Since the mods in this community pride ourselves on being open and honest, I just wanted to let the community know about a recent proposition made to us that we are discussing behind closed doors at the moment (due to being shown a product that hasn’t been released yet)
This company will be launching a Kickstarter soon, on a product that is very relevant to this communities interests. The person who contacted us did their best to respect the fact that we do not like spam here and wanted us to give our blessing on posting their Kickstarter information here 3x or so through the campaign.
In return, if I understand correctly, they’re offering up some demo units to the mods of this community (one of which is @Thomas_Sanladerer , an awesome video-guide maker) in return for letting them post here more frequently than we would typically allow for the duration of the Kickstarter.
I have suggested that they send a unit or two to people in the community and let them post some sneak previews here on the terms that they are allowed to give whatever opinion they wish.
What do those of you who take part in this community feel regarding the matter? If there’s only 1 demo unit and it goes to Tom, I think he’s the most qualified person to handle it. Or do we just let them post their kickstarter a single time? Ideas? Concerns?
Wow, that’s downright refreshing levels of awareness (and openiness – KUDOS!!); And a mod approved post of the kickstarter would be of GREAT interest to me.
For me, allow them post 3 times, that’s it.
If they offer/loan a demo unit to @Thomas_Sanladerer and they get more exposure with it, that’s the benefit.
I most say, that if @Thomas_Sanladerer gives the OK, I will consider their kickstarter a lot more.
Given they have been so up front I think they should be able to post but not without restriction. Perhaps there own community crossing to this one for exposure.
Generally I think that as long as you’re open about it, it is fine. But by the same token they have to be ok with the fact that the community might think it is not a good idea and will criticize it. As long as they are willing to take criticism with their exposure, I think its ok.
That said, a friend of mine who used to be Editor-in-chief of a very large computer magazine once told me that nobody accepts the second part, they may say they do, but they don’t. And the two times the magazine wrote articles on gear the manufacturer provided that were honest and open, the manufacturer gave them a lot of trouble (like telling other advertisers not to advertise in their magazine, etc). So once they had that experience they just stopped doing it ever as a matter of policy.
I think this will be a good test case for you guys to see how much trouble it causes you.
Your involvement is an inherent endorsement of the product, and all that that implies. If you have seen it, like it, approve of it, and feel your reputation won’t be tarnished by association with it, it’s okay by me. It’s not like I’ll stop posting if they become another vapor kickstarter.
If there is someone who will tell the truth about something it is @Thomas_Sanladerer . He completely unbiased on his opinions and I as well as many other people value his honesty. Now we have to wait for the video.
Supplying samples to the owner/moderators of the group should not afford more spam posts. If the people that receive the samples wish to post and acknowledge any samples/gifts then it is not an issue.
Keep in mind, this is not endorsement of their product. What it basically boils down to is not banning them for posting their kickstarter more than once.
It won’t be the mods posting the kickstarter, it will be the company.
@Alex_Lee , if the mods determined that it was a significant enough advancement to be of relevance and you were willing to also come to the same terms of a unit for honest review and spaced out the posts such that they weren’t obnoxious, yeah.
However, if there were too many people attempting this, we’d probably tell people “Sorry, only 1 at a time”. At least that’s my initial thoughts on it.
One of the only reasons this discussion wasn’t just an immediate “NO!” was because the company was forthcoming, respectful, and the product they’ve shown us in private has some features that are very very interesting. Another MakerBot clone kickstarter probably wouldn’t have garnered the same attention.
Because it’s a kickstarter, and not everybody reads the 3D printing community page every day. The same reason you don’t just put up an advertisement on a billboard for only a single day.
When I say 3x posts, I mean 3 posts, spanned over the course of 30 days (the kickstarter campaign period). One post every 10 days or so.
Seeing they are being organised (no kudos for being upfront as they knew what awaited them if they weren’t), I’d say let them post a set number of times at a predefined frequency and not be repetitive, e.g post twice a week for the duration of their campaign and not repeat anything in a previous post. That, after the review by @Thomas_Sanladerer , whose link to the review should always be at the bottom of their posting.
Let them post whenever they want. So long as it’s relevant and informative I don’t see the problem. If it’s just the same thing over and over it’ll be reported as the spam that it is.
I think that @Thomas_Sanladerer should get one to review. My main concern is giving people the option to think that you are turning a blind eye to a special group. I think if there’s only 1 demo unit that’s reviewed, it’s hard to be considered a bribe. You also have to be careful to avoid association with the group should something go horribly wrong. If I get this product, I should be able to post and say “hey, this is really cool, check it out”, correct?
What about another “pilgrim” project… As in after approval from the mods by vote any kickstarter/non-community raping (cough… Takerbot …cough ) breakthrough of a product must head to Thomas first for his review then to anyone else in the same spirit of the Bq printer. And of course the company must be willing to accept any opinions… But the product stays circulating and gets supported by the company for however long…
Seems like their concerns and intentions are legitimate. I like that they did their best to think of the way this community handles its business. Letting them post a few times shouldn’t be an issue as long as they are relevant.
I’m not sure why we would consider changing policy on a case by case basis for having demo units provided to mods. The policy should stand as is (or be revised for everyone) and if they want to provide demo units for review then individuals at their discretion can post reviews here that do not count as them self posting the same Kickstarter multiple times. Kudos to them and you for being open about it but let’s be careful not to descend into bribing moderators for more posts (open or not).
