Is it true? NamePros Sold?

[Ben42]

Namepros has been sold?

http://domaingang.com/domain-news/breaking-bodis-buys-namepros-domain-forum/

 

[matt_bodis]

Hi Everyone.

First off, I am against SOPA. I haven't seen too many people that were for it. I stand for whatever Ron....J...Paul would stand for. :P Minus a few things. I'm not going to bring politics here though.

RJ is right on pretty much everything he has said. The deal was made and the domains were transferred, the website is still under his ownership and it will take another week or so to fully transfer to a new network.

The NDA is still there and no one has leaked any information but DomainGang was just good at figuring it out since there was a mistake made when transfering Namepros.us, as .US does not allow privacy and my information was shown. So props to DomainGang.

I've been a member here since 2005 and I remember clearly what it was back then and what it is now. There was a lot of progress made, and at the same time, a lot of things that I would change back to those times.

First thing me and RJ will make sure is that the website is transferred to my network and we use more servers to run the site which will mean a lot less downtime. Hopefully 0. Backups at 4am also won't require downtime as they have in the past.

The design of the forum and the organization of forums/subforums needs some serious work.

The High Priced Domain sections and new sections will emerge and some will be by manual approval.

I will be around the forum daily, and I will have someone else (sort of like a protege), take my place and report to me on everything that is needed. He has been a member here for years and I'll introduce him at a later point.

RJ also is sticking around for as long as he can do it, and I urge him to stick around forever if he can.

Since DomainGang leaked the news, I've gotten like 20 emails from banned users that say they didn't deserve to be banned. And probably even more comments/posts on the blog. I'll definitely be looking into that as it seems a lot of members are banned so that's certainly not a good thing. I don't know much about it so I can't say much until I review it once I have management control.

Right now I am still a member and not an admin, please keep that in mind. Surely, once I become an admin you will see my name in nice red glowing color.

The forum has a lot of potential to grow, and I see a few easy things that can help put it on track and make this a better place than it already is!

 

[RJ]

Hey everyone, I am still here and am not leaving. The site as it stands now is still 100% under me, there has not been any transfer of power or changes as of this time.

The timing sucks on this. I'm in California replying from my grandmom's death bed where I've been doing 12 hour shifts the last two days. I wanted break the news myself but what can you do though when bloggers have to blog?

Love and respect to all the NamePros members and staff who make this place what it is. When I get back home I will be here to answer more questions and talk about future plans with you all.

to Acroplex from DomainGang for starting the NamePros rumors and another for Adam Dicker who uses this opportunity to pilfer members over to DNF. Whatever dudes! LOL

Everyone else, please don't worry. NamePros will be better than ever. We've put too much work into this place to quit now. I have no doubt we're just going to keep getting bigger and better from here. If you want to chat, send me a PM or email me at [email redacted] and I'll hit you back this weekend.

Peace out!

-RJ

 

[matt_bodis]

Will not become a paid forum. I think I mentioned that elsewhere. That definitely would be upsetting!

 

[RJ]

Hey Namepros VIP's... I'm back in town and ready to get back to business. My grandmother is on her feet again, albeit slowly. Thank you for the well wishes.

Long ago I made a pledge that NamePros would remain a free and open community for as long as I ran it. I'm pleased to be passing the torch to someone that shares the same vision. He is a 6 year member on NamePros who is familiar to the community with VIP status that was earned, not bought.

We are still working on the details of the ownership change. I'll keep everyone posted! (no doubt Matt will too)

RJ

 

[Vito]

RJ,

My prayers go out to your family and your grandmother. I think that was very cool of you to entice her to get better by offering to take her to Vegas for some fun...seems like that has helped.

As for selling this place...I think that sucks.

I know you have other thngs in your life that are way more important to you and your family and I dont blame you at all. I hope you made some serious money with this sale because I know this place has to been more of a labor of love than a goldmine. Hopefully this sale will make your life a little better. Hopefully this sale will free your time to devote a little more time to your family and some of the more fun things in real life.

I have alays re-invested each and every dollar I have ever made from domain sales right back into other domains, until last month. I made a couple of very large sales and I took about $10k of it and completely pissed it away on a trip to Italy over the Holidays with just me and my 2 teenage kids. Let me tell you, that was the best money I ever spent in my entire life. The memories we made out there were priceless. I would have spent double that amount to have what we had this Christmas. With what you have created here...the countless hours, and tons of stress that this place has ever caused you, I seriously hope that this sale will enable yourself and your family to have 10-100x the fun that I was just able to have with my kids.

I owe a lot of my success to you personally. NP has given me an education that has been second to none. Your creation here has lead to me learning more than I could have ever paid anyone for.

