Hi,

Back in the early 1990's when the internet was still rather novel and the
World Wide Web was in its infancy, Ornithologist Vic Fazio had the
foresight to create the Ohio Birds listserve. As a scientist first and
foremost, Vic envisioned the list serve as a means to communicate and share
not just sightings, but also anything related to the avifauna of Ohio,
including history and other observations or discussions related to birds
and or the sport of birding in Ohio and the related surrounding geography.
When something started to get off topic you could depend on Vic's
impeccable logic and unquestionable integrity to explain why, and to put
and end to the off topic thread. Not just the list owner, Vic was also an
active participant in the discussion. He is also a person with a wry sense
of humor, and so having fun also became part of the culture and community
that evolved.

Once Vic's scientific obligations prevented him from being as active in
managing the list serve and with the formation of the Ohio Ornithological
Society, the logical step was to transfer ownership to that organization.
Even with the transfer, the rules, culture and community, remained intact
and did so for some time.

It would seem that now, with the monetization of the birding spectacle
becoming a driving factor in the sport and those involved, image has become
far more important than community and accommodation of diverse topics and
discussion. Also the sense of fun has been ground into the dirt because it
would seem some feel this also casts a negative image on birding in Ohio,
and as a result, might effect people coming to our state to partake in the
spectacle of the sport.

The OOS owns this forum and can set the rules as they see fit. Times change
as does culture. If rule changes are deemed necessary to better serve
monetary interests, or whatever interests there are which are less
concerned with conservation and science, and a broad sense of having fun,
so be it. Change is constant and inevitable. I would find a forum which
only concentrated on listing and chase birds to be boring and lacking in
utility since I can now get much of that information automatically via
eBird. It is the community and sometimes heated discussion (And formerly
the humor) that I find attractive about this forum. It would be a shame to
see that go.

Haans

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