First off, I'm not here to dance on anyone's grave or bash. That's not and has never been my style. This is simply the bottom line story and my thoughts as they pertain to the sonofsam fiasco. No more, no less.
It started for me last year, when I saw that he and AaronM were having a problem. This "sonofsam" person (SoS), who was new here, at least to me, was calling Aaron out for "ripping him off" on a content deal, and knowing a little something about Aaron the way I do (I've never met the man in person btw, but we have interacted on the board for years now, and I believe I have a fairly good sense of how he operates)... I attempted to intervene and try to help young sammy out of his jam. I knew that Aaron wasn't about to budge on certain things, thus my approach was to try to convince SoS to play ball (just enough), get him his rightful deal to his satisfaction and help him to see the bigger picture, and move on with business.
I saw that if Sam would just pay Aaron the remainder of what was owed on the deal, I could convince Aaron to replace a portion of the content package he sold Sam with more appropriate content. (It was a "bulk" deal, you get what you get, and people need to look over such content closely BEFORE buying it, that's business 101 basic, or at least it should be). I wasn't asking for the moon, I wasn't trying to get Sam to bend over and take it in the ass, I was merely trying to get him to put his ego aside and get the deal done.
Those who were paying attention know I did not come into that thread with attitude or arrogance, nor did I ridicule Sam or anyone. I simply assessed the situation based on what both parties where posting and saw the best course of action in order to SOLVE the issue. It quickly however, became evident that young Sam wasn't interested in solving the issue, he was only interested in having everything his own way, which I knew wasn't about to happen. I also saw that at that point Aaron was himself willing to bend.... a little, but only if certain conditions were met. It was a tense situation, yes.... but I'm still confident to this day that it was solveable.
However, SoS wasn't interested in what I had to say, but was only interested in making post after post chock full of arrogance, defiance, smartass comments, and a good bit of twisting of the facts to boot. After trying for several days to get not only Sam but Aaron as well to be reasonable (btw, Aaron had confided to me during that time that he would "play ball" so to speak, but only if Sam would) I finally had to concede that Sam had buried himself too deep and the deal was a lost cause.
After that happened, young Sam seemed to see me as "the enemy", siding with Aaron against him (which isn't true, it's the way he saw it only), and he proceeded to start cocking off at me at every turn. He would post below me on some random thread and make a smartass comment about something I said. On other threads if I said anything in opposition to his point of view he would launch into a baby tantrum of near epic proportions and post old pics from an ancient website of me instead of actually dealing with the given issues, attempting to deflect the focus from him onto me. Btw, those goofy photos were a joke, down in Mexico about 15 years ago (when Sam was barely out of diapers) a bunch of Winnipeg girls dared me to "go local" and wear one of those small bathing suits.... it is a joke, I'm not too egotistical that I lack the ability to laugh at myself, so posting that stuff thinking it will "hurt" me or "pwn me" is actually owning himself. At this point I can't decide if the joke is on me or SoS. :D
I believe that one's own arrogance and downright childish smartassy unprofessional attitude will come back to haunt you in this or any business (or OWN you as the case may be), and as far as I'm concerned Sam is far too young and new to possess that kind of stubborn cockiness. His youth is no excuse, he alone allows it to be his downfall. As a matter of fact I have known several people in this business that have been just as young as Sam but have come from an attitude of wanting to learn and a willingness to listen and do the right thing, and an ability to recognize reason and sound advice when it's presented to them. Sam simply isn't built that way it seems, and it's a shame, because he has now apparently forfeited his entire dream. Is it really anyone's fault but his own?
In closing, even after all the schoolyard smartass and ridicule he has thrown my way over the past year, I still hold no grudge or ill will against the lad. I've been in this business and around adult webmaster boards for many years now, and will continue to thrive for many years to come. Others simply...won't. I've had long talks by phone over the years with several, and I do mean several people here and in this community, and I'm fairly confident that most would say they found what I had to say to be helpful, constructive and informative (as did I find most of them to be as well), and that sort of insight and experience is what I originally intended to offer up to SoS. I wish him well, and hope that he finds the means to learn from all this and move forward from it. Being down doesn't necessarily have to mean "down and out".
