[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

FWIW - I don't think the issue has been decided until the day we start collecting dues and state the terms on the form.

[Aunt Lily]

As one of the most private people on the planet, I am satisfied that my identity will be protected. More good work Haiko.

[Allen Nance]

I'll drop my handle and to back to my real name, Poopie Nubert

I have always considered this a business relationship with my merchants and I prefer it to be with real information.

After 8 years of doing this, no one has shown up at the door with a meat cleaver. Yet...


Allen Nance <--- mysterious handle

[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

Originally Posted by Allen Nance

After 8 years of doing this, no one has shown up at the door with a meat cleaver. Yet...

Right, but respectfully, some have had people show up at their door ... including me, three times. I've even had PIs follow me, so I completely understand people's concerns and will continue to protect their identities as if they were my own and as I have done on ABW from the beginning.

[Alan Hamilton]

Originally Posted by Haiko de Poel, Jr.

Crown cleaned , thread Split.

Now that's the kind of attitude I like to see Haiko! Life can be a very short lived gift, so a little mind smile at times helps us keep things in perspective.

Laughing and positive outlooks add as much as 8 years to our lives. Guess that's how I've made it to 96 so far!!

(Name withheld so as not to show up in the SERPS)

[Alan Hamilton]

Originally Posted by sfcom

Maybe it already has been decided, yes. But, it doesn't mean I can't post my take on it anyhow, right? -sfcom

No, you are wrong, totally wrong! In a little known section of fine print in the ABW TOS, it states that once I say an issue has been decided, members may not continue to post their take on the topic any longer. A one week time out provision applies for the first two violations, followed by a 30 day ban and loss of 500 posts. I think this should also apply to the bylaws and rules of conduct for AV too! You are only exempt from this provision once you reach 3,840 posts.

[Alan Hamilton]

[QUOTE=Allen Nance]I'll drop my handle and to back to my real name, Poopie Nubert After 8 years of doing this, no one has shown up at the door with a meat cleaver. Yet...


LOL Allen, nice to hear that sense of humor again! I actually think about you every once in a while and wonder what you are up to, so good to see you adding your wit and voice of reason here.

In 32 years of marketing through my own companies, along with 8 years as a city councilman and planning commission member and 4 years serving on two governors advisory committees, I have never had an unlisted telephone number or had a problem with mysterious people showing up at my door either. The "perception" is almost always much more serious than the reality. I did have a disgruntled constituent once (during a hearing on whether we would build an animal shelter) call me and say that he was "coming to pay me a visit sometime." When I offered to give him directions he hung up. LOL

[Aunt Lily]

I've had death threats posted on my home door during 8 years of public service, so your experience isn't the only valid viewpoint. (And similar to Haiko I've been followed by PIs.)

[Boom or Bust]

Originally Posted by Alan Hamilton

I think this should also apply to the bylaws and rules of conduct for AV too! You are only exempt from this provision once you reach 3,840 posts.

Au contraire Alan. These are just the kind of situations the AV will be looking into. Better get to sweeping out them bones!

Or perhaps this is what some affiliates fear most of an org that subscribes ethics... that they'll be found out.

I was under the impression that the primary reason for affiliate anonymity was to protect your marketing secrets [and/or niche] from competition. There may be deeper darker secrets lurking...

[Alan Hamilton]

Lily I did not offer my viewpoint as the "only valid viewpoint", simply a statement of my experience with being listed in directories. I respect your point of view also. In business and in government I have been checked out by PI's also, but it just never caused me worry.

When we leave the local neighborhood and branch out to a wider audience, we come under more scrutiny. I do truly understand the concerns others may have, but I also believe that in many cases the perception of problems and fear of the "what ifs" is usually greater than the reality.

[Boom or Bust]

Originally Posted by Boomers

Au contraire Alan. These are just the kind of situations the AV will be looking into.

This comment was intended as a little tongue in cheek humor and was not meant to insinuate that the AV will be investigating members. That is, without cause...

