I've Failed

This is a tough post to write. As those of you who are regulars here know, I have been working hard to reestablish some sort of leadership of this forum that we all love, but I have failed and I feel awful about it.

There is a process set up by the forum hosts; Forumotion, and I joined that forum so that I could communicate with their admin and get this resolved. I provided everything they asked for including screen shots of Steve's profile, the date of his last post, links to our discussions of his untimely death and how we all hope the Ghetto can be kept alive in his absence. I even created a poll asking members to weigh in on their preference for a new moderator, or whether they/you/we would rather let the Ghetto go by the wayside. The results were clear and I am humbled by your unanimous support. But, someone accessed Steve's account on 01 March which means that technically, someone is still in charge of the Ghetto. I don't know with 100% certainty who that person is, but I assume it is Steve's brother who, for some reason, will not communicate with me. I have no Earthly idea what I did to piss him off, but this is beyond frustrating. I have tried and tried to reach out to him and have even exchanged messages with his sister and his dad, but still, no response from the brother. I'm at my wits' end. Today I sent him a note saying that if he won't work with me, then either the Ghetto will fail, or he needs to take an active role in running it. That means going through the whole goddamned process I've already done, and also becoming an active member of the forum by introducing himself to the membership and by being responsive to issues that arise. We all know there's a troll lurking around, there are those insidious pop-up ads, new members awaiting access approval and so on - somebody needs to be in charge.

So, I don't know that the failure is entirely my own, but I'm taking responsibility for letting you all down and especially for failing my best mate. He would not be happy. I won't stop trying to reach the brother, but at this point, I don't have high hopes. There is only one more thing to cling to and that is that if Steve's account goes inactive for six months + one day, then I can go back to Forumotion and try again.

Humbly,

Pete (Street)

You can only do what you can do Pete..you aren't failing...someone else is..Its not over until its over..don't give up hope and don't blame yourself....you are trying.

Yes, don't give up. I appreciate what you're doing.

Pete, I cannot imagine you pissing anyone off. As for the Ghetto I am sure you've jumped through all the many and varied hoops. I always struggle with the motivations of others. As far as I can tell a single access in six months does not an Administrator make. But, rules are rules, they separate(ish) us from the animals, I suppose.

Maybe Steve's brother will come around. The emotional pain of his loss will lessen over time, though it never fully goes away.

Again, I fully support your efforts, the sacrifice of your time and energy for this community resource and refuge. I see no failure on your part.

Stay strong, Colt

Pete,

You deserve sainthood for doing what you have.

We are all grateful.

Bill

Pete, Good try, all you can do. I don't see it as your fail. Just circumstances beyond your control. I am sure we all understand your effort. Thanks a million.

Thanks you guys, but sainthood, Bill?! Somehow that doesn't seem like a good fit for me. Still, I appreciate the support.

I still haven't heard from brother, but sister replied this afternoon that brother (it's weird to refer to them this way, but I don't want to use their names on the forum) says he has not accessed the forum. He could have told me that in response to any of the dozen or so messages I've sent, but whatever. I'm starting to wonder if it was a hacker, or perhaps the result of an auto-pay on the domain. No idea how to suss that one out.

Maybe I'll contact my contact at Forumotion and suggest that we may have been hacked as I cannot identify anyone who had access. Worth a shot, but this shit is doing my head in.

Perhaps it would be easier to just set up a Nuovo GRiSO Ghetto and announce it here. We could C&P the technical stuff over to the new board and then all the diehards could register on the new board and then when this one dies or falls into disrepair it could just be allowed to go. It would clear out inactive members as well which might make it easier to manage.

You've done your best Pete, and it is appreciated.

Was thinking about that as well.....

Pete - you've gone above and beyond and it's greatly appreciated!!
sounds like the Ghetto as a whole will not let itself die. keep us posted - hopefully, we have enough collective intelligence to solve this problem

thanks again

Hallo Pete, thanks for all your effort so far.
How to you contact the brother? Via email?
Maybe a simple reason behind it that you cant reach him? => your emails end up in a SPAM folder?

Pete,

I guess that's an option, but as if this weren't daunting enough, I don't know if I could handle starting over from scratch. And I would hate to lose all of the awesome graphics that Steve built into the Ghetto.

Jan,

I have two emails for Brother, have sent messages to both as well as text and voice messages. He's getting them, just choosing not to reply. Yesterday I received a response through Sister, not Brother directly so I know he's aware of the situation.


Good news is, I sent an email yesterday to Steve's dad and received a reply this morning that he was the one, not Brother after all, who accessed the account in order to verify that the password he found on Steve's laptop was correct. He shared that with me, but I'm not going to use it until I get permission from Forumotion because I don't want to muck things up any further at this point. Dad also gave me his blessing to carry on for Steve and that feels good.

I've now shared this new bit of information with Forumotion and I'm hoping, HOPING, that I may be one step closer to the prize. Stay tuned.

Sent PM with a thought...

sounds like a really frustrating spot you're in

adding another vote of gratitude for all that you're doing

Street, this latest development must feel like a bit of blue sky peeking through the dark clouds.
Call me a dreamer but I’d like to think goodwill will prevail and you dear sir, seem to have that in spades.
Thanks again for your efforts, you have everyone’s support and encouragement here, if not much else that’s the least we can do.
Sending good vibes and keeping fingers crossed!

I see the change, Street. PM me if you need assistance.

Please see the new post entitled I've Succeeded!

Pete (Street)