Company Representatives - Posts by Company Representatives

[Stijloor]

In Reply to Parent Post by harry

Randy, I am referring to people who refuse to observe our simple requirements laid out in the terms of service. All we ask for is for them to have their website address in their personal profile page and when they need to, they can invite others to visit their website for further information. The other requirement is for them to state their connection to the website/company they recommended.

Harry,

I believe that the Moderators and Marc do a very good job keeping an eye on things here. It's not a big problem compared to some other forums. Spam is dealt with swiftly and folks trying to peddle their wares receive notices.

Thank you for keeping the Cove Forums clean.

Stijloor.

[Marc]

Please read the ToS here, Nathan. The Elsmar Cove Forum TOS (Terms of Service)

The long time rule here has been, and is, that only people with several hundred or more posts can 'self promote' here, and even then it's typically by request. Anyone can recommend a product or service they use, but self promotion is not allowed. In addition, we're pretty strict about those who come in and "try to help" people with their product by posting in that we ask that the person clearly identify their affiliation in the post.

So everyone understands, Plexus essentially has a monopoly (Plexus is the AIQG sanctioned training provider) in automotive and aerospace LA training if I understand how things are running now. Since technically they are a "sole source" I am leaving the link in the post.

Nathan should have put his company's web site URL in his profile and referenced that. Nathan actually should have filled out his profile much more completely so that his affiliation is clear for everyone to see since Nathan is a sales person for Plexus.

Nathan registered last June (2010) and has 7 posts as of my writing this.

For those of you who want information on Plexus training, please visit their web site for information. I prefer it not be discussed here for personal reasons that go way back.

[Nathan]

Thanks Marc. I actually had my username as Nathan-Plexus previously when answering aerospace questions but the last half got removed. You can see all of my previous posts and they have been solely informative answering questions. I filled out the profile now. Also, just to avoid any miscommunication, there are many training providers offering the Aerospace Auditor Transition Training. Here is the IAQG's list of approved training providers: http://info.iaqgtraining.com/tp/list/
I've heard many great things about each of them and they have been a pleasure to work with.
Thanks again and I won't overstep any bounds.

[Marc]

No problem all in all. I just want to keep things on track here. It's a small forum for people looking for answers to questions. Many companies register to try to get in some free advertising by posting in a few threads. If we didn't keep control in this aspect the forum would be over run by people/companies wanting to get in a free plug for their product or service, yet not sticking around to help people with answers to their questions.

The forum is for people to help each other. Although we do get a lot of traffic, this is a relatively small, focused forum and over the years we have prided ourselves at keeping the forum threads and posts clean of what we consider forum spam.

Your original forum user name was changed, undoubtedly by me, because it clearly states, when you register, right above where you choose a forum user name, that no company names are allowed. It's pretty hard to miss, really. As you know, you got an email from me when I changed your forum user name explaining things. That said, I did recently tell the moderators I am thinking about the name requirements/limitations with respect to company names. There are some people here registered with company names. Usually my decision as to whether to allow it is the question: What is this person here for? If it's John from Acme Tool and Die looking for help, I know they're not here for the sake of pumping their product so it's not an issue to me. Unfortunately it leaves us with an inconsistency in what we allow. In the past it was the way we decided to do the ToS. A lot of years have passed and I think it's not so much an issue these days. But, until we discuss changing the requirements, they are what they are.

You are welcome to help people in posts if you can answer relevant questions. You're stepping over the admittedly gray line when you start linking to and discussing your courses and schedules in posts. That is where you can "point" people to your profile for further information, but even then if you're not a regular here helping people with their questions it's pushing the ToS a bit. It is the point where you have turned into a sales person which we consider forum spam unless you have several hundred posts helping people. In short, there are some people here who have earned the right (if you will) to do some self promotion.

So - That's the scoop. I apologise for interrupting the thread over this but the post was reported and I made the decision to step in where I did to make it clear what our policies are here to you and to others reading this thread.

By all means, folks, resume the discussion.

[Nathan]

In Reply to Parent Post by Marc

No problem all in all. I just want to keep things on track here. It's a small forum for people looking for answers to questions. Many companies register to try to get in some free advertising by posting in a few threads. If we didn't keep control in this aspect the forum would be over run by people/companies wanting to get in a free plug for their product or service, yet not sticking around to help people with answers to their questions.

The forum is for people to help each other. Although we do get a lot of traffic, this is a relatively small, focused forum and over the years we have prided ourselves at keeping the forum threads and posts clean of what we consider forum spam.

Your original forum user name was changed, undoubtedly by me, because it clearly states, when you register, right above where you choose a forum user name, that no company names are allowed. It's pretty hard to miss, really. As you know, you got an email from me when I changed your forum user name explaining things. That said, I did recently tell the moderators I am thinking about the name requirements/limitations with respect to company names. There are some people here registered with company names. Usually my decision as to whether to allow it is the question: What is this person here for? If it's John from Acme Tool and Die looking for help, I know they're not here for the sake of pumping their product so it's not an issue to me. Unfortunately it leaves us with an inconsistency in what we allow. In the past it was the way we decided to do the ToS. A lot of years have passed and I think it's not so much an issue these days. But, until we discuss changing the requirements, they are what they are.

You are welcome to help people in posts if you can answer relevant questions. You're stepping over the admittedly gray line when you start linking to and discussing your courses and schedules in posts. That is where you can "point" people to your profile for further information, but even then if you're not a regular here helping people with their questions it's pushing the ToS a bit. It is the point where you have turned into a sales person which we consider forum spam unless you have several hundred posts helping people. In short, there are some people here who have earned the right (if you will) to do some self promotion.

So - That's the scoop. I apologise for interrupting the thread over this but the post was reported and I made the decision to step in where I did to make it clear what our policies are here to you and to others reading this thread.

By all means, folks, resume the discussion.

First and foremost: I apologize and understand the username ToS. You are very correct.

Thank you again Marc for your respective reply. I totally and absolutely rightfully agree with you in about keeping the threads in check for they would get overrun.

This is only one thread among many but I want to respond, in respect, in kind.

I am only here to respond to questions. I agree and would only intend of keeping the AS9100 Standards forum free of spam. I am a Iraq War veteran myself and pride in keeping the new standard something that keeps our new troops safe in combat. (personally, I can only vouch for paper-thin doors and laughable canvas roofs). (My CO once mentioned "what are you doing?" and I responded "making them mean sir") after putting .50 cals on the roof" - movie Slapshot reference

I don't believe "you're a small forum". I think yours is the best out there. I think yours is the best to be involved with and would love to get involved with. I would prefer we get more involved. As mentioned, we've been working with other training providers but it's actually been a pleasant experience.

Marc, do you think we could have a call maybe Monday? I, personally, don't know what has happened in past but would rather look forward and clear things up. My direct line is 612-238-1203.

Like you said, let the forum discussion commence:

[Marc]

I am discussing this aspect of the ToS with the moderators. If we change our policy I will update this thread, the ToS, and the Registration screen.