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[personal profile] skyring
If you go here, you'll see why I have been bubbling over with excitement about BookCrossing for the past few weeks.

I haven't been able to say anything until an announcement, but Scott has impressed me hugely. He understands BookCrossers and BookCrossing, the way that we are a member-driven community, rather than one driven from above. For a guy who is the President of BookCrossing.com, that's an important view to have.

Scott is also embarking on a round of visits to conventions. I can thoroughly approve of such a plan. And I'll get to meet him in a couple of weeks in Charleston. For anyone who has been wavering about attending, now is the time to make a move. I can promise that Scott's talk at the convention will be one well worth listening to.

Date: 2007-04-03 11:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] texaswren.livejournal.com
Oh man. I'm missing everything cool!!! I'll never get to meet Scott now.
Please shake his hand for me and tell him I said Welcome aboard, would you?

Date: 2007-04-03 11:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skyring.livejournal.com
With pleasure!

Date: 2007-04-03 11:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] texaswren.livejournal.com
I went and re-read it. I wonder if they will still let me keep my site or if there will be copyright stuff and a more formal atmosphere.

I'm really counting on you guys to do regular posts at the convention, especially this part. Maybe someone can hook up to gizmo or something? Make a good first impression and whisper on the phone during his first presentation. lol Maybe not such a good idea. ;-)

Date: 2007-04-04 12:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skyring.livejournal.com
If your site goes, I go with it.

Your wonderful BookCrossing pages are part of the magic that is BookCrossing. You were the Support Team all by yourself before there was anything official. You are where we go looking for information.

You are the epitome of BookCrossing.

A pity we won't have jfroebe and his camera, broadcasting data streams. I'll do my best to post updates, but time has a way of vanishing during these things - as you know!

Date: 2007-04-04 12:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] texaswren.livejournal.com
You are so sweet. I was thinking the same thing about Jason.

I had a moment of panic at the idea of not doing that anymore. ;-) Breathe. Breathe. ;-)

I know that it isn't possible to keep us in the loop. I'd want someone in each group to carry around a video camera the entire time so that I wouldn't miss one second. ;-)

I also know you, and the others, will do the best they can for us all!

Date: 2007-04-04 10:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bookczuk.livejournal.com
We've made some arrangements for video filming-- lets just hope it all works! Plus, we're going to post up dates, and I plan to collect emails from folks who want to ask Scott specific questions after his Saturday talk for the Sunday meeting with the Management Team.

Date: 2007-04-04 02:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] whytraven.livejournal.com
This scares my chickens a little. It's not the Scott-ness, it's the fact that it's *corporate* and *CEO*. I can't help thinking, like Wren, that it may change the flavour of the site, rather like LJ when it got sold to Six Apart.

Time will tell, eh?

Date: 2007-04-04 03:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] miss-efficiency.livejournal.com
The founders have always tended to speak in very business-oriented language. It think it is just what they are most comfortable with. It doesn't necessarily mean that the site will become more corporate. As you say, we'll see.

You'll have to tell me your impressions of Scott, as this is yet another reason to regret that I cannot attend he convention.

Date: 2007-04-04 08:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skyring.livejournal.com
So far, I am enormously impressed. He's not just a suit with an MBA - he's also got a heart to go with the head. I think he'll do very well here.

Date: 2007-04-05 12:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] whytraven.livejournal.com
You could share my dorm at the hostel. It's only $19/night.

Date: 2007-04-05 02:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] miss-efficiency.livejournal.com
If I start walking tonight, I might arrive in time. ;-P Thanks anyway. It's really sweet of you to offer.

Date: 2007-04-05 04:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ravensroads.livejournal.com
Walk faster!

Date: 2007-04-04 03:26 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shendoah.livejournal.com
well hell. see, I've been out of the loop so long, I didn't even know Ron moved here.

Date: 2007-04-04 04:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] texaswren.livejournal.com
That's the first I"d heard of it too. He never has been real talkative though.

Date: 2007-04-04 04:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] annulla.livejournal.com
First I heard of the move to California or the search for a president, but then, the people that run bookcrossing are very secretive. It wasn't that way at the beginning, but it is part of the culture now. :(

Date: 2007-04-04 10:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] skyring.livejournal.com
There are very few secrets in BookCrossing. Ron has had his own life apart from running the site, but he's always been available at conventions to ask questions, and journalists have little trouble getting onto him.

I guess you could call me one of the people that run BookCrossing (but only in a very minor way). If there are secrets kept from the members, it is usually something like "We're going to introduce a new product or service, what is the best way of wording the announcement?". We discuss the details and get the news out as soon as possible.

Yes, there are secrets within BookCrossing, but in an organisation committed to ensuring the privacy of its members, that's always going to be the case. Those who have access to private details are very few in number and take care to keep things like names and email addresses out of public gaze. if you want to tell the world your real name, that's fine, but we won't reveal it.

Likewise we keep private our policies for dealing with trouble makers. We get the occasional spammers, stalkers and book-hoarders, and we have ways of dealing with them. But we don't reveal the extent of our abilities, and I trust that the wisdom of this policy is evident in the general good nature of the community.

