I did too. Unless he's trying to get a lot of women or transvestites to take over the predominately male membership.
-
BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE
Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over the next few weekends BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.
Cigar Boards are selling
- Thread starter goin' fer smoke
- Start date
I've been a CS member for a while now. I'm scared, but I'm glad I got this place to call home now!
Latest update!
FAQ for your input - 2 Days Ago
OK guys
Here as promised is the FAQ I would like to post for general consumption.
Please read through it and give me any feedback - something I missed, something I should add, or if just to say looks good.
Once I get your feedback Ill make the edits and get it posted to general:
===
Hi everyone.
As you know I have recently purchased Cigarlive. As promised Daniel, myself, and all of the moderators/admins here would like to, in an effort of full disclosure, clue you in to the future Cigarlive. For clarity reasons I have put together the follow FAQ which hopefully will answer many of the questions you may have. And any questions it does not answer we will respond to as soon as possible.
Q: I heard you recently bought a bunch of sites. Which sites did you buy?
A: This is true. I have purchased Cigarlive.com, ClubStogie.com, Cigar-Review.com, Top25cigar.com
Q: I thought you also purchased Cigarsmokers.com. Did you?
A: I had initial intensions of purchasing Cigarsmokers - however the deal has fallen apart. As a result I do NOT own Cigarsmokers.com and will not own Cigarsmokers.com
Q: So what exactly are you plans for the forums?
A: We are starting a new consolidated network of cigar sites calling it PUFF.COM. We will have a central location called forums.puff.com where all of the above mentioned forums will be merged.
Q: But what about all my posts, my post count, my friend network, my awards, my settings, etc
A: We are going to do our best to bring over ALL of that data so NONE of it will be lost.
Q: What about my name? What if someone has the same name on one of the other forums?
A: In an effort of fairness -any- duplicate names will be changed to reflect the board from which you came IE the handle MRCIGAR exists on all 3 forums. Each person would have their name changed to MRCIGAR-CR (cigar review) MRCIGAR-CS (club stogie) MRCIGAR-CL (cigar live) - this will happen automagically.
Q: But I dont want to be merged into a big forum. I like things the way they are and do not want any change! I like the friends and relationships on have on THIS board and dont want to be forced to interact with others.
A: I understand and hear your concerns. As a result here is what we will be doing. We will have our general cigar topics on forums.puff.com - BUT we will be creating a 'clubhouse' for each individual forum. ONLY people who have come from that forum will have permission to post in the clubhouse. Existing mods/admins from each forum will continue to mod/admin their respective clubhouses. View the clubhouse as a sanctuary and more like a mini forum. You will gain access to the clubhouse by visiting the main page of forums.puff.com and you will see a forum called CIGAR LIVE CLUBHOUSE.
Q: What kind of topics will we have in our clubhouse?
A: Whatever you want. We want to avoid a lot of duplication - for instance if the main forums.puff.com has a section called Cigar Reviews we would want all of the posts dealing with cigar reviews to go there and not in 4 different places. However if you wanted a special HERF section for your clubhouse/board, a general place to discuss anything general cigar related, politics, sports, whatever all of those are fine and we will set them up for you.
Q: OK but why are you doing this. Why are you trying to bring together all of these sites in one central location?
A: This question has many answers.
1. I love cigars. It is a passion of mine and has been for over 5 years. Cigars help me relax, cigars help me think, cigars and friends and football are just awesome combinations. I see this as a opportunity to do what I love and hopefully make it into a successful business as well.
2. If we are able to be part of the largest cigar social site on the planet it will enable us to do things that apart would not be achievable. For instance - create an annual charity poker tournament. Perhaps we can partner with a couple of cigar companies to sponsor a herf in Iraq or Afghanistan for our troops. Being able to build a singular voice may enable us to recieve membership discounts on cigar product from various vendors. We may be able to do a annual cigar members conference. In addition to all of that a number of members have mentioned to me the ability to start a cigar advocacy group whose voice can be heard and respected. I believe we will have the ability to do all of those things and more if we can come together.
Q: What if I dont want to be involved in the Puff.com community at all? Do I have to?
A: No. You dont. You can simply participate in your clubhouse from your forum and if you decide to venture outside of that forum you can do that on your own terms.
Q: Who will the moderator/admins be for the new forums.puff.com?
A: We will be asking all existing mods if they would like to.
Q: I own a cigar site. I hear you are spending millions. Do you want to buy my site.
A: I think I am good for now, but if we need to add to the borg collective Ill be sure to drop you a line!
