The truth is out there

From the Blog owner:

It is not a policy of this blog to become embroiled in the ongoing saga that seems to surround a Mr Craig Ollerton, and any and all references to the person concerned in the past have been carefully and studiously avoided, partly because the saga concerning him seems too silly for words. However, there is now serious concern that matters have gone too far, and that the individual in question is in danger of doing a disservice to the people in and of Llandudno and Colwyn Bay who use his forum.

The reason an entire posting is being given over to this is because either Mr Ollerton himself or the moderator called 'Trojan' (who has posted comments in here on previous occasions) are - to be generous - making serious errors of judgement when dealing with those who do nothing but post genuine queries.

Some time ago, and following a link on the BBC, I found and joined Mr Ollerton's forum. All was well, for a short while, but - as I actively run other forums, but none local - I was happy to help with things that were either missing, or awkward to use in his forum. A few queries were posted - all by myself using my real name - Ian - and then another contributor complained that posts were being edited or deleted without cause or explanation. Since that is not the way any forum ought to be run - at least not if you want folk to remain and use it - a posting was made by me asking if it were true and whether, in fact there was any truth in the suggestion that some folk had been banned for no particular reason. Shortly afterwards, my membership was deleted and all postings made by myself asking serious and pertinent questions were also deleted. Without warning, without explanation and without reference to me. This was, in fact, the event which prompted this blog's genesis.

Some email correspondence between myself and Mr Ollerton was then commenced, asking for what reason I had been banned. The explanation offered by Mr Ollerton was as follows:

"Ian,

I suspect you are just another worm."

Unsurprisingly, I emailed again as follows:

"Craig:

I must admit I am disappointed that - apart from the rather abusive (if not incomprehensible) comment about worms - you haven't seen fit to discuss with me your actions.

You have - as you know - now cancelled my registration with the forum, which is itself of some minor concern, since I was having a pleasant talk with Frank Ash (but whom I'll see shortly, anyway, to let him know why I've been unable to respond) but what is most worrying is that you have done this without - as far as I can see - any provocation whatsoever.

There are only three reasons why I can see you would have cancelled my registration:

1. That I have contravened one of the forum's policies or rules. I think you know full well that that is not the case.
2. That you have been influenced by someone else, but that isn't itself grounds for you take such action, surely?
3. That you simply don't want me in the forum. In which case, surely it is fair and reasonable for you to explain why?

Your forum is apparently open to anyone unless they contravene the rules, which you know I haven't done. Only a few weeks ago you asked me to consider becoming a moderator, yet now, it seems, you regard me as - at the least - as unwelcome. I really believe it is incumbent on someone running what is actually a public forum which purports to be open to the people of Llandudno or who have an interest in the town to explain their reasoning behind what would appear to be capricious and apparently unjustified actions.

At the very least, those who now support the forum will be starting to question what is happening. "

His response was:

"I'd be happy to meet with yourself for a coffee to clear the air, and to talk forums if you wish. I had a tip off from one of my moderators you may have had a connection with Adrian Eygelsheim (Colwyn Bay) and you were closely tied with his IP range on the last two octets. I am seeking moderator assistance with either Rhyl or Bangor Locals, though asides volunteer positions, I am contemplating whether I should be looking for entrepreneurial individuals to establish their own magazines and web advertising. I'm sorry for what's happened, but as you can understand under the shroud of the internet where anonymity prevails, it is difficult to trust individuals whom you know little or nothing about."

An email was sent, proposing a meeting at a known location in Llandudno to clear the air and so Mr Ollerton could be reassured that he was dealing with someone who had no previous connection to his forum and whom he had never before encountered. Mr Ollerton did not show up, neither did he bother responding to the invitation to arrange another meeting.

Recently, I re-joined his forum using Carneades as the username. Incredibly, the same thing happened, and again for apparently no good reason. I re-joined a third time (!) to post this one posting:

"There is a major problem with this forum in its current form. Much as I agree that it's sad to see the demise of any decent forum, unfortunately, the old problem of random and indiscriminate editing, deletion and removal of perfectly legitimate posts continues unabated, I'm sorry to say.

There is no logic behind this policy, which is both detrimental to the vast majority of users and a suppression of the individual's rights to express themselves in a considered, reasonable and polite way. The only deletions (either of posts or members) ought to be carried out only and only if there has been a clear breach of the forum terms and conditions and this is not what is happening.

