My thoughts on Friday's Meeting and the aftermath - ALL MEMBERS PLEASE VIEW -
This is gonna be a long one so grab on, i feel it has come to a head and this a defining point in the steemsilvergold group. I dont write this meaning to hurt but how else can i express what i think when i feel hurt. I have ran at over and over think of a better way to word it.
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@ steemsilvergold aka - Stax
I was at the Town hall meeting, thanks for taking the time @phelimint for answering all of our questions. That took balls to do; I would not have been able to tell a bunch of people that I’ve sorta ripped them off through being completely blind and never second questioning why you getting so much support for your private owned bot. You never thought it odd to accept big donations for a private bot that you owned. A bot that you also received x2 daily 100% votes from which is 18.2% of the bots daily power going directly in your pocket, $29.06 SBD at the time of writing for running the bot and making its daily post. You never thought, why am I being paid to run this bot when I own it? Where you dropped on your head? How do you overlook the few members giving a 100% daily votes to Stax post worth maybe $2 and also making them pay monthly through delegation are donation and then giving them a $7 upvote back. It never crossed your mind why those members never complained about it? At the end of the day I can use upvote services to boost my posts, so that's get that out of the way. There are 178 members is the group and you seem to be the only one that thought that Stax was solely in you ownership. It’s not really a whoopsy Phil, it’s more like driving with your eyes closed and thinking everything will be rosy. I am more let down then anything. I think to myself if you were asked the question that everyone wanted the answer to on Friday back when you wrote the first stax post were it was stated in the 1st paragraph that you had volunteered to help. If this was a community are private owned bot, we might have got a different answer than we got on Friday evening and not be in this place. But the question was not asked and the bot account has blown up, it changes things and people views.
I feel cheated on and it makes me shake when I think about it, the upvote is not important. It's what Stax did for the community knowing that we were helping each other and it was being handled with Phil who was being paid 100% vote are his efforts. I have supported the bot from the beginning, maybe not so much with $ but I have gave time. I held the contest posts (#211&219 on my blog) that gave Stax her nickname and current logo's. When stax split from the group membership list which has turned into a blessing from the past given were we are today, I took over the role of looking after enrolment and the maintaining the membership list which got Stax out of a hole very quickly. It really hurts me because I thought that Steemsilvergold was bullshit proof and it just goes to show that there is no such thing as a good deed for nothing.
( This was wrote just before i uploaded the post and moved it here)
- I have been writing this post on and off for around 3 hours and the whole time I’m thinking for $6k worth of SP? I know the math's does not lie, I heard that a million times during Fridays chat. While the maths on 1 year’s worth of 100% votes from Stax is worth around 5400 SBD which is worth more than $6k. Why would you kill a cash cow for $6k now when you could have so much more in the future? Its only makes sense if you are planning to power down and I don’t think that you plan this. Dude, you were getting a 100% vote every day. I can’t get my head around that, I just can’t. A 100% upvote every day for writing some code ages ago and tweaking it every few days. And then you had everyone upvoting 100% the daily posts building your 100% upvote over time. Man you had it made.)
As it stands I am a gold member. I will continue to receive my gold upvote until the last day of the month. After that I will not be renewing. I have always got my membership through donations and had planned to make my first delegation of 500SP at the end of the month the bring my pay out down to 75 Steem. I can say for certainty that I will not be renewing Stax membership are going ahead with the delegation in April. I will be happy to be free of trying to save up 100 Steem every month and timing my posts for an upvote bot. This is not why I got into steemsilvergold, I’m here to make a few dollars but it's not the core reasoning for all the time I spend on Steemit.
Stax has changed the whole group and now we find out she's a wolf in sheep’s wool, we need to either kill her off are send her packing. I am sorry for the blunt words but how can I sugar coat? I can tell you now that someone else within the community will make a true community bot, nothing is confirmed but I feel it will happen and when it does, the group will be split into 2 camps. Do not for one second think that 2 bot's will be good in any way for steemsilvergold? We would have 2 bots competing for delegation, donations and post upvotes. It’s not healthy for a group of 200 stackers. I think Stax has had her time in the sun and it’s time to move on. I’m sorry but I needed to get that all out.
And for the record, I honestly believe that Stax started out as a true community bot and things changed. For $6k are for principle, you have shot yourself in the foot.
