Patrick

I've been meaning to tell you, Alex, that you are doing a wonderful job. I was looking at the Alpha BJJ stuff the other day and the way you use the tools is excellent. You are a great example of what is now commonly referred to as inbound marketing and content marketing. In short, the idea that you create great content that draws people to you, rather than buying their attention. I know you don't consider yourself to be computer savvy, but as someone who knows a little bit about this stuff, I have to believe you are in the top 1% of martial arts schools in the U.S. when it comes to the savvy way you are using the tools. I'd definitely recommend that folks go to http://alphajiujitsu.com and take a good look at how Alex uses YouTube, Facebook and their blog. It's good stuff. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. As you may know, Brian (bushido_man96) recently hit 25,000 posts. Beyond the announcement that I posted, the staff and I decided that we wanted to go a little further in honoring Brian. We sent him a gift, which I'll let him tell you more about. We also produced a video where a few of us talked about what Brian means to us and the community. Once again, thank you, Brian, for all of the amazing contributions that you have made to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

On a related note, ps1 wrote an article recently that touched on this: http://www.karateforums.com/so-you-want-to-open-your-own-martial-arts-school-vt47139.html

This is a great thread, Shawn. Thanks for starting it. I can't think of anything... I mean, the Wright brothers took their plane up into the air pretty close by, but it's a couple of towns over.

I watched the new Robocop the other day. I enjoyed it. That said, I've never seen the original. Heh.

Wow, welcome back, Shawn. So nice to have you back. Patrick

Congrats RAM18!

Here's an article about it: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/19/entertainment/feat-scarface-remake-thr/ Certainly a tough act to follow. I don't mind remakes because I can just ignore them if I don't like them.

Hope you had a great day, Alex. Thanks again for all that you do here!

Thanks Shawn. Part 2 has now been published, covering abuse of power and corruption. http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/03/12/abuse-of-power-and-corruption-how-law-enforcement-officers-and-online-community-moderators-can-avoid-them/

He's crushing it this spring! http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/12533957/kris-bryant-chicago-cubs-prospect-continues-home-run-tear So great. Patrick

Haha. I have a friend with that birthday. He usually just celebrates on February 28.

Congrats John! Patrick

Hello and welcome, Rab397. Patrick

That's great, Devin. Congrats!

Welcome Nijil Jacob. Glad to have you. Patrick

Welcome aboard, Bulltahr. Patrick

I'm really pumped about Suh. Hopefully we can get it done. I can't say I haven't had issues with his on the field stuff before, but at the same time, he hasn't had any off the field issues, coaches and teammates seem to love him and everyone says he is a hard worker. Maclin is a great pickup for the Chiefs! The Saints have been interesting to watch. Their cap situation is rough. They are still about 5 million over the cap from what I am seeing. As an aside, wanted to mention that the site I enjoy checking the most for the latest info is Pro Football Rumors. I like it because it is essentially a clearinghouse of all info and they cite the sources properly. If all you do is go there and refresh the page every little while, you'll be totally informed on what's going on. The team pages are under "Teams" in the menu. For example: Chiefs: http://www.profootballrumors.com/kansas-city-chiefs/ Saints: http://www.profootballrumors.com/new-orleans-saints/ Cowboys: http://www.profootballrumors.com/dallas-cowboys/ Also, if you want to know your team's salary cap situation and what they will receive if they cut a player, check out Over the Cap. Click your team at the top and you can get all sorts of info. The salary cap for 2015 is $143.28 million.

My brother's birthday is on March 8, so he only got 23 hours out of his birthday.

Thank you, Nidan Melbourne. I'll be publishing part two within the next week or so, and will update this thread when I do. Patrick

Hey all, As you may know, bushido_man96 (Brian) and tallgeese (Alex) are both longtime moderators and contributors here at KarateForums.com. They are also law enforcement officers. When I invited them to join our team, I didn't realize what their line of work was. They were judged based upon their contributions here. When I did find out what their day job was, I can't say I wasn't intrigued by the connection. Recently, I hosted a conversation with them to explore how the two roles relate. It went so long (over 7,500 words) that I'm publishing it in three parts over at ManagingCommunities.com. I wanted to share it here as I thought that some members might enjoy reading it. Part one focuses on their background, the similarities between law enforcement and moderation, how to be more than just an enforcer and the proper use of the discretion - as an officer and a moderator. http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/03/02/law-enforcement-and-online-community-moderation-a-conversation-with-two-officersmoderators/ In part two, we discussed abuse of power and corruption. http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/03/12/abuse-of-power-and-corruption-how-law-enforcement-officers-and-online-community-moderators-can-avoid-them/ In part three, we talked about suicide and offline threats and how their respective roles have benefited one another: http://www.managingcommunities.com/2015/04/02/law-enforcement-advice-on-how-to-deal-with-offline-and-suicide-threads-on-your-community/ Thanks, Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. The March selection is... chiliphil1. Congratulations! Thank you for all of the contributions that you have made to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

Hey amolao, I think it would be hard for people to say if it was expensive without more info. Where do you live? For example, in San Francisco, you'll have a hard time finding a nice 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo for less then $3,000 a month. But that's the cost of living out there. So it sort of depends on where you are, just as much as anything else. Patrick

Welcome aboard, rafi952. Patrick

Congrats Karate_John!