knowledge and information referenced by many here (reviews, tips, advice, videos, etc) could remain publicly accessible ad continue to bring new folks to the community.

Ryan raised some excellent points - admission should not be based on vote or recommendation, etc. That's a sure fire way to create elitism and stagnation.

I do like the suggestion raised of having both a post count and a "time since joining" requirement so as not to encourage post padding.

[Monteandmakers]

I voted public for the simple reason that I would have never had access to this fine establishment if it was private. I think this forum has the best culture around, even with it being public, due to the moderators and members. Also from a business perspective, you will be limiting your ability to gain new clients by creating a private forum. I think the risk/reward payoff of going private is not worth it.

[cmitch]

I've only been into CC's for two years. If it weren't for the info on this site and many others, I may not have had the opportunities to enjoy this facet of cigar life.

I'm not around much but things are changing so I may be able to visit more often and participate as well. With all that said, I say leave it public since there are many brothers, who, like me, are just starting in this coveted area of the hobby and to restrict it would not be in the spirit of what B'sOTL are all about. I like this place and do intend to be a customer as soon as economics change.

[Bulldog4]

me being new take it with a grain of salt but I like so many others found this place on a google search I came I lurked for a month then signed up. I have made my first purchase and looking forward to plenty more if this was private I never would have found so many people with the same passion we all have seperate lives but you come here its all the same its about cigars learning reading discussing this reason it should remain public the name is Friends of Habanos not Select Friends of Habanos ps if it becomes that I copyright it haha

[jvel79]

In the short time I've been here I've learned more about CC then I ever thought I would. That makes me feel like other people would miss out on so much knowledge. Like other members said there can be parts that are public and others that are private. I was actually introduced to FOH by a member from another forum. It does feel like a tight knit community. People who do want to learn and grow in this wonderful hobby will continue to improve this place. Those who may just want to cause havoc will surely wither away and will not take the time to grow and get to know the people in this community. At the end of the day they will become irrelevant.

[vivalanation734]

I have no problem making this private. Makes it better for everyone in the long run IMHO.