# Steemsilvergold going forward
This changes a few things, I honestly think we need rid of Stax and to move on from this car crash. If another bot pops up, so be it and we can jump that wall when it comes. Fact of the matter is it’s not a community bots folks. Why would we fund a bot that is privately owned? That's not a community bot weather it exclusive to steemsilvergold are not. I would like to get back to the core codes of the group outlined by @hgmsilvergold in this post. I really mean it and I think we should move away from Stax and get back to silver and gold. Look through the lists of posts and see how many are related to Stax, I’m not saying I’m not guilty but we have got lost and it time to get our shit sorted and back onto track. While I am at it, there might be a need to do a complete member clear out and get back to active users only. We can hold a vote for this and 1 months’ notice would be given before any changes are made. I hold my hands up to that and people have gotten in willy nilly the past few months. This will change and member’s activity will be monitored more closely. In the coming days, I will post of a rough copy of a Steemsilvergold FAQ and need feedback. If someone else wants to do this, feel free and we can work together. I claim not ownership to the group because I deal with enrolment and membership. I’m only part of the engine so for newer members, we are a decentralized group built on group voting. There is no owner since the founder jumped ship due to whatever reasons.
Apart from that I only have 1 other thing the mention about the steemsilvergold group which is below. The group will have some changes going forward because of all this, I pray we look back at this in few months and laugh about it. We are silver and gold stacking group and that's why we joined the group. That's move on, put this down as something to learn from and improve from it.
For the record. I think in no way that my 2 cents are worth more than anyone else. These are my views and I will always follow what the community decides.
@ Phelimint as Group mod
This is the hardest part of the post. I don’t wonna be the guy, I don’t wonna have to be the one that has to bring this up but the question has to be brought forward to the group. I’m going to keep it black & white and not cut about the bush. Should @phelimint remain a mod for steemsilvergold group? Is there any trust left after this?
This puts us into a very tricky spot as Phil is connected to a lot of the community's bigger projects. He control's Stax, owns the mint where the steem silver round is produced and is a group mod. There is a lot of conflicting interest now that we know that Stax is privately owned and steemsilvergold members have been funding this guy’s pension fund. Double dipping, greedy........... *%$£&!!! (I just deleted 84 letters, I don’t wonna make this an 18+post).
I’m sorry folks but I put a lot of fucking hours into this group because I was voted in to be a mod and take the role seriously. I would sooner walk away than build false hope. You guys don’t see it; all you see is a weekly membership post. I set up the discord server and keep it ticking over as well, I spend a lot of time thinking of ways to do group buys and things to bring the community closer and make it tighter. I will be doing a steemsilvergold t-design contest soon, nothing to do with silver but a steemsilvergold group thing to do to bring us closer and build bonds. How many members are doing stuff like this? There will be group lotto coming also, you better believe I will play my fucking part in making this the greatest group on Steemit, I have ideas falling out of my ass that will help every get more silver in their pockets and none of them involve a greedy fucking bot sucking up members charity are its owner
For the record, this has been brought to my attention and I feel we need a group vote on this. I think I have made my personal thoughts clear. Please take time to think about your answer.
Final rant and why all this shit for $6,000
We have to move on from this in whatever way we can. I think someone's stackitis got the better of them and they lost the vision. For $6k, you can have it. Thank you for reading through my 1720 word rant.
Feel better now? First let me start by saying THANK YOU! You have done a lot of behind the scene work for SSG. This has not gone unnoticed by most of us. I think everything you mentioned, you have a right to be upset about. We are steemsilvergold, we will grow and we will also clean out the trash.... thanks again for everything that you have done for the SSG community.
I agree 100% with this man, thx for all your work ssuk!
thanks bro, i started writing this reply about 3 days and still it had not finished yet, lmao.
Yes, i feel much better, thank you.
Your very welcome, i do what i do for the love. Its just sad it's come to this but we are a young group and these things happen. Could we have ever thought 2 weeks ago about getting rid of Stax? Curve ball for sure but......my good friend
thanks bro,
Well i got accepted to the best precious metals group that I’ve ever been a part of. I get backed and supported with a very generous gift as well to help me out. I have tried to put out excellent content daily, I’ve done giveaways to show my support, i read 30-40 posts a day and comment, i run raffles to grow my steem power to help support the community with my votes. I have had great interaction with many of the members already. I don’t know what all of you went through to develop Stax, but this group is not Stax. #steemsilvergold is by far the best group by far. I thank you for everything that you have done to help build it up. I thank you for giving me the help you did, it is much appreciated. I thank you for writing this post as hard as it was to do. I 100% support your decision and am a proud member of #steemsilvergold and will continue in the direction of the group. #steemsilvergold is All for one and one for All......we don’t need no stinky Stax.