Q: Ha ha really funny! Now when is all of this happening?
A: Most likely before the year is out - could be in a month or two. We have plenty of technical issues we need to address in order to make it happen
Q: Will there be a PAID member area of the forum?
A: The entire forum will be open and free to everyone. We may have a paid membership section for things like special discounts from vendors, sponsors, discounts on conferences and magazines and such but that would be the extent of it.
OK guys this is really most of what I can think of. I will try to answer questions as much as possible. Please understand this is a fluid situation and not everything is eteched into stone!
Thanks!
FAQ for your input - 2 Days Ago
OK guys
Here as promised is the FAQ I would like to post for general consumption.
Please read through it and give me any feedback - something I missed, something I should add, or if just to say looks good.
Once I get your feedback Ill make the edits and get it posted to general:
===
Hi everyone.
As you know I have recently purchased Cigarlive. As promised Daniel, myself, and all of the moderators/admins here would like to, in an effort of full disclosure, clue you in to the future Cigarlive. For clarity reasons I have put together the follow FAQ which hopefully will answer many of the questions you may have. And any questions it does not answer we will respond to as soon as possible.
Q: I heard you recently bought a bunch of sites. Which sites did you buy?
A: This is true. I have purchased Cigarlive.com, ClubStogie.com, Cigar-Review.com, Top25cigar.com
Q: I thought you also purchased Cigarsmokers.com. Did you?
A: I had initial intensions of purchasing Cigarsmokers - however the deal has fallen apart. As a result I do NOT own Cigarsmokers.com and will not own Cigarsmokers.com
Q: So what exactly are you plans for the forums?
A: We are starting a new consolidated network of cigar sites calling it PUFF.COM. We will have a central location called forums.puff.com where all of the above mentioned forums will be merged.
Q: But what about all my posts, my post count, my friend network, my awards, my settings, etc
A: We are going to do our best to bring over ALL of that data so NONE of it will be lost.
Q: What about my name? What if someone has the same name on one of the other forums?
A: In an effort of fairness -any- duplicate names will be changed to reflect the board from which you came IE the handle MRCIGAR exists on all 3 forums. Each person would have their name changed to MRCIGAR-CR (cigar review) MRCIGAR-CS (club stogie) MRCIGAR-CL (cigar live) - this will happen automagically.
Q: But I dont want to be merged into a big forum. I like things the way they are and do not want any change! I like the friends and relationships on have on THIS board and dont want to be forced to interact with others.
A: I understand and hear your concerns. As a result here is what we will be doing. We will have our general cigar topics on forums.puff.com - BUT we will be creating a 'clubhouse' for each individual forum. ONLY people who have come from that forum will have permission to post in the clubhouse. Existing mods/admins from each forum will continue to mod/admin their respective clubhouses. View the clubhouse as a sanctuary and more like a mini forum. You will gain access to the clubhouse by visiting the main page of forums.puff.com and you will see a forum called CIGAR LIVE CLUBHOUSE.
Q: What kind of topics will we have in our clubhouse?
A: Whatever you want. We want to avoid a lot of duplication - for instance if the main forums.puff.com has a section called Cigar Reviews we would want all of the posts dealing with cigar reviews to go there and not in 4 different places. However if you wanted a special HERF section for your clubhouse/board, a general place to discuss anything general cigar related, politics, sports, whatever all of those are fine and we will set them up for you.
Q: OK but why are you doing this. Why are you trying to bring together all of these sites in one central location?
A: This question has many answers.
1. I love cigars. It is a passion of mine and has been for over 5 years. Cigars help me relax, cigars help me think, cigars and friends and football are just awesome combinations. I see this as a opportunity to do what I love and hopefully make it into a successful business as well.
2. If we are able to be part of the largest cigar social site on the planet it will enable us to do things that apart would not be achievable. For instance - create an annual charity poker tournament. Perhaps we can partner with a couple of cigar companies to sponsor a herf in Iraq or Afghanistan for our troops. Being able to build a singular voice may enable us to recieve membership discounts on cigar product from various vendors. We may be able to do a annual cigar members conference. In addition to all of that a number of members have mentioned to me the ability to start a cigar advocacy group whose voice can be heard and respected. I believe we will have the ability to do all of those things and more if we can come together.
Q: What if I dont want to be involved in the Puff.com community at all? Do I have to?
A: No. You dont. You can simply participate in your clubhouse from your forum and if you decide to venture outside of that forum you can do that on your own terms.
Q: Who will the moderator/admins be for the new forums.puff.com?
A: We will be asking all existing mods if they would like to.
