Damien: Howdy.  I’m surprised no one has asked this question yet but do all you mods and Admin ever fall out, have fights and arguments??  I’m sure you do so don’t be embarrassed

Laura: Hmm, yes and no! Generally we all get along fine. Everyone has a fair say in all polls, and most things are civilized. We have once encountered a problem within the 'Admin' department, but it was dealt with very quickly. Apart from that, any arguments that take place now are concerning changes to the boards or silly minor issues that no one can agree on.  However, this whole team was handpicked by Admin and so has his complete trust, so generally, things rarely go wrong.

Andy D.: Arguments? Fights? Fallout??.........................All the time!  The make up of the moderating team allows for some strong personalities to come through. We very rarely always agree on anything, but we don’t’ 'bicker' about the results of a vote. We just get on with it.  You all know we have (on a leash mind you) Mike 'The Pitbull' Jay...........well think of the workings of a clock, somewhere within the mechanism you need a coiled spring.............it is just a case of keeping it under control.  Basically, we all do our bit. We are all part of a well-oiled machine, which is why Bunny works so well. I think if we were all passive, non-confrontational types, then we would have been trampled underfoot a long time ago.

Huw: We have what is known in the business as "full and frank discussions". In other words, we all argue and then just do whatever Mike tells us....No, I'm afraid the mods are exactly the same in the Admin section as in the public forums. The only difference is that when we are locked in there we have to talk about boring stuff to do with running the board, inviting guests, fixing bugs and such like instead of interesting stuff such as magic and mentalist…

Nigel: If you have twelve different people of varying backgrounds you will never come to a complete consensus regarding a controversial issue. Many of the points that are debated within the "Admin" forum are board issues and usually these are passed with a unanimous vote but there are also times when a poll hangs on the very last vote cast. The main point is, however, that there are very clear rules regarding debates. Each and everyone has an equal voice regardless of their length of service, background or position within the team. I believe that all of us, coming from a western society, understand the ideals of a democracy and we are all willing to conform to the wishes of the majority despite our own particular views on a subject. There have been several times when I personally have wanted an issue dealt with in a certain way and it has not received a majority backing. Despite being the site owner, I have always abided by the views of the majority. The main issue is that, despite our own opinions, there are often times that people can see things from a different perspective and may stand in "opposition." It would be naive to assume that any one person is always right, regardless of their position in the team. One important factor concerning the make-up of the team is that many of us have met up socially at some point in our past and so can understand a little of the make-up of the others. If we haven't ever met, there has been a long history of communication on the Internet spanning back many years. When you know people in this way, you aren't going to fall out over a difference of opinion regarding one small issue. In answer to your question, debates regarding the future of these boards are extremely lively and moderators sometimes have very different opinions but the ground rules are very clearly laid out but the final word is that the word of the majority is passed.

Wallace: All I can say is that the Moderation Team represents a 'total' range of people who share the welfare of the members as a first priority. We range from Teen to OAP so every age group has its 'champions' and we try to look after ALL of you!!

Mike: These guys all argue with me...They haven't as yet realized that I am god!  On the serious side, it is probably no secret that I am a brash and offensive sort. I'm also on the paranoid side, and that doesn't help much. I've had some serious go-arounds with fellow mods (you know who you are, and again I apologize for my short temper and sharp tongue) but, what holds true over any fallings out, is that we are committed to these boards. The boards are run in a democratic fashion, so nobody gets their own way all the time. As has already been said, though, we put it behind us and move on when we don't get our own way. Such is life, and I feel, looking at where we are and where we've been, this style works and is successful.

Huw: Quoting Mike, “All these guys argue with me.”  Oh no we don’t.

Laura: See, now I have to disagree with everything that has been said!  They have tried to keep me quiet about this, but I refused to be silenced. The admin forum is a place where we, the elite go, and gossip about all of you, man, you should see what we say! We all disagree on everything, and then Admin does whatever he wants anyway, so all of our discussions are completely irrelevant to everything that happens on this board. No, actually, I am joking! This board is run in a very democratic way. Sure, we disagree with each other sometimes, but hey, who doesn't? On the whole though, we all get on well and are just one big happy family! Although, That Andy D bloke is really getting on my nerves at the moment....

Lucien de Silva: Hello team, We've heard in these discussions something of how MB started, and what happens behind the scenes, but I'd like to hear about MB's future. One of the many things that I love about MB is that it's primarily a discussion forum, and only incidentally an online store. I also appreciate MB for being devoid of advertising, especially those annoying pop-ups that Admin mentioned in the discussion of how this board started. However, it's a fact that sometimes ventures such as MB lack the finances to continue. With this in mind, does the team foresee a time when this site will have to accept advertising? And if this is the case, what are your thoughts on the matter?

