The trouble with commercial sponsors

[John Keeton]

In an unrelated thread on picture frames, I found the comment of John Frazee interesting in light of the discussion ragarding the financial stability of SMC. This illustrates vividly the problem of having sponsors.

I don't intend to start another long thread with this post. It just seemed so clear to me after John's remark. It would be such a shame to lose the freedom to express opinion or to provide helpful advice regarding sources.

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http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/statusicon/post_new.gif Yesterday, 9:47 PM
John Frazee (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?u=22601) http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif
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Join Date: Sep 2007
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Well I felt that I may have said something wrong by mentioning another supplier. I am fairly new on this forum and didn't know if maybe JDS was a sponsor or not after my last post and read the reply.

[Mitchell Andrus]

As a supplier to a few on the forum, but not a comm'l sponsor, I'd work towards a resolution of any problems first. I'd try a bit harder if I knew my name would show up in a thread like that.

Suppliers (sponsors) need to understand that this is a narrow market and we all eventually talk to each other.

[Mike Null]

Any company which wants to become an advertiser on SMC will understand that woodworkers have strong opinions and frequently voice them.

[John Keeton]

It wasn't that I was concerned about the feelings of the sponsor. Commercial enterprises are used to dealing with those issues. My concern was that the possibility that John had "offended" a sponsor could act as a deterrent to a free exchange of opinions by those less outspoken.