For that reason alone, that is why I became a Business Member here. I seriously wanted to thank you and NP in some way. I wanted to make sure I gave back to you and your Community which has given so much to me. I know you havent been making a ton of money here, but I wanted to help add a few dollars to help you out because of what NP has meant to me. Basically I have been donating $10 a month only to show how much I appreciate everything you have created here. With that being said, I will now be cancelling my Business Membership after this last month is up for me. That was only a special thanks to you and now that you are gone, I will wait and see how this place changes.

As for the new owners and their new plans here, I truly wish them the best and really hope that nothing changes for the worse. I am a bit worried though.

Congrats on the sale and I wish the best to you and your family RJ.

Thanks for everything,
Vito

 

[Eric Lyon]

Unbanning anyone is a bad idea. The staff does not ban anyone because their a nice person, it's because they violate rules, scam, and on and on. Your focus should be on improving the trade that takes place here and Provide the security and verification we lack. Unbanning should be out of your agenda period.

I'm 50 / 50 on this one and I'll explain why.

First off, I do believe in second chances and that people change / mature over time. With that said, I'll proceed.

Side 1

On one side of the coin you have the members in which you reference that have scammed other members out of hundreds / thousands of dollars. There have been times (3 to 5 years later) we reviewed their account after they contacted us explaining how they were just young and dumb back then and have changed their ways as they matured. Some we gave a second chance, as people are not perfect and do make mistakes. 80% of these type 2nd chancers were back at their old ways again within 90 days. So, in these cases I would agree with more that 2nd chances may not be an option due to the high relapse rate and severity of their ban.

Don't get me wrong, we don't let everyone come back that's been banned for scamming, they have to be pretty darn convincing and their past logs have to show at least a little hope. Again, most these types have been gone 3 to 5 years before requesting their accounts back.

Side 2

On the other side of the coin we have some bans that are Duplicate accounts. While lots of times dup accounts are used for shill bidding and getting around previously banned accounts, there are legitimate reasons for some members to have the same IP's as others. For instance: 1.) Mom / Dad / Son all want to domain but live in the same home, naturally each wants their own account, 2.) College dorms sometimes have a limited IP range and multiple students end up with the same IP's, it's common for college students to be interested in the domain world, 3.) Free wifi spots, people travel and use wireless devices from free wifi hotspots all the time, theres going to be a chance someone else used the same hotspot at some point int in time (weeks, months, years from now) and it pops up as a dup account red flag.

I think these types deserve more leniency and more investigative research (Which we do try to do now days for the most part). Just as a side note, IP's are not the only factor in play, there's many other elements other than IP's that are calculated and automatically flag accounts.

The Middle

Now, we have the center of the coin, the meaty bits, these are the spammers and consistent rule breakers that exceeded their 20 point infraction limit by acquiring multiple infractions for repeat offenses. Each infraction does have an expiration date & once exceeded no longer counts towards the total.

At any rate, these types of auto point bans also fall in the second change area. Once some infractions expire and their point level drops below 20, they can ask for an account review to have the account reinstated (many do, but lots don't bother that have no intention of following the rules in the future anyways).

In conclusion

I can't speak for everyone, only myself, however I would like to think that we all have an understanding between right and wrong, as well as the due diligence to show compassion and forgiveness. I'm not saying everyone deserves a second chance, but that a large majority at least deserve the courtesy of an account review to determine whether or not they can have their account reinstated so they can try to be productive part of the community.

Just some insight from me, take it at face value or sweep it under the rug. We all have our own opinions

Eric Lyon
Member Services

 

[Eric Lyon]

Let's see what chaos, if any, reigns down! I'd suggest today but I think there's an auction and I'm assuming they wouldn't want to get fired and lose their pay-checks.

What Pay checks? You think we actually get paid? It's been strictly free volunteer work for years around here. Maybe a payroll would help motivate staff to conduct them self on a more professional level and take a little more pride in what they do since it would feel more like a job? Or maybe Payroll would make staff more like drones in a corporate world that lack emotion and feeling?

Not sure what the solution is there, but no, we don't get paid. We volunteer because we don't want NamePros to turn into a scam / spam fest forum like others have.

...that would take an "out with the old, in with the new" attitude as I have previously posted with the Epstein allusion.

Well known that some are not comfortable with the concept of "freedom", hence the oft times liberal application of infractions.

Taking out the parochial atmosphere that has existed and replacing it with a more interactive communication between moderator and member would retain a much more professional forum that would not only be enjoyed more, but would encourage the exchange of positive ideas that could only benefit the Namepros forum and reputation.

Not saying infractions should be eliminated entirely, of course, just noting that sometimes they are distributed haphazardly and not necessarily used as the tool that it is or was meant to be...

