Anderton
 
I don't think the motivation here is to use moderation to sanitize the forums, but to organize the forums for maximum effectiveness, keep out the spammers, gently steer things in the right direction if things go off-course, and not have the community think no one is listening. 

 
This is basically 100% the idea. Improve organization, minimize spam and optimize how feedback and problems are delivered to Cakewalk staff.  (I wish I had another cool 'z' word to use).
 
Here is a thought to not make moderators feel like they're tied to the whipping post (sorry couldn't help it). What if community moderators didn't ban anybody but instead only locked/moved threads, edited subjects to indicate solved and encouraged posters to provide more info where/when necessary? A ban would have to still come from somebody at Cakewalk after it has been discussed with the moderator group.
 

Yah, have you ever been on the Reaper or Gearslutz forums? Whew boy! Comparatively we're quite well behaved.
 
That said I'll mention that I almost always post in the SONAR forum...even when Off Topic. The peeps there are ones I trust and I think marking a post as "O/T" usually gets it past getting moved and most importantly gets me information I trust from peers I've interacted with for...well heck for 15 years or so!
 
Also, whoever said the Coffee House should be renamed "Cake Hole" gets a ROTFLMAO with snorted milk. Priceless.
 
And if we're given nomadic moderation tasks I would just point out that I'm a paragon of civility. 

Willy Jones [Cakewalk]

Anderton
 
I don't think the motivation here is to use moderation to sanitize the forums, but to organize the forums for maximum effectiveness, keep out the spammers, gently steer things in the right direction if things go off-course, and not have the community think no one is listening. 

 
This is basically 100% the idea. Improve organization, minimize spam and optimize how feedback and problems are delivered to Cakewalk staff.  (I wish I had another cool 'z' word to use).
 
Here is a thought to not make moderators feel like they're tied to the whipping post (sorry couldn't help it). What if community moderators didn't ban anybody but instead only locked/moved threads, edited subjects to indicate solved and encouraged posters to provide more info where/when necessary? A ban would have to still come from somebody at Cakewalk after it has been discussed with the moderator group.
 

That's kind of what I was getting at earlier. Mods steer discussions, fix problems and neutralize blatant abuse when they see it. Administrators (like you) make the big decisions like permanent bans and completely deleting threads. That way all it takes is one of you guys to check your logs every day or so and spend five minutes cleaning house.

If I were a mod and I banned myself how would I continue to do my job?

I'm sure you'd find a way. You're smrt like that. ;-)

bapu

Anderton
 Forums are not to be taken too seriously.

I wish people would say that about me.

No one takes you seriously enough to say that about you.

He'd be back as The Bapu.

Willy Jones [Cakewalk
 

In the software forum there are about 20+ threads a day from people or companies noting new products or deals (which is great, btw) which will drown out the hardware and DAW threads that are often very informative.

 
This is a good point - going forward I'm not sure that we'll actually allow these types of posts on our forum. Let's face it, KVR is a much better source of information for this type of info and we've already seen a few incidents with representatives of another company getting into arguments with users on our forum. The DAW and hardware sections are useful complements to our products. The software forum is starting to smell a lot more like a spam bin/advertising bulletin board.
 
There is a lot of good discussion around software that is valid and helpful to users.  Would it make sense to limit the scope of conversation to discussion about compatibility/tools/features of a software product and not allow advertisements or promotions?

I frequent 2 threads - Sonar X3 and Gear>Software.
 
I disagree with the 'Smelly Spam BB' comment.
 
I suggest 'deal' posts are not excessive (~10 a day) and mostly from an individual rather than Vendors. Regardless, they assist me and appear to be from a wider source than just KVR. They also either prompt or start out as discussion wrt pertinence with Cakewalk product - that'd be lost by sending people over to KVR. Furthermore, sifting deals from discussion is simple.
 
Some people appear to have an issue with the individual. No problems my end - keep up your efforts.
 
I've seen one incident of a blowout / callout of a vendor troll. I chose to ignore.
 
Moderation should handle any issues but I'm a +1 for deals to remain.

bapu
I would never join a forum where they would have me as a moderator.

Part of your Woody Allen channeling standup?

Why settle for moderator? Go for excelerator!