Thanks for your post above, Hilder. I definitely hear you on what your concerns were/are. They're perfectly valid, too.

I'm sorry that I had been so busy with the end of my school term and the holidays that I didn't have time to do more up-front communicating about what was going on from the very start with the site. I felt very concerned with some of the angry shut-down/brick wall responses that were being issued, too, and I know that was upsetting for you guys, who were seeing less messaging from the site about the new direction than we mods were. When I finally stepped out of med school mode and looked at the situation from the perspective of my former career--I spent nearly 20 years doing marketing, communications and public relations for a huge high-tech company--I realized that we needed to start splainin'. Fast.

Under ideal circumstances, we should have done that from day one, but business communications and PR are rarely done under ideal circumstances, which would be in advance of changes and then regularly as changes occur. They're more often done under reactionary circumstances, after a change or crisis has already begun. With the first approach--honest communications before crises or corporate transformations become widely visible--PR folks can pro-actively manage the messages and help influence public reaction. With the second approach, the messages instead manage us and public opinion is already firmly entrenched before anyone hears any truthful communications.

I'm going to work hard to see that you guys receive more information about what's going on. I've shared my concerns about the brick wall responses with my colleagues on the mod squad, and I've been doing my level best to explain as much as I can when I have the opportunity and when questions from members arise. That's not always easy. In corporate PR, professionals have to answer the same questions over and over again until the word gets out widely. That involves lots of time and lots of repetition. We'll have to do that, too, but that's not as easy for the mods who tend to have a shorter fuse and who have a different style of responding to inquiries anyway. With time and exposure to the idea of being straightforward or honest and accentuating the positive instead of slamming doors, I think you'll begin to see fewer slammed doors. I certainly hope so. The what-the-heck-are-you-asking-this-for/stop-your-whining/thread-deletion response doesn't contribute to the long-term building of a site whose fundamental essence needs to be friendly communications among members. (If we're ever going to get anywhere as a group with cannabis advancement, we need to start with a solid bond between ourselves.)

OK, enough of that long-winded explanation. I got off on a PR tangent. Thank you for your honest input and courteous words, Hilder. I promise you that I'll be making every effort to help restore the nice feeling to our interactions here. I'm very glad you're still here with us.
I'm very glad you all are.