Shutting Down the Forums (Blog)

[mspositive]

Thanks Steve, for a great forum. I for one have spent many hours reading and learning, and will be sad to see it go. But you have to follow your own path and I wish you all the best in the future.

xxx love msp

[FelineNostalgia]

Originally Posted by Beingist

I read it, Steve, and I totally understand every word of it. It is perfect, and I wouldn't change any of it, and I wouldn't have the events be any other way.

Once again, thanks for setting up the forum, and thanks for letting us post here. I will indeed miss the place, but there are other forums, and in the end, change is a good thing. Glad I got to experience the place, and because of it, I have grown phonomenally.

Also, thanks to everyone with whom I've participated.

Au revoir

+1

Thanks for everything Steve

Bye everyone <3

[invisiblehouses]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

*tosses Steve a lighter and walks around whistling innocently*

*Starts jamming frankfurters onto sticks, then remembers where he is and makes veggie kebabs instead, then remembers something about "raw something or other" and mutters "ah hell with it" and whips up a green smoothie.

[Anna Conlan]

Hi Steve (and Erin too)

I just want to say thank you for providing this space over the last few years.

I have met friends, colleagues and clients through here. In 2009 I even left London to go meet someone in Australia, in person, who I talked to through these boards. It has played a big part in my path and in my adventures. For this I thank you.

Steve I actually think you have been gracious. Despite what you said in your blog post.

Not many people I know would provide a space like this for people and then keep it going even when people were rude or when they had a sense of entitlement and trod all over your cyber hospitality or when they publicly criticised you without having the full picture.

Wishing you all the best for 2012.

[Irisha]

The end of the world. No other forum like this one.

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by Irisha

The end of the world. No other forum like this one.

Life goes on, as long as you are living. After that nothing matters anyway.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by cacheborn

Life goes on, as long as you are living. After that nothing matters anyway.

Was this a veiled threat?

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

Was this a veiled threat?

Ha! I have nothing to threaten people with or for.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by cacheborn

Ha! I have nothing to threaten people with or for.

Loved playing with you around the forums, cache. I hope everything goes well for you after the forum ends!

[cacheborn]

Originally Posted by Plays With Life

Loved playing with you around the forums, cache. I hope everything goes well for you after the forum ends!

Same here PWL. Amazing how each individual added his/her unique bit to the environment here.
Wish you the best in everything you do. Take care.

[straysweeper]

Though I've been away for periods of time off and on, in many ways this has been my cyber home away from home. It shall be missed.

My Gratitude to you Steve!

[Books]

Where is the post with what happened? From what I understand a bunch of people tried to start their own forum right?

The problem with a forum is that it makes it really difficult to control your image. So if you call it the "Steve Pavlina" forums and people are calling into question your theories it could result in undermining those theories.

Idk if personal growth means having to eventually come to the realization that you might have been wrong about a lot of the things you think are right. If people start to agree with that concept and if Steve himself were to start to agree with that concept then how do you make any money off all your previous content?

Wouldn't making money off things you know to be wrong be like having succeeded at selling snake oil? It would make you a Bernie Madoff of self-help.

I figure you can buy all the self help you want if you have enough dough.

I'm going to be straight up with you here. If you actually let people be honest you would grow more. If you don't let people call you out on what they think is nonsense then you're just letting your ego hurt you. You just haven't figured it out yet. It's easier just to shut it down.

[irunthereforeiam]

Steve & Erin,
Thank you very much. It's been an awesome growing experience.
Look forward to connect through other means...

[MariconesUnited]

Steve, I don't understand why you went about destroying your own forum the way you did. I don't understand why you just couldn't have talked to the "traitors" about all of it. Or why you set a terrible precedent by banning people without warning or explanation. I don't have all the facts anyway. It seems to me if you really wanted to close down these forums you could have just said so.

A simple "this is taking too much energy for me and I want to free up my energies for new endeavours" would have sufficed. As it is, the way you've handled things seems quite contrary to the spirit I thought you were trying to instill in this place.

