Signing out!

too bad, big loss for the board...your posts were some of the more insightful

these fucking piper jaffray trolls are driving talent away. we should ban these 5 clowns to keep 1 good user. fordham, 1styrbanker, pjc, sirbankalot...all clowns

Agreed - get rid of the trolls so we can keep the solid contributors around. Tech Buyout offered some great insight that almost all other members could not, so this is definitely a loss.

Have a good one and I hope that your holidays are safe and sound. As a newbie to WSO and recent contributor to a few users...I have been fortunate to have had a few land jobs through my contacts and get interviews. But I have to say that I've had 1-2 bad seeds that have PM'd me privately and have asked for help and didn't have the courtesy to say "thank you". No wonder you can't land a job since you don't have any basic manners. This alone made me not want to post anymore...What do I care about the bananas? and I considered buying credits to throw monkey sh*t...but then thought about that it would just be a waste of my time.

Sorry that you are leaving...but it's obvious that you had helped out a ton of chimps.

Agreed - it's always a great loss when someone who is actually successful in the industry is driven away by haters and retarded college kids spamming boards with 'what's unprestigous' or 'ECM is back office' posts. Sad that his offer for Q & A only lasted a week before idiots ruined it for everyone else.

To trolls - seriously, they're f--king digital bananas on an anonymous internet forum, reaching King Kong status doesn't mean anything if 1000+ of your posts are garbage... And for the guys who have a 1000+ posts that are actual contributors, besides killing time and talking finance/mkts with other guys, they're actually taking the time to educate those trying to accomplish what they've already gone through. Why derail their efforts with your jackassery?

I am deeply saddened by your departure and appreciate your gracing us with your presence and anecdotal experiences. Thank you for keeping us apprised and formally announcing the fact that you are taking time off (on an anonymous message board). Best of luck during maternity leave.

I apparently get monkey sht thrown at me if I edit a post ... is that a glitch in the system?

Patrick,

Can we get some bans implemented? Some of these fuckers aren't just throwing monkey shit pissing people off, but they have such a presence (by volume) on this board, it honestly feels like a different place.

If you, or any of you, know of The Mainboard (a place that span off of Rivals), if a large group of people want someone banned there, and the moderators see it as justified, then that IP address is banned (sometimes just temporarily).

I really don't see a problem with doing that sort of thing, but if it goes against a personal belief of yours, that's understandable. Let me reiterate, WSO looks like a much different place than it did near the beginning of the fall (and I'm not talking about the development of the site).

First off, thanks for the time you were here, TechBuyout. All that you've shared has been interesting and insightful.

I do think that the general feel on these boards has become far more antagonistic over the years, and the addition of "Monkey Shit" to the mix seeks simply to increase this. If you look at the boards of other equally competitive fields that are functioning well (try forums.studentdoctor.net, for example), there is a low threshold for antagonism. I'm not sure what the impetus for Monkey Shit was (though ostensibly it seems monetary), but its presence is simply a representation of the users' attitudes.

Though I have little desire to criticize WSO since there is still lots of good material, my biggest suggestion would be to increase the presence of moderators (who act without financial incentive) and remove this Monkey Shit shit. Give us some mods who will close down inappropriate threads and ban inappropriate users' IPs. I know that people on the forum would volunteer to be a mod, so it wouldn't be too time-intensive.

Over the years, I've continued to change my username because I didn't like people going back to my old posts and using them as ammo. Realistically, a culture like this isn't sustainable for the long-term. It's little wonder that the forums are dominated by Sophomores, since by the time any of us get some experience we realize that we have little desire to stay around and deal with the crap.

Sorry for the salty two cents.

I agree with Mezz, it's really not a big deal if you get some crap thrown at you. Do you really care about "bananas" on an internet message board? I know I don't. Jesus Christ, makes me wonder how you survived the associates yelling at you for stuff that wasn't even your fault and you stayed up all night to finish.

Either way, great advice for most of your posts, though I didn't agree with all of it, it was definitely a boon to the site and value added. Good luck with your future endeavors.

I think it was the guys defending FTP that threw monkey shit at him, not FTPiper or whatever. Anyhow the FTP and Piper Jaffray crap has gotten out of hand, its funny once in a while but when there's a thread about it daily, the joke gets old quick.

i believe this whole monkey crap debacle is going to bring down the quality of the forum. On another forum I used to frequent (a HUGE porsche forum) they instituted a positive/negative rep system and it drove away some of the best contributors because of all the stuff done by a bunch of immature members such as giving out anonymous neg reps and stuff. they eventually removed the rep system for a long time and things went back to normal.