I have no doubts whatsoever that this posting will shortly be deleted, as will my membership, yet I have done or said nothing which contravenes the T & C of this forum or which constitutes grounds for the post's removal or mine. Until this situation is rectified, I really do fear that the town will be better off without a forum which operates such a policy.

For as long as this posting remains, I look forward to the views of others or the hope that someone in the administration team will have the courtesy to explain why this policy exists."

Mr Ollerton's reply was interesting, to say the least. It is a lengthy response, much of which is essentially irrelevant, but the interesting sections are as follows:

"I'm afraid, as always you are incorrect as usual. When you see a post on the site showing 'edited last by....' it can be something simple such as me changing the subject title to capitals which is how I prefer my own forum etiquette here the forum, the Colwyn Bay Local likes everything Upper/Lower case for example. We occasionally amend spelling/grammatical errors, (My italics:-) We do not go round butchering posts or bending truths, we simply do our job as moderators and thats keeping peace and tranquility here at the Llandudno Local."

For those who use other forums - extremely busy ones - you will be aware that the statement above is not only patronising (and rather poorly written:-) but smacks of extremely bad practice. However, more was to come...

"Though you have not breached any terms or conditions by posting here on the Llandudno Local, I reserve my very own discretionary right to remove your account for all the trouble you have caused me by posting mistruths, unsubstantiated remarks, and poking your nose in everything that doesn't concern you. Clearly now your failed North Wales Forum (formerley too a Llandudno site) has closed you have too much time on your hands Mr Eygelsheim and your quickly acquiring yourself a 'local nuisance' tag which i'm sure a fair few town councillors would agree. Now if I were yourself, i'd be enjoying my retirement, making the most of it before nature takes its course."

Ignoring the fact that what is written constitutes a libel, this is almost certainly at the root of all the problems. Mr Ollerton assumes I am someone called "Eygelsheim". The curious aspect of all this is that I hadn't heard of this person until comparatively recently, when he welcomed us to the world of blogging.

He continues:

"everyone has their own idea of what a forum should be, what's been created here at the Local serves its purpose just as it is, and is used by many members whom enjoy being part of it. It is an extremely comprehensive and encyclopedic resource, an impeccable research tool that is unrivaled by anything else locally."

Now, there is no doubt that some of the users in the forum are decent, hard working and utterly honest folk. One of them - Stan - I know personally, and we would suggest that Mr Ollerton perhaps consult with Stan W and then publish the apology he owes, both to me and to Mr Eygelsheim.

However, the paranoia does not appear confined to Mr Ollerton. The Individual who signs on as Trojan says this:

"Yes, we certainly don't want anyone that is going to be PITA on here Mr 86.135.51.137 do we?"

This IP address is BT Central Plus, based in Manchester, and which has something short of about five million users, all displaying the same or a very close address. As we showed in our article about Forums, Blogs and Bloggers, forum software is singularly unable to distinguish between the millions of folk using ISPs such as BT.

I would also suggest that Mr Ollweton talk to those who know the identities of both Mr Eygelsheim and Ian, who include, but are not limited to, Cllrs Margaret Lyons and John Boyle, Stan Whittaker and many others.

Unhappily, it seems some folk believe all this misinformation without question. Hugo - a very caring and thoughtful contributor, who clearly knows a great deal about Llandudno, the Orme and its denizens writes:

"Good for you Craig on not stooping to the level of the multi aliased person. I can't understand anyone's motives for behaving like that, other than it may be jealousy. Negative and unconstructive comments are as much use as a chocolate fire guard."

and all I would do is to ask Hugo - along with the many others in the forum who have been continuously duped by the strange behaviour of Mr Ollerton and the individual called 'Trojan' to read the above and talk to Stan W, who is shortly issuing Ian with a car pass for Trinity.

It takes a great deal of skill, sensitivity and ability to run a forum, all attributes it would seem - regrettably - Mr Ollerton is lacking. He owes me an apology. He owes Mr Eygelsheim an apology. But most of all, he owes those decent, honourable and caring members of his own forum who have swallowed his tales of duplicitous, underhanded and just plain sneaky behaviour an apology.

Llandudno needs a forum free of both his unwarranted suspicion and Trojan's ineptitude. Good forums do exist, run by decent, committed individuals and it's a belief of mine that both Oscar and Mr Eygelsheim could do a far better, more mature and sensitive job.