WELCOME to all FSW Rinkside 'refugees'!!

[flippet]

I just wanted to take the opportunity to welcome all those of you who are coming from what's sure to be the mass exodus from FSW. I know that I'll miss the wonderful variety of people and threads and topics that I found on Rinkside, and I'm hoping that you all will find it comfortable enough here to stay!

Please, pull up a seat, and join on in! We're so glad you're here!

:D

[Moto Guzzi]

It will be interesting to see how many former FS World posters find their way here. Iskater is not getting any money from me!

[LoopLoop]

The way they handled their change was appalling. And I've told them so. Anyway, I hope more of us turn up here!

[lisabelle]

i agree. i've been at fsworld for a while although i do not post much. i think the change is ridiculous and would not pay even if i could afford it. i'm glad that rinkside has a place to go cause that's definitely what i would have missed the most

[Azlynn]

I thankfully found my way - I'd just hate to lose everyone from Rinkside, they're such a wonderful bunch. Hopefully as many as possible make it over here.

Azlynn/IrishDancerAndSkater

[backspin]

So glad to have found my way over here! Welcome everyone--I hope we see lots more familiar names. :lol:

[Elsy2]

Hi all! I just couldn't believe it when I read the news of the change at FSW. And here I believed they were just going to go down for upgrading.
I'm not really interested in the full range of services Iskater provides. Hopefully, many FSW members will find their way here.....

[Dustin]

Welcome to all the new members :)

[spicyicey]

Hi. I'm refugeeing from FSW as well. I was sk8spice there, but never posted much. Hopefully I'll be able to open up a little more here! :D
I also thought it was particularly slimy the way they made the changeover, but hey, what can you do.

[Gingi]

8)

I've been a member there for a acouple of years, but I refuse to pay $70 a year for service. No thanks.

Happy to be here!

[quarkiki2]

:D Hi, everyone! So glad to see us grouping together somewhere friendly again. I was panicked when I thought I'd lost Rinkside -- it was an awesome place!

Hope everyone makes it over OK. Have a great weekend!

[melanieuk]

[quote:301654cdf5="flippet"]I just wanted to take the opportunity to welcome all those of you who are coming from what's sure to be the mass exodus from FSW. :D[/quote:301654cdf5]

[color=green:301654cdf5]Thanks Flippet. :D
I'm glad I was "invited" here, as I'm not paying for any site. :?
There's another couple of websites for additional skating bits and pieces at :

[/color:301654cdf5]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKskaters/
and
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rinksiders/
:P

[TaraNJ]

Hi guys! Well, I'm still in a state of shock. I hadn't checked my email yet today when I got an IM from LeslieM. She said Elsy2 said that everyone was moving to a new board. When I asked why she said because FSW wants to charge us now. WHAT????!!!!!

I'm sure there will be a mass exodus, as flippet has said. I'm going now to read the Iskater email to see what the heck is going on!

Lastly, hi to all my FSW buddies. I'll see ya back here soon.

[Isabelle]

Thanks! I'm also coming over from FSWorld. It was so nice of them to give us a warning before deciding to charge so much money for the use of their boards! :roll:

[TaraNJ]

Well, from a marketing point of view, they handled the change to a paid-for service poorly, and they definitely did not put forth a strong value proposition in their email message.

"We hope that all members of FSWorld will become iskater subscribers..."

Marketing 101: We are supposed to care what THEY HOPE? They didn't even write the letter to address us, they wrote it in the style of "we, we, we" which, on top of the shock we all have right now, further alienates us from the situation. If they had posed it differently, maybe I would have considered a small fee to keep up my activity there.

So it looks as if they were unable to attract regular advertisers, or bring in revenue through their online store, even with the membership doubling in 19 months (as they pointed out in the email), so now they're turning to us. I understand that they need to pay for software and hardware upgrades, but I just don't see asking the users to fork over $9 a month. That's more than I pay for several magazine subscriptions.

Someone over there has to get on the ball and start attracting advertisers. While the US economy isn't the healthiest right now, skating is still going strong, skaters still need quality equipment, skating apparel and accessories. In a few short weeks when I worked on my club's competition, I was able to secure nearly $1000 in advertising. And that was a one-time local competition with 200 competitors. Iskater could bring in a lot of money by working with the general skating community, through hosting online stores (I know one successful equipment vendor who doesn't have enough time to set up his own online store but he's game to do it), advertising, holding auctions, and creating additional services. But who knows, maybe the skating world is behind the general business world in terms of embracing electronic marketing (which does not have the same momentum as it once did, but the numbers are still there). And it's probably just easier to ask us for money.

