It seems to me that almost every day I read a post from someone who is "Returning to film" after a hiatus to that other stuff. Also I read a good many that are coming into film for the first time, particularly Large Format.
As far as I am concerned, this is always wonderful news. I hope we all accept them with open arms and minds even if their questions might seem a little bit foolish to us. After all, there are not as many good opportunities to learn this craft as there once were.
I wonder if anyone has attempted to keep a count of these people. It might be important information to pass along to our suppliers.
Jim
It seems to me that almost every day I read a post from someone who is "Returning to film" after a hiatus to that other stuff. Also I read a good many that are coming into film for the first time, particularly Large Format.
As far as I am concerned, this is always wonderful news. I hope we all accept them with open arms and minds even if their questions might seem a little bit foolish to us. After all, there are not as many good opportunities to learn this craft as there once were.
I wonder if anyone has attempted to keep a count of these people. It might be important information to pass along to our suppliers.
Jim
"... I wonder if Sean could arrange a way for them to receive a 'welcome wagon' kind of e-mail from each of the Sponsors...?"
Regardless of whether new members/subscribers are returning to film or just discovering APUG, I wonder if Sean could arrange a way for them to receive a "welcome wagon" kind of e-mail from each of the Sponsors?
Or, re-thinking my thought, PM's from the Sponsors?
My advice: do not do this!!!!!!!!!! It'd be spam, plain and simple. Just because you think it's in a good cause doesn't mean it's not spam; it'd be unsolicited commercial e-mail, which always qualifies as spam. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but the truly harsh reality is the amount of spam out there. You shouldn't add to the volume. On a note of self-interest for APUG and its sponsors, even if only a small number of recipients would consider such e-mail spam and report it, the result could easily be APUG or its sponsors getting listed on blackhole lists, in spam filtering software's lists of spam domains, and so on. Getting that mess cleaned up would be quite tedious for those involved. It might also give us film users a bad reputation among those who fight spam professionally or on a volunteer basis.
It's not technically e-mail, but it could easily be perceived in the same category. People who join APUG see the sponsors' ads whenever they log in; they don't need more ads cluttering their PMs. No matter your intent in suggesting this, these messages will be perceived as ads by at least some people.
IMHO, the only way something remotely like this would make sense would be if new APUG subscribers got some sort of discount from one or more sponsors. In that case, it'd probably make more sense to include mention of this discount during the sign-up process rather than in a PM, and certainly not in an e-mail.
I know you're just trying to suggest something friendly and helpful, but spam is a big problem, and anything that carries the faintest hint of that odor makes some people (including me) react very negatively.
Oh please, I read your first reaction which was already after I posted my revised idea.
The reality is that a PM is like an intra-net corporate e-mail. It would be inside the system!
But that's okay - your "auto reaction" has probably accomplished its deed of killing this attempt to forge a stronger bond between all of us and the Sponsors of the site. If I were one, I'd run for the hills after your posts.
I apologize for trying to "think outside the box" and give up this idea to the narrow, paranoid mindset that prefers we remain well-alienated from each other until we've killed off all concept of community!
The suppliers find out when people vote with their wallets (or credit cards). The real problem is book (and to a lesser extent magazine) publishers, where you all too often encounter the reaction, "My mind is made up, do not confuse me with the facts." They have considerable power to persuade the ignorant that film is dead...
Cheers,
R.
Perhaps a single email with a list of sponsors, their general product lines, and apug-related discounts (if any) they offer. Make it clear in the email that it is a one-time email.
Perhaps a single email with a list of sponsors, their general product lines, and apug-related discounts (if any) they offer. Make it clear in the email that it is a one-time email.
Yes, there is way too much of this. My father phoned me all worried just before Christmas. He had taken some film in for processing and was told that he would have to buy a digital camera soon because "they were going to stop making film after this year" (who "they" were wasn't specified). I get the same from a lot of my students. Photography is fundamental in archaeological recording and for obvious reasons true archival permanance is vital: something digits have yet to prove they can do, which is why so many of us still use film (especially B&W), but the students keep being told by shops that film is dead and they can have digital or nothing.
David.
Unfortunately, ill-informed (or dishonest) sales reps parrot what they read in the trade mags.
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