Hello EnglishForum members and guests.

It has been just a little more than a year now since my brother and founder of this fine forum left us all far too early in a tragic accident.

Since then, the forum has had uncertainties and ups and downs. I was closely involved with Mark in much of his forum development projects and I could not bear to get too close to the running of his forum for a long time.

While many people have worked very hard with little praise or appreciation to keep things running behind the scenes, no one has managed to keep things upgraded and feature rich as Mark always did.

The forum (as it stands) works, but as the ‘net marches on, things break and need updating. It has pained me to see much of Mark’s work slowly break and not keep pace with changes. It has also pained me to see the disruptions and the downtime despite sterling efforts of some behind the scenes.

A little while ago, I intervened with some minor fixes following the last move and promised to sit behind the scenes and try to steer the forum in a better direction. I promised there would be some upgrades, fixes and changes on the way and today I can announce that this will begin in earnest.

I have decided to give the forum into the care of someone who is already quite capable of running a forum superbly. I have full confidence that he will be able to be a part of this community and give it the care, time and technical skills that are needed.

I have deliberated long over this decision and it has not been an easy one to make. I am quite sure however that this is almost exactly the same sort of decision that Mark would have made (though he may have done it a bit quicker).

I have decided that the future of this forum in order to be sustainable, (both technically and financially), will be in the hands of the right commercial model. This may initially upset some, but as you will see, there are many positives to this change and will enable the forum to reach the point that Mark had intended for it.

I have now handed over ownership to The Local, a small organisation who have a niche expat market and should be a nice fit for the community here. They do not intend to make any big changes in here and want to keep everything much the same as it is. You may notice a small logo in the corner, but I think that will be a small price to pay for having the forum kept as it should be. I’ll let James explain that to you, but suffice to say that I would not have transferred the forum to them if I believed it would not be of benefit to the community and Mark’s legacy.

Some of you have also donated to keep this forum running over the last year and most of that has been used wisely on the hosting that is currently serving you. I will make it my task to properly investigate all donations and make sure that any left over funds will be offered to be returned. I want to make sure that everything is accounted for and nothing goes amiss. Please note: The new owner has nothing to do with past donations, nor will do. Please PM me if you have any concerns about this.

You, the members in here – this is still your community. The ownership of the domain name and the responsibility for who pays for it to run and who does the work to make it all happen will not change the experience for you. If you all can work with James, he can help you make this forum as it should be.

Please welcome James (Editor Bob) into your community and with your help, I’m sure he’ll help you to make this a better place.

Robert Fyvie

Thanks for that, Robert.

Hello everyone!

It is with some trepidation that I write this because, to the vast majority of you reading, I am a complete stranger.

Right now you're probably wondering, "James who?!". And "what the heck is The Local?!".

So here's a further introduction and some more background info.

First of all, I am a British guy, mid-thirties, living in Munich, Germany.

For the last seven years I have been managing a website called Toytown Germany (known as TT). That site is very similar to EF. It is a chat forum for English speakers. The difference is, as the name implies, it covers Germany instead of Switzerland.

I started TT on a whim back in 2002, just for fun, not thinking much of it. Then over the next couple of years it kind of took on a life of its own. For the last four years I have been running it full-time. At the end of last year TT teamed up with The Local, a Sweden-based English-language news organisation which had recently launched a news site in Germany. The Local is now the parent company of Toytown Germany, and as of today The Local is also the parent company of EnglishForum.ch.

Seeing as TT and EF are so very similar in concept, and seeing as we cover neighbouring countries, I think it is a natural fit. Also, quite a few people move to Switzerland from Germany, and vice versa. I know of a number of expats who have switched countries though the course of their jobs, or for love, or whatever. So although I'm currently a stranger to most people on this forum, I know that I'm familiar to at least a handful here.

As Robert says, not much is really going to change. The absolute last thing I or anyone wants is to disrupt what is already a great website and community. I'd like the site's look and feel, the moderation team, and moderation policy to stay the same. This doesn't mean that the site will remain static. We will continue to develop. Software will be upgraded and features will be added and refined. But the fundamentals won't change.

The Local as a company may officially be the new owner of the site. But as Mark always used to say, and as Robert has reiterated above, in reality the site belongs to you, the members. With chat forums like this it is the people who post and who attend the events that make the forum what it is. And that philosophy will continue. The Local's responsibility will be to make sure that EF is technically sound and continues to be a thriving and growing community.

