laceys lane said...

what about- 'do you think topics that aren't related to demo days are clogging up the forum'


the post title and content is very leading and laurie was very quick to claim a victory imo

the wholesalers need to pull back and give the keys back to the shops, give them their demo boards to use to help sell their boards instead of making the shops buy them, which they really can't afford to buy . let the grassroots surf/sup shops do the demo thing and then there will be no real problems with shops posting a demo day or just tell everyone -hey, we have these boards on loan from such and such you can try. pretty pictures of demo days and reviews i've got no problem with.

brands -just do the adverts

super down size the corporates input please or the forum will die

opps, not suppose to be here

HAve to agree
The forum seems to be full of a lot of dross and marketing these days - every now and then something worth reading about an event or something - was interetsing a year or 18 mths ago but hardly worth a look most days now and is so east coast centric most of its irrelevant to a lot of us

teatrea said...

I dont mind the demo day info at all , the forum has gone backwards a bit because any industry people who care to share their knowledge get canned with the pimping tag.Geez i would love it if blane chambers was still posting , talking about his boards , or a dale chapman or any off the other shapers , sponsord riders ect.

I rekon you should invite em all to post till their hearts content.

There's a term called 'Media Bias'. One of my good friends for example is the editor of one of Australias biggest surfing mags. If they run too many shots or info about particular surfers that do not equate with the amount of ads placed by that company in comparison to others there are problems. The mag has to listen, if they don't people stop advertising and then the mag ceases to exist.

Here's how this forum is similar: There is information about products and there are advertisers. Obviously the most valuable information comes from neutral parties, ie Joe Public. If enough Joe Public's say a particular board works well that is way more valuable to a brand than a company release or team rider. The secret, create posters that are supposedly neutral 'Joe Publics' but clearly are not.

Here's Wikipedias definition of viral marketing: The term "viral marketing" has also been used pejoratively to refer to stealth marketing campaigns—the unscrupulous use of astroturfing on-line combined with undermarket advertising in shopping centers to create the impression of spontaneous word of mouth enthusiasm.[2]

So combine to the two terms: Companies using 'Viral Marketing' to promote their products on a forum and then using their position as paid advertisers to create 'Media Bias' to exclude any activities or info from a non advertising competitor. ie. Info about events, demo days, products, etc restricted only to people that pay for advertising. Thoughts on this?? To me it's why this forum is becoming a bit homogenized and dare I say 'boring'.

Don't believe this is happening?

As I said above I love the pics and reports of events and races and if a retailer or company puts up the dough to run an event which are expensive they deserve the credit. But for me, I'd rather see this 'public' forum stay public and not have what is said on here controlled by the marketing dept at some company. I liked Lauries original idea for a ban on demo days, company releases etc on the general forum as per what happened in the other forums. But if it does not occur it can not be a OK for one but not for others or the 'public forum' tag no longer exists. Most other sites have a section for company info that this stuff can generally be placed in.

I really wish there were still red thumbs as I'd love to see it glow with this one.

CMC said...

My $0.02. The race listings, results, pics etc are great. I love them.

I would imagine Lauries post is asking if people think the demo day listings are just advertising brands.

I think he is really asking if we want our forum to become a commercial wonderland or would be it be better if it was kept for the paddlers?? A place were people can come for a 'public' opinion on products rather than ran by companies with online marketing strategies.

His earlier reference said that based upon what happened in the kite and wind forum that there was in fighting with people that pay and don't pay for advertising on the site and those that are allowed to post info about their brands or are not. His decision was to make a blanket rule for everyone. I'd imagine that the people that pay for ads would not like people that don't getting air play on the forum.

at the end of the day its up to Lauire to make the rules AND ENFORCE THEM....for me its the lack of consistancy that sucks....some are site sponsers, some not....some brands get pimped by mates/customers of shapers more than just a "hey I like me X brand board"

Basicly anyone that has a product to sell ie: boards, paddles photos etc should have some sort of financial imput back to the site and that should inturn be reflected back to the sup public....

like I gave the example before if I have to pay to advertsie my second hand board that im going to loose money on its only fair that those making money from this contribute. Im sure this website doesnt get run for free.

i dont pay much attention to demo day posts ...i like dropping in (hehehe - pun intended) here to view any surf sup vids and there isnt enough of them... if the shop/brand pimps want to prove how great their gear rips.. make more vids of the action they could even put at the end of a video, a date of a demo day.... my 20 cents

teatrea said...



