# Coffee Forums Change of ownership - response thread



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Coffee Forums community, a change in the site ownership company structure. As of 4th November 2021, the Coffee Forums will be owned and operated by the good folks at VerticalScope. Read the full announcement *here*

*The announcement area is read only, but you can respond or ask questions in this thread.*


----------



## Alfieboy (Dec 26, 2018)

Hi Dave

Is anything changing with sponsorship? I've had next years automatic payment cancelled tonight

Neil


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Uncletits said:


> Hi Dave
> 
> Is anything changing with sponsorship? I've had next years automatic payment cancelled tonight
> 
> Neil


 There has been no announcements regarding sponsorship, just advertising. I didn't know about this. Hopefully the new owners can answer this.


----------



## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

Uncletits said:


> Hi Dave
> 
> Is anything changing with sponsorship? I've had next years automatic payment cancelled tonight
> 
> Neil


 Mine too.


----------



## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

That took me 30 mins to work out what had been cancelled.


----------



## Nightrider_1uk (Apr 26, 2020)

AndyDClements said:


> That took me 30 mins to work out what had been cancelled.


 Yeh me too, thought it was a scam at first


----------



## Nightrider_1uk (Apr 26, 2020)

I do hope that this lack of communication is not a sign of things to come.


----------



## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Interesting times ahead... Whatever it is, I hope it's for the best.


----------



## Alfieboy (Dec 26, 2018)

@MediumRoastSteam well they're either changing it or stopping it


----------



## Alfieboy (Dec 26, 2018)

It's very quiet out there

I feel like the kid at the orphanage who doesn't get chosen ☕


----------



## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Given the lack of communication from the new owners and the rather reactive approach they took with regards to the advertisement platform - "hey, it's off, sorry!" Rather than "hey, heads up, next week this will happen" - quite frankly I'm not surprised. It happened before, it's no news. Seems like the sense of community in these places are hardly appreciated by those who just look at tracking and traffic analytics software.


----------



## Nightrider_1uk (Apr 26, 2020)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> Given the lack of communication from the new owners and the rather reactive approach they took with regards to the advertisement platform - "hey, it's off, sorry!" Rather than "hey, heads up, next week this will happen" - quite frankly I'm not surprised. It happened before, it's no news. Seems like the sense of community in these places are hardly appreciated by those who just look at tracking and traffic analytics software.


 Far different from what they stated in their introduction.


----------



## Nightrider_1uk (Apr 26, 2020)

Anybody encountered any problems with the Classified section. I was having a browse earlier and a few that i looked at and saw the following message

ERROR: The package from this advert is inactive. Contact the system administrator.


----------



## AndyDClements (Aug 29, 2016)

I'm thinking that any teething problems due to the change in approach will likely be just that, else all the other forums that they now own would have dwindled in size and revenue would have dried up. They cannot have a sustainable business model of upsetting users, so I'm thinking we just need to let things settle to the new normal (as compared to non-EU new normal, COVID-19 new normal, etc)


----------



## 7493 (May 29, 2014)

A number of us have jumped ship as a result of this acquisition. You can find us here:

https://*********************.com/


----------



## winterlight (Feb 27, 2016)

Who actually owned the forums before this acquisition? I'd always assumed it was just a community based thing that had been put together.


----------



## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

winterlight said:


> Who actually owned the forums before this acquisition? I'd always assumed it was just a community based thing that had been put together.


 This is the second acquisition since it's original formation.


----------



## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Glenn Watson set up the forum initially, and he's now back in New Zealand.


----------



## Syenitic (Dec 1, 2013)

DavecUK said:


> Coffee Forums community, a change in the site ownership company structure. As of 4th November 2021, the Coffee Forums will be owned and operated by the good folks at VerticalScope. Read the full announcement *here*
> 
> *The announcement area is read only, but you can respond or ask questions in this thread.*


 Aww shame, I had just acknowledged the warning you gave me during your despotic rise too. What goes around comes around I suppose.


----------



## Happyguy (Dec 29, 2021)

Is it just me or is there so much less worshipping going on here now?


----------



## dutchy101 (Jun 12, 2020)

So much less....well everything really.


----------



## Gilly (Jul 29, 2019)

Help!!

Used to post REGULARY on coffee forum UK; now having difficulty connecting with the new forum.

Trying to contact my old Mucca el carillon (Frank)

thanks Gilly.


----------



## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

Gilly said:


> Help!!
> 
> Used to post REGULARY on coffee forum UK; now having difficulty connecting with the new forum.
> 
> ...


 Have you tried to pm him @Gilly

otherwise I believe he posts on another forum that the ex mods from here set up


----------



## El carajillo (Mar 16, 2013)

coffeechap said:


> Have you tried to pm him @Gilly
> 
> otherwise I believe he posts on another forum that the ex mods from here set up


 Thanks Dave, I pop in occasionally, I will contact Gilly.

Have you been out in the mobile home yet ?

Did you know there is some clause where you need to have the vehicle reclassified as a 'mobile home' or the insurance only covers value as previously registered ? Worth checking up


----------



## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

El carajillo said:


> Thanks Dave, I pop in occasionally, I will contact Gilly.
> 
> Have you been out in the mobile home yet ?
> 
> Did you know there is some clause where you need to have the vehicle reclassified as a 'mobile home' or the insurance only covers value as previously registered ? Worth checking up


 Hey Frank, good that you still pop in over here, still use your group sleeves tool (excellent). Yes did the research and unfortunately still in the process of doing the the beast up, but managing to spend a bit more time on it so hopefully get to use it this summer.