I've suggested a few times before that things be a little more lax & that the "Reason for Deletion" line become visible for all members to see why their threads / posts were removed & who removed them. I've always felt that staff should be held accountable for their actions and that members deserve to know why their being deleted to avoid all the confusion and guessing. Most times the guessing & not knowing just leads to explosive anger which then has a negative and non-productive impact.

Besides, if members have no clue why a post / thread was deleted, they also have no clue what rule they may have broken. When they do it again & get an infraction for it the 2nd or 3rd time, I can see where they may be a little frustrated. Naturally, all the rules are published and each member agrees to have read them before posting, but honesty, how many really read all the rules? And for that matter, I would think rarely any read the TOS agreement when they sign-up even though they check that little box stating they have read & understand them.

I don't think blaming staff for enforcing whats clearly listed in the rules (that were not read) is right, but then I also think that due to the large amount that seem not to read the rules, we could do something more to help, hinse the visible deletion reasons.

This may or may not be a solution to help in making communication between staff & members more transparent. But I would like to think it could be a step in the right direction. Allowing members a chance to see a warning without having to use the infraction system.

Just an idea anyways,

Eric Lyon
Member Services

 

[Ronald Regging]

Admittedly, it's been a long while since I've been active on the forums, but I do check in from time to time. I used to be very active, used to be a moderator and wouldn't call any other place home. The only reason I haven't been active is due to a long series of personal issues. I have met a lot of great people here, learned everything I know about domaining from this forum and I owe a lot to RJ and many other members of Namepros.

I will say to RJ, thank you so very much for the great community you have provided over the years, best of luck in your future endeavors and my prayers are with you and your family during these difficult times. Much love brother!

To Matt... Congratulations on your acquisition and I hope that you fully appreciate what you have here in Namepros. The reason I called Namepros home and tried to always give back to it when I could is because this place has always been a real community, much like a family. There were always members willing to help each other learn and grow and prosper together and that is what it is all about. You won't find that anywhere else. I hope you keep that in mind going forward. The members here are your greatest assets.

 

[RJ]

LOL, thanks for catching that. I thought I was in the VIP private forum for a minute. No worries. I was going to make VIP access public knowledge anyway. The VIP usergroup is a free account upgrade that we give to active members of the community (after 1 year+) who continue to maintain an account in good standing.

The point is, Matt earned VIP status here on his own accord. You can't buy your way into that.

:lol:

 

[RJ]

Will Matt make the VIP lounge public?

BTW Who is Matt?
Does he support SOPA?
Will he close the .TV subforum?

What will happen to Wendy and MM?

Sorry for all the questions.. I guess I should really move on.

Matt has been a NamePros member for seven years. He created Bodis as a parking service "by domainers for domainers" in large part from inspiration derived from discussion in the NamePros community forums.

There is no intention to make NamePros part of Bodis, it will continue on as it's own entity... just better funded and with better technology.

I'm pretty sure the .TV forum will be around forever.

Matt a SOPA fan? I don't know, he'll have to answer that.

Michelle will remain on board in the Administrative job for as long as she wants. I'll be here too. Wendy and Eric L (scorpionagency) and the rest of the staff I hope to talk to soon about staying on board long term.

Matt can back me up on this, money was not the deciding factor going into this. NamePros is important to me, like one of my babies. I wanted any move to be in the community's best interest and I'm confident what we've got in motion will be.

RJ

 

[Eric Lyon]

Lets just all keep in mind that theirs a difference between freedom of speech & Cyber Bullying. I encourage people to speak their minds and not have to worry about censorship, but I also expect those expressing them self to use some tact. Remember, NamePros caters to and has a lot of Teenaged members, Last thing we need is to be on the 5 o'clock news referenced as a place a teen was cyber bullied and decided to commit suicide. Sounds extreme to some of you, but it's becoming more wide spread in the news all the time in the USA.

With that said, Just use your better judgement, think before you explode in a post, and remember that the people on the other end of your comments may not be able to cope with negative aggression as well as others.

Just my thoughts,

Eric Lyon
Member Services

 

[Eric Lyon]

For those of you requesting more transparency between Staff & Members, the following is a thread I closed, updated transparently, and left visible to serve as a test in transparency. This is what full transparency looks like, is this what you are wanting? http://www.namepros.com/domains-for-sale-make-offer/744015-union-ca.html

(Please note, the comments in the sales thread were left on purpose for this test, normally we remove them as they are not allowed as per the marketplace rules "All questions / comments should be sent via PM")

Eric Lyon
Member Services

 

[MicroGuy]

I think the priority should be given to adding new features and improving the marketplace.

In my view, the best thing would be to "widen" the discussion. In other words make NamePros a hybrid forum. IMO

The home page would become NamePros with two big buttons below the main logo. The left button would be labeled "Domain Names" and the right button would be labeled "Baby Names". There is a LOT of interest in baby names especially among expected parents.