OK, so now I go to the site and they're offering the summer free. That's not the same message in the email (the email links to a page that says $8.99 monthly or $64.99 a year). Already their messages conflict.

I'm probably just still a little peeved. Thanks for letting me rant.

[Yazmeen]

Thanks for the welcome, Flippet. Its good to hear everyone's "voices."

Hugs, Beth

[AnnM]

I'm so glad to find my Rinkside buddies :)

[dani]

I everyone!! I agree with what has been said and I am glad I am here, too!

Thanks for being a great group of people!

Hugs!!

Danielle Cox

[Hidden Agenda]

:o
I can't even believe it. I went there everytime I got on the computer, even if just for a minute or so. It was like getting a new Skating Magazine everyday! What creeps! I'm here for good. Thanks to Adrian Chew for having a place for us all to congregate!

[SandraD]

Well......it's about time all you new people joined us. :) Welcome!

Sandra

[Figureskates]

Nothing like getting booted off the ice!!!...just when I had perfected my waltz jump too!!

I hope the whole Rinkside gang shows up here!!!

Formally known as Ifigureskate....

[Helen4]

Well I'm not a refugee but,
when I went there tonight to
check on things, to my surprise it wan't there.
I don't post much but,
love to read what's going on in the skating world.
:D I visit this sight often too as I like the people on it.
I'm sure the peopple will love it here too as I do.
Helen4

[bcskater]

hey adrianchew and everyone here. :lol:
im a skater, been on FSWORLD since Canadians, then a bunch of us skaters started our own convo. im sure tons of u saw it. and then today we got cut off! it was :? aweful, 8O mean, and :x cruel. :oops:
FSWORLD was great to us, but it is dissapionting they would just do that like they did.
i was wondering if u dont mind if i forward this link to the bunch that was on FSWORLD? its just basically a means of communication, we are spread across the country and only get to talk so much, so anything like this is helpful.
nice to meet everyone here, i hope i like it

[TashaKat]

took a while ;) I was already registered on the private board but took a while to get on here! Nice to see lots of people here .... hopefully the trend will continue :P

[dani]

[quote:2f0fca2df0="TashaKat"]You're disturbing me or you're disturbed[/quote:2f0fca2df0]

You're 15 year old niece with the really cool name!

:wink:

Danielle

[TashaKat]

[quote:9b67e177b2="dani"][quote:9b67e177b2="TashaKat"]You're disturbing me or you're disturbed[/quote:9b67e177b2]

You're 15 year old niece with the really cool name!

:wink:

Danielle[/quote:9b67e177b2]

LOL, yes, unfortunately I wasn't allowed to fit the whole thing in :( She is second only to 'Madame' coach with her sayings!

She has wanted to be an interior or fashion designer since the age of about 4 and said to me the other day "next year we get 3 weeks Trident (where they get to work somewhere for 3 weeks to see if they like it) I have decided that I'm writing to Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (famous UK interior designer) to see if I can be his assistant" ..... I wish that I was as focussed as she is!

L x

[Cerulean]

Well, I'm not a rinksider, but hello everyone that I knew from FSW! Boy am I mad at Iskater :x that was completely unprofessional!

[dbuckley]

I didn't post on FSW much either, but I lurked and I met a number
of Rinksiders last year at Lake Placid. I'm glad this board is here and I do hope everyone makes their way here.

[Gia]

--checking in-- I was Viv at fsw, now I'm Gia. Good to see everyone.

[lizzz]

oh good!! rinkside has just changed location. I can still comiserate and get moral support from everyone. Phew!!
Liz or( :D joeyspal)

[icesk8er31]

Although I tended to lurk rather than post, I wanted to say hello to everyone. I was icesk8er31 at FSWorld, am icesk8er31 at the new Rinkside site at Free Skate World, and, well, am icesk8er 31 here, too. Hope all is well with everyone and that you're slowly recovering your equilibrium from the lovely suprise we all got yesterday. It may take me a few more days to talk about iskater.com without venom. The change over was the talk of the ice this morning. We've all decided Paul must be daft.