Q: I own a cigar site. I hear you are spending millions. Do you want to buy my site.
A: I think I am good for now, but if we need to add to the borg collective Ill be sure to drop you a line!
Q: Ha ha really funny! Now when is all of this happening?
A: Most likely before the year is out - could be in a month or two. We have plenty of technical issues we need to address in order to make it happen
Q: Will there be a PAID member area of the forum?
A: The entire forum will be open and free to everyone. We may have a paid membership section for things like special discounts from vendors, sponsors, discounts on conferences and magazines and such but that would be the extent of it.
OK guys this is really most of what I can think of. I will try to answer questions as much as possible. Please understand this is a fluid situation and not everything is eteched into stone!
Thanks!
tubaman
3 Time BoM
Nice, make people pay to see specials from vendors that have paid to advertise on the site. Nice.
indyrob
BoM Feb '06 & Sept. '08
Doesn't that seem to offset the deals though? I mean really...
I know of a couple of cigar clubs that charge $90 a year for the chance to get a righteous deal on the box of the month. It's way below retail but you never know what's being offered. If you were to buy like 3-4 boxes you would actually benefit but if you ended up buying 2 boxes it was a wash.
This guy is trying to make a huge membership base and if there were 5000 guys paying $50 a year for membership fees, that's like $250,000 in revenue from those poor guys. then if you add in charging advertising for vendors and other BS he vould easily make it attractive for another buyer to come along and screw with it all over again.
Ye gotta give the devil his dues, the bloke's smart. He's making a huge comunity, which will make ye easier to find because of various reasons, leading to several retailers paying to appear on his website. PLUS, donations and the membership he mentioned will be done by bloody hell number of blokes... He's getting his money.
Hear hear.
To quickly summarize your no-follow question, it's a tag that can be put in HTML links. It can be used for a few different purposes, but basically most search engines will "exclude" ranking the site of the link based on the parent site...
Let's take Google for instance... When they "rank" pages they do it using lots of different methods that assign "weights" to pages... One of those methods is based on how many other sites LINK to that page... It also considers the "ranking" of the linking page as well...
So for instance, if you had a brand new website of www.letssmokestoagies.com it could take you a VERY long time, even with lots of SOE techniques to get to a high ranking spot on google... If someone goes to google and types in "Cigars" your page might not show up for several hundred pages, if then...
HOWEVER... Let's say a REALLY high ranking site, like CNN put up a link to your site... Now when google sees that, they throw your website's ranking into hyperdrive... Now you may have just moved up a few hundred pages in rankings... Get a few more high ranking sites to link to your site too, and now you've probably made it up to the first page of search results...
Now let's extrapolate that idea to forums for a bit... The odds of you getting your new website listed on CNN and other high ranking sites like that is pretty slim... BUT.. suppose you jumped on a few high ranking FORUM sites and threw a link to your website in your signature... Now ever post you make on those forums adds to the ranking of your own website...
What this nofollow tag rule means, is that EVERY link to another site in a signature MUST include the nofollow tag... That tag will tell search engines NOT to add weight to the site in the link of the sig based on the rank of the site of the forum...
Simply put, a person CAN'T use their membership to an upstanding site to "boost" the search ranking of their own site...
Legends of the Playground
Undercover
I read 4-5 different boards and none of them are among those being bought. I have a log-in for CS but have long since forgotten it. Based on what I have read here and other places, if Caputo buys one of the boards I do frequent, I will cease being an active poster on that board.
Bad form all around by this guy.
Bad form all around by this guy.
tubaman
3 Time BoM
My point exactly. Smart business practice I guess, getting paid by the vendors and by members, but it's not in the spirit of brotherhood, which was why these boards were developed in the first place. Then again we've seen other boards have scuffles over money (HCF, ect.) so I guess we shouldn't be suprised when someone wants to find a niche to make some cash.
Kurtdesign1
The Thinker
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2004
- Messages
- 1,415
This week's Dogwatch Cigar Radio is great for discussion about Mr.Caupto. I'd personally like to thank Mark Aub (sp?) of Brother of the Leaf and Palio Cutters for his illuminating testimonial.
Mark (as well as Bob) expressed great background on what has happened in the past as well as what can be expected to happen in the future. Both positive and negative aspects of this venture were brought up that led to formidable thoughts & ideas to be expressed.
What I take out of their conversation is a clear idea of what needs to be done and I ask that you all follow me in one step or another: embrace or avoid. This is simple enough but will require action on our part for both avenues.
