Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Discussions => Topic started by: Michelle on June 10, 2010, 05:56:47 pm
Title: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Michelle on June 10, 2010, 05:56:47 pm
We've received a request from a commercial, Foretravel-related, member regarding offering services and the occasional special to ForeForum members.
Certainly, anything that benefits the membership sounds good to us. Of course, we want to address this with the membership privacy, etc., in mind.
Steve and I are thinking of creating a post-only, moderated board for such offerings. Commercial members would be welcome to submit posts with offers available that are of specific interest to Foretravel owners, not just general travel, etc. All posts would be moderated, which means we would have to approve them before they were posted. We would also work with the commercial members to make sure the content met requirements, not simply rejecting posts without explanation. The board would not accept replies, since it would not be for discussion, just notification.
Feedback?
Michelle
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Rudy on June 10, 2010, 06:18:24 pm
I can think of several members who are in business to work on and upgrade Foretravel coaches. I would like to have them able to post replies to inquiries as they have experience far above most of us. Their reply can many times be most helpful.
In addition, having them post specials might be just the thing to help us decide to upgrade or maintain a system now instead of later.
I think it is a good idea.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Peter & Beth on June 10, 2010, 06:41:05 pm
Ditto Rudy's comments. As well hopefully the advertiser can add their contact numbers, web address, etc. so we may be able to communicate with then off-line.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Bill Willett on June 10, 2010, 06:46:43 pm
Ditto :D
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Gerry Vicha on June 10, 2010, 07:17:02 pm
I agree with the others. :D Possibly a small fee could be obtained to help maintain this site? ;)
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: PatC on June 10, 2010, 07:26:18 pm
Over on the TiffinRVNetwork site, they put them on a special area for commercial offerings. That was for the guys who worked on their own near the factory doing thing the Tiffin would not do, like remodeling. Otherwise they could post like anyone else, as long as they were not selling or offering services..
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Michelle on June 10, 2010, 07:55:27 pm
Over on the TiffinRVNetwork site, they put them on a special area for commercial offerings.
Otherwise they could post like anyone else, as long as they were not selling or offering services..
That's along the lines of what we're considering - a special board for the occasional offers. Just a posting of special offers, not general advertising. It would merely be a courtesy benefit for the general membership - we don't want to turn this into a marketplace or advertising site.
Folks with a commercial relationship to our coaches certainly are welcome to post in the regular boards to answer questions; we just ask that there not be any selling, advertising, etc. going on in those boards. And if the members see it, we ask that they report the post to us so we can address any commercial content.
Michelle
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Dave West on June 10, 2010, 08:13:13 pm
Steve & Michelle: I think that accepting commercial advertising for Foretravel goods, supplies and services should be acceptable to all of us. What better way to have the physical contact information and web addresses in one place, or on your own spreadsheet. You never know when or where you will be needing some assistance. Why not patronize someone that you "know" through advertising rather then take pot luck or have to go search out a needed product or service. This way we would have a built in handy reference!
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: George Stoltz on June 10, 2010, 09:08:05 pm
I like being able to communicate with commercial members . As Rudy has pointed out they often provide information that we might not find amongst ourselves. Just look at how helpful Roger Berke is onthe Aqua-Hot Yahoo forum. He is in business to repair A-H units yet he quite often posts free how-to instructions.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Michelle on June 10, 2010, 09:21:54 pm
I like being able to communicate with commercial members . As Rudy has pointed out they often provide information that we might not find amongst ourselves.
George,
We're not looking at limiting regular posting/question answering, etc., by members who happen to have commercial RV interests. We're just asking what the membership would want us to do regarding the posting of sales/discounts/promotions for services/goods, as long as they were Foretravel-related.
The commercial member who approached us was quite respectful of the group and concerned that this be done within the guidelines. We want to implement something that is helpful for both sides *if* we can figure out how best to do so.
Michelle
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Dave Katsuki on June 10, 2010, 09:25:49 pm
Ditto. I'm in favor of having commercial members be able to interact with us, just as is the case on the Escapees forums.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Dave Head on June 10, 2010, 11:36:12 pm
Most forums I belong to not only have a vendor area (board), but require vendors selling stuff to either identify themselves or provide a 'commercial sales' board in addition to a private sales board. Dave
Quote
Steve & Michelle wrote: We've received a request from a commercial, Foretravel-related, member regarding offering services and the occasional special to ForeForum members. Certainly, anything that benefits the membership sounds good to us. Of course, we want to address this with the membership privacy, etc., in mind. Steve and I are thinking of creating a post-only, moderated board for such offerings. Commercial members would be welcome to submit posts with offers available that are of specific interest to Foretravel owners, not just general travel, etc. All posts would be moderated, which means we would have to approve them before they were posted. We would also work with the commercial members to make sure the content met requirements, not simply rejecting posts without explanation. The board would not accept replies, since it would not be for discussion, just notification. Feedback? Michelle
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Raymond Jordan on June 11, 2010, 12:19:29 am
Hi Steve & Michelle, I think we could use the knowledge these people provide. I hope to see them here soon.
