Re: Commercial Links in the Resource area of the web-site

["James Purchase" <jpurch@interlog.com>]

Erik wrote:
"I'd prefer to take this on-list for other opinions, especially if I'm
off-base."

Oops!...... I misread this..... I received the cc copy of Erik's message and
responded privately to him before I saw that it was sent to the list in
general as well...

For everyone's benefit, here is what I wrote to Erik....

> I feel very strongly in keeping a clear line between our hobbyist
> organization and any particular businesses.  That was one reason I was a
> little leary of the commercial section to begin with.

I can agree with you here 100%. If you will remember, my first "version" of
the commercial links had a lot of "editorial" comment, which was basically
MY experience with dealing with the companies (I do a lot of mail order
shopping). But I am very aware of the fact that just because I like the
company, we should keep a very respectful distance due to the AGA's policy
(quite rightly so), so I removed all "comments" from the commercial listings
and suggested to you that we have a disclaimer there about the AGA not
supporting any particular commercial venture (something which you were
already intending to do I believe).

> I think it's great to have a very specific page that says "these people
> donated prizes", because it's very clear.  We appreciate that these folks
> donated, thanks, give them some business, but aside from that no other
> connection.

> On the other hand, I wonder what people think when they go to the
> commercial links page... Why were those businesses selected?  Is it
> because they are good businesses?

Well, O.K...... these are very valid concerns..... I guess I have to say
that they are there as a RESOURCE...... quite often, sources which are
obvious to US are not so well known as we might like to think..... notice
how often queries are posted to the APD regarding where to find particular
items...... not everyone has a good knowledge of the range of products
and/or services available on-line now.

Now, that's WHY the companies that ARE there were listed in the first
place..... I'm wondering if your next question will be "Should ANY be
there?"

Do you think we should remove ALL the commercial listings from the Resource
section? And the only way that a company can get either a mention or a link
is by donating a prize? (Actually, probably not such a bad idea........)

> The other issue then becomes, if we start adding new listings for one
> business, the rest are all going to want one.  I don't know how relevant
> Mail Order Pets is to Aquatic Gardening, but other businesses are going to
> be REALLY inappropriate but may still want to be listed.

Oh yea, I saw that coming a while ago.... I have had several people ask me
why their company was NOT listed.

> How about this for a possible compromise:  As soon as we get a donation
> confirmed from a donor, we put a link on the special "prize page".  Then
> there is a link from the commercial page to the prize page noting that
> it's a listing of donors.

The VALUE of the Commercial section was as a reference for people who might
not know of what was available. Now that we are at the  stage of soliciting
and listing Prizes, and giving thanks and hyperlinks on a Prize page......
that VALUE becomes sort of moot..... doesn't it?

I mean, I sent out almost 70 solicitation e-mails. Surely not everyone is
going to want to get involved, but I'm pretty sure that a lot will, and the
resource (and value to the company) will be identical.

If you want to ditch the "Commercial" section of the Resource area, that's
fine by me..... it will close that particular loophole nicely. People
looking for companies can just go to the Prize page to find the hyperlinks.

One thing we will have to allow though, is the inclusion of graphics on the
Prize page (i.e. custom banner graphics supplied by the donating
companies..... Edward from M3 has specifically asked for this....)

-------

And then later, I followed up with one final comment.....

If we are going to delete the commercial section of the Resources area, it
would be best if it is done IMMEDIATELY. I have several responses I have to
send out to companies regarding this and I would like to do so in a timely
manner. If I'm going to say "no" to a link in the Commercial Resources
section, there should no longer BE a Commercial Resources section. Anything
less would leave us open to accusations of favouritism.


James Purchase
Toronto

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