I expressed interest in your upcoming CGW before. Now I know I will not be attending. You're burning bridges and I can't see any rhyme or reason to it.

[Beingist]

I am actually quite happy for you, Steve. By the sound of everything you've written here and on the blog over the last couple of days, and knowing what little I do about the effort that goes into keeping a forum as large as this one, I think you simply ceasing everything just as you're doing (allowing, of course, a few days for people to look elsewhere), is just the way it should be. You've reached a point where it's time to finish up this project, and move on to the next. I get it. And I really think it's rather a beautiful thing.

Some might be hurt by the circumstances that gave you cause to pause for a moment to assess the situation, but as things go, that's just how it ended up happening. I honestly think that the party started closing down the day James was banned. That was major, and it was a sign things were changing in a major way. It wouldn't surprise me if you've actually been pondering this decision for some time, even before that.

I've made sudden decisions like this, myself, where you know the decision is there, just waiting to be made, you're just not sure what it is, or what the catalyst will be that will expose it. Then, something happens, and often enough, that something is completely unexpected, and it all becomes quite clear in a very short time what it is that you need to do. Then you act decisively, and without much hesitation.

I'm sure you're perfectly aware that there are many who will miss this place, but after providing those same people with the opportunity to have this place to frequent for as long as you have, I don't consider the move selfish in the slightest bit. Those of us who are aware of this, understand that it would be selfish to insist that you move against a decision that you've made for yourself. And, as far as those who were banned, well, they, too, made decisions that affected other people, and thus they must endure the consequences of those decisions, just as you must. I may very well have done the same thing, were I in your shoes. Ultimately, whatever happened is between you and them. And if you burn bridges, you burn bridges. I've burned bridges. It happens, in the course of things, and is not, I don't think, inherently 'bad'. Sometimes, it really is the most appropriate thing to do, and the best for all involved.

Lastly, something that some of us might appreciate, is that, in closing this forum, you provide us with the opportunity to go do our own thing. I can imagine you mumbling under your breath, at some point, "go start your own forum, already". In that sense, even closing the forum provides as much in the way of personal development, if not more, than keeping it open while remaining disinterested.

So again, and for possibly the last time, thanks, Steve, for everything. The whole experience has been enlightening, indeed.

[MariconesUnited]

Beingist, you and I have differing perspectives sometimes. But in all our interactions one thing has stuck with me: you are older and wiser than I am.

I was just listening to this song and I felt it fit your message quite well

I care very much about you. I wanted to let you know that, right here and now, in case I don't get to see you somewhere else online. There's always Facebook but I am growing to loathe facebook more and more.

[Andreas]

You know what they say about All Good Things...

Thanks to Steve for keeping this forum going for over 5 fantastic years, and thanks to the moderators for keeping it crunchy... even in milk. At first, I was conflicted at your choice to pull the plug, but after meditating on your decision, I feel much more at peace about it. Perhaps this was the opportunity that opens you up to the next chapter in your adventure!

And thanks to everyone who contributed to further everyone's growth and worked for the highest good of all.
See you at CSW!

love,
Andreas

[Cosmos]

Thanx Steve.. I wanna say first and foremost... you have to do what makes you happy.... and you gave alot to many, despite the stumps in growth that occurs here on the forum.


I can remember how I came to know the site, I friend sent me a link to read your article' Why You Should'nt Get a Job! I read it and a few other articles around 3 years ago but never paid any attention to the forums, which are/were great, I only started reading the forums earlier this year and finally joined and posted this fall. I am now a former lurker!!! I dont mean to high-jack this thread Steve... but please if you can keep the forums archived as you mentioned, as well as the articles.

Thank You

[machoman]

Well,it looks like most of the frequent contributors of this forum are banned. Anyway, I hope all the best to everyone..

[Andrew Gubb]

Question - is it certain that the forum will be made a read-only archive? If it just gets taken down, I have about five days to copy and save a load of text I wrote that I don't want disappearing into nothingness.