Date: 2007-04-04 03:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] miss-efficiency.livejournal.com
Wow, that is big news! I'm happy for Ron, Heather and Bruce. They have all seemed a bit burned out the last couple of times that I have seen them. It's great to see them get the kind of help that they need.

Date: 2007-04-04 03:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dubnordie.livejournal.com
Reading between the lines "Scott hails from the San Francisco Bay area, and since I recently moved there myself".....How far is SF from Missouri? And did Reno move on his own? (is everything ok in Reno-land?)

Date: 2007-04-04 04:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] texaswren.livejournal.com
Missouri is right in the middle of the US. SF is on the west coast,roughly 2000 miles.

Date: 2007-04-04 06:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] molyneux66.livejournal.com
Interesting! I'll look forward to meeting him at the Convention!

Date: 2007-04-04 09:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lizmopuddy.livejournal.com
Looking forward to meeting him at the Convention, and wonder if he is planning on going to the German convention, be so cool to meet him twice.

Date: 2007-04-04 09:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] heaven-ali.livejournal.com
It will be interesting to see how this effects bc day to day - it may indeed be a massively positive thing - I just get a little worried too, by the whole corporate thing.

the new guy...

Date: 2007-04-04 11:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] redsoxbookguy.livejournal.com
Hey everyone,
Wanted to drop in and send a quick note to say "Hi". I've been speaking with a lot of folks today, reading and responding in various blogs and more than anything wanted to say thank you for all the "candid" comments, thoughts and perspectives. I truly realize any change like this to the BookCrossing community is going to have an impact. All I can say is that I am overly sensitive to this fact and will work tirelessly at earning your trust...not through words but through actions and delivering results. While that may seem a bit "corporate" in tone, I can assure you I'm not a "corporate, 3 piece suit, MBA(don't have one)" guy. While it is important for us to focus on business execution to ensure the long term grow of BookCrossing, it's equally important we remain true to the roots and genesis of why this company became so successful in the first place...a passion for books, a desire to share them with friends, family and strangers and an altruistic Worldwide community. I don't mean it to sound sappy, its just how I feel. For those of you attending the South Carolina convention(and I see a few of you are!), I can't wait to meet you...I am also planning on attending the Germany and UKUnconvention so I may be spending more time with a few of you:) Very lastly, Ron is in fact about 45 miles/72 kilometers from me and we speak very frequently...I'm proud to call him a friend along with Heather and Bruce Pedersen and we will ALL work to ensure this company and community continues on this great trajectory.

Best Regards,
Scott
"Redsoxbookguy"

Re: the new guy...

Date: 2007-04-05 12:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] whytraven.livejournal.com
Cool.

Your neighbour (though not for too much longer ;-) in the Bay Area.

Re: the new guy...

Date: 2007-04-05 12:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] whytraven.livejournal.com
Oh... Pleasanton. There's an active BX group over there that meets in Pleasanton.

Re: the new guy...

Date: 2007-04-05 02:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] miss-efficiency.livejournal.com
*waves* Welcome aboard! Sorry I won't get to meet you at the convention. I have always enjoyed talking shop with Ron, Heather, and Bruce at the conventions and I am sad to miss it this year. Hopefully our paths will cross sometime. Congrats on the new gig.

Warm regards,
M-E

P.S. I don't have an MBA either, but I sometimes lapse into corporate speak. Thankfully these guys are good at giving me a virtual slap to get me to snap out of it.

Re: the new guy...

Date: 2007-04-05 03:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thebiblioholic.livejournal.com
Welcome to BookCrossing. I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing how things develop.

Re: the new guy...

Date: 2007-04-05 08:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] heaven-ali.livejournal.com
that all sounds fair enough to me : ) - looking forward to meeting you in Brighton at the Uncon.

Date: 2007-04-05 03:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thebiblioholic.livejournal.com
Interesting. Hope it does good things for BookCrossing. I've been a bit disenchanted with the site (lack of responsiveness to problems, poor performance) and tone in the forums for some time. Maybe things will get shaken up positively.

Site Performance

Date: 2007-04-05 02:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] redsoxbookguy.livejournal.com
I completely agree with you on the site performance. It was the #1 issue the members had been complaining about for a very long time. We literally did the cutover last night at midnight Pacific Time and we've been testing the various site elements all night. So far, we're seeing a minimum of 33% and at times up to 50+% improvement and response time. Let me know if you think its noticeable. Best, Scott

Re: Site Performance

Date: 2007-04-05 03:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thebiblioholic.livejournal.com
Congratulations. I took a quick peek at the forums. Seems to be working, but I haven't been at the forums for many months now, just the occasional glance, so I don't have any recent experience to compare performance to. It seems zippy enough at the moment. Sadly the level of discourse there seems to be about the same, so I probably won't be frequenting the forums. :-/

I look forward to upcoming feature improvements, especially in areas relevant to registering/releasing books. One of the most frequently cited gripes has to do with the pop up list of previous release locations overflowing and/or getting cluttered with single-use locations. Some user interface/process streamlining for bulk registration/releases would be nice too.

Wishing you continued success in your endeavours.

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