Forum Abuse and Advertising

[Rune]

Can somone tell me the diff between members avertising for buy a ZF/RTB tranny and Wanni do this for his transaxles They are both doing business. Only diff is that for the zf it is alot of other members doing this.
Does that indicate that I can redirect people to wanni's shop? I find this rule strange.
Sorry for interupt the tread.

[Ron Earp]

Originally Posted by bune

Can somone tell me the diff between members avertising for buy a ZF/RTB tranny and Wanni do this for his transaxles They are both doing business. Only diff is that for the zf it is alot of other members doing this.
Does that indicate that I can redirect people to wanni's shop? I find this rule strange.
Sorry for interupt the tread.

I assume that this is a question for an Admin so I'll take a stab at it. Just for the record, it would have been better to ask a question like this in the "Forum Announcements, Questions, and Feedback" section so as to not interupt a thread, but since it is here already I'll try and answer it here then split it off later.

I assume you speak of Richard T. and Chris M, the two fellows who have recently annouced they are planning to build transaxles.

Both have been forum supporters in the past, are long time GT40s.com members who have a long history with the GT40 community with a variety of projects in the US and UK, and both are planning to be forum advertisers in the near future as indicated to me from their side. Most importantly, they don't spam the forum - their posts are also contained in the Manufacturer's Forum, not scattered around as much as possible to increase free advertising from their end.

So, this is not a defense of their actions but to give you an idea of the history these two people have with the forum. They do not get special allowances, but they have followed forum etiquette and not been extremely agressive with their wares and have stayed in the Manufactuer's Forum with their posts. They don't post on others' transaxle threads saying "purchase my transaxle" and things like that.

You can certainly advertise for Wanni's shop by posting in the manufactuer's section. You can make posts in the transaxle section of the forum for people to purchase transaxles at Wanni's shop. The forum is free and you can certainly make the posts. But if every 2nd post you make outside of the Manufactuer's Forum is advertising with nothing to contribute to the discussions beyond "purchase my equipment" then I think you can see how this would be tiresome on a forum such as we have at GT40s.com. Formal advertising arranges are available on GT40s.com through banner advertisements, forum sponsors, and manufactuer paid for forums if you or Wanni would like to participate. As I said, these are not manditory as the forum is completely free.

I hope this is somewhat helpful in explaining the situation. If you need further clarification please PM or email me.

Thanks,
Ron

[Scott Calabro]

Ron,

Kind of like how Fran jumps in from nowhere and hawks his RCR's ?

[Chris Melia]

Hi Scott

At least Fran has constructive input here and has done so since 2002 ?
Fran is also a paid up forum supporter and advertiser here and has supplied over 40 cars to forum members.…

As Ron mentioned above I will also soon be an advertiser here once my transmission comes into production.

Regards

Chris Melia.

[Keith Hardy]

Originally Posted by 5150

Ron,

Kind of like how Fran jumps in from nowhere and hawks his RCR's ?

Blimey! Is this another CliffBeer alias?

[Lynn]

I'll add my $0.02 worth here re: Fran. Fran/RCR is an excellent example of what Ron is trying to say here. Fran has been a long time member who often adds value to threads with no mention of his products by simply sharing his expertise. Does Fran walk the line? Yes he does, but he does a good job of it to my way of thinking: there is a balance to his posting. To the best of my recollection, Fran has only posted to someone else's thread when a specific request has been posted. This had occasionally been in another forum, but he has only done so when the request has brought no other responses.

The request for dive planes in the SPF forum comes immediately to mind and this fits the preceeding description to a tee. Following Fran's response, others kind of took off with the thread and asked questions about the parts Fran said he had. When this reached a point that it became non-SPF specific, the thread was moved to the RCR forum. One must realize that Fran has no power over this and cannot move threads around, that was a judgement call by the admins. When it was done, it was done to respect the SPF forum's content spicificty (to take what had become largely an RCR thread out of their space) and certainly shows that there is no "special treatment", systematic or otherwise, for anyone here.

These kinds of admin actions will continue to be judgement calls. Not everyone makes the same judgements at the same time, but anyone can voice their opinion to the admins if they feel that etiquette is being bruised or abused by clicking on the Report Post , which has been there for a long while. Or, one can use the new Add Infraction button which makes it much easier.

Hope this helps,
Lynn

[Ron Earp]

Scott,

Actually, I didn't think of this discussion in terms of RCR but only in terms of gearbox manufacturers since that is what bune asked about.

If there are issues with a manufacturer or a member then please email an admin. Lynn handles anything to do with RCR since I own an RCR chassis, therefore I take myself 100% out of the equation with issues of that nature.

