Chad has left the building?

[Owens187]

Just noticed Ol' Chad hasn't been around here in like 13 days now. Though I see he's on SnusCentral all the time now.

Have we been betrayed?

Is he mad at us?

Did sage finally break him?

:evil: Where'd you go Chad? :evil:

[ice]

Nothing so mystical, sorry that this announcements took so long.

http://www.snuson.com/viewtopic.php?t=8789

[ice]

And actually Chad betrayed us. Being a moderator is a work with ultimate trust. Mod can delete all threads, turn the place upside down and empty the whole forum if he wants to do so. While Chad was our moderator he started to plan his own forum and published announcement above and shared that to inside snuson too. Our moderator? I was very sad, but I didn’t have any other choice than lock his account. After all we snuson folks have done for Chad, last I would have expected his doing that. Without any notice, a message, nothing even short talk with me!?

---- Chad's announcement --------------

Regarding forum, and emails received 9 March 2010

This is an open response to the various emails and PM's and such I have received from members (current and past) of SnusOn, the forum many of us have called home for so long now. Something is coming, and many of us have noticed a change in how things have been going. I can't say I support or agree with the changes that are occuring, and it saddens me to see the open spirit of discussion that we all have embraced for so long falling apart around us. But, I want you all to know that there is hope, and this is something that has been noticed and will not be ignored.

I have been in discussion lately with other parties, those who are in support of free and open snus discussion, and I want to assure you that this has not been ignored. There are other people, many of which we call friends, who are working with me just as hard as I am to make sure something comes from all this very soon. Keep an eye on and as updates come in I will regularly share them, and keep everyone posted on this.

Chad

[ice]

Today, few hours ago Chad published announcement below. Nice story and catches probably lot of traffic, but still it's unfair to attack against snuson and publish something what is so wrong. Hmm.. why chad is doing this? What I see the conspiracy is done chad side, who is the winner if the snuson family break a part? Not me, not mods, not snuson members? Maybe the blogger who is having tons of banners in his site?

---- Chad's announcement --------------

Snuson Conspiracy Rest of story 24 March 2010
I was trying to avoid writing this post for a while, or not immediately addressing the issue at hand, but I feel in the interest of the truth and for a lot of friends I've made along the way and for those who have supported this blog and Snubie.com, I should speak a little about the events that have happened as of late so people wouldn't think I abandoned them for my own selfish interests. This morning I received a few emails from some friends at SnusOn - the forum site that I have called home for a long time now, stating that the way they were handling what they did is by saying that I left to focus on my own site. Well, that isn't true. And since this is the avenue they are going, I felt like I should tell the rest of the story, for those who are misinformed, and to clear up any confusion about what's really going on behind the curtain.

Late last year, when Snubie.com was going through it's redesign and becoming the site you see it as today, I was approached by Northerner about a new idea/concept they were working on for a new forum site headed up by "ThatSnusGuy" or "AirWoodstock" from SnusOn, the guy who runs Snustopia. It sounded to be an interesting idea, but I had to respectfully decline. Why? I am an open minded guy, and I wanted to be able to list all stores and suggest products from anyone and not be bound to one store. I find it's best to keep an open mind. The two stores I do suggest - BuySnus and ClubSnus have earned their place at Snubie.com by being respectful businesses that let me keep this open minded approach, which is why I endorse them. That, and their superior operations as a webstore. That being said, this new project was being called SnusForum.org, and was a forum being developed for Northerner. I kept an eye on it from time to time, but didn't really check it out until recently when something was mentioned that made me curious. I was told that the folks at Northerner would be "...helping out around SnusOn...". That part kinda got my attention, so I had to check it out.

And what did I see when I headed over to SnusForum.org - Northerner's Snus Forum? "The New & Improved SnusOn". I was able to capture a screenshot before they QUICKLY locked it out for people being able to view it. I guess when you have something like this going on, you don't want people to know what you're actually doing, or what you're actually up to? It was being called "The New & Improved SnusOn" and was being headed up in the same footsteps, by the guy developing a snus forum for Northerner, now is being called "The New & Improved SnusOn" which is conveniently located at SnusForum.org - where the Northerner forum was going to be.