If we embrace these efforts of combining boards we need to be influential in conveying what we want! Yes the new owners prerogative will be most important to him but if we demand what we need, he'll have to listen or risk losing his cash cow. I don't know if there will be an open public request for ideas but even if there isn't we should be vocal. Tell him what you want or you have no reason to complain if you otherwise wouldn't have it! Realize that a large, collective organization could be a GREAT resource for having political clout. The CRA could gain much from puff .com and in turn, so could the average smoker. BUT(!!), we must be mindful of this giant we create to ensure it meets our needs.
If we cast off these efforts of combining boards we need to be just as influential!! The main benefit to having a collective forum is a collective voice. Yes, other perks exist but we reside in a lifestyle that benefits from the 'brotherhood' of it's citizens. Most any perk that a large forum could share, a quaint one could too (e.g. MFG interviews, sample cigars, etc.) I am getting sidetracked. What we need to do if we avoid PUFF is be diligent with our individual voice. We need to make a pact amongst ourselves to stand up for our rights as we would if we were a large group. Yes, strength in numbers is a reality but who's to say we can't come together a a collection of smaller 'boutique' boards or individuals to carry the same message as one large gathering would? 50,000 members or 50,000 supporters is the same thing; a big voice. So, my brothers, believe me when I say that avoiding the new conglomerate may well be a choice you make but it still comes with responsibility.
Wal-Mart is the corner store of the 21st century; perhaps this is the cigar analogy for that. Perhaps we're sick of "lower prices" and instead want personal, catered attention. This decision remains to be seen. Whatever choice we make as a united group, I support. Just as long as we make an informed, committed decision, I'll be there in the trenches with all of you. When considering the gravitation that occurs within this very hobby, I do think that one decision is the clear favorite. I don't tend to see many guys who smoke for 10 years only to settle on General Cigar as their favorite mfg...
(Also posted on Vintagecigarclub .com)
Mark (as well as Bob) expressed great background on what has happened in the past as well as what can be expected to happen in the future. Both positive and negative aspects of this venture were brought up that led to formidable thoughts & ideas to be expressed.
What I take out of their conversation is a clear idea of what needs to be done and I ask that you all follow me in one step or another: embrace or avoid. This is simple enough but will require action on our part for both avenues.
If we embrace these efforts of combining boards we need to be influential in conveying what we want! Yes the new owners prerogative will be most important to him but if we demand what we need, he'll have to listen or risk losing his cash cow. I don't know if there will be an open public request for ideas but even if there isn't we should be vocal. Tell him what you want or you have no reason to complain if you otherwise wouldn't have it! Realize that a large, collective organization could be a GREAT resource for having political clout. The CRA could gain much from puff .com and in turn, so could the average smoker. BUT(!!), we must be mindful of this giant we create to ensure it meets our needs.
If we cast off these efforts of combining boards we need to be just as influential!! The main benefit to having a collective forum is a collective voice. Yes, other perks exist but we reside in a lifestyle that benefits from the 'brotherhood' of it's citizens. Most any perk that a large forum could share, a quaint one could too (e.g. MFG interviews, sample cigars, etc.) I am getting sidetracked. What we need to do if we avoid PUFF is be diligent with our individual voice. We need to make a pact amongst ourselves to stand up for our rights as we would if we were a large group. Yes, strength in numbers is a reality but who's to say we can't come together a a collection of smaller 'boutique' boards or individuals to carry the same message as one large gathering would? 50,000 members or 50,000 supporters is the same thing; a big voice. So, my brothers, believe me when I say that avoiding the new conglomerate may well be a choice you make but it still comes with responsibility.
Wal-Mart is the corner store of the 21st century; perhaps this is the cigar analogy for that. Perhaps we're sick of "lower prices" and instead want personal, catered attention. This decision remains to be seen. Whatever choice we make as a united group, I support. Just as long as we make an informed, committed decision, I'll be there in the trenches with all of you. When considering the gravitation that occurs within this very hobby, I do think that one decision is the clear favorite. I don't tend to see many guys who smoke for 10 years only to settle on General Cigar as their favorite mfg...
(Also posted on Vintagecigarclub .com)
Web development couple buys $2.25M mansion in Southwest Ranchesby James Trotter, published Monday, January 9 4:19 PM ·
13101 Mustang Trail Jonathan Caputo and his wife, Shari, bought a six-bedroom, six bath at 13101 Mustang Trail in Southwest Ranches for $2.25 million from Alexander and Lourdes Fernandez on Jan. 9, 2006.
