People

[Van Allen Plexico]

I find that people tend to get really demonstrably angry when something true has been said about them that they don't want to hear or believe.

I'm not angry.

I find that people tend to whine and belittle others mainly when they face deep inadequacies in their own lives and personalities.

For that I have only sympathy.

--Van

Sent from my iPad

[rave...@aol.com]

I'd forgotten what a wonderful movie Forrest Gump was. It spoke marvelous wisdom. Thank you for the reminder, Van. You are a shining light in a dark world.

Caw!

I find that people tend to get really demonstrably angry when something true has 
been said about them that they don't want to hear or believe.

I'm not angry.

I find that people tend to whine and belittle others mainly when they face deep 
inadequacies in their own lives and personalities.

For that I have only sympathy.

--Van

Sent from my iPad

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[Jason Service]

Ok, let me attempt to conclude these chains of e-mails here and now.

Van, the looking back over the last 20 threads you have been involved in, 8 of them have been self promotion. 40%. Not quite half, but substantially higher than anyone else around here. While we (the readers/posters on this group) don't mind SOME self promotion, yours feels weighty and constant.  I know that you have this group (ThUG) set up to receive your 'blast posts' on things like this (along with other social media outlets) but when members of the board see your topic threads pop up and delete them without further reading, it isn't a good thing. You are, of course, free to post here and you don't have to make any changes in the way you do things, but just be prepared for some blow back.

Raven, your opinions have not always brought you closer to the board and to posters here in general. From what i see you (generally) express an opinion and back it up, when it seems to go off the rails is when the replies get personal.  I know you personally, so i know how to 'give and take' with you. Others here only know you as an electronic identity who can come across as a schmuck. Those of us who do know you, take your comments with the grain (or pinch, or heavy dose) of salt that we know your personalized zingers require. From my perspective, please keep posting, but bring down the personal zings. Unless you want to zing me, i know you and i laugh at them and then go have a beer with you.

Conclusion...Self promotion is fine, but can feel heavy handed.  Expressing an opinion is fantastic, but no need to make things personal.

[Van]

Thank you for your insights, Serv.

From my perspective, I don't really think of most of those posts as "self-promotion," though I suppose I can see how others here would take them that way. I see post after post here talking about the many benefits of the latest cell phone or pad or other tech device, most of which I couldn't care less about. I see that as incessant promotion of items for sale that I don't want to read about, and if I were on regular emails here I would delete them unread. As it is, I just scroll past them in the digest.

I never "blast emails" anywhere. What you're thinking of is when I send an email to this group and to the Pulp Factory and maybe copy in a friend in Virginia. Hardly an email "blast" that lacks consideration for whether I think the recipients want to receive it or not. I've been assuming you guys, being proud geeks like me, would be INTERESTED in such things. As a small-press author who writes things geeks tend to like, I assumed you all would be as interested in a new SF book by me, or a podcast on a subject you might be interested in, as in a new cell phone.

In other words, if I do a podcast with RevSF or with ESO, I figure it's likely something some of you might be interested in or would want to know about. Just as I want to hear about Mike's and Shag's productions.

The reason I joined this group, and the only reason I've stayed, was to receive such information about the activities of Mike and Shag. Coming aboard, I assumed much of the traffic here would be about the newest Long Box episodes, etc. So, similarly, i assumed my own postings about such activities would be welcomed and valued. Clearly I was very wrong, and I apologize.

Since this board is not remotely serving the needs I came to it with--I never get the desired info from those guys-- and since I've proven to be a real problem here with the choices I've made on it, I'll sign off.

No hard feelings. I just misunderstood the purpose of this group.

By the way, Luke has been by far the best thing here. Y'all should be WAY nicer to him. Most days, he's the only one really making an effort.

Ravenface is a joke. But y'all already knew that.

--Van

[Cary Preston]

Hey! I make an effort too!

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[Shag]

My thanks to Serv for doing such an excellent job describing the situation and backing up his thoughts. I agree with all his points and he's a lot more level headed about this then I am right now. I appreciate it. 

Van and Ravenface - I know you both personally and hope to maintain those relationships. I also hope you'll both consider staying with the group, however, please follow the recommended posting strategies from Serv. 

