I have to pull back a bit from Chiff & Fipple and have called on the help of some friends and have already received many offers of help. Among them is Alan Mount who some of you will know for his presence on the C&F chatroom. I have asked Alan to help moderate the boards, at the suggestion of several people, and he has graciously accepted. He is now empowered to moderate. Rich will continue to be available, mostly to handle technical matters. I will be here to help Alan in any way I can. But, for now, Alan is your go-to man for board matters: Working out commercial posts, dealing with the rare abusive post, etc. You may PM Alan on the board. His username is elegant: “Alan”. His email address is almount@fastmail.fm.
I love Alan.
I think Alan’s a great choice. He’s got a lots of p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e and a great sense of humor (besides being a good sport when Bloomfield is harrassing him in the chat room). I’m sure we’ll all behave ourselves so he doesn’t have to get tough and give up his nice guy persona. 
Susan
I actually had another feeling at first, but I love Alan so much that I didn’t want to offer it (and risk seeming like I was attacking him).
Then I changed my mind.
So here it is:
I don’t think it’s all that good of an idea to have a flute maker as a moderator, especially of the flute forum. I know Alan would never ever ever ever compromise the position, but the appearance of a conflict of interests is there, at least on the surface.
I very well may be the only person who sees that.
Then don’t sweat it.
Hats off to Alan, surely one of the steadiest and most delightful personalities in this community. Great choice! He might have to cut down on his postings, though, to keep up with the job. 
Carol
I’m not sweating it, Tony. The first time I didn’t post my concerns and I should have gone with my better judgement and not posted them the second time.
To make it clear, I recieved a PM that thought I was commenting on Alan, and I wasn’t, it was meant to be toward an instrument maker in general moderating the forums and the appearance of a conflict of interest. Sort of like letting the lion watch over the sheep. This particular lion may be a well behaved nice lion (and he is), but the potential is always there.
I’ll shut up now to avoid causing any more problems. That wasn’t what I was trying to do (believe it or not! ).
Yay for Alan! 
‘To make it clear, I recieved a PM that thought I was commenting on Alan, and I wasn’t, it was meant to be toward an instrument maker in general moderating the forums and the appearance of a conflict of interest. Sort of like letting the lion watch over the sheep.’
Devour me, please.
Congratulations Alan! Moderating this board has to be a time consuming task and it’s great that Dale has put his trust in you to help out. Supporting you 110 %!
Moonlight*
Cranberry,
I think you are perfectly within your rights to express a concern over putting a flute maker on the forum as a moderator. For the record, I had never heard of Alan before this post.. To get to the heart of the matter, there is potential trouble down the road, which would more than likely have something to do with the commercial posting policy, and the flute maker’s perceived enforcement or lack of enforcement of that policy.
Thanks for helping to guide the ship, Alan. It’s nice to know the board continues to be in good hands.
Jef
Cran and Moster, you guys are retarded! Alan is just about the coolest guy you could ever have met. There is no question of him doing something shadey in regards to his business or somebody else’s business. Rest assured, you’re in good hands. He’s the best guy for the job that I can think of and I think Dale made an excellent decision. I hope you guys aren’t holding your breath waiting for alan to do something immoral cause you’ll be holding it for a real long time…
MurhphyStout,
I am not retarded! I will re-word what I have already stated so that you have another chance to understand it.
First off, does Alan make instruments and sell them? If yes, continue reading to the next paragraph. If no then this post is not relevent, and you should probably skip it.
Alan could be the fairest person on planet Earth, the trouble will come when somebody has perceived that he has done something wrong. It is more likely that it will be perceived that
a.) Alan is being to harsh on another makers violation of the commercial posting policy, or
b.) Alan is being too lenient on another makers violation of the commercial posting policy.
This may actually never become an issue, I’m just pointing out that it could become an issue, simply because Alan is an instrument maker. Is it fair?; probably not. Is it ok for me to point this out?; I think so. Why should I worry about this, well, I’m not really, it;s just a thought, an idea that I felt would be ok to express over the internet.
Let me be clear that this board belongs to rich and myself and Alan has our complete support. Obviously, in his position as moderator, if he uses the boards to promote his business, everybody would be on him like white on rice.
Let’s not ANTICIPATE a problem. If a problem develops, we’ll deal. I could really use the help.
Dale
Considering yourself fortunate he didn’t pick me, eh Cran?? 
serpent
Gosh, Dale, Alan certainly has my support 100%!
serp
Dale,
If you are bringing the hammer down now, just think what will happen if something really does go wrong. Oooops, sorry, forgot I’m not allowed to think like that.
I’m done with this thread!
Hammer? What hammer?
I have never actively promoted myself on C&F in any way and do not intend to start now.
I’m just here to help Dale because he asked me and I love C&F.
Let’s try and keep ‘possible perceptions’ from becoming ‘preconceived notions’, eh?
Thanks!
Cran - Yes, Alan does make and sell flutes, but I have yet to see a single post mentioning them from him. Hell, he barely posts at all. He’s more a chat denizen than a message board poster. Secondly, they’re not his main source of income, it’s more a hobby than a serious business venture. Alan is also one of the most reasonable people I’ve encountered. Don’t sweat it.