Hi Friends.</p>
</p>
It's been quite some time since I walked these halls... But seeing as how I played a large (but now mostly forgotten role) in our exodus from the O's and the establishment of our new home and the fact that a few people I am in regular contact with reached out to me I thought I'd share my two cents.</p>
</p>
First of all: By legal right Ton did not have to consult or inform anyone of his intention to move/sell/disband/whatever. So well done sir. That's mighty standup of you.</p>
</p>
Now onto to my opinion:</p>
</p>
The IHN "business":</p>
The benefits for IHN as a business are: </p>
<ul>[*]
An influx of new blood - For any site, forum or social entity to last it periodically needs new people coming in, with new thoughts and ideas. Otherwise it will become nothing but an echo chamber.
[*]
The social benefit of a larger community - With a larger community IHN will be able to command a certain amount of prestige and respect. However, since IHN would be absorbed into CCS the most immediate effect of this larger community would be felt by that organization. That being said, IHN users would still be able to experience some version of the benefits of such..
[*]
The technical and structural benefits that come with being a part of a larger site - software updates, site maintenance, hosting, new features, optimizations... all of these things are done with a goal of improving the overall experience and long term viability of the site. And when you are part of a site that turns a profit and employs staff it is crucial to their livelihood to ensure that they happen.
[/list]
</p>
The IHN users:</p>
All the concerns from IHNers I've seen appear to come down to one thing: Culture. The people here who have expressed a concern about moving to CCS really have a concern about their culture being lost. And the fact is that when two entities like this merge that is going to be a side effect. A little bit of who IHN is will be lost in the transition. All of that is a wash when it comes to this game of pros/cons. We have no idea what parts of the culture would be lost and therefore have no reliable way to judge this possible future.</p>
</p>
What we can reliably say is this:</p>
<ul>[*]IHN is nothing without it's users - The people who choose to spend their time trolling these halls make it what it is.
[*]IHN needs new users from time to time - As mentioned above: no new people = echo chamber.
[*]IHN needs administration and support - A person or committee has to run the site. Without maintenance it will collapse.
[*]IHN needs money to exist - This must either come from ad revenue, partnerships, sponsorships, donations or an "owner". And each of those carry their own dependencies...
[/list]
</p>
This comes down to two very basic things: </p>
What does the "business" of IHN want? and What do the users of IHN want?</p>
</p>
Right now it seems that they want different things. The business wants to merge, the users don't want to merge.</p>
</p>
If the users do not want to merge and the business agrees that the users are the lifeblood of the site then it will accommodate their request - but it should only do so in a manner that satisfies the list above...</p>
</p>
All of this takes Ton and his personal responsibility out of the equation. This isn't about him. It's about the business of IHN (which happens to be currently run by him). If he no longer wants to fulfill the duties of his position a perfectly legitimate course of action is for him to sell. </p>
</p>
At the end of it all the question is:</p>
Who buys him out? The user base or CCS. Both options would fulfill his need to have a role with reduced responsibilities.</p>
