last word on advertising

[Dan Simoes <dans@ans.net>]

I thought we were done, but there are still a few people who 
have questions.

I don't moderate this list in the true sense of reading each message
then allowing it to be distributed - it is a real time process,
otherwise I would be rejecting all the unsubscribe messages :).
Since no human being has the time to approve every post to such 
a large and high volume list, it is up to each of us to make sure that
when something is sent to the list, it is something we all will want
to read.  This is easier said than done with people like eliot (not
to pick on you) who would rather discuss Audi's direction with
technology and new models than read about power steering rack leaks
for the umpteenth time.  With 700+ members, it is unreasonable to
expect that we would all care about the same things.  But since we
are all interested in Audis, that is the lowest common denominator,
and should be the basis for any post.

That said...  To reiterate, vendors are welcome to belong to the list
and post as individuals to specific questions, or at times even 
mentioning a product that is not well known or uncommon (such as
the Superchips spring).  What I DO NOT want to see is a flurry of
"we're the biggest Mann dealer in the country, call us" responses
to a newbies query on the best oil filter.

To put in perspective, many of us read European Car magazine.  Would
you be interested in the replies to tech letters if all they were
is ad pitches for a specific companies products? (ok ok, the whole
magazine is an ad pitch!).  Can you see my point?

I'm thinking about ways we can harmonize the vendors' desire to make
a buck with our desire for a high signal to noise ratio in list
content.  In the meantime, again, it is up to each of us to reduce
the noise.  So vendors, think twice about posting an ad, and listers,
think twice about posting about that SUV or Ford truck or bla bla bla.
There are better forums for that, such as rec.autos.4x4 or rec.autos.
misc on Usenet.

| Dan |
-- 
Dan Simoes			          dans@ans.net
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