One final point. And I know that this is a very controversial issue, so it's probably best to address it right away... Yes, in time there will be commercial advertising introduced on EF.

The Local is a business and much of that business is advertising-related. But what we do on our news sites and what we do on the forums we run are two completely different things.

Those of you familiar with the Toytown Germany forum will know that the ads there are scarcely noticeable, whereas they are rather more visible on thelocal.se and thelocal.de. If advertising is introduced to EF it will be low-key and discreet, much like on TT. Indeed, most of the advertisers on TT are forum members with services that are appreciated by other users – such as specific services for foreigners, or English-speaking jobs for international companies. The same might happen on EF. Advertising doesn't have to be an evil.

OK, that's it from me for now. If anyone has questions or comments they'd like to make in private, feel free to PM me.

Cheers,
Bob.

I speak for myself when I support the newest changes to
our EF. Even the presence of a commercial entity at
the top of the EF should not, IMO, make any difference
in the daily discussions and transer of information...
which is the basis of the EF anyway.

My welcome to The Local and James at the helm.

Sure, there has been some organizing going on behind
the scenes, which is now a thing of the past. I
personally thank those involved and would enter into
a similar relationship with you at any time. You
know who you are.

Robert, your decision is respected and supported.
Hope to see your posts and words of wisdom now and
then, don't become a stranger.

James, as you have done in the past, your technical
tips and advice is a good addition to the EF.
Looking forward to working with you.

Good luck James, you have some very big boots to fill.

Good luck and long may the forum continue.

My best wishes and good luck

I've been a member of Toytown Germany since end 2003 - and since my move down to Zurich end 08 I've been resident on this site.

Ed Bob has told me a couple of times that we've met but either I was too drunk or argumentative with some other individual to notice. I think that's mostly been his style with TT - letting the idiots (proud member) to get on with it and with him providing the infrastructure and magically growing the site.

But he's a marvellous guy , and I do believe that you'd be hard stretched to find a better pair of hands or a bigger fair of feet to fill any boots however large and tragically left unfilled. I'm very much hopeful that I will grow to love EF as much as I love TT and will doubtless remain active (in between manic bouts of work) on both.

We were quite familiar with The Local during the time we were in Sweden. Sometime ago, someone was looking for The Local journalist here, I was then thinking why they (the local) didn't contact English forum for cooperation. And now it becomes true.

Congratulations and good luck!

I just have a question with Ed Bob that do you know when thelocal.ch is working?

Good luck, change is inevitable, often positive, and above all not to be feared, nor rushed headlong into.

Best of luck, James.

Viel Glück to Bob and all the EF regulars. Let's hope the changes doesn't adversely change the community.

Cheers!

Robert, hopefully there will be a little left over to stand a few drinks for those who have given up of their time for free to keep this place up and running over the last year.

Indeed. I went over to ToyTown, disabled my ad blocker, and saw a very unobtrusive ad. It should certainly not be a problem except to those with a theological aversion to ads.

Amen.
Amen.

All the best to the new owner and hopefully it will keep the EF up and running for many years to come...

Thanks for explaining the future plans clearly and most of all I am pleased that the future of this invaluable forum is secure. All the best.

What's the reason for njjnl's NARU status since yesterday? Does he not agree with the new ownership. Sad to see one of the people who came to the rescue of the forum moving on.

Things change... Change is not always bad. I fully understand why the decision was made. I know its exactly what Mark would have done (although if he were alive it would never have come to this).

I hope that this will now mean that we can all relax in the sense that we all now know who is responsible for the forum, who is funding etc etc. Easing those concerns, I hope will allow this forum to gain in strength again. The information and network of support this forum provides is beyond any monetary value and I for one, hope it shall continue to be just that, a strong community...

I don't feel commercial advertising is something to fear since without it there will always be doubt about the future of EF. As someone who works in a field directly related to advertising I know that my world would cease to exist as I know it today without advertising money. My only concern is with the type of advertising all too many websites have experimented with in the past. The type of advertising which does nothing more than to alienate it's users with "in your face" advertising such as pop-ups and most often seen today (because of browser pop-up blockers), pop-unders. If the advertising is tasteful (and relevant) to the users of EF this will surely be a change for the better and only help in making EF the preferred website for xpats (and others) looking for information related to Switzerland.

Good luck Editor Bob in your endeavor..

Is there any remuneration scheme set up for regular information contributors?