I'd like to opine on this tricky issue. Shemp's complaints, while incorrect, are not outlandish. Only his answer to such issues is what really bothers me. Reading the forum rules, the only mention of advertising is in regards to spammers - "Spammers will be immediately banned (we define spam as advertising a product not related to drumming and/or any unsolicited advertising)," and in the guidelines for the Classified section - "While we ban spammers immediately, we provide the Classifieds thread as a service to our regular members. If a post appears to be from a business venture or is the first post made by someone who has just joined our community, it is likely that we will see this as an abuse of our goodwill and the post in question will be deleted." Andy has never posted about his company in either manner, and while there perhaps could be a more appropriate platform to ask for website advice, what he did was in no violation of any rule or convention of this forum. While I would've made a different decision, Andy's decision to change his personal policy is incredible. If he is worried about honest representation, I would like to ask for him to create a new account with a new name relating to Guru where he can openly talk about his company. Boom, everybody wins. SUPER-transparency, and Andy can separate work from business. Transparent marketing is a very common practice on many forums all over. Many companies have accounts on forums - some audio products are developed nearly hand-in-hand with the Head-Fi community forums, and these kind of healthy symbiotic relationships behoove both consumer and producer, and are nearly universally welcomed.
Shemp's complaints are unfounded in regards to Andy's conduct, and it is strongly distasteful that such complaints should fall onto one of this community's most well-respected, overly-thoughtful, and open members. Having seen many advertisers come through, he has similarly complied with every request of moderators I have seen in my 4+ years.
As to how the community should handle these complaints, I would love to see a sub-forum for professional company's to have a forum to give and receive info on products - another very common practice on many forums. This shall not replace, modify, or change any way such companies are currently involved in the normal gear forums. I see NO REASON for anything to change. Since Andy's decision to remove all Guru mentions from future posts was purely voluntary, this should not affect other company representatives. As stated, all company representatives (non-spammers, of course) have always been allowed to transparently market products - if the moderators chose to, in light of recent events, change this policy - it would be very untoward. Many years of regulating practice cannot in my mind be changed in any manner that I would see as fair and honest.
Shemp owes this community a complete apology for his ignorant actions.