The next logical step in my mind was to ask questions. It's one of the best things you can do when you try don't know what's going on. But, as is the case with any good cover-up there are two logical steps. Deny it, then follow up with any means necessary to continue hiding what you're doing. When I asked a few people involved - of course denial was what quickly happened. The next step I couldn't have imagined would happen. My account was locked out, and then eventually I (along with others who had been asking questions) were banned. In the following days similar things would happen - posts asking questions were locked or deleted. Eventually, it seems people realized that their free spirit of discussion was dead and to fall in line. Now, had my questions been answered and they simply said what was going on, and the fact that SnusOn was now going to be a Northerner run forum I would have stayed around (although not agreeing with it) and continued to talk with friends and discuss what we love most, snus!

I have nothing against forums that are tied in to stores. I'm an active member at SnusCENTRAL, and they have a store. I would have been just fine with SnusOn being tied in to Northerner had they not lied about it and banned people who had asked questions about the takeover. That part was what shifted my confidence in the management at SnusOn and the people at Northerner. And after the work I put in at SnusOn getting their Review area set up, and then being banned by asking the questions that needed to be asked. I was even avoiding writing this article, but after seeing them say that I left I felt I had to address what was really happening behind the curtain.

To my friends at SnusOn and the friends I've made along that route - I did not leave of my own free will. I am glad for those who have stayed in touch with me, and everyone else knows my email address is posted at Snubie, as well as the link above, and anyone can reach me at any time to discuss this further or any other snus related topics if you want. But I felt the truth had to come to light, and I wanted everyone to know the events that lead up to this terrible action.

SnusForum.org is being listed as being developed (according to WhoIs) by Jose Rodriguez. (joserodriguez@hotmail.com). Jose Rodriguez (if that is your real name!) has been unavailable for comment, but we will be pursuing this further to see if he has anything to add to our story.

Chad

[ice]

There is no big secrets, but above is lot of information (and false information) what I hoped that our old moderator is not trying to use against us. It's not respectful and it's not right, it's lame to have fights anyhow. We all are in same side! Making snuson better place, sharing the snusinfo and enjoying snus with great people!

Few facts:

* Everyone knows we are developing the site, and thanks to all who has been giving the ideas and helping with the site development http://www.snuson.com/viewtopic.php?t=6827
* The new site is almost finished, all moderators have seen it and you will see it soon too. It will be cool!
* We started the development project last summer, I am happy that I got help from my good friends Frank & Fredrik from Northerner.
* And if you ask why Northerner? Because they are my friends, the best guys in whole industry, I have known Frank since 2004 and we have been making all kind of co-operation since then. Last seven years, it's long time but we have had lot of fun! It's not secret either, everyone can go and check snuson frontpage today or Northerner shop which is full of Icetools.
* And yes the site development URL is snusforum.org, we need to do the test and the development work somewhere Of course the new site will be SnusOn.com, it's just temporary development address
* And yes the site is locked, of course it is, because it's not ready. I was talking about this same day with chad when he took his printscreen from development site, so he knows very well what we are doing. I just don't understand what he is up to.
* If you want to see the forums new outlook click here http://www.snuson.com/snuson_new2010.jpg
* I don't know when the site is ready, but we are doing our best. It's a big job, but we have great team and I am very happy that i don't need to do all work anymore alone. Thanks again guys!!


New features
* Better forum software
* Blogs
* Marketplace & auction for members (sell your extra snus, old cans etc.)
* Award points system (we will open this feature later, but it's cool)

[ice]

And last the ban story

Snuson is open for anyone and who share my humble wish of respect snuson and snuson spirit. SnusOn does support free speech, we have more than 120 000 post, 2000 members, 14 000 unique monthly readers, people from all over the world, but public fights, flaming, treats, attack against mods or admins are not that kind of content we need here. We are working for you, doing huge job to keeping the site up and running and trying be the filter between all issues we have here. You should see my inbox

* Chad was banned because of above, Christi only for 5 days and Clubsnus because the lack of all respect of snuson rules and people, all the troubles he wanted to make here and privet to me, mod's and the main reason we needed to ban his IP today is that Jonathan was using two accounts and spamming our forum. Jonathan no! There are rules in internet too. And these people here are or was your friends, so I really don't understand your actions.

If you want to thank SnusOn all the time you have spent, all friends you have got and all experience you have found here, please respect snuson spirit, our work and give us the peace to make the new site ready. I promise the new site will be great!

SnusOn folks!

[sgreger1]

Thanks for all the info Ice, I know there has been a lot of rumbing about the subject and I am sure everyone appreciates you detailing the events out in the open.