It is completely impossible to make the forum 100% to the liking of every member. Paid advertisers are necessary to keep the forum operating, it is a fact of life.

I'm sure I can come off as a little aggressive with some new manufacturers from time to time due to protectionism and let me define that - I'm not protecting the advertisers that pay, but protective of the forum itself. A lot of us have worked hard to make the forum what it is - all of you that contribute with posts, and some of us behind the scenes making the forum function. To be sure I don't want someone to simply show up and make money off of us collectively and not contribute to the forum. And when I mean contribute I don't mean donate money to the forum, I mean join and be a member of our group, post, and interact with the membership as a whole - provide a positive contribution to the knowledge base, member base, and community. Sure, if you are here to sell we certainly want you to make a monetary contribution, but that isn't the whole picture.

[Pete.]

I also find the majority of Fran's post's informative and interesting. Sure from time to time he plugs his product but what is wrong with that?

[David Morton]

I would like to be associated with Pete's comments. I find absolutely nothing wrong with any forum member talking about their capabilities, be it chassis manufacturing, transmissions, decals uprights, wheels - it goes on. I think I am discerning enough to sort things out myself and sort out the quality from the crap. If some of us are in business to service the needs of the type of cars we aspire to, more power to their elbow and, furthermore, if they cough up and contribute as corporate sponsors even better. IMHO there is no valid discussion.
Dave M

[wanni]

I understood that I am the only one who shall take a defensive attitude because for some reasons I am not welcome.
You see how much the culture difference can influence the results of a positivly started discussion. If we add to it an inferiority in terms of language, that's it. MURPHY have had all the items to build up such a negative try for an integration in a comunity.
My bones are all broken and believe that for the future I will be much more passive in the discussions.
I am leaving to my friend ( he will introduce himself soon ) the witness to procede in the run.
Regards
Doktor Zahnrad

[Ron Earp]

Originally Posted by FOX1

I understood that I am the only one who shall take a defensive attitude because for some reasons I am not welcome.

Wanni,

Nobody here has told you that you are not welcome. This is an open forum, you are certainly welcome.

However, please take heed of something I wrote eariler:

And when I mean contribute I don't mean donate money to the forum, I mean join and be a member of our group, post, and interact with the membership as a whole - provide a positive contribution to the knowledge base, member base, and community.

To be honest the posts I'm seeing from you are on Chris's transaxle thread, a new thread by Renagade Hybrids (who have been in business a long time with Porsche V8 conversions), the Italo-Swedish thread (about your boxes), and then some posts on various threads advertising "Gearfox web". Most of the posts in some wayare quick to inform another of the wares you offer.

The fastest way to get respect and fit into a community like this is to HELP people without selling them something. Make posts, help folks out where you can with knowledge you have, and make lasting friendships. That is what the forum is for, and that is where the strength of the forum lies. I'm sure you have a lot of knowledge a forum like this could use. And, I'm certain that if you stay awhile, learn how the forum works and contribute information as well as have an open mind, you'll enjoy GT40s.com.

Best,
Ron

[wanni]

Ron,
I will be represented by a propper yankee who knows how to tell things. I will be supporting him about technics.
Please agree that I am not in the position to be treated like a clown from some PUB engineer.
I agree that at the beginning I was trying to advertise some new products, but I immediatly realised again that Italian companies, if they are not localy represented, they will not sell a kg of spaghettis.
Our new US partner will take care to convert this semplicistic marketing exercise in a trustable opportunity for all of them wanting...............( I do not advertise anymore ) ..........simply the......
Ciao
Wanni

[Gregg]

Wanni

"Our new US partner will take care to convert this semplicistic marketing exercise in a trustable opportunity for all of them wanting...............( I do not advertise anymore ) ..........simply the......
Ciao
Wanni[/quote]

Some might find the above offensive.

[wanni]

You see why I shall not write anymore???
From my side, trust that I do not see anything offensive. That's why I need my own translator.
I think we shall go this way.
Apologise if non volontary somebody has feld offensive sentences.
English is difficult enough, think American, for an Italian......
Ciao

[David Morton]

Wanni, soggiorno freddo. È tutto a molto circa niente
Dave

[wanni]

Appreciate your effort, Dave,
try again beause I compltely miss the meaning.
And now I look stupid.....bah.
Pls Let me understand. I try.
Cold stay it is everything for a lot nearly nothing.
This is my direct translation without focussing the meanng.
Pls advise

[David Morton]

Stay cool. It's a lot about nothing.
lifted from William Shakespeare
Much ado about nothing - molto circa niente

[wanni]

Grazie, Volpe argentata.(silver haired fox, the smartest)
In Italian: Vai tranquillo, si tratta di un bel pò di niente.