Chance meeting with a fellow Merbite

[Special K]

Got into town a few days ago and immediately took a walk to my favorite watering hole to hear some great music and enjoy a frosty brew. While hanging out talking with my bartender friend he introduced me to another friend of his at the bar who was in town from the TriState area of the US. I had actually met this guy a couple years ago through the same bartender when we were all out at another pub enjoying ourselves but I only slightly recalled the meeting. Anyway, after a short time we began talking strip clubs, etc. and the conversation soon turned to the internet and my mention to him of the website called Merb.

To my surprise TriState was well aware of Merb and we soon began exchanging stories, recommendations, and other chit chat about the site and the Merb community in general. We then exchanged our posting handles and it was quite humorous to see his reaction when he found out who I was. Unfortunately for us Merb members at this time he is only a lurker due to his fear of being attacked, looked down upon, etc for being a newbie which I found to be unfortunate and hopefully in time he'll come around and open up because I'm sure he'd be a valued member here.

Finally, this just goes to show you never know who you'll meet when in Montreal Funniest thing about this story is that our mutual bartender friend has no idea that either of his friends are active participants in this hobby of ours.

 

[Doc Holliday]

This is funny, but not totally surprising since i've always said that Montreal is a very small world in itself.

Recently, i bumped into a hobbyist who posts on the boards, and we began chit-chatting. It turns out that he hangs out at one of my favorite watering holes, and I (and you) have probably bumped into him at times.

 

[Mod 2]

I sense that this board would be a lot more active if a number of us weren't quite so quick to attack newbies as shills. While we certainly need to be vigilant, I have noticed over time that there is a tendency to mistrust, without cause, the posts of rookie posters and to launch into them without justification.

I agree with that. If you are suspicious about someone, please report your suspicions to the Mods privately. We don't act upon suspisions only, but we will do an in-depth analysis of the information we have and if we can indeed prove the shilling attempt, we'll do.

Unfortunately some situations are more complicated than others and even when given clear indications we can't prove anything (I am sure some of you will remember PM'ing us and not getting the expected result). We appologize for that . We however have very useful tools and it's just a matter of time before shills generally hang themselve.

Bottom line, If the MERB citizenship was more welcoming, I also think we would have more quality members and as a result better information to read and discuss about

M2

 

[donnyb]

I sense that this board would be a lot more active if a number of us weren't quite so quick to attack newbies as shills. While we certainly need to be vigilant, I have noticed over time that there is a tendency to mistrust, without cause, the posts of rookie posters and to launch into them without justification.

We should all be careful and look not to intimidate those who would join us in the spreading of good information.

I totally concur with this statement. I have met a couple of lurkers on my last trip, and let me tell you, they are very knowledgeable hobbyists, not just in mtl but in other parts of the world as well. Yet, they remain as they are: lurkers.

As M2 stated, let's start encouraging the rest of the merb community to embrace a more welcoming approach and we will begin to reap the benefits of reviews from fresh faces.

 

[spiky]

Hmmm...

I'll go for multiple handles...

Spiky

 

[Doc Holliday]

There is no such thing as a MERB party. It's now called a Mtl Rendez-Vous party, where all hobbyists, sps and agency operators are welcome....and members of all boards and non-boards.