You’re right, I should not have made the assumption that the authorization is made by @SqueegeeNinjaNJ. I made that assumption given the fact that he is a moderator and was the first to assume I came here to peddle services, and to highlight the fact that it is not allowed unless by an unauthorized third party.
And he went on to talk about being invloved with the banning of other members who have attempted to solicit business before:
A fair assumption on my part given his introduction I would say, but thank you for the clarification (I mean that seriously).
I completely agree with the idea that no one should pay for services by someone they do not trust. But I also believe (and perhaps this is where we disagree) that a forum should not selectively choose who is and isn’t allowed to promote services they believe might add value to the community. I think it should be at the discretion of the members in the forum to determine if an offered service is worthwhile or not. However, doing this opens the gates to anyone to come in and start selling their services which creates for a very shitty forum (in the sense of spam, and scammer presence) - so there is of course a negative to this way as well.
All in all, I think an authorization process is fair, so long as it is transparent to the community in general. Which brings me to the question, what is the criteria involved to be validated as an “authorized” third party? @SqueegeeNinjaNJ
If by front door, you mean getting involved with the forum community, adding value, and becoming a trusted member, then I completely agree with you. My concern is that @SqueegeeNinjaNJ acted as if it was wrong to enter any door if there was any sort of intent to offer services, as he said here:
There shouldn’t be anything wrong with someone coming here with the purpose of offering services to the community. Yes, they should be vetted, but the way @SqueegeeNinjaNJ approached it was a blatent “don’t even think about trying” type of response.
[quote=“MattGraves, post:84, topic:40320”]
If by front door, you mean getting involved with the forum community, adding value, and becoming a trusted member, then I completely agree with you.
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Hi Matt,
Welcome to Chris’ forum. You have a lot to offer and I’m interested in you’re insights, as i have no knowledge of your field of expertise. I’m always tuned in to @SqueegeeNinjaNJ and @Njones and @Infinity, finding their input on the subject fascinating.
@Chris created this place and thus, we are all his guests, he being the “head of the household”, so to speak. He’s the front door.
Just as offering our window cleaning services by walking around the back of the house and approaching the children with the sale might not get the best response from the responsible members of the household, so it is here, much like someone posting videos would first want to just ask if it’s ok.
Thanks for the welcome. You make some great points. I think at this point I’ve stretched this thread too far and will take your advice in bringing any forum-related questions to @Chris directly. I’m not one to stay silent on my opinions, but I also want to keep the forum discussions positive and productive. Thanks again for the welcome, I appreciate it. Looking forward to talking again in future threads.