I see traffic doubling within 14 weeks with new parents investing in domain names and maybe even a few domainers having babies. ((:blink)

 

[mis_chiff]

I love it when the Mods take away the other Mods comments

Yeah..that and the "moderator self moderation" is pretty awesome. :hi:

So do I moderate, or not?
If I leave it - It's breaking a rule
if I take it away - i'ts over moderation :lol:

1.11) Posts critical of NamePros policies, or moderation decisions of site management, staff and moderators (such as post edits or deletions), will likely be removed. If you have problems with a moderator or site staff, we would appreciate if you would contact a member of NamePros Management through the private forum we have provided. The same goes for "I'm Leaving" posts or any other related types of messages that serve only to generate unwelcome drama within our community.

Please let's keep the thread about what it is intended.
They will have plenty of time to complain.

 

[DU]

You make a lot of good points, freedom30. I especially like what you say about constructive criticism.

We've already had a close call with MicroGuy almost taking a final bath..... we've got people calling others a DUchebag.

My constructive criticism is that this thread should be closed before something bad happens

 

[matt_bodis]

All I can say is that whatever I do with Namepros will benefit the users here and make everyone proud to be a Namepros member!

Right now I can't think of anything the majority would oppose here, most changes are really positive. But if there's any change that I think may be controversial, I'll post a poll or ask the staff first of their opinions.

 

[johname]

I would be okay with that too. But that's only because I already know my names are shit. :tu: Well that and I think it'd be funny to make fun of newbies that post insane asking prices for crap domains. It's a good way to learn a lesson.

Yes, there are lots of crazy opinions on this forum.

And they should be heard, like in the dot pro thread.


I vote for no comments in the sales threads.
\

 

[RJ]

I am a bit shocked by RJ's language towards me but whatever, I still love you, man.

Dude I'm not mad... You and I go back before NamePros was even a figment in my warped imagination... kudos on the scoop.

But deal is still very much a work in progress. I'll be keeping everyone updated as it progresses.

 

[RJ]

Thanks hawkeye. I miss hanging out with you man, it's been a long time!

Grandma (mom's mom) made her peace with God on Sunday, gave her final wishes and stopped eating. Hospice said make her as comfortable as possible, it's just a matter of time. She been in pretty bad shape since Thanksgiving and my mom was at the end of her rope being the full time caretaker.
I got in on Monday and have been trying to nurse her back to health with herbal supplements and getting her eating again and off all the medications. I told her if we get her walking and eating again I will take her to Las Vegas to have some fun. Seems to be working... she is talking, eating and walking now... gotta keep those positive thoughts!!

RJ

 

[iowadawg]

Okay, have removed from my bucket list number 32:
BUY NAMEPROS

Hope the new owner is as easy going as RJ.

 

[Dave_Z]

Congrats to all direct parties on this. And I wish everyone the best.

(Better get ready to pack up my stuff...sniff sniff...heh...)

 

[iowadawg]

Ah....
The ability to add images just came back on here...

Now if you want visitors and mmembers, you need just these two buttons:

Hmmm...I guess not?

 

[iowadawg]

Ah....a music lover like myself.....

 

[DU]

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the domainer dream.

I have a dream that one day all the forum owners will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all domainers are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red and blue of Namepros the sons of former DigitalPoint members and the sons of DNF and Domainstate members will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the Domain world, a world sweltering with the heat of Parking Revenue injustice, sweltering with the heat of SOPA injustice, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day post and read in a Forum which will not be judged by the color of its skin but by the content of its characters.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in DNF.com, with its vicious anti-noobs, with its dot com god having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in DNF.com, little Namepros.com boys and Namepros.com girls will be able to join hands with the professionals of DNF.com as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every domainer type shall be exalted, every website maker and mini-site owner shall be treated as developers, the rough places (PPC Parking/Ad Driven Sites) will be made plain, and the crooked places (TM Violators/Scammers and Spammers) will be made straight, and the glory of Domains shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

I have a dream.

//We are talking about the color of skins, right?

 

[Dave_Z]

I know moderating a forum is stressful and hard work.

Nah, it's actually easy since all you have to do is press delete. What's stressful and hard is not getting paid for it, heh.

Kidding aside, it can indeed be tough managing a forum, much more a growing one. But of course, it can also be joyful when especially seeing it grow through the years and counting.

Now for the moderation problem?
The only time I see a problem is when it takes more than an hour to get rid of spammers and scammers.
Those are the only ones that would complain.

Personally, I wish the spam threads would be totally deleted without a trace. Let's just say I hate to see clutter.
Anyway, I'll leave that and more to management when everything's pretty much wrapped up and ready to deal with the details here. I'll just be around.

Oh, and I forgot to say: this is an interesting way to start 2012.