Mr. and Mrs. Fernandez paid $1.39 million in December 2003.
The 5,079 square foot home was listed for $2.75 million.
Mr. Caputo has served as the founder and CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based Developer Shed Inc., a web site development company specializing in tutorial and "how to" sites for computer software developers and programmers. The company merged with Ziff Davis Enterprise in Aug. 2007, and Caputo became chief operating officer of the new entity.
Mrs. Caputo has served as the senior vice president of marketing for Developer Shed.
Home sales in Southwest Ranches dropped more than 39 percent in 2007. The median sales price, however, rose from $850,000 in 2006 to $900,000 last year.
Just a bit of info that I found.
I'd never fault Eric or David for selling the site given the right price, but at the same time I'd hate to see it happen.
As has been noted, I believe you'll see some redistribution of membership over the coming months.
13101 Mustang Trail Jonathan Caputo and his wife, Shari, bought a six-bedroom, six bath at 13101 Mustang Trail in Southwest Ranches for $2.25 million from Alexander and Lourdes Fernandez on Jan. 9, 2006.
Mr. and Mrs. Fernandez paid $1.39 million in December 2003.
The 5,079 square foot home was listed for $2.75 million.
Mr. Caputo has served as the founder and CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based Developer Shed Inc., a web site development company specializing in tutorial and "how to" sites for computer software developers and programmers. The company merged with Ziff Davis Enterprise in Aug. 2007, and Caputo became chief operating officer of the new entity.
Mrs. Caputo has served as the senior vice president of marketing for Developer Shed.
Home sales in Southwest Ranches dropped more than 39 percent in 2007. The median sales price, however, rose from $850,000 in 2006 to $900,000 last year.
Just a bit of info that I found.
I'd never fault Eric or David for selling the site given the right price, but at the same time I'd hate to see it happen.
As has been noted, I believe you'll see some redistribution of membership over the coming months.
Hmmm...appears it is up for sale again. $2.25M asking price. Good GOD. $37,441 in TAXES! It's a beautiful house, awesome freaking pond out front, but I think he got his ass snookered on this one. My guess is he's feeling pain on this one. He bought at EXACTLY the wrong time. Zillow won't give me a Z-estimate because it's listed for sale, but the two properties across the street look to be about the same size lots and same size homes (one a little smaller one a little larger) and their estimate for those two is $1.4M (for the larger) and $1.18M (for the smaller). Yep, just checked, approximately the same size lots (about 2 acres I believe). Both of the other properties have pools and ponds as well. In fact, the one that's slightly bigger has a freaking tennis court on it.
Nice haul for the people the Caputo's bought the house from, but they got hosed. My guess is that house sits on the market and stagnates...unless they are willing to sell at about a $1 Million loss.
Nice haul for the people the Caputo's bought the house from, but they got hosed. My guess is that house sits on the market and stagnates...unless they are willing to sell at about a $1 Million loss.
Well. I am for all cigar smokers to unite against the Anti smoking Buereaucrats. What I do not care for is constant ads, detracting from a forum that I come to discuss issues, learn more about this lifestyle and share in our passion.
Reading between the lines, the buy up are all about money! Not a resource to fight the Anti's. And who has ever heard of this Jon Caputo in the cigar industry. Might be a nice guy, but no idea. I understand he was asked a question on another board about manufacture rates for advertising. He answered the question that the issue will be looked into in the future and all questions will be answered. Hope he has a business plan instead of flying by the seat of his pants and screwing all of the "Customers" on the forums. That's right, we are customers. Thanks Bob and Dale for bringing that aspect into my mind.
I too hope that David and Eric never sell the site. It would be a shame to lose this brother/sisterhood. I wouldn't blame them either, especially with the economic situation as such as it is. If that were to ever happen, I would probably create a forum for all us to use. hehe
Reading between the lines, the buy up are all about money! Not a resource to fight the Anti's. And who has ever heard of this Jon Caputo in the cigar industry. Might be a nice guy, but no idea. I understand he was asked a question on another board about manufacture rates for advertising. He answered the question that the issue will be looked into in the future and all questions will be answered. Hope he has a business plan instead of flying by the seat of his pants and screwing all of the "Customers" on the forums. That's right, we are customers. Thanks Bob and Dale for bringing that aspect into my mind.
I too hope that David and Eric never sell the site. It would be a shame to lose this brother/sisterhood. I wouldn't blame them either, especially with the economic situation as such as it is. If that were to ever happen, I would probably create a forum for all us to use. hehe
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I moved to the board that the moderators created. I don't trust Jon Caputo.