Question for PA

[JimG]

PA,

Please consider a General Topic called "For Sale" or something like that. In such a topic, the people with something to sell could hawk their product.

It is getting tiresome, wading through the posts of people selling something in the General Racing Discussion and Racing Software areas.

If someone continually refuses to post in the proper section, I know you could handle that<g>.

As a longtime reader and participant of this board, I appreciate your consideration.

JimG

[Lindsay]

Amen, Jim.

[cj]

Agreed!

[Lefty]

It would be a good thing.

[smf]

Great idea Jim!

[kitts]

I certainly agree. I would like to read the for sale stff, just not mixed in with the other handicapping discussion posts.

[PaceAdvantage]

Wow, you blink for a second, and all hell breaks loose.....LOL

Maybe I need to bring on an assistant administrator to take care of these kinds of issues...I try and keep up with everything, and move posts to their appropriate spots if they've been initially posted in the wrong section.

There are a lot of grey areas out there....and sometimes I don't know where to draw the line....when someone is blatently selling and not contributing anything else....

Feel free to point out the posts that need to be reviewed either by e-mailing me, or private messaging me, or by posting it in public.

I hesitate to start a For Sale section...I've been VERY easy going with people who are selling things, and I regret if that has detracted from the overall quality of this board for some...and I DO understand where a For Sale board might be a solution. BUT, where do you draw the line?? For instance, when I posted my "Exacta Query" question, a couple of people with something for sale responded. Do I move those posts to the For Sale board?? Who decides what is a sales pitch or not?? Sometimes it's not so easy to decide....(but many times it is.... ;) )

I don't want those who do sell products to think they will always get a free ride on this site (I would like to start charging for advertising at some time in the distant future to cover costs at the very least). By creating a For Sale board, free rides would be encouraged....

Please don't hesitate to point out messages and/or posters you would like me to review. And please remember this board does have an IGNORE feature....


==PA

[GameTheory]

I suggested this before, and I've seen it work before on other forums.

Stuff for sale goes in the "Stuff For Sale" section. Period. Annoying repeated/very similar posts not allowed even there. One a month or something if they've got nothing new to say -- after all, they'll probably have their own website where they can do whatever they want. No need to take over this place. You encourage people who sell things to offer specials to readers of this forum, and to take queries from interested parties via email or their own web page. We also encourage EVERYONE ELSE not to jump all over someone who uses the "language of marketing" in that section -- just ignore them if you're not interested.

In the other boards, people can answer DIRECT questions about their products or clarify matters of FACT (not claims of ROI), like on the software board, but none of this jumping in every discussion, "My product can do that." "I solved this problem too, go to my website." The main thing is you set-up such a system, announce it, and also make it known when someone new signs up. Just having it there tends to keep that stuff in line. And if it doesn't in all cases, you've got a "policy" behind you where you can simply delete the offending message, and send off a form letter to the offender, and I bet they won't do it again. I guarantee the people that really want to sell their stuff honestly and directly will honor all that.

Problems like these expand along with the popularity of the forum in general. It can also kill it if left unchecked.

[ranchwest]

I think that if a person is obnoxious and continuously interjects a sales campaign into multiple threads and has little to contribute, simply ban them from the board. If 90% of the people on the board are sick of reading their posts and all they are doing is trying to sell something, they're just going to reduce the popularity of the board. Feel free to use any post by Ray Gordon as an example.

[JimG]

PA:

Thanks for your reply, however, I hope you reconsider. I want to read if someone has something for sale, just not repeatedly over and over again when trying to read posts on other subjects.

With respect to the ignore button, I'm not trying to ignore individuals...I just don't want to read a sales pitch in every other post on a supposedly general topic.

Obviously, it's your board and your call. I just don't enjoy the board as much with all the blatant ads in so many different posts. I guess that's the bottom line for me.

Jim

[Bruddah]

Most of the so called sales pitches deal with software or closely related information. To eliminate sales spamming in the General sections, PA put a software section on the board and it has been used extensively. As a matter of fact, I enjoy reading that section as much as any because the General Topics section usually contains threads that have been hashed about many times since this board started. JMHO

[andicap]

As long as the obnoxious person is not engaging in libel or making false statements of fact or being malicious toward this board or any individual he has a right to post here.
If you don't like what that person has posted -- don't we have the opportunity to ignore their posts electronically?
Ironically, PA has gotten raked in the past for banning people and deleting messages too quickly. I think he's judicious and deliberative and wants to make sure someone is not banned or their note is not banned just because people dislike them. You shouldn't be banned for being a jerk unless you're a malicious jerk.
I do agree that if we establish rules about people pushing software or books -- no continually pushing your method ad nauseum -- than PA can ban them for flouting the rules.

[so.cal.fan]

I'm with Jim and the rest of you guys.
No scammers/spammers on board in the discussion section.

[PaceAdvantage]

so.cal.fan

I agree 100% there shouldn't be much of any discussion of software or picks or books, or selections sheets, etc in the General Handicapping Discussion OR General Racing discussion. That's what the Handicapping Software Board, Handicapping Library, and Selections boards are for.

With that said, I must admit that I will miss a post or two (or three) that need to be moved to their appropriate section. If you or anyone else comes across a post that should be moved (or deleted), PLEASE utilize the "Report This Post To A Moderator" link which is on every single post. This way, I'll be alerted to stuff I might otherwise miss.....

I will be more highly attuned to these sorts of things in the future. If I've missed anything in the past, please let me know....


==PA