Tappistry.Org - Thoughts on growing for the next 5 years

[wmlusk]

Hey Tappers,

Tappistry.Org is about to turn five and I wanted to stop in and share some thoughts on a few things - some good, some not-so-much.

I'm not really playing music anymore. My interests and focus has changed over the years. Having played music for 22 years, and having had some tremendously amazing experiences, I'm good with that. I'm helping my daughter learn as she's got a good ear for music. She loves the piano and her ukulele. I did discover that I can tap the beginning of 'Elephant Talk' on a uke. :)

I am very happy that five years later our little site, Tappistry.Org, has continued to flourish. When I helped get this site off the ground, I didn't know how long it would last, if there would be any interest in a vendor-agnostic site, or if the tapping-community-at-large would support it. Looking at the site today, there are so many great contributors and topics, and the regularity of involvement internationally is very gratifying. The webmasters have done a great job of continuing to foster the growth of a friendly community for those with a passion for two-handed tapping.

On to some ideas for making Tappistry.Org continue to be a wonderful community where open-minded tappers can congregate in an environment of friendship and sharing.

The forums continue to be the primary source of information. Hopefully in the near-term there will be more interest in getting articles. I'd encourage everyone on this board to start thinking about articles, lessons, and other items they can develop to fill the site with fresh content. If you're not confident in your writing, collaborate. Partner with someone and create something cool to share with the greater community.

Advertise!! If you have a blog, myspace, livejournal or what ever. Link to Tappistry.Org and talk it up wherever you can.

Ban the trolls!! All forums have them and they must be dealt with swiftly and harshly. Trolls knowingly and willingly destroy a forum's integrity by stirring up garbage, distracting members from the important posts, and generally turning good forums into cesspools of idiotic junior-high shenanigans.

These forums are provided as a free resource to the tapping community, and trolls are a waste of valuable bandwidth. The members of this forum should not tolerate troll-like behavior. Three-strikes - users behaving in a troll-like manner should be given two warnings and on the third offense, banned.

One of the main reasons this site was started was to provide an positive alternative to the often toxic resources available at the time. We created an open environment for tappers to discuss the art of tapping no matter what logo they sported or corporation they purchased their manufactured good from. Vendor-Agnostic and no BS.

Sadly, I have to make a pointed comment about a recent development on this board. I see that an individual has decided after five years to sign-up on our board and bring their own distinct brand of trolling, along with selfish financial and corporate interests, to this site. This individual in my opinion should be banned as their behavior on every forum they've participated in for over 10 years is exactly the same - snipe, attack, retreat, rinse, repeat. It's always the same old song-and-dance and senseless squabbling over ancient history - garbage that really doesn't even concern or affect 99.9% of us tappers. Honestly, if I were still the administrator of this site, this person would not have been allowed to join. If I could remember that darn admin password, I'd ban them. ;)

Best wishes to all the great tappers out there. It's up to you to help Tappistry.Org continue to grow as the best tapping resource on the web. Spread the word. Create some content. Keep it open. Keep it honest. Keep it real. Remember - vendor agnostic and no BS!

All the Best,
Billy

[rpmartino]

Hi Billy,

Thanks for your perspectives.

Well the discussion has passed, it wasn't pretty but it seemed a few positive things may have happened amongst certain people. However I don't think your apparent calling out of Greg in this fashion is really fair (and I consider myself pretty impartial in this matter and haven't agreed 100% with anyone, I've been around tapping forums for a long time and in this case I pointed out where I thought Greg said things that weren't that appropriate).

It was literally a "song-and-dance" attacking Emmett which he took issue with in the first place, even if the ensuing "discussion" turned into a mess. To his credit he did explicitly make an attempt to work out issues and apologize where necessary, even if the thread wasn't ultimately successful and some very much disagree with his perspectives on things.

Anyways, Greg has moved on and focusing on more productive things so you shouldn't have to worry about it. He's making great teaching contributions to the tapping world, myself included. The new videos he's putting up on YouTube are fantastic. I just think it goes both ways... other parties involved could have been more civil too, Greg wasn't the "bad guy" as you have made him out to be. Some people just have vastly different perspectives on things.