Mike: Man, do I hate those damn pop-ups. Simply hate them. It is impossible to foresee the future, but I speak with conviction when I say that the day will never come that advertising will be allowed on these boards. We have several rules that govern this idea and with the dawning of the library we can watch these things, but allow a low key advertising at the same time. I personally feel that it is important that magicians have a place where they can get the word out for anything that they've invented, as long as it is not a blatant rip off of others. This is specifically my thinking by allowing new items to be placed within the library, for perusal of the membership, should they so choose. By indexing these things, it allows the user to skip over these items, should they choose to do so. Rather a win-win situation.

This site has come a long way in just a year. It is the commitment of the owner of this site to ensure that the need for advertising will never be an issue. To this end, he put up the shop, which allows us to sell items at highly discounted rates and turn the small profit over to paying for these boards. This is why we appreciate the membership using our shop before looking to other means of purchase. You, the members, by using our shop are helping to pay for the running of these boards and at the same time saving a great deal of money in so doing. This is evolving as we go, of course, but some form of shop will stand. Also, there are several benefactors to this site that help with the cost of running these boards. They have contributed items for sale in the shop, the profits then being pumped back into the boards. One thing that has become obvious is that there are a great many members who are also committed to ensuring that these boards remain commercial free. That is one of the cornerstones of this site - no advertising. To allow such would change the feel of this site, so, as far as I can see it - no worries!

Also, I see a day coming when Magic Bunny will host a convention. Wow!! Tall order. However, look around and see the people of this site who get together any chance they can get. Considering that this is only in an infancy stage, this is not something you will see for years to come (an actual MB convention, that is). However, I am a long term goal kind of guy. I see the long haul, rather than the short goals. With this in mind, a convention could easily bring in the cash to ensure the long term running of these boards. Just food for thought, so don't get over excited and say, "Hey, Jay said there's going to be a Magic Bunny convention." Fact is, it may never happen, it's just something that I think about, is all. Hold on...Let me get out my crystal ball and get back to you!

Wallace: One of the few other popular magic sites on the Internet is the Magic Cafe and at one time in the not so distant past Steve, the originator had a problem which was ended in double quick time by the membership who happily sent voluntary 'donations' to preserve the 'independence' of the site. Just think about the history of MB and you will find that this board is a real model of true magical dedication and, hopefully, will remain so!!

Laura: Yup, I agree with everything that has been said. I haven't been a moderator for long, but I can tell you, the time and dedication that the others put in is quite amazing! I don't think any of them would be happy to see advertising on the board, and for that reason, I will say that there is no way this would ever happen. Oh, funny you should mention an MB convention. I was thinking about this the other day, and what it would take to organize one. It will be a lot of work, but some time, in the not too distant future, I hope that this really becomes a reality. And hey, who knows, in the future, I'm talking really far into the future here, maybe we can rival even the Blackpool convention! (Okay, maybe I should get my head out of the clouds now!)

Rich: As of now, all I see is Magic Bunny continuing to grow, and hopefully becoming the largest board on the Internet. I'm also with Mike about pop-ups - I absolutely hate them. Not only do they get in the way, they also never work on me. There are some sites that pop up about 5 adverts, not one of which am I even remotely interested in, and that's where Magic Bunny's different. We're trying to create a safe, advert-free place for magicians to discuss magic and get free resources, and all I can envision is us growing even more. Some sort of meeting has always been in my head, and organizing a convention would be the ultimate event - it'll happen someday.

Nigel: You are right to mention finances Lucien - there is no fee for our 550 plus members but these boards do need to be financially supported. I gave a hint of my plans for the future in this month's e-zine. Currently the boards and our present projects are financed by the online store. The online expenses aren't as much as you may expect. Currently, I have purchased 35mB for two years at a cost of only £35 but have had to recently upgrade our allocated web space by 50mB at a cost of £40 per year due to the enormous rate of growth we have experienced. Under our current growth, I predict the running costs of these boards to be somewhere in the region of £50 or £60 per year for the next few years. Over and above this, the postage and packaging expenses of the competitions adds another £60 or so per year. Currently we have three main sources of income; the Magic Bunny shop currently provides the bulk of support for the boards. Unfortunately, the income from this can be variable. Just before Christmas there were some eight or so orders per week but during a typical week, I get two orders per week. I'm afraid that the lack of postage and packaging often means that customers often buy just one item at a time and this may result in an income of only £6 or so in total each week.

However, I am lucky that some members have contributed to the stock of the store so that sales of "shimmed cards" or "American coins" for example are solely profit. The affiliate scheme for the Alakazam site is rarely used and has yet to generate an income for the boards as the total purchases are too low to compute. The third source of income is from the Amazon site and that has given us a net income of £17.75 since it's conception nearly a year ago. As I mentioned in the e-zine, I have listened to users' suggestions regarding the store and I believe that it to be more financially viable to offer an outside body the right to link from our site.

