Andy
Honorary Member
This is not attention grabbing, actually, for me, it's quite embarrassing. I almost never reverse a decision. I don't make frivolous changes of stance in my life, but sometimes, evidence comes into play that changes things. This is one of those mornings.
I don't want this to be a thread that resorts to personal references. One sniff of that & I'll have it closed. Even those with a counter opinion to mine openly said they didn't want me to modify my behaviour. This is down to me, not them.
Over the weekend, I've received many messages to add to those already posted. Lots of personal emails too, too many to number actually. The ground swelling of opinion is overwhelming, but that's not enough to take me away from a decision based on adherence to my personal principals. What's really changed my mind are a number of emails from other builders & industry insiders. People respecting my decision, but telling me they're now going to modify how they interface with the forum. Me changing what I do is one thing, the forum can take that & move on, but a whole sector that adds flavour going missing from this fine forum is another thing entirely. The last thing I want is for others to slowly drain this place of information that many find useful, but a few don't.
Ok, builders/designers/manufacturers can always put up details of new stuff on their website, or advertisements, but that doesn't afford the kind of grass roots interaction you get on a forum. On a forum, you can ask questions - sometimes brutal ones, or refute claims. These are valuable levellers to all concerned. You could possibly run a dedicated forum on your company site for that, but as it's likely limited mainly to fans of the brand, it's nothing more than ego stroking most of the time.
I'm not suggesting a free for all approach to brazen punting of new products on the forum, you know, new finishes, latest sizes, normal range tweaking stuff, but when a builder has something new of note, I think that adds immensely to the mix here, & that direct connection has strong value.
So, manufacturers, builders, other industry insiders - bring it on! Give this place an early heads up on new thinking & cool stuff. Context is everything, & if it's too much, or with no value outside of commercial interest, I'm sure Bernhard & the mods will make their feelings known.
Andy's back, & if you don't like it ------------------
BTW, you can't buy this kit, so it's not being advertised It's what got me started on all this, so fitting that it makes an appearance here again
I don't want this to be a thread that resorts to personal references. One sniff of that & I'll have it closed. Even those with a counter opinion to mine openly said they didn't want me to modify my behaviour. This is down to me, not them.
Over the weekend, I've received many messages to add to those already posted. Lots of personal emails too, too many to number actually. The ground swelling of opinion is overwhelming, but that's not enough to take me away from a decision based on adherence to my personal principals. What's really changed my mind are a number of emails from other builders & industry insiders. People respecting my decision, but telling me they're now going to modify how they interface with the forum. Me changing what I do is one thing, the forum can take that & move on, but a whole sector that adds flavour going missing from this fine forum is another thing entirely. The last thing I want is for others to slowly drain this place of information that many find useful, but a few don't.
Ok, builders/designers/manufacturers can always put up details of new stuff on their website, or advertisements, but that doesn't afford the kind of grass roots interaction you get on a forum. On a forum, you can ask questions - sometimes brutal ones, or refute claims. These are valuable levellers to all concerned. You could possibly run a dedicated forum on your company site for that, but as it's likely limited mainly to fans of the brand, it's nothing more than ego stroking most of the time.
I'm not suggesting a free for all approach to brazen punting of new products on the forum, you know, new finishes, latest sizes, normal range tweaking stuff, but when a builder has something new of note, I think that adds immensely to the mix here, & that direct connection has strong value.
So, manufacturers, builders, other industry insiders - bring it on! Give this place an early heads up on new thinking & cool stuff. Context is everything, & if it's too much, or with no value outside of commercial interest, I'm sure Bernhard & the mods will make their feelings known.
Andy's back, & if you don't like it ------------------
BTW, you can't buy this kit, so it's not being advertised It's what got me started on all this, so fitting that it makes an appearance here again