Hope to see you soon, I appreciate all your advice and insights.

I agree with sirbankalot. I only mock the questions that are dumb. If anything, giving everyone 10 credits freely was a very bad decision, though I respect you trying new things and wanting to get the community more involved. Perhaps you should have gave 10 free credits to those with stars only. Afterall, I'm only one person and though I am a bit opinionated, you'll see that my post history always helps those who genuinely needs help, and I crap on those who are trolls/tools/idiots/etc.

Also, the more mature people such as Mezz, Edmundo, and BankonBanking wouldn't create a drama-filled "goodbye" thread trying to exact change. TBO probably just wanted to leave anyways and was sick of answering questions and wanted to rant before he left.

If you mod this forum heavily for trollish/immature answers, then you also have to mod it based on stupid questions such as "state school kids have no chance?" or "bank x vs bank y" or "what is the difference between banking and trading".

This board is becoming more collegeconfidential-ish by the day, and that is what is truly hurting it. Ban spammers only (like that BBMMguy) but allow others to freely express themselves. Afterall, aspiringmonkey and dan bush probably brought you 100x more users/lurkers/traffic than a whole page of stupid questions like "prestige of barclays vs deutsche?!?!"

We will never be able to please everyone but I can guarantee we will always try to improve. This system was simply put in place to try and improve the quality of posts. We wanted to reward the best users (read: mature and value added insight) and I am confident over time that the system will help.

We can easily remove the 10 WSO Credits given to new users or change that #. We've already lowered it to 2 and could drop that to 1....again, none of these decisions are static. We could easily make it so that Shits do not lower the Banana Points, etc...this was just implemented so please be patient with us.

What I am surprised is that nobody in this thread has acknowledged that the system is actually working fairly well -- tech buyout (who most would agree is a valuable contributor) has shot up in ranking, and the users that tend to me more immature and get into bitch-fests over rankings, prestige, etc. have had a lot of shit thrown at them (tech buyout got caught up in one recently so a lot of shit and Silver Bananas flew at him as a result).

The one thing I did not anticipate is any of our best users leaving because of this system -- I think this is more related to a few recent debates and less so about the new system (again, he is way ahead)...

I encourage an open discussion about censorship, what should constitute grounds for banning, etc. This is NOT an easy issue to tackle (especially with the need for more mods).

Thanks, Patrick

Anyone besides me find the idea of a serious debate about silver bananas and monkey shit hilarious? To be honest, I've liked the new system, especially the number of votes underneath each post. You can tell someone is talking crap when it shows a significant number of negative votes against that particular post of theirs.

Haven't been posting much lately, but I think the new system is fine Patrick - of course there will be bumps along the way, that's natural, but as time goes on, the system will develop into what you intend it to be. Giving everyone 10 credits is what is causing the issue, but as soon as the trolls are done with their free credits, I'd guess less than 10% of them will purchase MORE credits - which should cut down the BS dramatically.

With all the work you have done with WSO (and let's face it - this forum is one of the single best sources of information for prospective and current bankers), I'm confident this will work out and hopefully add a bit to the site. I presume most of the guys who are the top contributors will not let this new system affect their participation on WSO.

I also think the new system is a good system, and in the long run will be a success. Those who value the contributions of others on this board need to make sure they concentrate on rewarding users for their quality posts, rather than flinging monkey poo at every stupid comment that is made. People need to really reward those posts that add value (adding 3 points) and only throw shit when someone actually posts something that detracts from the site, or gives poor advice.

Each and every user will get crap thrown at them, even great posts will have those that disagree, but the important thing is that the majority of the users on this site (I believe) really use the site and find it to be a valuable resource. If those users band together, and don't get sucked into the habits of the immature trolls that inevitably will visit each and every community on the web just to piss people off, the site can overcome the potential negatives of the system and the 3 to 1 ratio will work.

We need to come together as a community and make this work. Don't get sucked in by throwing monkey shit at everything that maybe is considered a dumb question. People come to this board for advice, and sure, there will be some dumb questions, I'm sure I asked my fair share as I went through the recruiting process, but I learned how to use the site, and contribute effectively over time.

Those users that truly care about the site need to use their credits on REWARDING those who make quality posts and only use their credits for poo (I feel so immature every time I write poo but whatever) for something that is TRULY negative. If we focus on rewarding the good rather than penalizing the mediocre, the new system WILL work over time. Sure there will be those immature individuals who will buy credits just to piss people off, but the moderators will work to find those people and ban them.

