"An Update & Thank You!" Topic

I've had the opportunity to work in administrative and executive positions for some major corporations, and I've had my own company in the past, but TMP has been my first time to have full-time staff and be responsible for payroll and related things.

Now I know what some of my friends have carried as burdens, in their many years running companies and being responsible for peoples' livelihoods.

So I'd like to say thanks to all of you who help TMP earn some revenue. The last few months have been good. Not super good – there are still things on the 'need soon' list – but good enough for the needs that have come up.

When you support TMP through your Supporting Memberships or your advertising, you are making it possible for four human beings to earn livings. And as you probably are aware, three of those people are in the Third World and greatly appreciate their wonderful jobs. One of them is taking time off today to see a doctor, another is recovering from a medical procedure, and the third just got a new computer to replace one that could no longer be repaired/upgraded – and even I had a recent root canal, so all of us are appreciative!

As some of you may have heard, a miniatures company recently posted on our boards to promote their free shipping offer. Now, our advertisers get very unhappy when a non-advertiser uses TMP to promote their business, which is why we have a forum rule that non-advertisers can't post about their sales or free shipping or similar promotions. (They can post about new releases or upcoming products, and maybe that's being too generous, but that's been our rules for many years.)

Well, I removed the topic from the non-advertiser, and sent them a PM explaining why it wasn't allowed on TMP. Unfortunately, the company went onto Twitter and (I'm told, I haven't seen it) Facebook to trash TMP – they assumed their post was removed because it involved International Women's Day! It stirred up the usual social media firestorm, people said they would boycott us, trolls said unkind things about TMP, on and on and on.

That's why I reluctantly put my Twitter account back into use, and posted our side of the story. The company later apologized, but only in a post on TMP, and not (as I feel would have been fair) in front of their Twitter followers. So I followed up on Twitter thanking her for her apology, with a link, only for some troll to call me 'creepy' for picking on a young lady at a late hour. (Hey, some of us work late!)

As an employer, that kind of situation worries me. A Twitter storm can be a dangerous thing. Someone can say something stupid, and suddenly I might have to lay off an editor. These social media blunders can have real-world consequences.

However, in this case, it turns out there's a bright side. You know how they say there's no such thing as bad publicity? I guess it's true, because somehow we received an unusual number of new memberships in the past few days!

That's a little less load on my shoulders.

I also made a rare trip to Frothers to correct some misinformation that had been posted over there, but that's a story for another day! Those guys keep hoping for TMP to go out of business, and let's hope their wishes never come true!

Twitter is apparently full of twits, so is aptly named.

A pity this kind of stuff happens, and you have to worry about it.

Hello Bill
The nature of so called "advanced" cultures is the "instant" , the focus on "me me", coupled with the safety of anonymity and the outpouring of trivia to massive audiences.

Some may express concern over this , but most love it.

I fully support your policy on advertisers advertising . Your services are certainly cheap enough for even the smallest trader to afford.
You are correct , that If there is no advantage to paying, then folk will not pay. Instead there is a steady run of "my new book", "my cheap book" and "what i am putting into the flea market". They could support you, but save money and do not.
It concerns me how many traders do not follow the honourable/legally required course of giving their phone and address. Back to anonymity gmail?

These are "shouty" days Bill. Anyone can criticise you from their anonymous bedroom and they do. What to do? Don't know?

Best wishes
martin goddard sorry, "Armchair warrior"

Maybe next time something like this happens, rather than deleting the post, maybe editing out the offending advert and providing an explanation in the post would be a better approach.

I think that I would possibly be a bit narked if a post I made about international women's day, on international women's day, was just deleted… especially if I was a woman… whereas an edit to my post, deleting the offending advert and saying 'no unpaid advertising please', I could accept without issue.

Just a thought.

…maybe editing out the offending advert…

Couldn't do it, it was embedded in a graphic.

Kind of on the subject, Are the marketplace listings for individual members to sell their stuff or can/should actual companies be listing sales/items/auctions there?

I have never used Twitter or Instagram or Facebook. And I feel as if I have never missed anything except misinformation and massed hysteria.
I feel that real journalism is now dead, and has been replaced with these instant gratification media sites where someone can post something (positive or negative) and no fact checking or research is involved. We live in a time where technology has advanced faster than the ability of people to "harvest" it appropriately.

+1 WarWizard

I am glad all turned out well. Social media can be dangerous as well as useful, as you say.

I do use Facebook, but confine myself to a few pages that interest me, e.g. sci-fi gaming, modelling, etc. I WILL NEVER post anything about what I'm eating, where I'm going, anything political, etc. It's just not something that interests me.

And as we know the net is full of s … Fortunately here it appears that type of behavior, etc., has become very, very limited. Thankfully …

I have a FB account for ONE reason. I've been trying
to sell gaming items from the estate of a passed gamer.
His widow can use the money.

I was trying to find a way, other than a personal
check, to send the proceeds of sales to her daughter-
in-law. I don't care for Paypal or similar services.

Then I discovered that FB has a feature allowing one to
send sums from one's debit card to a Friended recipient's
debit card – secure and no fee !

Voila !

Ed,

No fee may be true, but it's not free. You are just allowing FB to peruse all your private information and sell what they can get away with to the highest bidder!!

I appreciate what you do Bill and am sorry some people are so rotten.

Tom

Amen, Garryowen!

TVAG

I may not be as active as I used to be, but TMP makes my life a little bit better. Thank you.

Bill:

I upped for another year because I enjoy TMP still – thanks!

Can non-paying, non-advertising companies use the Marketplace to advertise their wares?

Thanks, Jeff