[restless]

Will there be a place to organize meet-ups for future workshops, when this forum isn't here anymore?

[Hyperchiller]

Thank you Steve and Erin for taking the time and energy to maintain these forums. I've gained a lot of value from this place in the past.

Steve I'm sure you have better things to do than forum admin. Best of luck in 2012.

[relaXman]

Right decision Steve ;

Okey, this forum was world's best forum and it was very usefull,
helpfull. but as like this forum, many good things in life may be getting
harmfull from some point.

That is way I was away last 6 months from this place.
Last year, I participated in here, and I was active first 8 months. It was very usefull for me from different points, for good friends, developing english,
understanding world perspectives, personnel, spiritual... totally development. And after a while I realized that this forum become big disractions, time waster for me. And I decided to kill it as you did.

I did it without ban request, by long seperation till improving my life,
Without ban because I don't want to cut relationship with this great
community.

I was not going to come back for one year more, but I want to be active
untill the shutting down, for one week.

Yes you took right decision, go for it.And at the same time I want to give you some feedback ;

I know world's leading forums, I gave an eye to many of them, investigeted.
Absolutly sure, This was the best, not only PD, but also best for
members intellectuel level, humor, spiritual, psychic...
What made best this forum were three important things;
1. Your intellectuel level.
2. Members ( especially old ) intellectuel levels
3. freedom of expression
And this is my prediction that forums trendy will increase fast in next years.
Because, people are getting realized that other social media, facebook,
blog, tweeter are place of lonely place. People want more intimacy, and to
discuss matters in a place like forums ,,

And I want to add that, I don't know if you will continue PD blog or not,
But if you want to continue, I advice you to change your blog design,
contents. It is not visual, your articles are very long and not readible, not attractive.

Good luck.

[HiImJeremy]

Steve & Erin

A most gracious thank you.

[Canadian]

I figured this would happen sometime. Thanks for the forum and goodbye to it too!

[Niki]

Goodbye everybody !

I still have a vps, vBulletin license and a few domain names spare. If anyone wants to start a new forum, I could handle the technical stuff.

[Bonadea]

I happened upon this forum not too long ago, I've been really enjoying having a social outlet for this side of my life. I'll be sad to see it go.

But I do understand how much it takes to run a forum.

Thank you both for the time you've given us

[Criseyde]

Originally Posted by Laurenaus

I never said Angela was the owner of the site did I??? I was disagreeing with the way she went about secretly trying to recruit people from this site over to the other one and the results of this are that some people felt left out because they took it personally they were not invited although I myself can care less, and Steve feeling frustrated over this which became the "proverbial straw that broke the camels back". i was also frustrated that Steve was announcing that he was shutting down the forums which is a big deal and is affecting people here, and then all the posts I saw were about how great Angela is etc etc. Right now an important forum I have visited everyday for 3 years is shutting down so I can care less if one person who contributed was banned especially when there are SO MANY OTHER AMAZING people here that contribute. If I was Steve I would probably feel just as frustrated and the member a few posts up from Sydney articulated it perfectly, I completely agree with his comments about the situation. Good luck at pd4u! Seeya!!!

Well, Angela is pretty great, and this place is run by monkeys, so it's probably all for the best.

[Tobias Zimpel]

Steve, although I was not very active here, I have to admit that I will miss the forums, even if it is only the possibility to go here for some virtual hugs or so.

If it were only the current events, I'd clearly say you are overreacting. But given that you were out of sync with the forums anyway for a long long time, I understand that you take the events as as sign to finally let go of a burden.

I wish you all good, and thanks to all here for a wonderful time. Whatever your plans may be, I wish you all good and lots of success!

[ButterflyWoman]

Originally Posted by Criseyde

this place is run by monkeys

An infinite number of them, typing out Shakespeare's sonnets? If so, can you send them round to my place to type up an essay on the ethos of the Roman aristocracy and how it contributed to the downfall of the Roman Republic? Thanks.