Cheers!

[flippet]

lizzz!! I didn't know you were joeyspal!! Names are so confusing! :? :? :?

[lizzz]

flippet..lol :)
I was orignally Lizz, then got booted then due to a glitch became lizzz then another glitch became joeyspal.(my dog!) new board so back to a name I can remember!
Liz :lol:

[jazzpants]

Hey, Rinksiders!!!

It's 'jramberg.' Yes, I have changed my handle! It's time for a change! Jazz pants is what I prefer to wear to skate (instead of skating dresses and skirts... too drafty for me!!!) :P

Glad to see everyone here too!!! :D iskater.com who??? :P

Cheers,
Joanna (aka jazzpants aka jramberg)

[Sandra L]

Hi everyone, good to find more rinksiders here! I don't post much but I would miss rinkside the most, out of this, why not say, cruelty that happened to FSW. It looks like we found a new old place to stay, we are not rinkless anymore :D

[Mrs Redboots]

Hi, all; Annabel here - Mrs Redboots, as I have gone back to using as my log-in name. There seem to be a couple of different forums that we ex-Rinksiders have got to - not sure which one will prove to be most used. Still, once I get broadband in a couple of months, it won't matter.....

[flippet]

Annabel, yay! I was wondering if you'd make it over here!

It's so good to see so many of the regulars and a lot of the lurkers, too! I have a feeling that this board is going to be the main hangout spot, especially since it's Adrian's forums. It seems the majority of posters really appreciated Adrian's way of running boards, and they're all really glad to be back, so to speak. I know I am.

I just hope we don't scatter too much--it's always better to be able to draw on the experience and thoughts and ideas of many posters, not just a few. :)

[db]

:D :D :D "DBNY9" from FSW, simply "db" here. I can't believe it took me so long to find this board, but I have out of town guests and haven't been logging so much online time. I'm already registered at FSU and Free Skating World as "db" and "dbny". What a relief to have my favorite virtual skating community back! So glad to see you all again. :D :D :D

[dimples]

Glad to see so many familiar Rinkside names - I'm formerly T.O.Skater. I hadn't been posting much, but I was checking in on a regular basis. Sad to see it go, but our walking away from the fee-based structure is sure to wreak havoc over there!

[Smiley]

Hi!! I'm new here. I never posted on fsworld but I always read it!! Then Keegan told me to come here so I did!! :D
I'm a skater from Ontario at the Senior Ladies level!!!
Actually just moving up to seniors!! :wink:
This place seems great!!!!

[Ice Queen]

I lurked on rinkside more then I posted. But always learned alot from your tips & suggestions. So, I'm glad to see there's a spot here to hang out and discuss our favorite sport.

[bgsk8tr]

Hello everyone; I was a reader most of the time
but did do a few postings. Glad to have a new
board where every member is appreciated and
not just $. Very poor taste on the part of FSW.
I think I will get my fill of news and views and
all the latest information on this board. Glad
to see so many familiar names and ID's.

[wannask8]

Hi, all! I’m another newbie (also posting on ezboard for now) who’s just started slowly getting into skating (to the small extent my somewhat flukey 39-year-old knees allow). I’d been merrily reading the Rinkside posts at FSWorld and finally got around to trying to register over the weekend, and was totally dismayed to find my new, fun place taken away! Thankfully, I was able to find TashaKat, who pointed me in the right direction(s).

Thanks for all of your very helpful FSW posts – I’m so relieved to find that I can still get my regular “fix” of helpful hints!

-- wannask8

[Chico]

Hi,

Thanks for passing the info. on to me too Leslie and Elsy. I was another skater who would not PAY to visit with friends/skating peers. My skating budget is big enough without adding skating board time. Saying that, I have made two special friends visiting Rinkside, and it made me very sad at the recent turn of events. Thank goodness so many of us have found this new board. Thanks for having us! Glad to see so many skaters I know, and new ones to meet.

Chico

[flo]

Thank you.
I was away for a weekend, and came back to ...
I'm here now.
flo,
:D

[Michigansk8er]

I'm here thanks to Elsy2 for sending me the tip. :D

[BJY4EVR]

I'm also an FSW orphan... but what a great looking board this is! I'm sure I won't miss FSW too much with this and FSU around.