Your friend,

Shag

Sent from my iPhone

[Shag]

Cary,

No worries. You are probably our most prolific poster and we'd be lot without you. And you are still the most dangerous man in podcasting. :)

Shag


Sent from my iPhone

[rave...@aol.com]

I'm sorry sales weren't high enough for you to continue your marketing efforts here. Best of luck to you. 

Caw!

-----Original Message-----
From: Van <vple...@gmail.com>
To: theuniquegeek <theuni...@googlegroups.com>

Thank you for your insights, Serv.

From my perspective, I don't really think of most of those posts as 
"self-promotion," though I suppose I can see how others here would take them 
that way. I see post after post here talking about the many benefits of the 
latest cell phone or pad or other tech device, most of which I couldn't care 
less about. I see that as incessant promotion of items for sale that I don't 
want to read about, and if I were on regular emails here I would delete them 
unread. As it is, I just scroll past them in the digest.

I never "blast emails" anywhere. What you're thinking of is when I send an email 
to this group and to the Pulp Factory and maybe copy in a friend in Virginia. 
Hardly an email "blast" that lacks consideration for whether I think the 
recipients want to receive it or not. I've been assuming you guys, being proud 
geeks like me, would be INTERESTED in such things. As a small-press author who 
writes things geeks tend to like, I assumed you all would be as interested in a 
new SF book by me, or a podcast on a subject you might be interested in, as in a 
new cell phone. 

In other words, if I do a podcast with RevSF or with ESO, I figure it's likely 
something some of you might be interested in or would want to know about. Just 
as I want to hear about Mike's and Shag's productions.

The reason I joined this group, and the only reason I've stayed, was to receive 
such information about the activities of Mike and Shag. Coming aboard, I assumed 
much of the traffic here would be about the newest Long Box episodes, etc.  So, 
similarly, i assumed my own postings about such activities would be welcomed and 
valued. Clearly I was very wrong, and I apologize.

Since this board is not remotely serving the needs I came to it with--I never 
get the desired info from those guys-- and since I've proven to be a real 
problem here with the choices I've made on it, I'll sign off. 

No hard feelings. I just misunderstood the purpose of this group.

By the way, Luke has been by far the best thing here. Y'all should be WAY nicer 
to him. Most days, he's the only one really making an effort.

Ravenface is a joke. But y'all already knew that.

--Van

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[rave...@aol.com]

Some real talk.

An easy difference between promoting something you wrote yourself and the new iPad (for example) is that millions of people are going to buy tablet devices, and they're changing the way we interact with media and one another. It's completely relevant. 

It's cool to promote something you wrote yourself, you should be proud of it. Most people just consume and never create, but it's not cool to twist every conversation to serve those promotional needs or talk about yourself.

Post 1 -  Interesting new tablet out. May change how we interact with media? Will you get one or is it a fad?

Post 2-  I see people on the bus with these now. It seemed to happen overnight. Weird how that works. Not sure I'll ever stop using physical books, though

Post 3 - Woah, this is a great format for people to read my incredible new book published by the company I own. Here are some links, guys. Keep up the great discussion and keep reading books from my press.


It's just a matter of degree. 

Self-promotion should be a part of our discussions, we're all creative, exciting, vital people, but they should be labeled that way. No one wants to be that guy at the party who makes everything about him

Person 1 - I have an announcement... Julie has agreed to become my wife. We're getting married.

Person 2 - Congratulations! Much happiness

Person 3 - I remember when I met my wife. Why I thought she'd never look at me, but there I was working on what was to be the third of my eventual seven books, and she walked in, of course I was wearing clothes I bought from my brother's store, you should get your suit there, but then she looked up, and I....(three more hours and four more drinks - Julie never mentioned)

Trumpet your podcasts. Revel in the awards your friends give you from organizations you control. Crow all you want, but keep it separate. 

It was wrong of me to use Shag's announcement re: his Newsarama win as a forum for this discussion. That was a notable achievement, and he deserved a longer tail of congratulations.

So, keep poddin', keep writin', keep reviewin' but keep it separate. 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Shag <onceup...@gmail.com>
To: theuniquegeek <theuni...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sun, Oct 7, 2012 9:18 am
Subject: Re: [The Unique Geek] People

[Cary Preston]

You're lot with me, too.

Sent from my iPhone