Lets work together guys and make this work, rather than bitching about how it can't.

If anything, great job Patrick for being so involved and hearing the concerns of the community.

I actually get a kick out of seeing how much monkey shit has been thrown at me since the last time I logged in. Since I'm not in the business of inanity (school x vs school y, what kind of shoes do you wear, etc), I know something I wrote struck a nerve each time I catch shit.

Likewise, I get my share of silver bananas (6 when I logged on this morning - which I guess is technically 2). I think the system is working fine.

A word about censorship. I get requests to delete posts and ban users more than occasionally. This is something I will not do. I'm not in the censorship business, no matter how fucking stupid someone wants to make themselves sound. My one possible exception to this rule is in regards to the filthy goatfucks who spam, like that idiot trying to drive traffic to her clothing site yesterday. I have no tolerance for that bullshit.

TechBuyout, I'm sorry to see you go even though by now I'm sure you've reconsidered.

On another note - have a good xmas everyone. Today is my last really day on the forum as well. Feel free to pm me if you got any specific questions as it'll go to my email.

I know stuff I've said must have rubbed some people the wrong way but I only ever came on this site to offer some real insight after having gone through lots of the rough and dirty last few years.

Cheers all and have a safe and merry xmas and happy new years with your families

p.s - I know I will not be missed like Tech Buyout :D

junkbondswap -- great comment.

I'm personally enjoying the new silver banana system. As someone who very rarely asks questions on this board (despite the post count), I like to see that users are either benefiting from my advice or at least acknowledge that they appreciate it. I wouldn't be taking the time the post answers to people's questions or give my thoughts on various topics if I felt that no one would read them.

now for comments on this thread

the reason for all the turdslinging and -- let's admit it -- nonsense, has been the outrage from us good users of people uselessly making things up on certain threads that totally make this site practically a joke on some threads

there is constant comments on piper, jefferies, ft partner, big 4, non-targets and you all know it and there is also useless promotion of fine firms, but by no means ones needing promotion like harris williams and hlhz

i bet that even some reading this post will for some gods reason start bashing me or other firms, industries or types of schools

it just breeds hate, useless posts, defensiveness and hurts everyone

i've been referred to as a troll once or twice for openly defending these types of firms, but anyone that really has such time on their hands to constantly point out that firm X or boutique Y is a POS or whatever is really and obviously a troll

a troll is someone that intentionally surfs boards and tries to get their particular propaganda spread all over the place and the key word is definitely propaganda, meaning points and posts that are likely false, baseless and usually "self-serving" and denigrating

everyone who disses on other firms, careers, schools must be doing it because -- of course --they feel somehow superior and if you'll see below link to the most elite bank (or at least in the top tier, so to speak) even the most elite or superior firms have a standard of ethics and decency and honor (see Goldman Sachs' Business Principals" and the one talking about not denigrating competitors, which also goes for schools, careers, etc.)

http://www2.goldmansachs.com/careers/our-firm/basics/index.html Our business is highly competitive, and we aggressively seek to expand our client relationships. However, we must always be fair competitors and must never denigrate other firms.

everyone on this thread is responsible for the proper policing of this board, for our sakes and for Patrick's sake. this could be a really cool board and i have lots of great ideas on how it can be more useful

those that fling insults should be flung monkeyshit, but i'd rather send my monkeyshit on posts that are just not helpful and there should be a monkey bomb that should be flung at these types of posters by the moderators and founders of the site

and while i am at it, there ought to be rules of the site that talk about this and ANYONE that violates it should be warned and shown the link, and on second time should be banned

Patrick, what do you think of all this. do you personally want the denigration to continue as it creates controversy. Is it your belief that denigration and false statements attract people buying monkeyshit and silver bananas? Is this really the way to maximize value for your firm? maybe it is, but i doubt it, and I'd like to ask you this question seriously and publicly. You are so well respected on here, you need to take a stand and make a statement. people will truly want you to make money for all your hard work on the site. you are one of us and you see the bigger picture.

By the way, the reason my username is BBMMBoutique is that I've worked at all three and have quite a lot of experience in the business. More than most on the board. Not that it matters much who has more experience. What matters is professionalism and support of the WSO board.

Happy Holidays.

oh please you troll, first of all you have all your presumptious / paranoid facts totally incorrect as to who i am where i work and pretty much everything else, you could not be further from the truth / we're just waiting to have YOU banned on here / which i'm pretty certain will be soon

i guess you work at HLHZ or HW

makes sense now :) LOL!!!