FOT,
In private email, I've been accused by a member of "posting trash" by
sharing news that this guy I met at a car show has developed a product,
as a result of my encouragement, for TR's.
He also accused me of likely having a financial interest in making the
post. (I do not.)
He made it clear that such posts do not have a place on FOT and promised
to call me on any future posts of the same ilk.
He was also bitter that I had not coordinated some sort of discount for
FOT or even some free products for members, to see if they will, indeed,
fit and work on their cars. (Considering that the developer was
probably only able to check to see if it fit a stock car with stock
wheels, and probably not all of the Triumph range.) Never mind, that
all I was doing was drawing members' attention to a web site and a
potential product that might provide a competitive edge. I never
claimed to be directly working with the seller.
Personally, I just saw a product that looked good and was happy to see
that the developer had taken my lead and is trying to make them
available for our small niche market.
I pointed my finger at his web site and provided a means of contacting
the president of the company. From my perspective, all of you were
welcome to evaluate the information on his web site and make direct
contact with the vender if you had questions or wanted some
consideration for trying it out on an unknown wheel size, etc. I'm not
part of that loop and I don't care to be.
I made no personal claims about the product other than sharing that I
was impressed enough by his display at a show to encourage him to make
the product for our cars. Even Kas commented "Looks like a good piece
if it clears everything." upon looking at the website. So he saw
promise in the product as I did. When my TR4A is back on the road, I
will give the product a try.
So I have some questions for the group....
Was my post inappropriate?
In the future, if a member comes across a cool looking product, should
he keep it to himself or only share it in private e-mails to friends?
(As opposed to "Friends of Triumphs"???)
If a member comes across a cool product, should he only bring it to the
attention to the group, if, in his own time, he has personally tested
the product and/or has managed to broker some special deal for FOT to
get them at a discount? Is that the duty of a member here and the rule
of the day for making such posts?
It has blown my mind, on the newsgroups over the years, the issues that
bring people to post vile responses to an innocent post or send private
nasty-grams in e-mail.
I was always cautious about selling my gaskets on the newsgroup and have
always kept my posts (regarding my own products) minimal. Unlike many,
I don't even put a link to my website at the bottom of my posts.
However, my experience in developing those gaskets makes me particularly
supportive of other entrepreneurs that develop products for our cars.
It's a small market with a lot of people that cry out for the
development of products, but then, many don't step up to the plate to
make a purchase when it's available. It's difficult. It's a small
market that most don't enter to become rich, but rather, to be in a
position to earn earn a little money from one of their favorite
hobbies. For a few, they're able to expand and go somewhere with a
product line. For others, it may never have been intended to be
anything more than a weekend hobby business or small retirement business.
I would welcome a open debate on the topic in order to get a sense of
some guidelines. I wonder what a group like this is for, if drawing
attention to a product specifically being made for our cars, is crossing
some sort of line.
--Justin Wagner
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