Our Founder: Roy Heap (Uncle Roy) Moderator/Admin and anything he wants to be, ownership is his!
Admin Gen: Bob Adams
Admin IT: Marc (Arcada)
A few years back I searched to find the steel community in the UK and I struggled and I mean really struggled. So having had the domain name bought ‘from years previously,’ I worked for months, gathered all the information I could and put http://www.pedalsteel.co.uk on the web! My goodness, it turned out I was not alone in my struggle to find anything PSG! This instrument of ours is so loved, yet so lost, it is scary. I have had contact form Japan, Oz, Brazil, Africa, Canada, the US and all over Europe. US steelie Roy Ayres, (SGHoF member and ex Fender Director) who died recently asked me to add the guest book facility to the site which I said I would if he would kick it off, he did, it was such an honour to have a pillar of the steel community take that degree of interest!
In due course I discovered The British Steelies Society (.com) and thought, thank goodness there are some out there after all. I join up, contributed best I could and thought this is great I can get back into it again, however the platform on MSN was not a long term solution and Roy had to find it a new home which he did however, before too long it also experienced ‘gremlins in the system’ and copious numbers of us were being kicked out on a regular basis. As a result the membership haemorrhaged very badly, much frustration ensued in the proceeding months and some time later I sat having a cuppa with Roy in Bournemouth saying what are your thoughts. He said, ‘and I know he will forgive me for this’! Bob, It has to go, I have enough on my plate with the newsletter and other things in my life I just can’t throw anymore time at it, I said, please don’t bin it Roy after all this effort, at least not yet, I am so busy right now but we must find a way as soon as we can! So as I had a much valued friend who has unsurpassed knowledge where web issues are concerned I said let me think about it and perhaps talk to him.
At this point I want to say a very big thank you to Sean Doherty who stepped in to help but was soon tearing his hair sorting issues, I want to thank him now publicly for his efforts during that difficult time of trying to keep the forum up there, thank you Sean.
In the ensuing weeks I did follow through on it as I promised Roy and the rest goes like this:
Marc, (Arcada) I have known for numbers of years as he has been engaged in company IT solutions where I have been involved and has delivered way beyond regular expectation, he has the passion for his craft that we have for PSG. When I approached him about this however, he said if I recall rightly, Bob are you mad! Are you sure you want to do this! What is this pedal steel thing anyway! You have to be joking here! I said, nope we have to do this, I’ve promised Roy and it must be done! Marc being Marc said, ok, you are obviously passionate about it so. Let’s do it! We need: this, this, and this. Avoid that, protect against this, avoid that, don’t need this, bollocks to that, etc!! etc!! ok! And after some time and many cups of coffee he said How’s that! What are your thoughts! And on the 6th of that July it was sorted thebritishsteeliessociety.co.uk ! Had its own domain at last was absolutely secure and was live! From that day until now we are where we are!
Uncle Roy remains the founder of ‘The BSS’ be it on the web or on paper and that is not up for debate! We (Marc and I) are simply facilities managers for lack of a better expression, whether by knowledge or passion and give above and beyond the time we can afford to it, trust me! So when we are trying to have a family weekend away, or are on the other side of the country or indeed out the country all together and some personality issue erupts! We sort it! Well try to!
In the overall scheme of things there are remarkably few problems and moderation is infrequent however where content is in question on copyright or could cause damage to the mechanics of the site then Marc will deal with it promptly and suggest alternatives where possible. Where threads start to run headlong into personality issues for whatever reason then I sort that for the integrity of the site.
That (as I’m sure the core membership are aware and our most recent event) is why I am writing this. It is totally understandable that people instantly start to post remarks in support of their friends or fellow players or analyse the actions of either party, but unfortunately after a week has passed it starts to sound like two old ladies in the tea shop and that is the point to draw a line under it. In reality the core membership are all fairly mature in years and should certainly be in wisdom and understanding, thus, how much better it would be going forward if these misunderstandings or misinterpretations were dealt with by private message or better still, pick up the phone, fix it and resume normal service! We are all the men we will ever be gentlemen, let’s embrace our craft and each other!
As for contribution, it would be great if all you fellows who stick your head over the parapet, have a look in, see what is going on but can’t be bothered adding even a hello would actually stop and think if they all did what I’m doing now there would be no forum, is that your desire? Think about it guys, if you enjoy the community we need to be a community! Not just fair weather friends!
Ok! I think I’ve covered it! This is no rant it is simply me wearing my heart on my sleeve as they say! I am sure the motives of all here are honourable but as for me. I’m here only because I care, end of story!
If however, any of you, and I mean any of you, have the time, diplomacy, IT skills and stamina to relieve us of our duties we Marc and I will gracefully step down, we never have enough hours in the day anyway!
On the up side people, how rewarding were these to see this week?
davegallagher wrote:I love this forum and will endeavour to contribute more to it in the future.
Thank you Dave you are as ever a true gent!
&
Darrenc wrote:Just wanted to say a big thanks 'publicly' to this site for the interest and help received. I've enjoyed browsing around the topics and reading some of you boys stories, i'll definately drop in from time to time and if i can ever contribute anything useful i'll be glad to and maybe let you know of any gigs we may have.
Thanks again, great site
Darren
Thank you Darren that is what we are really about!
So, with much respect to you all and especially Uncle Roy for his years of faithful service to this community and all things PSG …….. Kind regards, Bob (and Marc)
