"Not-so Anonymous Reps"

David, what can be done about relentless
advertising being done on this discussion board by company reps, thinking their anonymous? Is it allowed now?

Call them out! No advertising is allowed on the board, but I can only do so much. If I can't prove they are company reps, then I can't do much about it. However, the community can self-police by calling out obvious cases of this. I'm always amazed at how much the community lets people get away with blatant promotion of their products.

If you have anything specific you want me to look at, please send me some user names and/or links to discussions. Thanks.

When I first read this:

"I'm always amazed at how much the community lets people get away with blatant promotion of their products."

my initial reaction was: "Is Dave scolding us for not being thread Nazi's?!"

Then I started to think about Jerry. He's got more experience and knowledge than all of us put together and he's respectful of the policy of WW, also. You almost never see pictures of Chase Hazen boosting huge airs or him bad-mouthing the design of another manufacturer.

In a very real sense, if we are complacent when a manufacturer or a known rep posts pictures of their product in use, or links to their website, or they have discussions in threads that are principally detailing transactions, we are disrespectful of those that make an effort to follow the rules of WW. The paid advertisers help support this forum and without that, we wouldn't have this source of information, readily available. I would think in a very real sense, those folks who willfully ignore the advertising restriction, don't particularly care that much about this forum or the wakesurfing community at large.

Anyway...hopefully we'll see less transactional details, less posting of links to product by folks that stand to make a buck from it and...more respect for bro's.

Yea I cant believe all of the Self Promotion of ProductsFUSIONTOWER SPEAKERSIt makes me sick thatMALIBUthese reps come on here andLIQUIDFORCEtalk about there products and not have toSUPRApay for advertising.
I think we need toHYPERLITEpolice our own.
From now on I willPERFORMANCESURFANDSKIcall out whoever posts onWALKERBOARDSthis forum.

Very well put.

On second thought, I probably shouldn't have said "the community lets people get away with blatant promotion of their products." Just because people don't directly call them out on a particular thread, doesn't necessarily mean that they are letting them "getting away with it." I know that personally, I'm turned off by companies that use the discussion board as a method of free promotion of their products. Some are more clever than others as they go about it, but after a while you get a feel for those that are using the community versus those that are contributing to the community. I'm less likely to buy products from or support those companies even though I may never say a word on the discussion board. So if there are other people out there like me, I guess those companies aren't really getting away with anything. They are shooting themselves in the foot in the long run.

Thanx for your responses guys. I was starting to feel like I was the only one that noticed or cared. Thank You Again.

I hope this doesn't keep guys like Sean from posting on here. This place is a great resource of info. While there is some blatant promotion by some folks, most of those involved with a company are as respectful as can be expected. I would hate to see the people with the knowledge shy away from posting for fear of stepping on somebody's toes. Knowledge from the likes of these people is what's helping the true wakesurf manufacturers grow and helping us po-dung folks get knowledge we're looking for. In fact Mr. Price, It would be nice to see some knowledge spill out of your brain once in a while.

As a consumer, I know when someone is pushing a product on me and I don't really care for it and it will generally steer me away from their product. What I don't have a problem with is someone answering questions about their product in a public forum. I would never have found my new board had it not been for a public forum. It's really nice to have somebody involved with the company in such an accessible place. Posting it here makes it available for everyone.

Knowledge has been made accessible to anybody in the world, who cares to get in touch, since "98" thru paid advertisments to David and every Mag that covers wake sports. Because so much has been spent on advertising in the last 8.5 years, there is little time to spend posting. Hay, there's some knowledge worth passing on!

"Hay, there's some knowledge worth passing on!"

HaHa. Nice one.

So if I asked you a question about fins and you responded with something like "On our boards we ....", would that be advertising?

Just want to make clear that I'm not trying to get under your skin or anything. I'm just curious to know where you think the line might be. Maybe it will make someone think a little more before they post.

Plus the fact that I'm bouncing questions off of a legend is pretty neato to me.

Speaking of relentless advertising on this board, I have to tell ya the XTREME BOARD COMPANY fish and the SHRED STIXX Phantom were big hits at the jamboree! They were used quite a bit during the day - in fact one fin was broken off the Phantom.

But alas, when it came to Pro autograph time, the Fish and Phantom were out in the water and I ended up with an INLAND SURFER Blue Lake signed by:

Josh Sanders, Reed Hansen, Trevor Hansen, Kyle Schmidt and Russ Wilde.

I bet that Inland Surfer Blue Lake is gonna be worth some $$$ some day!

When the winner of the WALKER PROJECT custom board received his prize, his wife told him that it was going on a wall and it was never going to be ridden! I was glad to hear that.

Now I need to contact that fellow and get his fins for the Phantom.

A legend? That's crazy. I am just a guy who built this company on a carpenters wages. And it has become bigger than I ever imagined, because I did things the straight up way. And not shoot myself in the foot by trying to be sly, Because it would hurt the company in the long run. Now, I am late to fill a paid for booth at my local marina's boat show. I'm out on this subject.

Hey Nick?

IMO, all of these are advertising:

Well if you are looking for the best possible board for you I'd recommend getting a board custom made to your weight, height, riding preference, ability, and quality of boat wake. All of these factors play a role in the way a board is going to ride and it sounds like you aren't interested in settling.

XXXXXX Xxxxxxxxx X 4.5 is a hybrid board that works well for airs, shuvits and all kinds of 3's.
http://www.thexxxxxxxxxxxxx.com/category_s/3.htm#

I have Limited Edition Red Tides for $329 and Limited Edition Yellow Loogies also for $329

This following is transactional detail that should be done in email - thank goodness Hyperlite doesn't post shipping status for us to slog through.

D'oh, I was just at XXXXXX's shop too. Good choice of colors. (I'm partial to the green boards) Oh yeah, it ships tomorrow.

But honestly, do we really need that defined? I don't think it's the fine line that anyone is concerned with, but stop the stuff above, I don't think any of the above posters were naive, right? AND they've stopped.

"Piranha" Ed, "Piranha"

Damn! I keep doing that. Sorry J!

I really liked the Piranha.

In order for me to ride it comfortably, One foot was on the arch support, and the other was way up front on the sticker (past the Gator Grip).

Once I found my stance, it was an easy board to ride, even though I was riding backside.

If a company rep is answering a direct question on the discussion board, there is no way they can be accused of "advertising." There are threads entitled, "What board should I buy." In a thread like that, I expect company reps to reply with the reasons why that person should buy their product. That's what the discussion board is all about.

On the other hand, when a company rep starts a thread themselves and goes on about their great new product, then I'm going to have a problem with it.

Perfect David. Thanks man.

David,
Thanks for clarifing for us "Not-so Anonymous Reps" Thanks Jerry for bringing this forward. I tried to "recommend" via e-mail but couldn't always do it that way. I would never start a thread to promote a product.