[superCool]

Originally Posted by Boomers

I was under the impression that the primary reason for affiliate anonymity was to protect your marketing secrets [and/or niche] from competition. There may be deeper darker secrets lurking...

oh secrets lurk below....deeper darker secrets....horrid secrets indeed sir Boomers. this anonymity issue has superCool quite worried. what would happen if everyone were to learn that dear superCool was actually a 13 year old schoolgirl? superCool's plethora of hard-earned street cred would vanish instantly...only to be reborn as the mighty Phoenix - rising from the ashes of despair! (superCool apologizes for getting a little carried away?)

long live anonymity

[Alan Hamilton]

Originally Posted by Boomers

Au contraire Alan. I was under the impression that the primary reason for affiliate anonymity was to protect your marketing secrets [and/or niche] from competition.

And that point I agree with Boom, even though I'm not sure I see how not being anonymous would have to include giving others access to proprietary trade secrets. On the FYI side, the comment that you quoted from my post was a humorous remark for SF, which I'm thinking stands for something like Sam Ford, or Sean Francisco!

[Alan Hamilton]

Originally Posted by Boomers

This comment was intended as a little tongue in cheek humor and was not meant to insinuate that the AV will be investigating members. That is, without cause...

LOL, I gathered that Boom. Problem with written text is that you don't see or hear the person writing it and so it can be misinterpreted. Damned email!! LOL

[Boom or Bust]

I love subtle humor. You're correct, it sometimes just doesn't portrait my original intent when I look back and re-read it...

[helpingmoms]

Originally Posted by HecticDMC

And since anonymity is selective, and since an organization like AV is not a social club and is more aligned with a business relationship...

I'm late to the party but I wanted to say that I really like this statement. While ABW is about the business of AM, it is a social environment where our purpose is to discuss news, meet people, network, etc. So we get to choose what we want to share about ourselves. Or we can lurk and share nothing and still benefit from it. But AV is different. It's about the business of AM--the legalities, the ethics, the policies.

I like Haiko's initial draft on anonymity. It allows for some flexibility while still meeting some basic requirements for the group to be taken seriously.

[Alan Hamilton]

Originally Posted by Boomers

I love subtle humor. You're correct, it sometimes just doesn't portrait my original intent when I look back and re-read it...

I hear ya. It works great in person, but when reduced to text on a computer screen, it gets lost in translation. Another good justification for ending anonymity in our lifetimes. We did it with Disco dancing and we can do it with anonymity.

Then again, maybe it's just that you and I are exceptional and those who constantly misinterpret tongue in cheek humor are dumb or just take themselves too seriously? Yeah, that's the ticket!!

[Boom or Bust]

Originally Posted by superCool

what would happen if everyone were to learn that dear superCool was actually a 13 year old schoolgirl?

As a friendly person who enjoys speaking to strangers in line at the grocery store, I find the villainizing of the human male to be disparaging, as I avoid eye contact, looking in the general direction of, and most of all talking to any young girl for fear of inadvertently being accused of some sick deed. So superCool, I must discontinue all discourse with YOU...

So, loss of anonymity may result in loss of relationship?

[Kevin]

On affiliate anonymity....

Again (and this is becoming a bad habit) I agree with Hectic.

It's fine at forums.
It's fine in public.
It's not ALWAYS fine in business.

I just don't like it in the way it was portrayed during the NY tax issue. The deal with networks have to protect my privacy... what right do they have to tell my merchants where I live. That one bothers me.

It looks like it already has been solved, in a sense, for the AV. If not, I'm sure it will be by launch. I don't really see a need for a mandatory directory either, especially since the organization structure that's been chosen doesn't require public noting of donations.

[Daniel M. Clark]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Again (and this is becoming a bad habit) I agree with Hectic

Heeeeey...

[Daniel M. Clark]

It's not complicated at all. I don't see this as a tiered system. Merchants don't have the "rights" or "benefits" of an affiliate. That would be silly. If Loxly is the example, she is an affiliate, a merchant and an OPM. She should pay for each category she wants to participate as to have voting privileges for each of those categories because there could be votes specifically for merchants or specifically for OPMs. In any votes that are open to all members, she should get one vote, not three.

Pretty uncomplicated, to my mind.

[Boom or Bust]

Originally Posted by Haiko de Poel, Jr.

I specifically use Loxly ... on purpose, I don't need to get into why ... but it is a real issue. As such, I'd rather address it now than later.

Can you expand on your ideas of membership benefits/tiers?

[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

Membership and voting split off to http://forum.abestweb.com/showthread.php?t=107960