I'm looking froward to seeing tappistry.org continue as a great resource for tapping musicians.

Rob

[boxguitarist]

Greg himself asked to be removed from this forum after further fanning the flames that I myself had ignited, if someone at Tappistry actually knew how to do that the soon to follow ugliness never would have occured. Jeez, at least on Stickwire one can unsubscribe until they regain their sanity and then resubscribe, what Einstein left off this featurette from Tappistry ? Greg knew when to leave and couldn't.............

Secondly, I would never suggest that anyone leave this Forum nor would I participate to "vote somebody off of the island", hope that's not a trademark violation...........

Don't respond to this post, go practice your Touchstyle Instrument of choice !!!!

[traktor]

Originally posted by wmlusk
Sadly, I have to make a pointed comment about a recent development on this board. I see that an individual has decided after five years to sign-up on our board and bring their own distinct brand of trolling, along with selfish financial and corporate interests, to this site. This individual in my opinion should be banned as their behavior on every forum they've participated in for over 10 years is exactly the same - snipe, attack, retreat, rinse, repeat. It's always the same old song-and-dance and senseless squabbling over ancient history - garbage that really doesn't even concern or affect 99.9% of us tappers. Honestly, if I were still the administrator of this site, this person would not have been allowed to join. If I could remember that darn admin password, I'd ban them. ;) Sadly, Billy, I disagree.

You did not have to make a pointed comment.

*Nobody* actually *has* to make a pointed comment. It is always a personal choice, a decision made. And the pointed comment is, all too often, damaging to the free flow of conversation. Is the post about music or tapping? No? Then what's it doing here?

And ... with all respect, and thankfulness for your past help in creating this forum ... the above language sounds very much like name-calling and accusation. Oopsy-doodle! (This is counter to our forum posting guidelines for the reason that such posting actually prolongs and creates dissention, which is non-productive to our overall goals. But then, you know that, because you helped to create the guidelines.)

Things change. My impression is that this round actually showed some improvement, though other folks opinions may of course differ.

By the way, per your suggestion, I did read the book on vegan diet, and have adopted a vegistentialist diet myself, and have dropped 18 pounds so far. Thanks for the tip.

[wmlusk]

Traktor,
My friend, you are right. When I logged on and saw that old mess being dredged up and the flames that had been going on, I got very angry. I took it personally when I shouldn't have.

After nearly five years with few-if-any flames going on, and a great deal of useful discourse, I felt that the allowing these devisive elements and topics to persist negated all the positive contributions of the various volunteers, members, and contributors as if it had all been a waste of time and energy. Definitely an emotional reaction on my part.

My intention was to get people thinking about growing the site, being more engaged in its evolution, and stopping the silliness and pointless drama. I should have stopped a paragraph sooner, but I didn't. You're right that I, ironically enough, violated the very guidelines that I helped establish. I'm very sorry.

Let me emphasise that tapping is great - on a Sitar, Banjo, Ukulele, Stick, Megatar, Warr, Box, Fender, Yamaha - it's all good. It's the players, not the businesses, producers, or manufacturers, that own tapping and drive its inovation. Without the players, these are simple tools made of wood and metal. The player makes the music and it's the players that drive the future of tapping.

I hope that a lot of tappers out there start writing some content and pushing this great, free, tapping resource. Personally, I think it's the best on the web, but that's just my opinion. :D :D :D :D

BTW, I think that the reason a user can't delete themselves is a limitation in vBulletin as it messes up the backend db. I recall this was the issue in 2002, but that may not be the case with recent versions of vBulletin.

[wmlusk]

Originally posted by traktor

By the way, per your suggestion, I did read the book on vegan diet, and have adopted a vegistentialist diet myself, and have dropped 18 pounds so far. Thanks for the tip.

TT,
That's GREAT news. I fell off the vegan bandwagon a while back. These days I try to eat locally and eat fresh. Just avoiding things in cans, jars, and boxes can make such a dramatic difference. My wife has been encouraging me to get back to vegan or just veggie. One day I might just listen to that lady. People tell me she's pretty smart.

:)

[GaryOpenhill]

Vegans, don't forget your b12 vitamin supplements