This seems to be a very popular thread,

SO look down........

you guys need to spend more time having "board meetings" and spend less time on this forum

I like Greenlines' idea, pretty simple and can't see why disclosing any sponsorship/ affiliations on your profile creates any drama.

petemc said...

Here's my two cents for what it's worth.

Quote" a lot people DON'T speak their mind in fear of feeling unpopular.(red thumb )
Its not about brands all the time,its about the person most of the time
and to read some of the comments in this topic, its all about alliance ,the pack
mentality.


I have noticed not only in this but other forums there are what I call "the boys club" or "the inner sanctum". Do not disagree with them...even if your right. Your wasting your time as you will become the object of the "alliance..pack mentality". I've seen people humiliated, scorned, chastised, ridiculed and abused for having the temerity to disgree or challenge the veracity of someone's opinion.

Before some of you jump on your high horses and get stuck into me I'll admit that in the past I have been guilty of getting hot under the collar, been abusive and had a go back. At least I posted my comments and didn't hide behind red thumbs, send obnoxious emails, or worse still, get someone on another forum to come onto this one and stir sh@t.

And yes, a lot of people are scared to voice their opinions for fear of being unpopular....me, I don't give a sh@t what people think. I have bigger issues in life that take priority to what some narrow minded people on this or any other forum thinks.

Have a nice day always, be good to your fellow human being.....now bring on the red thumbs/comments.

Pete
I practice my profession in the mental health field and I got to tell you i see this type of behaviour every day.

Its good when you get the wanna be "alpha males" sending you personal emails telling you what you should be thinking. RED and GREEN thumbs forever!!!!!!!!!

I'll happily be influenced, send me your kick backs. Preferably a 17' race board, promise to post some photos

Disclaimer - no red or green thumbs were injured while I read this thread

AA said...

Th0m0 said...

I've said this before in earlier threads on this topic. I like having the industry people putting time in on the forum. I understand this thread is not about banning so called "pimping" but about "disclosure". However, I think that if a person takes the time to read this forum long enough and become a part of the Seabreeze Sup community, they will get to know who has industry associations and who is just stoked on a product or service. Most of the industry people do disclose their associations at some point (not every post). It's just a matter of reading the forum long enough and taking the time to read what is said,

WOW, popular topic! 1400 reads in 12 hours!

Here we go.....

THOmO, I would have to agree with the first bit (I would, wouldnt I)!

"this thread is not about banning so called "pimping" but about "disclosure".'

If you recognise it and don't mind pimping from undisclosed industry affiliates, thats cool, your sorted.

But for those who do, a bit of upfront disclosure can only add value to the forum IMHO.

This is a growing sport and the forum attracts newcomers every day. They are not all going to become 'Breeze bums' like some of us (yeah its after midnight and look what I am doing)!

These newcomers are key to the growth of the sport and I cannot see how it is detrimental for them to be armed with good information and that would have to include knowing wether the review or opinion expressed is loaded somehow.

For sure, if you hang around long enough you work out who is who. But as a supporter of the site I agree with Locos, Deejay, Greenline and others that it would be valuable to know wether it is an unbiased opinion being expressed or 'hook-ups for hot air'!

OK! Thats BS! There IS real value in most of this pimping (mine included, I hope) and reviews by sponsored riders, but it is made even more valuable if you know, up front (in their profile maybe) where the authors interests really lie.

I believe it would definitely help if sponsored riders or those on 'hook ups' who pimp regularly, put it in their Profile.

May I burn in the hell of red thumbs! Can you thumb yourself?

Agree with you 100% AA. Took me ages to work out who was pimping or those just passionate about a particular brand. I did the obligatory internet search of all the popular brands and guess what? They all promoted their brand as the latest thing since sliced bread, latest and greatest technology blah, blah, ad finitum.

Thank god for the forum.

Green thumb for you

I think we all need to just be just a little bit more open minded, just because some one on a forum says something is good, doesn't mean it is going to be the perfect choice for you.
Everyone is different, different styles, different height, different weight, different stance, different ability, different co-ordination, different requirements, different opinions.......
The great thing about forum's is it puts it all out there for you to make the decision yourself as to weather you would like to look deeper into finding out information or demoing something to to get a personal opinion of your own.
At the end of the day, and I'll think you'll find this in any of my post, A visit to your local shop and demoing everything your interested in is the best and only way to get a real scope on something, then speak with an experienced rider (shop dealer) if your a newby, and talk about your experience and weather the choice is right for you.
For your information, I didn't just grab an 8'4" and ride it, I demo'd Sam's (wind Surf n Snow) demo board first, to make sure the board was going to be suitable. Then I decided to get one. I did this also with the 8'10", the 10' Mana, the 9'6" and well pretty much all of my boards except the 11'6" (as there was nothing else around to compare it to).
It can be difficult making that big purchase, so put some effort into your decision. Demo, try, talk, read and Demo again. A good purchase will make your sessions great instead of just good.

So I conclude, I don't give a hoot weather your a world champion, a shop owner, a librarian or some homeless dude who rides an old fridge. Your opinion is just that, YOURS. And it's up to you weather you want to sugar coat it, egadurate it or what ever, but just remember that no matter what you say, someone will have a different opinion to you and that's ok!

Anyway, while I'm being a spoon here, may as well stire the pot one last time in the interest of fun and say ,

NAISH

Don't really care about the pimping or the red and green thumbs. What I would like is a way to filter out posts based on author.

I think EVERYONE needs to lighnen up, I thought our sport was supposed to be fun

I have 6 weeks of pimping coming so look out!!!!


Jacko

Naish Spono'ed
Shop owner and done reviews on all the stuff i have ridinn well before i had any thing to do with the industry and will continue well in to the future.

JB said...

I don't give a hoot weather your a world champion, a shop owner, a librarian or some homeless dude who rides an old fridge.

Is that a thruster set up on that fridge?

laurie said...

AA said...
IF it was to be adopted as a Forum guideline ...

From my experience, I found that forum guidelines are only read by people who have no intention of going outside them.

Been through all this pimping stuff BIG time in the Kitesurfing forums, which included JB getting banned a few times, much to his distress. Hi JB. He may well be skating close to the ban hammer again. [}:)] He's an excitable lad.

The "Gear Reviews" in Kitesurfing was created as an overflow for businesses so that they could pimp their ride. In kiting, most posters also got narked off with the pimps and businesses ruining user-2-user chat. The posters are all over pimps more than the forum mods, and seems the same is happening here.

Businesses should dive off to the SUP Gear Reviews forum to pimp their ride, so that the "general" bit can be a true community vibe.

Never forget the stoke! (stroke?)

Laurie,

That's all good-but the reality is that won't happen and the same ol' thing will creep back in.

Again, I have/had no intention of setting the cat amongst the pimping pigeons-really just think it's more than fair for those that have an association with a brand to be honest about it when commenting on the brand that supports them (naturally part of their deal is that they are required to support their 'sponsor', by either pushing their brand or, as often occurs, by making disparaging remarks about a competing brand).

It needed have any chilling effect upon the type and volume of comment by posters-just a bit of honesty.

Surprised at the degree of push back to the idea-if you have no hidden agenda, why not be open about the association?

Maybe what is needed is not a set of thumbs but a pimping button. If someone thinks a post is overly promoting a product they can push the pimping button to send a warning to those not in the know.