[Sk8Kate]

I'm a "refugee" too! I tended to lurk more than post, but I'm glad to see many familiar names here. I was Sk8Kate, then Sk8Kate2006 on FSW.

[Mel On Ice]

I actually signed on to FSW to make a long-neglected return to Rinkside to discover I had to pay! Forget that!

Glad to see so many names I haven't seen in a long while. I'm going to make a strict habit of posting to this Rinkside from now on. :o

[icenut84]

Hi all!
Glad to see so many familiar names here - I know a lot of Rinksiders got spread around after FSW went kaput, but it's nice to see so many of you here, and also new people to meet :) I used this same name on FSW and I also use it on a couple of other boards. I posted on Rinkside too, for about a year. Anywayz, nice to "see" you all! :mrgreen:

Rachel

[1lutz2klutz]

Wow, I went away on vacation and when I came back on to check what's happening, I got quite a shock! Glad I found you all- I posted as maryellen on FSworld, but my new name is a pretty accurate description of my skating!

[skatesnrides]

Yeah, I finally found you! Thanks Pat!! Like everyone else, I was completely appalled by the way the changeover occured, but I'm glad everyone has found a common place to migrate. Nice to see everyone tuning in again.

[lsk8tr]

I only posted a few times on FSW...but I read all your messages everyday.

I wrote a "nasty gram" to FSW...they didn't even give us a chance to say goodbye to the group!

Anyway, it's good to be back and I'll start posting more..... :D

[flippet]

Mel! I was wondering what had happened to you! It's good to see you posting again. :D

Katie...it's great to see you posting too! I was hoping you hadn't disappeared entirely. I hope your skating's going well! :D

[Imo]

I was Imo on the old FSW... Imo here as well! :)

[Imo]

I was Imo on the old FSW... Imo here as well! :)

[kayskate]

Hi, everyone.
I finally found my way here. Did not know about this board until someone posted about it on adultedge yahoo group.

I was also angry at FSW. Through my website, I have sent many people to FSW. I deleted their link after they treated us so poorly. Now I can refer readers to this site.

Too bad for the people who pay for FSW. There will be no one there to talk to. I would not pay $9/mo for that list. That's more than a skating session! There are still to many free good quality services online.

Kay

[KJD]

Hi everyone. I also just found this board (or rather found it about a week ago but just now unburied myself enough to register). I was KJD on FSW.

[garyc254]

Hi All!!!

Glad to see so many familiar names. DB or DBNY9 e-mailed to let me know where most of the old gang went. THANKS DB!!! :o

I know I've seen a few of you on Free Skate World. I'm sure we'll eventually settle down to one main forum.

I was going through chat-withdrawal. 8O

Soon,

Gary

[ddpskater]

Hi. I mostlly lurked on Rinkside, but had just introduced myself. I was DPSkater there, DDPSkater here. Anyway, once agin Hi.

[manleywoman]

I'm here as well...still manleywoman.

8)

[singerskates]

[color=darkblue:326c9600be][/color:326c9600be][size=18:326c9600be][/size:326c9600be] :D Glad to see I've found you all. I was singerskates at FSW and that's what I'm here and a few other places too.

I'm without ice until Sept. because I've chosen to not skate this summer because the family vacation I'm doing with the family is smack in the middle of summer skating and because I just can't take skating 6 days a week when working on my feet all day. I'm currently at the gym 3 times a week to keep in shape and shed a few pounds so that I can jump higher and spin better in the fall. I am doing my freeskate off ice in the gym dance studio. Wild change edge spiral off ice. :lol:

Brigitte Laskowski

[NickiT]

Hi, I've finally made it over here with thanks to Chico. Like everyone else from FSWorld, I'm not prepared to have to pay for the boards as I pay enough for skating as it is!!! It's great to see so many names that I know have joined in over here.

Nicki

[Terri C]

:D
Well, if anyone is curious, it is SLOW/ non- existent on FSW! Since I found everyone, I'm planning on canceling my subscription!

[Jim Hodges]

As a fellow refugee, I am glad to see you all showing up here. Hope it is successful. Glad to see many of the old posters on here.

[MissIndigo]

I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to find all of you! So good to see some familiar names--looking forward to more great discussions about our skating! :D