The wooden posts of Troy

[Treetops]

Some forum members (myself included) have spun off a "thread within a thread" about one member (Troys) purpose in posting to the GTD forum.

To separate out the thread I've taken the liberty of cutting & pasting the relevant parts below. Apologies about the quality of the cut & paste, I've put dotted lines between the individual posts. If a staff member can tidy it up thats fine by me.

I believe I've cut & pasted the posts fairly but the source is:.
http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5344&page=2&pp=10

06-15-2006, 06:52 PM

So a lot of folks are having problems with procrastination. Hey atleast that's the first step is to realise you have a problem.
ClockManager.com Time Management Articles & Resources
................ Click now http://www.clockmanager.com!

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06-15-2006, 07:15 PM

Troy, could you elaborate on your connection to ClockManager.com, please? I guess I'm a little confused because you first introduced yourself as a restaurant manager, and now you're promoting a time management site.

Thanks,

Katherine

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06-16-2006, 08:33 AM
StuGib

Quote:
Originally Posted by kewms

Troy, could you elaborate on your connection to ClockManager.com, please? I guess I'm a little confused because you first introduced yourself as a restaurant manager, and now you're promoting a time management site.
Thanks,

Katherine

From their contact us page:
Quote:
"We are strong believers that no one person is smarter than a group of people. Please send in your feedback to help us pass along helpful ideas for time management. If you are a webmaster and want to contact us, please use this form to do so.
ClockManager.com
Troy Robinson & Staff"
Maybe Troy's just a busy man with restaurants and websites to run

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06-16-2006, 08:41 PM
Treetops

Quote:
Originally Posted by kewms

Troy, could you elaborate on your connection to ClockManager.com, please? I guess I'm a little confused because you first introduced yourself as a restaurant manager, and now you're promoting a time management site.
Thanks,

Katherine

.

Quote:
Originally Posted by StuGib
From their contact us page:

Maybe Troy's just a busy man with restaurants and websites to run

.

Over on the 43folders forum:
http://board.43folders.com/showthre...&highlight=troy

Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
"My name is Troy. I'm new to the boards. I'm a time management fanatic. I hope to contribute to these forums in a postive way and learn a lot about time management I didn't already know.

I'm a web developer and I have a small network of sites mainly about personal productivity."

This time no mention of being a restaurant manager.

I think Katherine has asked a valid question. Lets see Troys answer.

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06-16-2006, 10:15 PM
troy

Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 24
Holy crap. Look at you guys. I've been investigated.

My name is Troy. I work as restaurant manager. This normally takes up about 50-60 hours per week and I'm a geek in a sense when it comes to operating web sites. My connection to Clockmanager.com is that I'm the webmaster of that site.

Time management and personal productivity has been a topic that interested me for some time. Just going through and reading information on it has given me insight to create my own time management portal.

Hopefully, I've answered some questions for you all.
__________________
ClockManager.com Time Management Articles & Resources
................ Click now http://www.clockmanager.com!

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06-17-2006, 09:21 AM
TesTeq
Mind Like Water
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 685
"Click now" signature.
Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
"Holy crap. Look at you guys. I've been investigated."

The reason why you've been investigated is your spam-like colorful "click now" signature that does not match up with your restaurant manager job and interesting points presented in your posts.

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06-17-2006, 02:52 PM
troy

Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 24
Ok,

Well for the record I'm not a member of this forum to saturate this forum with spam. I enjoy being here and talking with folks about GTD.

I actively particpate in thread topics and started one of the most popular threads on the front page.

If I need to scale down my signature then let me know...

I'm a restaurant manager and a web developer.
__________________
ClockManager.com Time Management Articles & Resources
................ Click now http://www.clockmanager.com!

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06-17-2006, 04:12 PM
Treetops

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
Ok,

"Well for the record I'm not a member of this forum to saturate this forum with spam. I enjoy being here and talking with folks about GTD.

I actively particpate in thread topics and started one of the most popular threads on the front page.

If I need to scale down my signature then let me know..."

Troy,

Fair enough...my vote is for the click-thru website reference in the signature to be removed to the contact info in your profile.

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06-17-2006, 04:28 PM
troy

Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 24
Free-will. Gotta love free-will. I'm not forcing anyone to click on it, but I will scale it down.
__________________
ClockManager.com Time Management Articles & Resources
................ Click now http://www.clockmanager.com!
troy
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Yesterday, 12:51 PM
TesTeq
Mind Like Water

Join Date: Oct 2003

It's free-will but is it appropriate?
Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
"Free-will. Gotta love free-will. I'm not forcing anyone to click on it, but I will scale it down."