Nothing more to say on this, and I for one am willing to let any lingering issues between SoS and myself die right here. But that is really up to him.
Back to business...
It started for me last year, when I saw that he and AaronM were having a problem. This "sonofsam" person (SoS), who was new here, at least to me, was calling Aaron out for "ripping him off" on a content deal, and knowing a little something about Aaron the way I do (I've never met the man in person btw, but we have interacted on the board for years now, and I believe I have a fairly good sense of how he operates)... I attempted to intervene and try to help young sammy out of his jam. I knew that Aaron wasn't about to budge on certain things, thus my approach was to try to convince SoS to play ball (just enough), get him his rightful deal to his satisfaction and help him to see the bigger picture, and move on with business.
I saw that if Sam would just pay Aaron the remainder of what was owed on the deal, I could convince Aaron to replace a portion of the content package he sold Sam with more appropriate content. (It was a "bulk" deal, you get what you get, and people need to look over such content closely BEFORE buying it, that's business 101 basic, or at least it should be). I wasn't asking for the moon, I wasn't trying to get Sam to bend over and take it in the ass, I was merely trying to get him to put his ego aside and get the deal done.
Those who were paying attention know I did not come into that thread with attitude or arrogance, nor did I ridicule Sam or anyone. I simply assessed the situation based on what both parties where posting and saw the best course of action in order to SOLVE the issue. It quickly however, became evident that young Sam wasn't interested in solving the issue, he was only interested in having everything his own way, which I knew wasn't about to happen. I also saw that at that point Aaron was himself willing to bend.... a little, but only if certain conditions were met. It was a tense situation, yes.... but I'm still confident to this day that it was solveable.
However, SoS wasn't interested in what I had to say, but was only interested in making post after post chock full of arrogance, defiance, smartass comments, and a good bit of twisting of the facts to boot. After trying for several days to get not only Sam but Aaron as well to be reasonable (btw, Aaron had confided to me during that time that he would "play ball" so to speak, but only if Sam would) I finally had to concede that Sam had buried himself too deep and the deal was a lost cause.
After that happened, young Sam seemed to see me as "the enemy", siding with Aaron against him (which isn't true, it's the way he saw it only), and he proceeded to start cocking off at me at every turn. He would post below me on some random thread and make a smartass comment about something I said. On other threads if I said anything in opposition to his point of view he would launch into a baby tantrum of near epic proportions and post old pics from an ancient website of me instead of actually dealing with the given issues, attempting to deflect the focus from him onto me. Btw, those goofy photos were a joke, down in Mexico about 15 years ago (when Sam was barely out of diapers) a bunch of Winnipeg girls dared me to "go local" and wear one of those small bathing suits.... it is a joke, I'm not too egotistical that I lack the ability to laugh at myself, so posting that stuff thinking it will "hurt" me or "pwn me" is actually owning himself. At this point I can't decide if the joke is on me or SoS. :D
I believe that one's own arrogance and downright childish smartassy unprofessional attitude will come back to haunt you in this or any business (or OWN you as the case may be), and as far as I'm concerned Sam is far too young and new to possess that kind of stubborn cockiness. His youth is no excuse, he alone allows it to be his downfall. As a matter of fact I have known several people in this business that have been just as young as Sam but have come from an attitude of wanting to learn and a willingness to listen and do the right thing, and an ability to recognize reason and sound advice when it's presented to them. Sam simply isn't built that way it seems, and it's a shame, because he has now apparently forfeited his entire dream. Is it really anyone's fault but his own?
In closing, even after all the schoolyard smartass and ridicule he has thrown my way over the past year, I still hold no grudge or ill will against the lad. I've been in this business and around adult webmaster boards for many years now, and will continue to thrive for many years to come. Others simply...won't. I've had long talks by phone over the years with several, and I do mean several people here and in this community, and I'm fairly confident that most would say they found what I had to say to be helpful, constructive and informative (as did I find most of them to be as well), and that sort of insight and experience is what I originally intended to offer up to SoS. I wish him well, and hope that he finds the means to learn from all this and move forward from it. Being down doesn't necessarily have to mean "down and out".
Nothing more to say on this, and I for one am willing to let any lingering issues between SoS and myself die right here. But that is really up to him.
Back to business...
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