Hello fellow A&M Cornerites,
I think it's time that we as a collective group revisit some of the unspoken guidelines for our forum. For those of you who have been long-timers, you'll appreciate this and for those of you who are relatively new to the forum here, this will give you some insight into a few things.
First of all, we want everyone to feel like they have the freedom to voice opinions, share insights, and contribute to creating an environment that is contagious to Carpenters fans - whether the usual "lurker" or full-fledged member. With that said, I feel that this forum is beginning to turn into one of the trashier Facebook sites - the ambulance chasing, tabloid-esqe, "he-said she-said", bordering on downright people-bashing discussion groups. I am speaking on behalf of not only myself, but the moderating team here at A&M Corner as well as some other fellow members who have brought this to our attention. This is going to stop.
Back in March, I launched an OFFICIAL REVIEW thread on Karen Carpenter's self-titled solo effort. To date, the thread has generated nearly 800 replies, and over 31,000 views. I'd say we're a passionate bunch here - and that's a great thing - in GENERAL. In addition, there have been side-topic threads, many of which manage to steer their way right back to the solo album - AND a staunch handful of opinions that are once again monopolizing the forum.
We seem to be developing several self-proclaimed A&R representatives, and to my knowledge there is not a single member here that was present during the playback of that album. Furthermore, I'm not aware of anyone here at the forum that personally knew Karen, Richard or any of the personnel associated with the album. Randy Schmidt - whom is a close and dear friend published a book that includes some personal insight into Karen's life - and it's perfectly okay to discuss here. However, we need to remember that even that information - by the time it gets to the discussion threads, is second and third-hand information. So the strong opinions - again, are based on hearsay. I'm not suggesting that any of it is false, true or otherwise. But the forum is getting cluttered with very strong opinions based on second and third-hand information, as some of the posts are even bordering downright Richard-bashing.
Richard Carpenter in years past has teamed up with us to do contest CD giveaways and I've kept him informed of some of the discussions here. As someone who has sat at the Carpenter family table for dinner, I can say with certainty that Richard is strikingly different "off" camera than he is "on" and there is much more information regarding the family that ISN'T in books and interviews. He graciously gave me an interview at a time when he'd vowed that he was done interviewing. I was recently informed that our interview in January of '14 was his last. That could certainly change, but my point here is, whether you agree or disagree with whatever information you've read in a book or watched on television, your assessment is not first-hand and should be communicated as such, or not at all. We're a forum based on the MUSIC first and foremost, INTEGRITY being the second. If you have something you need to say that is less than above reproach with regard to the personal dynamics related to the Carpenters lives, please do so in a private message to somebody and not publicly on our forum.
And lastly, please leave room for others to post. If you're posting 3, 4, 5+ messages PER DAY, you're probably over-communicating here - with all due respect. Guys (and gals), opinions are fine, but in all honesty, re-posting the same information over and over isn't necessary. Let's keep it clean, informative and fun so that people like those in the Carpenters' circle and others WANT to stay involved here. We're better than that.
Sincerely,
Chris, Harry and the rest of the Moderating Team
I think it's time that we as a collective group revisit some of the unspoken guidelines for our forum. For those of you who have been long-timers, you'll appreciate this and for those of you who are relatively new to the forum here, this will give you some insight into a few things.
First of all, we want everyone to feel like they have the freedom to voice opinions, share insights, and contribute to creating an environment that is contagious to Carpenters fans - whether the usual "lurker" or full-fledged member. With that said, I feel that this forum is beginning to turn into one of the trashier Facebook sites - the ambulance chasing, tabloid-esqe, "he-said she-said", bordering on downright people-bashing discussion groups. I am speaking on behalf of not only myself, but the moderating team here at A&M Corner as well as some other fellow members who have brought this to our attention. This is going to stop.
Back in March, I launched an OFFICIAL REVIEW thread on Karen Carpenter's self-titled solo effort. To date, the thread has generated nearly 800 replies, and over 31,000 views. I'd say we're a passionate bunch here - and that's a great thing - in GENERAL. In addition, there have been side-topic threads, many of which manage to steer their way right back to the solo album - AND a staunch handful of opinions that are once again monopolizing the forum.
We seem to be developing several self-proclaimed A&R representatives, and to my knowledge there is not a single member here that was present during the playback of that album. Furthermore, I'm not aware of anyone here at the forum that personally knew Karen, Richard or any of the personnel associated with the album. Randy Schmidt - whom is a close and dear friend published a book that includes some personal insight into Karen's life - and it's perfectly okay to discuss here. However, we need to remember that even that information - by the time it gets to the discussion threads, is second and third-hand information. So the strong opinions - again, are based on hearsay. I'm not suggesting that any of it is false, true or otherwise. But the forum is getting cluttered with very strong opinions based on second and third-hand information, as some of the posts are even bordering downright Richard-bashing.
Richard Carpenter in years past has teamed up with us to do contest CD giveaways and I've kept him informed of some of the discussions here. As someone who has sat at the Carpenter family table for dinner, I can say with certainty that Richard is strikingly different "off" camera than he is "on" and there is much more information regarding the family that ISN'T in books and interviews. He graciously gave me an interview at a time when he'd vowed that he was done interviewing. I was recently informed that our interview in January of '14 was his last. That could certainly change, but my point here is, whether you agree or disagree with whatever information you've read in a book or watched on television, your assessment is not first-hand and should be communicated as such, or not at all. We're a forum based on the MUSIC first and foremost, INTEGRITY being the second. If you have something you need to say that is less than above reproach with regard to the personal dynamics related to the Carpenters lives, please do so in a private message to somebody and not publicly on our forum.
And lastly, please leave room for others to post. If you're posting 3, 4, 5+ messages PER DAY, you're probably over-communicating here - with all due respect. Guys (and gals), opinions are fine, but in all honesty, re-posting the same information over and over isn't necessary. Let's keep it clean, informative and fun so that people like those in the Carpenters' circle and others WANT to stay involved here. We're better than that.
Sincerely,
Chris, Harry and the rest of the Moderating Team