Thanks for your support. This will be something will move on from. No biggie, just a bump my friend. Greater minds are at work
No doubt. But still sucks. I’m sure, there are some very smart people in this group. You are my mentor 👍
Thanks for all your comments about this STAX bull crap dude, it is appreciated.
It’s not about the bot, it’s about the group. And this is coming from a total newbie that could use that help. I was deceived out of way more money then that chump change. Fuck Phil for letting the community build up his bot for self gain. I am 100% steemsilvergold, everyone has been great so far. Appreciate everything brother👍
I think it's your fresh eyes (and other new members) on the situation that kinda help clear some of the mental clutter away. You aren't carrying baggage from the group or being a Phelimint customer. Like alot of us are/were... were likely is better, lol. Time will tell though, it's never too late to redeem oneself in my mind.
I was on that town hall meeting. The sound of the groups voice was unreal. They gave Phil every opportunity to fix it. He stood his ground and i don’t think there is any chance that Ray, Damus or the mafia crew would ever change their minds now. There could be a great divide coming within the group. Those that stay with Stax and those that don’t. What happened Friday was just the beginning. Wait till March is over and they check to see who’s still with Stax.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And thank you!
I should have wrote this yesterday, i feel amazing right now.
I was not sure how this post would turn out but it seems a few people agree with me.
Mate, I am glad you feel better for getting it off your chest. Stuff like this can build up and I've felt it too.
Your voluntary work for SSG in the background has been noticed by a lot of people and it really is appreciated. I am someone who looks at what people DO rather than what they SAY and I can see that you're a quiet achiever. You've got my respect for what you DO and have DONE for SSG.
Thanks buddy for the kind words, i look forward to working closer with you on upcoming projects
Oh yeah, and i always thought that Pmint had a shitty logo, and it is laughable now reading “cultivating altruism”
Go sucka dink Stax
Great friggin post man! Think we need to send Pheli and his bot packin. He betrayed us and has no right to be in our tag anymore
Your the only person who has commented on weather he should remain and mod even if it is undirectly, lol.
Thanks man, it's good to have your support and while i have you. Do you need to be a pourer to join up with metals mafia?
@silverstackeruk No you don't need to be a pourer.
I want in. Im gonna chill abit this week. I have the group crypto buy to do and collect for tomorrow and i just gonna make easy posts until Friday. The weekend, im looking into it and going on a posting spree.lol
I think there were a lot of assumptions made on all parties that were never clearly defined that led to this. I feel bad for everyone involved as there seem to be a lot of butthurts out here. Understandable, for sure, and I don't have near as big a stake in it as many of the rest. I definitely think some people could have handled themselves a little more professionally.
Just one of those things. The way all Stax posts were worded in the beginning which misleading weather meant are not. Shit happens, we'll move on. I feel safer with my alliance delegation, at least we know the score with that.
I definitely think some people could have handled themselves a little more professionally. Agreed.
I agree with @silverd510....I'm here for the community, not for a bot. I've made connections with great people here on Steemit and hope to be able to get around and meet them in person some day. I'd be fine with getting rid of Stax as well and it would encourage people to communicate and connect with people in the group instead of relying on a guaranteed upvote.
Being in a community like SSG simply focuses the attention of people with similar interests, which allows your post a better chance for getting attention and upvotes. A bot was a nice perk, but NOT if it is going to divide the community.
Thank you for all your work, @silverstackeruk!
Thank you for your support man,
Stax is sad but it will be interesting to watch Phil next move. He has had 2 days to give any update and change his mind but he continue's to make update about voting strength and nothing that anybody cares about at this moment.
Great summary from a respected member of the group. As a minnow, I upvoted Stax almost every day , but to my knowledge, never got a vote in return. Time to move on to the original concept of this community. Mainly fun and knowledge
Thanks buddy for the comment, it just was not working out. The numbers were not correct and Phil got greedy
Thank you for your kind words
Firstly, thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put in SSG community. I’m getting the feeling that it’s time to move on from Stax. I hope that there can be a community bot at some point. I think we have something special with our stacking community. These events will either unite us or tear us apart. Hopefully it’s the former.
