Klarinet Archive - Posting 000596.txt from 2000/03

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Commercial use
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 17:31:15 -0500

William Wright wrote,
> Probably it's wrong for a newcomer like me to complain -- although I've
attended alt.music.clarinet for a number of months and I am a card-carrying
ICA member. I don't know anything about Internet governance, but the recent
proliferation of 'commercial' activity here
really does bother me.>

Gene Nibbelin wrote,
>>You are correct, as a newcomer you should not be complaining until you have
been a "Klarineter" for a number of months and have a better perspective
concerning what this List is all about.>>

Isn't this a bit harsh? I think Mr. Wright is entitled to an opinion.
Besides, he's not a newbie to the Internet clarinetists' community. As he
says, he's spent several months on alt.music.clarinet, where a number of
members of this list also participate. That group sees a lot of commercial
traffic, including the usual totally off-topic spam ("get rich quick"
schemes, porno ads and so forth) that Mark Charette keeps out of this private
list. Anybody who reads the public usegroups knows what happens when
advertisers discover an "anything goes" environment.

Gene Nibbelin wrote,
>>Quite a number of "Listers" have products and/or services that can be quite
valuable to other "Listers". It is my opinion that their use of Klarinet to
make this information known to all of us is a service that is beneficial to
all.>>

>>Of course, there is a "commercial" aspect to this, but, in my opinion, the
benefits to our Klarinet list "market" far exceed any objections that one
might have.>>

I agree, up to a point. For instance, Dan Leeson's message about his new
publication ["Kudos and a footnote!!"] doesn't bother me at all, because it
seems to me to fit in with the normal type of advertising that usually
appears here. I've done business with people on this list and I'm more
willing to trust a business deal with someone who's a "regular" here than
with some stranger.

It's a question of balance. If we're not careful, what begins as a
*reasonable and useful* amount of commercial traffic could quickly bloat into
an unpleasant atmosphere of overly-aggressive, obnoxious hucksterism. I
think we're seeing some escalation right now, as some advertisers have
started competing for attention by making their ads longer and by posting
them more frequently. I think William Wright's observation is correct that
commercial traffic on this list has increased lately.

IMHO, there's a certain natural and unavoidable tension between people with
something to sell, people who might want to buy and people sick of ads shoved
in our faces all the time. These aren't necessarily different groups of
people; they can be the same people under different circumstances. I owned a
successful stained glass restoration, design and construction business for
years. It wouldn't have succeeded if I'd considered myself too pure and holy
to advertise! As a customer, when I need to buy something, I look for the
ads. All the same, I ask telephone solicitors to put me on their "Do Not
Call" list, and I often mute the sound on TV commercials.

We can keep the tension manageable if people with things to sell will take
the responsibility of using self-restraint about the length and frequency of
their ads; and if people who feel that sales pitches are getting out of hand
will speak up, as William Wright has just done. A good sales person listens
to this type of criticism, rather than anatagonize critics by trying to bully
them into shutting up. That critic is a potential customer.

Lelia

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