I personally don't ever want to see pop-up advertisements and nor do I wish to see free speech being stifled by the interests of some outside commercial agency. It is my vision to change the format of the Magic Bunny shop so that the boards can operate as effectively as possible. If you read through this month's Top Hat I have gone into much more detail regarding my thought on this issue but it is my long term plan aim to gradually run down the stock of the store over the course of the next few months and then to offer an outside body the right to link from one page from our site. I personally would like to see the links at the bottom of each page link to this one page, which then leaves our site and directs customers to an outside body. This would be unobtrusive and would offer our members a more professional service than that which I am currently able to offer. Currently I need to reduce the stock held at Magic Bunny. It would be wrong to offer to link to an outside retailer whilst still selling cut-price goods from our site.

Therefore, this project is a long term one that may not see completion for many months yet. Hopefully, by the time this project is begun, the income of the store and Amazon links will be sufficient to keep the site going (even if there was little external support) for a few more years to come. I have spoken at length with one member of the moderator team regarding other proposals and I shall make further announcements when appropriate. Basically, these are my long-term plans regarding the store. As for the route of the boards, this can be much more flexible. There was no way that, one year ago, I could have foreseen the growth of these boards and it is my guess that the future is going to hold other surprises that none of us can ever predict. Currently we are gaining roughly three new members a day and somewhere in the region of 1000 posts a week. It is difficult to predict where we shall be in year's time due to the shear rate of expansion of the boards. One thing is certain though, we shall endeavour to provide the very highest quality of discussion boards on the Internet - it is my own personal goal to be the VERY best on the Internet. We're getting there.

Tspall: This probably is more of a curiosity question than anything else, but why not ask...?  Are there any plans for US residents to be able to buy from the MB store? We'd like to support the site as well, but can't buy from it. Congrats to everyone for a wonderful site! I've learned a lot from talking with everyone here and hope to be able to contribute as much as possible.

Mike: A US shop is in the works and you'll probably see it by the year's end. I am presently working with a good friend of mine (also a member here and if he gives me permission, I'll tell you who) to begin making equipment and starting to go to conventions. Ultimately, we will open a cybershop and there will be a specific place for MB members to garner good deals on magic equipment, with the full profit going to support these boards. I'm not exactly sure what will be offered, if we will give special discounts on all merchandise to MB members or if there will be a specific stock for MB members as yet. Regardless of the details, it will be managed in the spirit of our shop now, which is only supporting members may use the service. This is only in it's beginning stage, though. Patience, my friend, patience. Thank you for the support at this point, though.

Sean: I think this will probably tie into Admin's plans for the store. He is planning on gaining support from an outside site and allowing them to link from the Magic Bunny site. You can find more info on the "MB - The Future" thread

Nigel: You are right Sean, there is very little more I can add that to repeat the reply of Mike.

Joker: You do such an excellent job running the boards and it seems one of you is always online. You must get paid oodles of money. Can I ask how much?

Mike: Well, I'll tell you. My schedule runs pretty much the same if you watch for times of my posts. On Monday and Tuesday I have no shows to put on and that is my "weekend" - I have these two days off from my regular job. So, you'll note that anytime of the day or night on those two days, I can be found on these pages. Aside from that, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are busy and I drop in when I can. My shows, mostly kid's birthdays, are during the early noon hours and my job is the evening hours. I count on 4 - 10 shows monthly and my job covers the rest of my financial needs. Everything taken into consideration, I make $21,000 - $25,000 yearly. In America, that makes me a very poor man. Mike.

Sean: I think he meant how much do we get paid for moderating, Mike.  We get £200,000 a year, with a company car, a house with 50 bedrooms and a swimming pool. I've been ferociously protesting for a pay raise though!  Just kidding....we do it all for free

Huw: Quoting Sean, “I think he meant how much do we get paid for moderating, Mike.” If I had to moderate Mike, no amount of money would be enough!

Sean: LOL It was worse the first time. I wrote "for moderating Mike", and then I thought the same as you so I added a comma. Still seems like we have to keep him on a leash.

Wallace: How much should an MB Moderator get paid then Dan???

Nigel: I am often very flattered but amused by some of the emails that I receive that obviously make the assumption that the officers are salaried. I expect that it is down to the totally professional service that is offered; this makes it hard to assume that such a high level of service can be provided by anyone other than someone is receiving a wage. I can assure you that everyone who is a member and those who run the boards are all unpaid for their input. There is no reimbursement for expenses or payment for any submissions. All the input to these forums, either by the members, the moderators or by myself is totally unpaid.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5