Sad News. The Word is Out. AllOutdoors is folding!

Folks:I am quite saddened by this turn of affairs. I began my foray into the world of online outdoors forums at the old AllOutdoors Coffee shop. Back then, it was the only game in town.I met a slew of people there, including JJ and Big Sky. It really was a great place with a great crowd for a long time.I expect that we will be welcoming a few folks from AllOutdoors in the next few days. Let's make sure they get a good log, eh?In that vein, I would like to personally welcome all the newcomers and state, for the record, what everyone around here already know. If you have a problem, email me. I am here for you all.Welcome.Rick Bin

Not exactly off the sinking ship like a rat, but I'm out explorng new sites, as I truly enjoyed A/O. This forum actually looks like it was started by a former A/O fan, and has plenty of hits it would seem. I'm kind of hoping to see more subjects and submitters located in the Mn. Wi. Dakota area. I will still be splitting my time with A/O, but so far, I have enjoyed reading your posts.

Ahhh, the Coffee Shop. I remember it well....but can't quite recall why I left about 2 years ago. Didn't it get pretty well moderated and structured to death? (off-topic comments/posts moved or deleted?) I recall the change in Editor-ship (Linda?) and a change in format contributed....but what else led to the out-going demise. I think a positive lesson can be learned from these such events...but what exactly is it in this case? sincerely, Sparkman375

Hello, I'm another lost AO soul looking for a new home.The word/rumor is that money became the bottom line for the owners of AO. As with many sites it started out as a good idea then greed set in, and we all know what greed leads to.So far I like this site. I'm going to miss the local flavor of the regional forums, but life goes on.Sven

Another AO CoffeeShop transplant here. Glad to see another place to get a little info and crack a few smiles. But I still hope the CoffeeShop manages to hang on somehow. DC

Irving dog, Sven, Dave in Oregon...I know you guys are a little homesick for what seems very familiar to you....I went through the same thing....TWICE!! But this is a great site, and there is plenty of flavor here no matter your taste buds....so pull up a log, test the waters a while, and let me tell the lot of you, WELCOME to the site! DS

Why is the CS closing? Would it be because they changed their forum format every couple of months and you had to re-register every time. Was it all the spam they sent out to people who NEVER asked to be spammed. When many of us asked for it to stop they, (Linda), told us the hoops we could go through to get off their spam list and then it didn't stop the spam.I found the CS a few years back, it was one of the first forums I visited and it was a good place to hang out. They just drove people out of there with constant forum changes and attitude. ------------------ ~spectr17 <A HREF="http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com</A>

Another hunting home as CS closes. Been there a long time. Be a lot of us I'm sure hunting new place to settle.

I'm another from over at AO looking for a new home.Made some nice friends over there and hope to see them miagrate over this way soon.------------------ Birddog of Indiana

Another Coffee Shop person. Hi.------------------ [This message has been edited by John Tyson (edited June 21, 2001).]

Wow! Looks like the A/O coffee shop found its way here! The more I look, the more I like this site.[This message has been edited by irvingdog (edited June 21, 2001).]

I would like to welcome everyone from the alloutdoors site here.

I'm here from AO also...See a lt of familiar handles out there...can I pull up a stump and sit a spell....Later. MTNMAN [Linked Image]

MTMAN - welcome welcome welcome! We have plenty of logs for you to choose from so stay a while!!Toons------------------ Don't be ashamed to say what you are not ashamed to think.

I'm another AO refugee, but not exactly a stranger in these parts.

Welcome all, throw a few more sticks in the fire and pull up a log and set a spell.

well I am another refugee from AO and like what I see over here...Looks like a few made it before me....will try to be a good neighbor....

spectr17,Your assumptions are not right. First assumption... that people left because of the reformatts...maybe you and two other guys did...but 10,000 of us stayed. Assumption number two...that when you and those other two guys left, the site crashed...wrong...it thrived. Please understand that there are a lot of folks coming from the old AO site that really enjoyed eachother's company. There were a lot that bashed eachother constantly but still enjoyed eachother's company. Now we are looking for a friendly place to gather. Ao was not a great place for EVERYONE and I suppose it was not for you. But the site did not crash because you got fed up with the constant attempts to improve it. It crashed because the board members squandered away 5 million in venture capital...it just dried up. No one purchased from their store. The advertisers didn't get the results they wanted and the moderators were excessive. And...it was not run by outdoorsmen.Having said that...high five to all the handles I recognise. This seems like the most likely site for me to settle into. I like it here...what do ya'll think?Nate

Spectr17 Que Pasa...See ya still got power...Nate, Now I don't have to worry about sending you my email address...I'm right here...Hey all you locals when the turkey forum fire up...Later, MTNMAN [Linked Image]

And Rick Thanks for the invite... [Linked Image]

[This message has been edited by MTNMAN (edited June 22, 2001).]

