We welcome travel business owners to post on our message board but we ask you to not push your businesses in your answers. Instead, put a link to your business in your signature and consider taking a paid Classified Listing on the SlowTrav web site: SlowTrav Classified Listings
My goal for 2004 is to make SlowTrav both less commercial and more commercial. I am going to slowly remove all the business listings from the site (lists of vacation rentals, cooking schools, guides, etc.). The site will be devoted to more detailed content and all commericial listings will be in the paid Classifieds.
I want to keep the message board as a place for discussion of travel, not a place for people to post about their travel businesses. In the future, postings about someone's business will have their post content deleted. This does not mean that you cannot ever talk about your travel business - but it is clear when someone is posting only to push their business and these are the posts we will remove.
No, people should feel free to talk about businesses they used. These postings will not be edited unless it seems like someone has "faked up" a membername to promote their business. Or if the member seems to be overdoing it. I think we should be able to recommend businesses to each other - talk about our experiences.
I am going to remove the Travel Listings forum and instead have a forum where people can post reviews of businesses they used (other than vacation rentals, hotels and restaurants because those reviews are kept on the web site). That way, if you have a favorite tour guide, you can post about them. Right now I have a few reviews of tour guides and cooking schools on the site - but these will be removed.
Another thing that I would like to encourage is for travel business owners to write content for the web site. Bob the Navigator has written several pages for our Planning section, Megan wrote about Umbria and Margie wrote about Montone in our Travel Notes. This way, Slow Travelers get some indepth information, the site gets good content, and the business owner gets another reference to them on the site.
And of course, travel notes are welcome from all Slow Travelers. We have not received that many this year. I am going to write some notes about shopping in Rome, taxis in Rome and buses in Rome. Plus a page about pizza restaurants (using one in Levanto as an example - I know the owner and he let me take photos and a sample menu).
Pauline, I'd kinda like to see an exception made for those regulars who contribute much more than what strict business-sense would bring them to do; and we kind of do except them already, don't we? Off the top of my head, Sally Watkins and Jim Zurer and Bob the Navigator, Brigolante, Diva, Shannon and Maria-Cristina, all of whom have offered so much to this place on the Web, and who -- quite properly by my lights -- very occasionally bring up their endeavours, usually in direct helpful response to a query.
It also seems not out of line to encourage an existing contributor to suggest their own agriturismo or service in certain circumstances? As for example when I say, I'm thinking of walking thru an area of Puglia, does anyone know of a good X in the region, and someone in fact runs one.
Of course, getting away from a hard-and-fast rule puts a bit more burden on the moderators; still, it's an idea?
Bill, As you've noted, there are many SlowTalk members with travel related businesses who contribute a lot to the ongoing discussions, without promoting their businesses inappropriately.
That's all we're trying to discourage - posters who consistently reply to topics with a recommendation for their business, even if it's unrelated. In my opinion, those posters are few and far between. The majority of our members are generous and courteous, and don't take advantage of the message board.
Quite frankly, I expect to see very little change on the board!
You have a good point Bill - and it is a fine line between what seems appropriate and what isn't. We do try to make a judgement in each case. Message board members should feel free to post information about travel businesses, but remember the best way is to write a review for the web site - then everyone sees it.
We all know the business that Sally, Bob and Jim are in, but you notice in their postings that they will talk about their clients or their experiences, but never say "use my consulting services". Sometimes one of them will say to email them for info - but I think they then give out the info without pushing their services.
I use the business people that you mentioned as examples of how to act on a message board - let everyone know what business you are in and then just take part in the fun of the message board like everyone else. Most people in the travel business are in it because they love travel, so they will have lots to say about travel topics.
Of course, you could criticize me for pushing SlowTrav (and some do ) - which I seem to be slowly turning into a (small) business. And I will be pushing the Classifieds - because this is the way that I have determined will work best to support the site financially - but I also think the Classifieds will let me take the site in a better direction (more content, less listing of travel businesses).
Bill, if you read my posts backwards and upside down, they all say "book with me...book with me...book with me." It's subliminal, man. Like the Beatles albums.
I know exactly what Pauline means, and applaud what she is doing. At least twice in the past week I have seen posts whose sole purpose appears to have been to promote their own businesses.
As for Diva, Brigolante, Alice, etc --- they are so generally helpful they cannot be placed in that group.
M
Posts: 6926 | Location: Montclair, NJ, USA | Registered: 16 March 2003
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) - which I seem to be slowly turning into a (small) business. And I will be pushing the Classifieds - because this is the way that I have determined will work best to support the site financially - but I also think the Classifieds will let me take the site in a better direction (more content, less listing of travel businesses).