Raymond & Babette Jordan 1997 U 320
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Gary Bouland (RIP) on June 11, 2010, 08:47:28 am
Sounds good to me.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Jimmy Freytag on June 11, 2010, 10:34:59 am
Sound good to me, Go for it
Jimmy Freytag 1996 U280 36ft
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Harvey Nelson on June 11, 2010, 11:56:57 am
I concur with the spirit of the other reply's. We need them, they need us. We are all friends in the same community. Let's keep the interaction straight forward.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Dave and Nancy Abel on June 11, 2010, 08:56:41 pm
It sounds good to me.. Dave Abel '00 U320 36' dave_abel74@yahoo.com
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Two Hams in a Can on June 12, 2010, 09:24:10 am
What they said. . . 8) :D :P
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Tony Pasquale on June 12, 2010, 10:34:24 am
Ditto also Rudy's comments
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Mike Baldacchino on June 12, 2010, 11:23:35 am
I can use any help that I can get!! ;D
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Russell on June 12, 2010, 11:57:16 am
I absoletule love the idea. They're more than welcomed in my view.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: John Cooper on June 12, 2010, 02:18:08 pm
Add me to the YES list.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Jim Monk on June 12, 2010, 10:34:17 pm
I like it and ditto to Dave Head's post.
Jim Monk East Texas 1997 U270
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: rhawk6 on June 16, 2010, 12:01:17 am
As the only "Commercial Member" to chime in on this subject I'll put in my 2 cents.I joined the Yahoo group after i became Foretravels 7 Th service center that was not Factory.At that time i had a Angola Eagle conversion , the only reason i was on the group was to help members and get my name out. After a few years of working on Foretravels i bought my own U320. Today i visit both sites to see what my friends and customers are up to and see if anybody needs knowledge i might have.I believe that James Stallings would propably say the same .The CVO-Harley forum that i also belong to wont allow any mention of "customers,products i sell,etc" unless you are listed as a commercial member and offer the group a discount.I have had to reword posts to members that were out of my region as the moderators thought i was trying to sell them something when i was trying to pass on info i have heard back from my customers. Those that are on here just to sell there services or products then treat them as advertisers,those of us that are true members of the group will most likely not need moderated.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Michelle on June 16, 2010, 09:04:22 am
As the only "Commercial Member" to chime in on this subject I'll put in my 2 cents.
<snip>
Those that are on here just to sell there services or products then treat them as advertisers,those of us that are true members of the group will most likely not need moderated.
Ron,
We agree completely - we want the valuable insight that our members who are also in the industry can provide. So post away! :D
I probably worded my initial post poorly - we're just looking to see how we can add a place to let members who are also "in the biz" advertise if/when they want, not within the regular discussion boards but in a specific board which would be solely for posting the ad/deal/offer. The reason we thought to moderate just that board is to keep it as Foretravel-applicable as possible, and weed out any generic offers like "303 Protectant, 5% off".
We'll probably kick something off here soon as an experiment and see how it goes.
Michelle
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: niagarachip on June 16, 2010, 12:00:45 pm
add Me to the yes list.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: John S on June 16, 2010, 05:58:54 pm
Steve, what about putting a sign under their information where it will post they are a commercial member. For instance, we all love it when James Stallings posts something about an issue or we have even seen people at MOT post too. Roger Berke is another guy who helps us out too. So, there are owners who have FT or other brands and have brands that can help us all.
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: Patricia on June 16, 2010, 06:32:17 pm
John has a great idea - in fact, when we were Airstream owners and members of the Airforums, they did just that - here's a cropped screen shot to show you the idea (and my first attempt at attaching an image!)... Pat
(https://www.foreforums.com/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi48.tinypic.com%2F15xqvll.jpg&hash=8109dfdd4bb1d1a3c2a3df2595ffaeae" rel="cached" data-hash="8109dfdd4bb1d1a3c2a3df2595ffaeae" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://i48.tinypic.com/15xqvll.jpg)
Title: Re: Commercial Member postings
Post by: rhawk6 on June 17, 2010, 11:56:37 pm
I think that would be a great idea.You could also have a section where we comm. members could post a single post describing our business or services.Then members could go to the Comm.members forum and brouse thru the posts.