>>You dont have to be a rockett scientist

>>Its a complex issue.

Errr, make up your mind mate?

Lobes said...

teatrea said...



>>You dont have to be a rockett scientist

>>Its a complex issue.

Errr, make up your mind mate?

Im a fence sitter , no wait now i think about id rather read comments from people who now what their on about wether their indusrty people or not.It would be better than most of the dribble thats posted by the FREESUPPERSand da grassroots , i hate commercialism sect.

Some people need to get a life for christ's sake. Same dribble from the same crew....as always. I'm over it...that's why I hardly ever post.

Forum used to have some informative and lively discussion. Now it's full of self- interested and self-important twats pushing their own agendas...gimme a break

I get a little tired of the brand spruking and demo day ads.

I already have a board and reviewed it in the equipment section.

This forum used to have fun threads about waves and experiences. Now it seems to be a giant advertising forum and billboard.

Count the threads on this page and then see how many mention a brand name. I believe those threads should be in the other section.

JB Mel said...

I think the critical thing here is that the demo day 'ads' (uhm sorry, threads) will still be on the site, they would just be in their own category, listed down the side along with all the other 'events'.

With the number of demo days happening now, it will get to the point that we will all be scrolling through the list of demo days to find the interesting 'threads' with all the adventures, pics and videos that we love.

The whole purpose of demo days is to 'get to them' and 'ride the boards yourself'. With the number of them happening, there will be one near you soon!!!! And if you really want to read about them it's not that hard to click on the event in the right-hand column or the drop down menu! Just like we do now for equipment reviews.

Demo days = advertising
Advertising = control

That said, Demo days are quite different to actual 'competition' and 'club' events where we all want to see pics, read the results & hear all the stories from those that attended. Generally competitions & club events expose all the 'brands' so it is fair coverage!

My 2 cents worth

Right on Mel Go Girl!

I have been involved in and run demo days and they are a very useful tool for beginner riders trying to make decisions on what board is what no doubt. The value also comes from independant joe average (not team / sponsored riders) who tries a board at the demo day and provideds a truely independant view and says this is great and these are the reasons why as we all learn from that.

Its also good if a team / sponsored rider gives a review provided that they clearly ensure everyone knows that they are a team rider.

There is a difference between a team rider and a person who buys (actually pays hard earned coin) for a board loves it to death and writes a review with good and bad.

Its the out right personal attacks that happen on the forum that have stopped most of the good board reviews from experienced people!

I guess thats where forum moderation must kick in.

Its the consistency in the removal of the obvious pimp threads that also counts. If its allowed for one then it needs to be allowed for all.

A thread where its supposed to be about surfing that shows no wave shots at all and only close ups of board brands and brand names is not a surfing thread it is a direct pimp and imo has to go.

My 2cents.

While I am only new to the forum and SUP but been surfing all my life I want as much info as I can get

I don't care if the thread is of an advertisement or whatever, if I click on it and I don't like it I don't read it again

I want to know about what people say about their boards, business or whatever knowledge they have

For me, its a learning curve as I try to save up for a new or 2nd hand board and all the info the better

For the long termers on here I understand this may be frustrating but if you don't like the title of the thread just don't click on it (No disrespect)

Maybe people should be honest in the title of their thread and say "shameless & blatant plug" or whatever

Either way I get a lot of good info on here and have met some nice people so for me, it works fine

CMC,

You would have been in heaven at the Corona this year or OG13 last year. The range of boards allowed you to get off a 9'6 brand x and get straight on a 9'6 brand Y, then brand Z etc etc etc.

OG was almost flat but Corona also had on offer 1-2ft shories that allowed you to get some sort of comparison of boards head to head in slop surf even if it was in only one set of conditions.

Trying out surfing SUPs and or DW boards in flat conditions is pointless IMO, unless your super experience and are only looking at very specific aspects of how the board will paddle.

Personally before I buy a board I like to try it in all conditions, we mainly get sw on shore crap 150 - 180 days a year and if I like surfing the board in that garbage and it goes hard, I am going to love it in clean 2 -3 ft.

Work of the worst case all the time and you will never be disappointed when that perfect wave comes your way.

Phill.