I followed the thread closely and never once
did occur to me that anything inappropriate was
going on. I welcome news on products being provided
by FOT members or any vendors they encounter.
art de armond
----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Wagner" <jmwagner@greenheart.com>
To: "Friends of Triumph" <fot@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 2:50 PM
Subject: [Fot] FOT: Commerical Posts - YES or NO?
> 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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