What would you do if one of your restaurant guests would come with a big colorful banner "I love McDonald's" and sit the whole day showing this banner to all the other guests. Would you like it? It's free-will but is it appropriate?
TesTeq
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Yesterday, 05:05 PM
troy

Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by TesTeq
"What would you do if one of your restaurant guests would come with a big colorful banner "I love McDonald's" and sit the whole day showing this banner to all the other guests. Would you like it? It's free-will but is it appropriate?"

Change your settings to not show signatures in this forum if your that offended.

I think you should think more practical. My signature is more like a person wearing a Mcdonald's t-shirt to my restaurant and sitting there and eating. I'm not blinking the signature at anyone nor am I using flash animation.

This isn't using my time effectively by having this disagreement about something so silly as my forum signature. If you have a problem with my post or question how "appropriate" they are then simply report it to a moderator. Thank you for your input. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.
__________________
ClockManager.com Time Management Articles & Resources
................ Click now http://www.clockmanager.com!
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Treetops
Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
"Change your settings to not show signatures in this forum if your that offended."

But TesTeq may quite reasonably want to view other members signatures
(the ones that aren't an advertisement vehicle)
Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
"This isn't using my time effectively by having this disagreement about something so silly as my forum signature. If you have a problem with my post or question how "appropriate" they are then simply report it to a moderator."

But you asked for opinion:
Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
"If I need to scale down my signature then let me know..."

Also
Quote:
Originally Posted by troy
"Thank you for your input. Thank you for your time. Have a nice day."

Are you as sarcastic to the guests who eat at your restaurant?

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[Treetops]

Vramin
Member

Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 43
I vote everybody lay off Troy

He didn't have to tell you he was a restaurant manager in the first place. I would like to see him have a bigger signature. As long as he is contributing to the discussion, who cares? And I doubt if he cares what people wear in his restaurant as long as they have shoes and shirts.

I think I'm also siding with ceehjay. My biggest challenge right now is reading and posting in too many forums in order to avoid defining my bigger projects.

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Today, 05:18 PM
moises
Senior Member

This is true. Troy could have started the very long thread titled "What's Everyone's Profession" without stating his own profession.

But one wonders why anyone would state their own profession when the thread starter did not state his.

It would appear to me, until I have further information, that this is a case of bad faith.

As far as I can tell, Troy is not trying to sell anything on his website. So I wonder why he did not come right out and state that he is a restaurant manager who runs some websites, at least one of which is about time management. Given the raison d'etre of this forum, and given the subject of his post, not stating his involvement in a time management website strikes me as quite odd.

If someone comes on this forum and wants to contribute, that's fine. If someone wants to know how to find the best label printer, that's fine too. But if someone comes on the board to ask each of us to explain what we do with our time, and then we discover that the person who is asking this of us has not been forthright in telling us how he spends his time, then I believe that I am justified in experiencing feelings of betrayal and distrust. But these feelings of betrayal and distrust are overshadowed by feelings of bewilderment. I really do not understand why Troy, who appears to be eager to edify the world through his postings and website, would act in a way that appears so suspicious.

Troy, why did you not state your involvement in clockmanager.com when you asked all of us what our professions were? Why did you choose to publicize your involvement in clockmanager.com by changing your signature?

 

[Treetops]

As far as I can tell, Troy is not trying to sell anything on his website.

Hi Moises,

He's selling advertising.

I don't know how much revenue he makes, but clearly he thinks its worth the effort:

Sounds about right. Chrome47.

I think the marketing and the pr part comes just from adding my site into signatures of forums I visit and try to do some SEO.

(from http://board.43folders.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=4739)

For the record, I don't have a problem with Troy selling advertising on his websites.

Now I may be in error, but I have an uneasy feeling that the click thru
advertising is the main reason Troy posts to the GTD forum.

 

[taxgeek]

We have mods for this.

If the mods think his signature violates forum rules or standards of decorum, they'll do something about it.

This type of thread makes it feel like the GTD forum is not a nice place to post and like you people leading the charge are not nice people.

 

[Paul@Pittsburgh]

If the mods think his signature violates forum rules or standards of decorum, they'll do something about it.