Hope you've got a lot of stumps, Rick... I also stuck with AO through all the changes, and sometimes wondered why. They may have had 10,000+ registered users, but they sure were a quiet bunch. It seemed like the turkey and bird dog forums were pretty active, but the ones I frequent (big game, rifles, reloading, & regional) were dead as a nit. Probably 75% of the posts were by the moderators. And it WAS the software changes that drove off a lot of the regular posters. Several buddies of mine that used to be fairly active finally said "to heck with it", when they had to repeatedly re-register & in some cases couldn't get their old user names back. So they went through 5 mil, huh? Wow! I wondered about that. That's another thing, other than Alison and Linda, the powers that be were pretty much invisible on AO, at least to me. On the other hunting boards, the owners are right in there with everybody else... Anyway, I hope it doesn't sound like I'm kicking 'em while they're down. It does sadden me to see what's happened, and even in their recent diminished state, I'm still gonna miss 'em.

Personally I've just recently tasted coffee shops brew and before I could settle in my easy chair it's being pulled out from under me! Fine I'll take my business elsewhere... I'm actually from huntingnet.com Its a pretty good site also. Well I'll pull up a chair and listen in, O.K.?

AO was located in my home town. I knew a few people that worked there and their location was just a few blocks from where I work. I was a regular there for years, I mostly just read, posted a few times under JBMI. I left for awhile when Alison and/or her bosses decided to shut down the old chat site. I started to visit again but all the constant software changes drove met nuts. I sent Linda a few e-mails with my concerns, but she kept telling me how fantastic the new stuff was. (NOT) I even was sent some surveys about how I liked the newest changes, I guess they didn't like my responce because nothing changed. For awhile that site was cooking, advertising in national magazines, even saw mention of it on some of those TNN Sunday night outdoor shows. To bad that poor management by non-outdoors people could ruin such a great site. I hope other outdoor sites learn from AO's mistakes. This is a good site, I've enjoyed it even though I don't post that much.

Welcome y'all!!!! I have been here since the "The Great Shooters Exodus" and have made this my home. Rick is good people, a hunter and a gentlemen (funny how they almost always go hand in hand, huh?). This site is self-policing if I may use such a term. I think you will like it here. badger.------------------ Gun control is good bullet placement.....

So Nate, you claiming the spamming from AO didn't drive anybody off there. I remember several threads about it on more than 1 hunting forum and the posters vowing never to return. Must have been my imagination I guess, sorry.If you will take the time to read my post you'll see I never said the site crashed, the fact that some regulars drifted away from there is common knowledge. Some got tired of re registering and the moderation. Thanks though for leading the charge of the totally clueless.Sorry Nate, I don't remember you from the good old days when I enjoyed visiting there. It was the best forum while it lasted.------------------ ~spectr17 <A HREF="http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com" TARGET=_blank>http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com</A>

The spamming lasted a couple months...it went away. Many of us complained. Bottom line...it did not help the revenue stream so they stopped it. The managemenbt had a lot of neat ideas, unfortunately, few of them worked. They had their cart before the horse in a sense.Nate

According to what I heard, they spent 2 million developing the Store. The problem was they hired a Wal Mart employee to stock it. It didn't have gear that was desirable, at least of the fishing part. Rods mis matched to reels available, pure junk, and prices equivalent to my local tackle shop. No real reason to shop there. As far as the software changes, It was definitely needed. There was too much traffic for the original version to handle, the problem was they didn't do their due dilligence in researching which package to go with. We, Users and Moderators alike, became pawns in testing software. That went over like a lead balloon. The last version they had was pretty good, and worked real well, evidently it was just too late, and too many ditched the place before it got going.Skipper

Hi Folks...'Nuther AO refugee check'n in. Just to add an odd-ball take on the demise of AO; I was initially attracted to their site by virtue of the pleasant art work they started out with. It was quality stuff and sort of set the tone for their early efforts ... woodsy and well-done. It seems to me that the overall quality of the site began to suffer about the same time they ditched the original art work and went with sketchier stuff. Any-who, sorry to seem em go.

