Klarinet Archive - Posting 000877.txt from 2000/01

From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Commercial promotions
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 11:13:51 -0500

--- GrabnerWG@-----.com wrote:

> As a service to my mouthpiece customers, I am putting
> serial numbers on my mouthpieces. <snip>

I don't mean to sound like a pedantic curmudgeon, but I'll
throw this out to the list in the spirit of "if nobody says
anything, how are we to know that there is a problem?" This
is an unmoderated list, but there has been general agreement
at one point or another that using the list for commercial
promotions is not entirely appropriate. The occasional one-
off ad doesn't generally bother me, because they usually come
& go quickly, e.g.; "I have a Bb clarinet for sale. Email me
privately if you're interested," or "Sneezy has a new sponsor.
It's so & so ~ feel free to visit their web page."

There's little question that Walter has contributed greatly
to the quality of discourse on the list, but Walter, the
frequency of your posts that relate in large part to your
fledgling mouthpiece-making enterprise has gotten to the
point where I've begun deleting your posts out of hand.
This is something I very much dislike doing, especially
given the quality of your participation, but I've begun
to feel like you're using Klarinet as a free bulletin
board to advertise your new business and products. The
automatic signature line of your emails is a convenient
and inobtrusive way to let people know that you offer
a service, in addition to the rich knowledge and insight
that you contribute otherwise. And I don't know for sure,
but you might also be sponsor of Sneezy(?), which affords
you additional exposure on Mark Charette's web site.

I know that there are no hard & fast rules on an unmod-
erated email list, but the Klarinet community has always
leaned in the direction of discouraging habitual commer-
cial promotion on the list. It's hard to write a message
like this without feeling like I'm picking on Walter out
of some ulterior personal motive, but I promise that this
is not the case. In a very general spirit, I'm bringing
the issue up to emphasize what I've always considered a
beneficial and sensible idea about this treasure that we
call Klarinet. If that idea has changed, I guess every-
body will let me know it. Up 'til now, I've considered
it a valuable convention.

I welcome responses, but please try not to flame me. I
don't have a martyr complex.

~ Neil
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