open letter to the new marketing director.

dear marketing director at serotta,

to my knowledge, this forum was gifted to serotta and company by kahuna and the good folks that participated and grew kahuna's bike forum over the years. other than hosting it and providing 4 'zen from ben' posts, there has been no real content provided by serotta with the exception of continuing to host and manage the forum (for which we are grateful).

as you offer advertisers banner space on a ratio of views per month to cost per ad, what you're doing is saying that the content here has a quantifiable and qualitative value... along the lines of what i am guessing is several thousand bucks per banner ad per month.

since its the users that provide the content that you're using to dictate the dollar value of the banner ads based on views... i'd like to know how you're going to compenate the users for providing that content? because you know.... we users can do this somewhere else. will you pay us per view too? do you intend to sponsor core users? are you tracking the value of the users per thread too?

i see this forum as being mutually beneficial between serotta and the entire span of content providing/resource providing users. as you start using this content to generate revenue... things will change. its been the lack of commercial association that's fostered an environment for movers and shakers to participate in such an intimate and informal level. by changing the nature of the venue, you're going to destroy that core value-producing force that makes this forum compelling and distinguishes it from any other bike forum.

the core of this forum exists and was created outside the influence of serotta. its dna still is what drives this conversation and makes it unique. serotta is the benefactor of this rather than the source. by trying to make this forum into something that produces revenue to the tune of tens of thousands of dollar per month on the back of its users... i'd like to point you into the direction of understanding that this is a mutually beneficial arrangement and that there is nothing but the potential for you to lose value in the (vulgar) attempt to gain value.

this seems a good venue for you to advertise serotta products, but i think as you sell adspace you cross a line that's out of touch with what this thing you have here is all about and i think you lose goodwill and more dollar value than you'll gain in the revenue you generate. i know that i will absolutely move on. perhaps there are others like me.


thanks for reading,

swoop.

[Lifelover]

dear marketing director at serotta,

I'm here for the long haul regardless how many adds you sell. Which by the way I notice that none of the builders are advertising yet.

P.S. I understand that I add no value to the bottom line of Serotta.

[e-RICHIE]

Originally Posted by Lifelover

dear marketing director at serotta,

I'm here for the long haul regardless how many adds you sell. Which by the way I notice that none of the builders are advertising yet.

here -




paypal sent.

[shinomaster]

I tried to get them to sponsor me for cross racing...

[shinomaster]

Originally Posted by e-RICHIE

here -




paypal sent.

Will you sponsor me?

[Sandy]

This should be quite an interesting thread.


Sandy

[manet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIXg9...eature=related

Originally Posted by Sandy

This should be quite and interesting thread.


Sandy

keep hope alive.
its just a last ditch effort before they pave over paradise to make another parking lot.

[shinomaster]

How cool would a YELLOW skinsuit be with atmo written all over it?

take it back to its roots

let it go away from the serotta.com website

thin the herd

[goonster]

I haven't seen any non-Serotta ads yet.

That said, any forum is what it is. If "core posters" had any commercial interest in their content, that'd be boiling the baby in the bathwater, atmo.

Not only do I agree with Swoop 100%, but I also admire his insightful and well-intended post. If I were on the marketing team he is addressing, I'd pay heed to what he is saying as it is for their benefit that he is writing. What he writes makes all the sense in the world to me. Just my opinion.

[flux]

all i'm saying is the world doesnt' need another ww's forum. that place is god awful.

[ecl2k]

Seems like it would benefit everybody involved if the forum continued on a different site with a new name and serotta can keep their forums for serotta product related questions and tech support like most good companies have been doing. The fact is that serotta bikes don't have a great reputation among the users of their forum, and this comes through in many subtle ways, a snide remark here and there, a lot of enthusiasm for competitor's products, multiple page critiques about every (mis)step serotta makes (like singolo). I think ben respects these opinions but it must irk him to no end that it is happening at serotta.com

[ecl2k]

as for the ads, I like adblock plus
http://adblockplus.org/en/installation