Another AO refugee checking in. Been over at AO for about 3 yrs or more. What made me stay was the wealth of knowledge. Sorry to see it go.

Well I guess i'm one of the last to go looking I was with AO almost from the start.going to a new place every morning to start my day is not going to feel right. But I've been told if we don't change we die and I'm not that old yet :rolleyes [img]images/icons/frown.gif" border="0[/img] I hope)

I do not think coffee shop going under is bad news. I just hit a different key on my terminal and am some where else. Different name, same stuff.

For those who'd like to touch bases with some of the CS gang, some of the refugees have started a new site. <A HREF="http://www.modernsportsman.com/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.modernsportsman.com/</A> You might want to drop by and see how it feels. [img]images/icons/wink.gif" border="0[/img]

I used to use the Coffee shop a few years back, and seem to remeber Alison as being a great kid. Dont know why I left. I moved to NY and never went back to AO. Spent time at Gunandknife. com and then followed the savage fans over here. This place is head and shoulders above the other two.

IMO,Alison rates somewhere in that tiny little space between Hitler and Satan.
 
 Good riddence to bad garbage.This place is much nicer.No packs of flamers like CS.

I thought Josef Stalin was in that tiny space between Hitler and Satan. Well goes to show you that you never can tell when they are going to readjust the rankings. Stalin needs to get a new PR guy I suppose.

I never went there so don't know the new folks, I too was a shooters refuge!
 
 Welcome one and all...
 
 Mike

I used to post on AO, along with the Field and Stream forum. AO started getting monitored so much by the forum leaders, it was ridiculous. If you said anything they didn't agree with, it was erased. Their store was a big rip off, and they acted like they were jsut in it for the money. Yes it's sad to see them go, but there are much better places like 24hour to go to.
 
 Hudge

Sorry to say I never heard of the place.
 
 Just curious! A few questions for the transients who have now come here.
 
 * How long was it "around" ?
 
 * How fast did it grow ?
 
 * What was it's membeship at termination?
 
 * What were the most aggravating, unsatisfactory or disliked features ?
 
 * What was your opinion of the "moderators" ?
 
 * Were moderators actually of any benefit ?
 
 * Would the site have been better off without moderators?
 
 * Was there much bickering, argueing, insulting ?
 
 * What level of " beneficial, informative and useful information was available.
 
 * Now that it is gone, it is too late, but if you were asked to make constructive comments or criticism about the site what would you have to say?
 
 * From it's inception, did the site evolve? That is to say did it change it's character over time? If so how?
 
 Thanks very much for your input:
 
 Bill Tibbe

I would like to welcome all the refugees here. I, like so many others, came over from shooters.com when it became overbearing. Even though I used to be real active on here, I am more of an occasional lurker now. However, it is not because of this site being bad in any way. Rick's our 'moderator' (if you can even call him that) and he's a real nice guy who shares our interests in hunting and fishing. The only time he deletes any threads or posts is when many other members specifically ask him too. I've only seen him close a thread twice that I can remember, but things were getting way out of hand in there anyways. Sorry for rambling, but yeah, welcome here, and enjoy your stay. Rick, a thumbs up for running this site well, being open to suggestions, and being a great all around guy.

Hate to hear the sad news, but maybe you should check out a new site some friends of mine and I have started. The url is http://www.mygearguide.com We have a message board we have just started, and we have our community of users that do product reviews on outdoor products.
 
 As I mentioned, we are new, so we are always looking for suggestions. Stop by and tell us what you think.

Mike:
 
 Only paying advertisers are allowed commercial or promototional posts.
 
 I'll leave this link up as a courtesy if you put a link on your site to www.24hourcampfire.com
 
 Enjoy.
 
 Rick

I started out at the Coffee Shop a couple of years ago, I think. I enjoyed it and liked the regional/state forums among other things. But I left after some of the changes and having to re-register too many times. I haven't posted much here, being a regular at some other forums.

Rick,
 
 Sorry, wasn't trying to ruffle any feathers. Please feel free to remove the post.
 
 We are still working on a links page, and will add you when we have it completed.

Mike:
 
 No harm, no foul. Just put me up when you get the links page together, and we'll call it square..
 
 Rick