Predatorium The Future of the Lair - New management and update on the update! :)

[Faken]

Good afternoon guys and gals!

I have some very important news for everyone concerning the direction and management of the Lair and I have a little update concerning the site update to share. So if I could have a moment of two of your time... *lights dim*

Since my divorce last year I have been extremely busy outside the world of collecting, Predators and my online businesses in general. I have posted perhaps a couple dozen posts on the Lair in the last YEAR, and as the person who owns and manages this site, that’s pretty damn embarrassing. I now work for an amazing company called Manwin and since then I have slowly been moving out my personal and business websites to new owners that can continue where I left off. We all know how much work we put in to our personal projects and no one wants to see something they love just keel over and die in to the abyss.

Over the years we've all worked really hard on this site to get it where it is now, putting up record traffic numbers with membership and participation at an all-time high. And I don't mean the royal "we"... I'm talking about the mods, admins, contributors and all the members that make this place worth visiting every day. It only seems fair that the site receives the attention it deserves from its management. You all deserve the best, so it's time to change things around so you all continue to get the best experience possible from the Lair.

So with that said, I am extremely excited to let you guys know that the Lair will now be managed and maintained by Movie Prop Sites LLC, the same company that runs The RPF and The Dented Helmet websites. I’ve been in close contact with MP company owner Art Andrews and he is definitely on the same page as I am with his vision of where the site should be and how to lead the forum and let it thrive in the coming years.

I will continue to act as the forum’s administrator and will be working on the updates and changes and will continue hosting the site for the time being. There will be very little rocking of the boat (I’m sure the upgrade will already be pretty turbulent and people tend to hate changes to their forum structure) so it will be business as usual while Movie Prop Sites slowly brings the site under their umbrella. All the donation funds have been allocated and will continue to be used to fund the site’s operations exactly as planned.

The upgrade is coming very soon, this week I will be performing and downloading full site backups and the company I hired will be granted access to our system to create the upgraded skin and test it. So I expect that in one or two weeks we’ll be looking at a fully updated version of the site.

I'm not exactly retired, but there's some very excited people at the helm now and I am 100% confident you are going to love what Movie Prop Sites brings to the table.

Thanks!
Dan

 

[Origami Unicorn]

Will they ( Movie Prop Sites) press "the reset button" on the lair? what I mean is like new rules, charging us, and making our old posts go away?

 

[A Hunters Moon]

Hmmm, not exactly sure what I think about that. I hope more details will be disclosed soon. I'd like to know what major changes may occur, if any, and how everything will be affected. Especially the buy/sell/trade section.

 

[Kithunter]

guys be patient..me included.....
i'm sure whoever calls the shots around here will make sure things go smoothly in this transition.

Always remember ...it's not the admins or mods that make this place....it's the members and the content we all fill it with as well as the spirit of the forum.

Art is a stand up guy and he runs the rpf very well....i have faith in his steering us right.

that's my .02 for whoever cares

 

[Faken]

There will be no rocking of the boat whatsoever... the operations map I had plotted for the Lair over the course of the next few months and onwards will be taken over and executed by MP. The goals and direction of what I expected of the site were very clearly outlined from the very beginning. You're in good hands guys, I promise. And again, I'll still be here

Dan

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Just dealing with Art with regard to his P1 Stunt Bio over the past few months, he's been nothing short of fantastic. I guarantee you guys that the Lair is in good hands and Art is super excited to take the helm. I'm just stoked for the update to happen

 

[pdisc]

Well,change is always inevitable.....looking forward to what lies ahead for the lair. This place is awesome and full of talent.

 

[Art Andrews]

Hi guys. Since I own and speak for MPS, I will go through and try to answer your questions/concerns 1 by 1.

Will they ( Movie Prop Sites) press "the reset button" on the lair? what I mean is like new rules, charging us, and making our old posts go away?

There will be no "reset." As you all have been anticipating, we will be moving forward exactly as planned with the upgrade to IPB 3 and hope to include some very cool new features.

If you aren't familiar with MPS, we run therpf.com and thedentedhelmet.com as well as host a number of minor sites. If you have seen how we run those sites, you can pretty much expect the same here.

We don't charge and will not be charging members ever, period.

We will not be removing any content from the site.

We have no immediate plans to change the rules.