We all seen on Friday that the group will not be played like this and we know what we want. Everything after that is just putting it into place.
Thanks for your nice comment and support
You bet. You have my support.
I wasn't there for the town hall, but what I gather is that @phelimint is claiming ownership of the STAX account.
I knew SOMEBODY owned Stax. I don't think it's possible to have a "community" account. Somebody owns it. Somebody has possession of the keys. Owner of the keys = owner of the funds. It's like all the whale-bots. SOMEBODY owns them and SOMEBODY will ride off into the sunset with all the cash.
The difficulty here is that it was never communicated that any donations to the bot were donations to @phelimint. Donations to a "community" account, for serving the community is easier to accept than a transfer to a private account, that will eventually lead to a private "cashout".
There is no community owned account. No such thing.
Is there a recording of the town hall meeting? I wouldn't mind listening in. @ironshield
I dont see bots like randowhale are minnowbooster having people send them donations and holding contests to rename them. Phil should have known a long time ago to have cleared this up. To much was over looked and it's not the fact that he is the owner, its the fact that it took 7 months for us to find out. A true community bot can be powered down every year and profits split. Just because you have never seen one does not mean it cant be. With the private keys in the hands of the right people, it can be done. Its the difference between a dictatorship and democracy and what's steemit is all about.
Thankyou for reading my post and taking the time to comment.
It would have been better for Phil to be more transparent and refer to STAX as "my bot" and request input for decisions while stating that he has final say. As his bot, nobody should be concerned if he upvotes whomever he wills at 100%, (even himself) with his bot. But implying it was "community" orientated, using phrases such as "we" and conducting votes - all of this language and action would give the impression decisions were community determined. The reality is that once he accepted 'donations' and offered 'tiers', it wasn't really completely his bot anymore. He is beholden to those who donated to meet their expectations - which needed to be clearly defined from the beginning. @ironshield
Can a community bot be privately owned by one individual, but 100% community focused. If he takes up to 1 daily 100% upvote as pay for his time and effort does that negate it being a 100% community bot? You are right that a bot account can't really be a community owned account unless that is stated in the "bylaws" and the work to run, maintain, manage and host it is equally shared by all owners. Did all these butthurt individuals ever have the expertise or offer their time and energy to help manage it before now??
Seems it was and still is a community supporting bot.
But what do I know!? I'm a stacker....but I dont Post. So I have never been a member of the SSG bot community.
this has the recording https://steemit.com/dsound/@sevinwilson/20180317t154518936z-steemsilvergold-march-16th-stax-town-hall-meeting and I agree with you; anyone holding the key is the sole owner whatever intentions this person may have or not have
Thank you for the link. The awkward silence after "it's mine" seemed to go on for like 5 minutes. @ironshield
I couldnt listen to more than 15min of the recording there were like 3 hot mics and so the recording was.....bad.
Let it rip it's clear to me from the outside with no knowledge of stax.. That you right and either unknowingly or willingly only one person benefits from the bot in fact any bot the bots owner...
It is kind of sad that i dunno what happen to @hgmsilvergold as you know i been mia for my own reasons for last 6 months and somewhere the fundamentals of the group has changed. To all help each other
Goals of #steemsilvergold:
1.Encourage members to produce quality content.
2.Ensure members are rewarded for great content.
3.Ensure Steemit is a go-to place for precious metals news, analysis and more.
4.Ensure that the community becomes significant here on Steemit.
Now thing is no4 is something i think will never happen really as metals just not that popular and look where it has ended up..
As that really on steem it means you got to gain more and more power which is more and more money and sadly not everyone can be trusted by everyone on the net never mind steemit..Not everyone grows at the same rate within the group far from it.. but i not here like you to make money.. actually i not so much for crypto's in general as it's not physical and is why i stack PM's but that's my view. But the nature of steemit makes the pursuit of sp and vote count most ppls no1 thought and sadly not listened to all audio as yet from friday but some very valid points made so far.. Is a shame this has happened and some do alot of work for the group and what reward do they get.
Alot of good points buddy, thank you for taking the time to write a comment and read my post.
We will move on, it not biggie, just more of a shock