Perhaps I wasn't following closely enough but when was Jonathon spamming the forum? And why was it presented that Chad left to make his own site when in reality he was banned along with others?

Either way, I hope the new site comes along well but i'm not sure why a new site with Northerner is required when Snuson seems to be working just fine as it is?

Everyone appreciates your effort as well as the effort of the moderators in bringing us such a great forum where we can all chat and give reviews of our favorite Snus products. Hopefully the new site won't change any of that.

[lxskllr]

Thread is now open for member discussion. Due to time constraints we most likely won't be able to answer individual questions, but discussion amongst members should prove useful, and cathartic.

[lxskllr]

And why was it presented that Chad left to make his own site when in reality he was banned along with others?

That was my doing. I don't know all the details, and honestly it really isn't my business. I figured wording it the way it was would give a graceful resolution for everyone involved. Sometimes people won't follow the obvious path....

[ice]

* As I wrote we banned Jonathan IP today, before that the account was locked but since he had another account we needed to ban his IP too. This forum software is transparent (they all are) IP's are visible to moderators.

* About chad, it's written above

* About the site, this software doesn't have any kind or support anymore, everyone who knows anything about the forums knows the problems I am talking about. I am very happy that we finally are able to fix this site, and develop it even further. And hey, it's always more fun to make this kind of projects together with great people!

[justintempler]

Just an observation...

Remember the sob story from Chad complaining about snuscentral when he first started posting here.

Notice any similarities :?:

[RobsanX]

I like Chad, and I like Snuson. I was upset that Chad was banned, but I'm willing to hear both sides (because there are always two sides).

I'm looking forward to the new site. I think Ice and the mods know that we are here for the level of freedom we have in our discussions, which is why I will not make any hasty judgments about the new site.

[spirit72]

Either way, I hope the new site comes along well but i'm not sure why a new site with Northerner is required when Snuson seems to be working just fine as it is?

Well, Ice is Swedish, Icetool is a Swedish company, and Northerner is a Swedish company. Seems like a good partnership to me. And if Ice and Frank have become friends on a personal level, then it makes perfect sense to carry that into a business partnership in my opinion. I sure don't see a foul there.

I don't see where there's been any real restriction on open discussion and debate here, personally, and I've been here for two years now. I don't really think that will change much even with a partnership between Ice and Northerner. There are some basic ground rules that should be no problem since we're all adults here, and some restrictions on commercial posting that I think are reasonable. If a store can't abide by that, or tries to circumvent it, then I think a ban is warranted.

I know we're all members here, some of us for quite some time, and we tend to make an emotional investment in the community, which is a Good Thing and is perfectly natural. But we also have to keep in mind that, ultimately, this site is owned by Ice, and he is entitled to the final decision on how things are done here. We can respond by remaining members, or not.

Having said all that, I've been over to check out Chad's new site, and it looks great. More snus-related sites and forums can only be a Good Thing for the community. I hope it's successful. I wish him the best.

[wa3zrm]

I'm happy to see the open discussion going on here. I viewed Chad's site today and was shocked, to say the least.

Most of the larger snus stores have forums. One of the things I find refreshing about snuson is that it doesn't push one store over another. I just hope snuson is not going to become to Northerner what snuscentral.org is to snuscentral.com.

As with many users here, I purchase from several sources. The reason I do so is both financial and supply side determined. Naturally, I want to get the best "bang for my buck;" however, if only one store has a product that I use I will purchase from them because I have no other choice.

One of the major reasons I hang out on snuson is because I don't feel obligated to purchase from a particular store. Again, I just hope that snuson does not turn into another snuscentral.

[sgreger1]

Yah didn't mean to question what ice was doing, just curious why the partnership with one specific supplier is all.

Ice, i'd like to thank you for making this forum that has become a big part of my life (sad, huh?) and I know everything here is at your discretion and without you this site wouldn't exist so for you I am thankful! (And IceTools rock!!)

Not sure why some people here are trying to throw Chad under the bus though or make allusions to him being a spammer or something but i'm sure everyone has their reasons.

I personally will miss Chad and his reviews and I will especially miss Jonathan's presence. I would hope you could discuss whatever the issue is with him and allow him back on the forum if he promises to not break whatever rules he was breaking.

The new site looks awesome btw but like others mentioned, I hope it doesn't become a Northerner only kind of place where other suppliers are banned or anything like that.