----------



## 28362 (Dec 17, 2020)

I'm a little confused with the coffee forum scene. I read that everyone has scattered to other forums such as **** and ****. But they seem very sparsely populated. And posting has reduced here. I can read all the text about a corporate having taken over here to monetise us all. Who is the corporate? Does corporate just mean a company of some sort, rather than it being a moderator owned platform?

Anyway, I'm still here. I don't post often but check in regularly and fund the forum useful.


----------



## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

stephenm said:


> I'm a little confused with the coffee forum scene. I read that everyone has scattered to other forums such as **** and ****. But they seem very sparsely populated. And posting has reduced here. I can read all the text about a corporate having taken over here to monetise us all. Who is the corporate? Does corporate just mean a company of some sort, rather than it being a moderator owned platform?
> 
> Anyway, I'm still here. I don't post often but check in regularly and fund the forum useful.


It was never a moderator owned platform - It was started by Glenn andf was a commercial enterprise , then SOLD to the last owners , and now its under new ownership. I guess what pepole are objecting to is how the forum is monetised. I for example moderated for a few years under Glenn, it was a thankless task with no monetary reward.
Through Sponsorship , Ads, Donations, charging for sales threads etc eTC.
I would judge a forum by the qulaity of posts not the amount,, in days gone by there was lots of posts around off topic stuff, a lot of which did nothing for me and some others.
We seem to get less posts than are designed to troll people as well.
We may have lost some of the more bawdy humour some liked on here, at the same time I felt it was a narrow membership in demographic .


----------



## J_Fo (Dec 24, 2017)

stephenm said:


> I'm a little confused with the coffee forum scene. I read that everyone has scattered to other forums such as **** and ****. But they seem very sparsely populated. And posting has reduced here. I can read all the text about a corporate having taken over here to monetise us all. Who is the corporate? Does corporate just mean a company of some sort, rather than it being a moderator owned platform?
> 
> Anyway, I'm still here. I don't post often but check in regularly and fund the forum useful.


This may help clear up any confusion!

You might remember there used to be a subscription on here called LSOL.

A while after the forum was first sold, some new mods took over and the guys who ran the sub were told if they wanted to continue with it they would now have to pay advertising.

As this would mean the costs would be passed on to the subscribers the decision was made to set up Talk Coffee as a new home for the sub.

I don't know anything about any other forums or any specifics about post counts, and personally I'm not concerned about stuff like that but I'm genuinely delighted LSOL survived.

It's a fantastic sub and introduces coffee enthusiasts to lots of fantastic roasters. It's an excellent resource for anyone that loves coffee.

If a new forum hadn't been created LSOL simply wouldn't have been able to continue at the price point which makes it so special.

Hope that sheds a bit more light on why it was set up!

Cheers 😊


----------



## Daren (Jan 16, 2012)

J_Fo said:


> This may help clear up any confusion!
> 
> You might remember there used to be a subscription on here called LSOL.
> 
> ...


If anyone is interested in getting involved with LSOL feel free to drop me a message. We are still going strong!


----------



## Rincewind (Aug 25, 2020)

Happyguy said:


> Is it just me or is there so much less worshipping going on here now?


That's because Coffee Jesus has left the building (aka spat his dummy out) and all his Disciples have followed like "brainwashed" sheep with nowhere else to go


----------



## Blue_Cafe (Jun 22, 2020)

Yay


----------



## thesmileyone (Sep 27, 2016)

I went away for a while and now the forum is owned by a media conglomerate in another country.

If you have watched Succession (and if you haven't, you should) CFUK is basically an affiliate of Waystar now. Which means more censorship etc. I think it's time to take my leave properly.


----------



## Rincewind (Aug 25, 2020)

thesmileyone said:


> I went away for a while and now the forum is owned by a media conglomerate in another country.


The previous owner was also from another country (but lived here), not that it matters...things change...one can adapt or stay stuck in the past; it's a choice really...nobody is forced to come here.



thesmileyone said:


> ...Which means more censorship etc...


Speculation


----------



## Bhodgson (11 mo ago)

Rincewind said:


> The previous owner was also from another country (but lived here), not that it matters...things change...one can adapt or stay stuck in the past; it's a choice really...nobody is forced to come here.



Speculation
[/QUOTE]
There’s been some. Entire threads, dealing with technical questions not political chat, not more than 3 years old have vanished. And a host of older, but similar threads, have gone too.

theres always a mess when egos clash. But that doesn’t mean the input of the loosing ego, is no longer valid.


----------



## Rincewind (Aug 25, 2020)

Bhodgson said:


> Speculation





Bhodgson said:


> There’s been some. Entire threads, dealing with technical questions not political chat, not more than 3 years old have vanished. And a host of older, but similar threads, have gone too.
> 
> theres always a mess when egos clash. But that doesn’t mean the input of the loosing ego, is no longer valid.


Nothing to do with me pal, i haven't deleted any "entire threads"...but...any concerns/issues you may have then feel free to use the Contact Us (at the bottom of the page) or pm @cfukadmin


----------



## Bhodgson (11 mo ago)

I’m sorry “ PAL” but, don’t you think thats a bit paranoid. I even never mentioned you?
I reacted to the comment “speculation”, nothing more.

I’m not sure your passive aggressive technique, as a mod, is quite cutting it.


----------



## Rincewind (Aug 25, 2020)

@Bhodgson my apologies, i stand corrected, i misread and assumed it was me.


----------



## Bhodgson (11 mo ago)

It happens. Thanks for the comment.


----------



## Rincewind (Aug 25, 2020)

Tidied up off topic posts (including my own) from the past few days.


----------

