I said I wanted to put a bit more context on this issue, and I'm trying to do so with a lot of folks' concerns in my head. Then, at the end, I'm going to try to get to a solution (of sorts)...
The crux of the whole matter, as I see it, is that the Ultimate Jeep Forum has grown so strong so quickly and so positively in large part not only because of the freedom to discuss products here but also because some businesses -- including 4xGuard back when that meant me -- made announcing products and discussing them here a regular occasion.
So let's use 4xGuard as an example, since I know it best (though this isn't really about 4xG, you understand).
When Jon was starting this forum, when there were just a handful of folks here, he asked me if I wanted to have 4xG come aboard as a Supporting Vendor. I did so, and I then tried to drive traffic to his forum in whatever way I could. In return, 4xG received an excellent place to freely interact with customers, and I felt that a lot of good came from that as a business. I think a lot of good came to our customers, too, and I think it's pretty much beyond doubt that a lot of good came to this forum.
The question that most vexes me thinking long-term (and hypothetically since we have since sold 4xGuard) is whether I would make the same choice now. That is, if I was 4xG and wasn't on this forum, would I come support it as a manufacturer, knowing that the owner of the forum (and in this hypothetical situation, mind you, I don't know Jon as well as I do) is a competitor? Does hypothetical me honestly want to support a competitor's forum? How fair a shake does hypothetical me think I'm going to get here?
That these questions are being asked -- and they are being asked, because two very real would-be supporting vendors have told me they will not join up because they don't know the answers to them -- isn't Jon's fault, but it is his responsibility. If long-term he wants vendors like 4xGuard taking part in the site, and I think he does, then he needs to have answers. In point of fact, we all need to have the answers. It needs to be transparent, because in the absence of information, misinformation prevails.
Let's keep with the 4xGuard example (and please keep in mind that we're using this as representative of what "vendor X" is going to see in trying to decide whether to support the forum and because it's what I'm familiar with).
Jon/Knappster/SA is on record here as claiming that Steel Armadillo makes "the toughest Rock Slider available." A good thing to say about his own product, of course, and he'd be a fool as a businessman if he didn't want people to buy SA rails instead of RR Supersliders or 4xGuard Side Guards. Fact is, once you're in business, you're not objective. You're in it to make money. No shame in that. At the same time, the forum owner badmouthing competing products, whether explicitly or implicitly, could easily give "vendor X" pause when considering whether to support the forum.
In the big picture, you see, when an unobjective business interest is the owner of the forum it could easily prevent other businesses from utilizing the forum as a means of outreach. Could 4xG have the same relationship with this forum when its owner and uber-Moderator is on record as claiming 4xG's products are inferior to his own? I wonder. And what if 4xG decided to react to Jon's claim, perhaps with engineering schematics? How is that going to go over? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you... but do you dare, as a business, leave such an attack unchallenged?
To return to another recent event: Not long ago, Doc (who makes and helped design SA's sliders) made the claim that 4xG's Side Guards mounted only with a row of cheap pop rivets. This was, as many members quickly pointed out, not true in the slightest. At best it was a lie of ignorance (assuming he didn't even glance under the slider to see the full mounting system), but since Doc is now building SA's sliders, which actually attempt to replicate the very same system, it could well appear that Doc was misleading folks in order to push his (and Jon's) own business interests. So what if 4xG wanted to make a stink about this? What chaos comes then?
Like it or not, the off-road accessories community is a fairly small group of folks. Word travels fast. Friends are long-term and loyal. If they see that something bad happens to one supporting vendor (whom they likely know) at the hands of the forum owner, I wonder if they will think twice about becoming a supporting vendor themselves.
. . .
In a PM to Jon I wrote this:
"I don't have any great advice other than the fact that either you must be vigilant on your own actions when your business is in the picture or you need to rebrand the forum as sponsored by SA."
Making this SA's Ultimate Jeep Forum, with no supporting vendors, honestly does make a lot of these problems (both real and hypothetical) disappear. On the other hand, I don't think this is what Jon wants (though I don't want to speak for him). I think he knows that the active presence of other manufacturers in the forum has been a boon and will continue to bear fruits.
If that is indeed the case, then the only solution is to trust to his own vigilance -- and that of the moderators, too -- and to maintain professional transparency.
As it happens, Jon has given evidence of doing both in this thread. First by creating the thread (transparency), and second by making statements like this:
This one sentence should be mandatory reading for forum members. I don't want it to get lost in the shuffle. Not only should it put one strain of worries to rest, but it says an extraordinary amount about the kind of guy Jon is and the difficulty of the dual roles he has decided to take on. It's a remarkably mature position to take.Originally Posted by Knappster
It is also worth highlighting here for some folks the fact that Jon is not reading PMs to see what you might be saying about him/his products. This possibility was raised to me off-forum, and it ain't happening. First, Jon doesn't have that much time. Second, he isn't that kind of guy. Third, he doesn't have the capability even if he had the time and the desire. My understanding is that the software assures that such things are truly private.
Jon taking on the additional role of business owner might well be cause for some discussion (which is happening now, and to a positive end, I think), but it sure isn't cause for putting on tinfoil hats.
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