This type of thread makes it feel like the GTD forum is not a nice place to post and like you people leading the charge are not nice people.

I have to agree.

I am a bit saddened to see this happen here, it looks a bit like a witch hunt. As I post this, Troy (who joined this month) has made 24 posts. He has kicked off several interesting discussions, and now has a thread on Blackberries. Maybe I have missed where he has been promoting his website, asidde from having a link in his signature. If the mods don't like it, then they can ask him to remove it, but nothing in his posts so far suggests he is a spammer or a troll, but actually through some divergent interests he has some interesting things to add to this forum.

Hounding someone off the forums is not on my NA list. Is it on yours?

Paul

 

[kewms]

If the mods think his signature violates forum rules or standards of decorum, they'll do something about it.

This type of thread makes it feel like the GTD forum is not a nice place to post and like you people leading the charge are not nice people.

Well, I'm the person who first asked the question, and people who know me seem to think I'm nice people.

It seems to me that if someone is going to advertise a web site in his signature, he should be prepared to discuss his connection with the site. In fact, it seems to me that provoking such a conversation is part of the reason for having such a signature in the first place. If he didn't want to talk about the site, why did he advertise it?

I also don't think it is off base to inquire if a poster appears to have multiple professional hats. After all, this is a time management-oriented forum, and balancing multiple careers is a formidable time management challenge. If Troy is simultaneously a successful restaurant manager and a successful productivity coach, good for him! Tell us more!

And that's where I was going with my original inquiry. If anyone really thinks those questions are off base or indicative of not-nice people, please explain your reasoning.

Katherine

 

[troy]

I have been completely honest when it has come to discussing my profession and also what I do as a hobby. Running Clockmanager.com is a hobby of mine. I didn't include in the thread, "What do you do for a living" my hobby as a web developer because it isn't what brings the money home for me. I don't make enough money with creating web sites to live off of per year. I participate at these forums because one I'm interested in learning more about GTD and time management and also in exchange for me contributing and being a member of GTD Forums my signature allows me to showcase my site in which I work hard on.

Daily we all face tons of obstacles. We have so many fires that we have to put out when it comes to being effective. The best part for me though is when I get my things done and I get to practice a hobby of mine. One of which is to come to the forums... not only this one but a lot of different sites... and communicate, on a high level, with intelligent people about topics that excite me. Dealing with problems at work and with family is one thing but I wouldn't suspect that I would have to deal with personal attacks on an internet message board.

There are a lot of folks on this forum that use their signature to showcase their site or business.

The threads that I have started in these forums are not "spam". I follow up and read the responses and I actually post comments when I feel needed. I'm not coming to these forums to spam the site and not contribute anything.
The question that I asked, What's everyone's biggest challenge when it comes to their jobs... that was an extremely relavant topic to discuss in these forums. When I asked what everyone did for a living that also was extremely relavent.

I thank those people that have made comments taking up for me. It's crazy that someone that isn't a moderator of this forum questions my post and their integrity.

I've gotta ask everyone who is even paying attention to this thread... is this really the best way you could be spending your time? Is this really the most important thing going on right now? Is it a battle worth fighting? How does this thread help anyone gain any more knowledge or ability to impact your day or someone else's day. ZERO productivity involved in this thread!

 

[Lisa Peake]

Getting back to GTD

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your comments and efforts to keep this forum both friendly and on-topic.

We feel this thread is getting somewhat off-topic, so I'm just letting you know that we may need to delete it soon if it doesn't get back on course. Please understand that we really do appreciate your comments and input, and we want to make sure that we keep a focus on GTD.

Happy posting!

-Lisa, Davidco Staff

 

[BigStory]

Well, for what it's worth...

I think the irritating thing about Troy's signature is simply the "click now" part, and possible the big, bold letters. That is the point where he seems to be advertising his site more strongly than the others who also add a link to their signatures. In fact, it was the "click now" that made me say, "forget that" and read the rest of the present posts; it makes him look like he wants to pull me away from this site, which I have found both enjoyable and highly useful, to some other site for (obviously) his own benefit in some way.

If Troy wants to "Play nice" he can just tone it down. That would indicate he values his own membership here. If not, well we can all just avoid his site and he'll learn soon enough that his questions (while valuable enough in themselves) are generating no traffic for him.

 

[TesTeq]

It's just a matter of taste.