One of the primary concerns in taking on an active community like this is to not "rock the boat." While there are a number of things I'd like to see done to improve the site for you, the members, because the change from IPB 2 to IPB 3 is so big, it is very unlikely that we will make anything except minor changes (like the favicon change) before then.

I can telll you that in looking over this site and looking at a lot of statistics, I think that this community hasn't come close to reaching its full potential and I think there are a LOT of Predator fans out there who would love to participate here if they only knew we existed. Part of my goal will be to help ensure those fans are able to find us.

 

[Art Andrews]

I totally understand your unease. I am relatively new to this community but I am not new to props and costumes. Having started and run the Dented Helmet (a site very comparable in size to the Hunter's Lair) for over ten years and having run the RPF (infinitly larger than the Hunter's Lair) for the past two years has given me a lot of experience in running communities like this one... but with all that said, I am still the new guy and I understand that.

I hope my actions (or lack of action) over the next 6 months or so will help prove that I have nothing but the best of intentions for the Lair.

You asked about more details being disclosed. If you have specific questions that are not of a personal nature, I will be more than happy to address them.

In regard to changes, I expect no major changes to occur (other than the previously planned software and style upgrade). There will be minor changes as we tweak the site for SEO purposes, but that is all I foresee at this point.

I don't anticipate any changes in the buying/selling forum.

 

[Art Andrews]

guys be patient..me included.....
i'm sure whoever calls the shots around here will make sure things go smoothly in this transition.

Always remember ...it's not the admins or mods that make this place....it's the members and the content we all fill it with as well as the spirit of the forum.

Art is a stand up guy and he runs the rpf very well....i have faith in his steering us right.

that's my .02 for whoever cares

Thanks Andrew and you are absolutely right. The staff only guides a site and serves the membership. The heart of a site is always the members and the content they produce. That is how it is at the Dented Helmet, at the RPF and how it is here.

 

[torredator]

All I can say is welcome aboard Art, I know you will do a great job! The only bad change is no change!

 

[MEANGENE83]

Let's do this! I am so ready for the skin changeover.

New, exciting fresh start for the Lair. So to speak.

It feels like when you are a kid and you re-arrange your bedroom.

 

[Kithunter]

you know gene if we put our beds together...."we can can have so much more room for activities"

 

[Rabbit1]

Let's do this! I am so ready for the skin changeover.

New, exciting fresh start for the Lair. So to speak.

It feels like when you are a kid and you re-arrange your bedroom.

When your a kid?

Hell I'm 19 and I still re-arrange my bedroom once a year! I love to keep things fresh!

I say LET'S DO THIS!

 

[Guan Thwei]

Congradulations Art,
I know based on how you post here on The Lair that you are just like us and love everything about the PREDATOR as we do. Posting amongest us as much as a fan would shows that this site and it's content are in good hands I agree this site has not seen it's full potential yet that shows in the conventions that we attend along with the people we meet in our suits. Keep up the good work I look forward to some positive changes for the future.

 

[Kithunter]

Just wanted to chime in real quick about the full potential comment, does everyone realize how far we have come? The lair started with like 5 people almost 10 years ago...No one back then had any clue the journey would take us here.

The hopes I had for this place have exceeded all my expectations.

Rock on art. We got your back

 

[ptgreek]

At Times like this, I feel we still need to go all the way back and Congratulate Andrew for his vision. Wow man...its amazing what a long way this place has come. To Andrew, Dan, Art, my fellow mods and every member here ..well done!

 

[Kithunter]

Step back and realize what an old fart I am.... That's my next suit. Ol fart hunter

 

[MEANGENE83]

Andrew that picture is priceless!!!

That is one of the only movies I went to see in the Theater TWICE!!

Well said GEORGE! Rock on.

 

[Art Andrews]

Just wanted to chime in real quick about the full potential comment, does everyone realize how far we have come? The lair started with like 5 people almost 10 years ago...No one back then had any clue the journey would take us here.

The hopes I had for this place have exceeded all my expectations.

Rock on art. We got your back

I want to make sure no one gets the wrong impression from my comment about potential. This was no dig at Dan or Andrew. If this community wasn't at the level they have brought it to, MPS wouldn't have been interested. There are dozens of prop and costume sites out there that never really have gotten off the ground because they lacked leadership and vision. This site has reached the impressive level it has due to Dan and Andrew's leadership and vision. My point about potential is purely driven by numbers and statistics. When you look at how many people are looking for us vs how many people are visiting the site, there is a huge incongruity. I aim to fix that.