Toms gone... who's running things?

[Philosophos]

Thank you Tom, I very much appreciate you and Greg keeping this forum as it is.

I have caught so much crap on other forums for criticizing a product or company with mods trying to tell me about lawsuits and sponsors, that I'm surprised I haven't been banned more frequently. Being able to do it here when appropriate is something that I find relieving.

It's also nice to see a lack of advice with a link to one site or other's products. I've seen the owners or representatives of many major brands or companies offer advice for the purpose of hocking their product.

I applaud both of your efforts in keeping this site pure and efficient.

-Philosophos

[admin]

Thank you Tom [...]

It's also nice to see a lack of advice with a link to one site or other's products. I've seen the owners or representatives of many major brands or companies offer advice for the purpose of hocking their product.

One of Tom's hard core belief's is in zero advertising ... so unlike many forums where there are behind the scenes advertising deals being done for promotion, the only money supporting this forum are subscriber fees and money coming directly out of Tom's pockets and mine. Tom does a lot to support this forum both in terms of time, but also money.

Greg

[Biollante]

Hi All,

I want to say that I genuinely appreciate this forum and the effort that goes into the whole thing.

I got my US $80 worth long before I put any money in.

As a person who is a consumer of information in my ‘real life’, I can tell anyone, this is cheap.

The really impressive thing is how you can give people such precise information on how long they are going to live, I wish I would have subscribed a couple of years ago…

You folks are amazing!

Biollante

[Philosophos]

It's nice to hear from you, Greg; the posts are few and far between these days. I'm sure you've got more than enough going on to keep you busy.

What you're talking about is precisely the reason I'm not going to hesitate to pay for a life time membership once my trial membership is over, regardless of whether new newsletters are coming out. If I ever get my act together well enough to do good research related to the hobby, it'll be posted here first.

I wouldn't mind knowing what sort of deals go on behind the scenes outside of the obviously visible banners, etc. and how it applies to forums within the hobby. It's fine that people making a living on a forum, but I hate to see communication compromised or commercially created bias go unnoticed.

-Philosophos

[JDowns]

Yes much thanks to Tom and Greg for all the behind the scenes work. This site is truly unique in many ways and is clearly the front runner in concise accurate information. Its nice to have a site that ideas can be bantered about, myths and thoughts challenged, without folks taking it personal. More is learned that way IMHO, and with that comes greater knowledge.

[Tom Barr]

One of Tom's hard core belief's is in zero advertising ... so unlike many forums where there are behind the scenes advertising deals being done for promotion, the only money supporting this forum are subscriber fees and money coming directly out of Tom's pockets and mine. Tom does a lot to support this forum both in terms of time, but also money.

Greg

While I provide content, Greg also selfishly provides time and maintenance, provides the bills and finances for the web site. It takes both of us to keep this going. We could both do many other things to make a lot more $ if that was what this was about.

Still, Greg does a lot of work that many benefit from, but few realize or notice/see.

Having gone through a lawsuit over what a company claimed I said and did in Federal court, I'm not unaware of the issues, nor scared of them. I'd rather not deal with it again, but if someone forces you and there's not too much you can do about it, you can be sued for anything.

However, it's none too easy for the other side. Most folks got better things to do with their time. If there's a lot more $ involved, then we get lawyers where it is worthwhile to lobby and sue to get more $ or to reduce cost in other areas, example:

I have a product and adding some deceptive marketing claims increased sales by 200% and gained a net of 10 million $. I get sued and settled for 1 million dollars. It was still a dang good deal legally. Many cases are like that, there's either no enforcement, or the laws have little or no teeth, a slap on the wrist. Business ethics is one of Greg's favorite topics

For the little guy in the planted hobby, few are making that much or getting this much from it. So there's not really much they can really do, nor have the time to waste messing with it.

But there's a few nit wits out there with nothing better to do.

Regards,
Tom Barr