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14,407 Posts
Lately I have been noticing that this excellent site is growing by the day. Not just in terms of member numbers, but also guests. So I have started checking the numbers when I log in. It seems that usually there are 2, 3 sometimes 4 guests for every member logged in. We sometimes refer to them as "lurkers" in jest.
I bring this to light because over the past month or two, as Painttalk.com has gained visibility, we have seen a wider and much more diverse demographic of members come through, which is great for the site. This forum would not need to exist if everyone here held the same beliefs and practices. Along with that has come every range of character that you can possibly imagine from the paint community as a whole, and some that have been screened out by the moderators as in fact not having anything to do with the paint community.
However, in the mix of some of this diversity, from time to time there are threads started by new members who apparently have yet to digest the generally high level of professionialism exuded by just about every regular (and by that I mean daily or weekly contributor). Some of these folks roll in and start a thread that pushes the boundaries of what is generally considered to be respectable and professional behavior. Those of us who are regulars and value this incredible resource work very hard to maintain its integrity. And so the stone throwing goes...
A fellow member pointed out last week that this is a public forum. Your customers may be among the thousand weekly "lurkers". They may have been googling around for paint info, found you linked up to painttalk and came on in to see how you contribute to a professional forum. Lets hope they didnt go to the thread where you were brainstorming ways to push the boundaries of business ethics. Lets hope they saw the part where you disagreed with the person heading down the shady path. Someone had a post where they said its ok to "play games" in business, as long as its not with the customer. Someone else said its not ok period.
I would prefer to think that the customers all around the country (and world) who give us the opportunity to work in their homes for extended periods of time would be disappointed at the thought of hiring a professional who is not professional on all fronts. That would be a difficult relationship to retain. One of our most respected members has an article on his site describing the market as arbitor. Let us not forget that marketing goes beyond your advertising, it encompasses all manner in which you present yourself as a professional, including this forum.
Once in a while, one of those drive by hit and run posters will comment that we take this site too seriously. Well, yes, through this site we have the power and ability to communicate, share information, and network with non-competing professionals from all over the world. With great power comes great responsibility. Thanks to Nathan and the Mods for keeping this site clean and on target, and filtering out as much of the background noise as possible.
I bring this to light because over the past month or two, as Painttalk.com has gained visibility, we have seen a wider and much more diverse demographic of members come through, which is great for the site. This forum would not need to exist if everyone here held the same beliefs and practices. Along with that has come every range of character that you can possibly imagine from the paint community as a whole, and some that have been screened out by the moderators as in fact not having anything to do with the paint community.
However, in the mix of some of this diversity, from time to time there are threads started by new members who apparently have yet to digest the generally high level of professionialism exuded by just about every regular (and by that I mean daily or weekly contributor). Some of these folks roll in and start a thread that pushes the boundaries of what is generally considered to be respectable and professional behavior. Those of us who are regulars and value this incredible resource work very hard to maintain its integrity. And so the stone throwing goes...
A fellow member pointed out last week that this is a public forum. Your customers may be among the thousand weekly "lurkers". They may have been googling around for paint info, found you linked up to painttalk and came on in to see how you contribute to a professional forum. Lets hope they didnt go to the thread where you were brainstorming ways to push the boundaries of business ethics. Lets hope they saw the part where you disagreed with the person heading down the shady path. Someone had a post where they said its ok to "play games" in business, as long as its not with the customer. Someone else said its not ok period.
I would prefer to think that the customers all around the country (and world) who give us the opportunity to work in their homes for extended periods of time would be disappointed at the thought of hiring a professional who is not professional on all fronts. That would be a difficult relationship to retain. One of our most respected members has an article on his site describing the market as arbitor. Let us not forget that marketing goes beyond your advertising, it encompasses all manner in which you present yourself as a professional, including this forum.
Once in a while, one of those drive by hit and run posters will comment that we take this site too seriously. Well, yes, through this site we have the power and ability to communicate, share information, and network with non-competing professionals from all over the world. With great power comes great responsibility. Thanks to Nathan and the Mods for keeping this site clean and on target, and filtering out as much of the background noise as possible.
Not all the time??