I think the irritating thing about Troy's signature is simply the "click now" part, and possible the big, bold letters. That is the point where he seems to be advertising his site more strongly than the others who also add a link to their signatures.

I agree. The colorful "click me" signature seems to be inappropriate and distractful. But it's just a matter of taste. Apparently Troy does not get it and interprets it as a personal attack.

It's crazy that someone that isn't a moderator of this forum questions my post and their integrity.

This forum is based on mutual trust - not on the moderator dictatorship.

 

[GTD Wannabe]

I haven't been reading the "what's your profession" or "what's your biggest challenge" threads, so I've missed all this back-and-forth that's been going on. I just spent 5+ minutes reading this thread and I'm shocked.

As far as I can figure, the general level of snottiness here is directed at Troy because he has a colourful, wordy link in his signature. His signature is his business, just like his signature in real life, his business cards, his home page. It would be considered rude to make disparaging comments about any one of these in real life. Why is it acceptable to complain about his signature in the boards?

 

[TesTeq]

Maybe I am too sensitive?

I haven't been reading the "what's your profession" or "what's your biggest challenge" threads, so I've missed all this back-and-forth that's been going on. I just spent 5+ minutes reading this thread and I'm shocked.

As far as I can figure, the general level of snottiness here is directed at Troy because he has a colourful, wordy link in his signature. His signature is his business, just like his signature in real life, his business cards, his home page. It would be considered rude to make disparaging comments about any one of these in real life. Why is it acceptable to complain about his signature in the boards?

I can see a big difference between your signature and Troy's signature. But maybe I am too sensitive.

 

[Brent]

I just deleted a long message in defense of those who noticed Troy's signature with suspicion.

This is not about GTD, and honestly what good will it do us all to discuss this further? Our time would be better spent...getting things done, in my opinion.

 

[troy]

I just deleted a long message in defense of those who noticed Troy's signature with suspicion.

This is not about GTD, and honestly what good will it do us all to discuss this further? Our time would be better spent...getting things done, in my opinion.

Thanks Brent.

 

[TesTeq]

Thanks, Troy.

Thanks, Troy. I hope your site will have many satisfied visitors.

 

[Treetops]

I just deleted a long message in defense of those who noticed Troy's signature with suspicion.

Brent,

I've just got in the house, so don't know what the long message said, but no matter. I feel the members weren't unfair in raising their concerns. However, for my part if I may help in a small way to increase harmony here, unless addressed directly, I'll not post further on this topic.

 

[Brent]

Oh, I'm afraid I was unclear:

I deleted a message that I composed in defense of those who noticed Troy's signature with suspicion. I wrote it, was about to click "Submit," then deleted the message and wrote my message above.

To pull this back on-topic, how do you all fit web forum usage in with GTD? Do you have an NA to check forums? Do you schedule time for it? Personally, it's part of my morning and evening routines.

 

[taxgeek]

Good question Brent - for me, it's pure procrastination, justified by the fact that sometimes I pick up nuggets of info or motivation that help out with work.

 

[mramm]

Me too.

I check here and 43F at the beginning of my day and right before I go home for the day. After that I check RSS feeds. I don't tend to check either the forums or RSS feeds at home.

Michael

 

[troy]

Just like my morning coffee I check a list of forums, SitePointforums.com, 43folders.com, Talkfreelance.com, and my e-mail. I then check all my web sites to make sure that they are alive and are doing well. Then I go and read some news to make sure that the world hasn't gone haywire while I was sleeping.

After which I create my to-do list for the day and then go I decide my day. I actually think out what is going to happen. Postive thinking provokes me tremedously. After studying quantum physics and watching the movie What the Bleep do you know. I understand that negative thinking really dictates how my day is going to go. Example:

A person goes into a bar and meet a new group of people. He tells himself, I'm never going to remember any of these people's name. Soon there after he walks up to the bar and orders a drink. A person that he just met comes up to the bar and he forgets their name already. This is programming that is done by negative thinking. You can use almost any analogy to showcase the point I'm trying to make.

I program my mind into what is going to happen, and I my brain a command to be successful in the task that I want to do.

Then I get it on.

After my bulk of the day happens I get back online check the above mentioned site.

I use widgets from Yahoo to put items that I used on a daily basis on my desktop. (widgets.yahoo.com) this gives me my weather, my e-mail status (very important, saves me time by not going online and checking to see if I have new e-mail twenty times per day) and other tools to help me stay offline or doing productive things whenever possible.