h1npw wrote:

I'm in the same boat as Andy....I need some time to weigh up the pros and cons of which there are many.

And what are the 'cons' exactly? Who are we to police advertising? We don't across our European B2B websites. It it were up to our forum members (and it isn't!), they'd ban all online advertising.

I'd be personally very disappointed if people thought that valid paid-for advertising, from the company which is the sole reason for this site, couldn't advertise on the site.

I think that is a good news and I am only half surprised.

Since the creation of Beolounge, B&O does not have a community site where people can discuss, and it was very appearant that they decided to remove their discussion forum because they could not/did not want to compete with Beoworld. And now even better, they want to support us. Great.

- Banners (static or flash, but silent and not intrusive) would obviously be a good option. The advert at the bottom of the page are never seen, so it I would suggest rotating banners at the top.

- Having some of the monthly prizes donated by B&O is great, and for those prizes, in the prize section and in the prize thread, you can say "offered by B&O" and link to their site to the corresponding product page.

- In the news articles, you can repeat their press releases or their annoucements, but quoted as such ("B&O has made the following announcement today....")

I suggest you do not do product reviews as part of the deal (it does not mean you should not do product reviews at all). If the review is good there will be some Beoworlder that will say you've been bought and if the review is bad, B&O will be unhappy.

I also strongly suggest you do not create paid-for threads as part of the deal. Let's say you create a thread about the BV8-40. Inevitably there will be some negative user comments, as there is always in an open discussion, and B&O will not like their advertised product directly associate with the criticism. 

In other word, all the advertisement should be separated from the site content. And B&O and Beoworlders will be happier.

p.

I think it is very positive. We have obviously discussed this and the main issue is editorial independence. This is however an enthusiast site so we are on the whole very positive about B&O as are the vast majority of members. We do however realise that this site is only as good as its members and hence the reason for asking the opinion of the members about what would be an important decision. Clearly not everyone will have the same opinion - it would be very boring if they did (the scene from Life of Brian comes to mind - the crowd chanting 'We are All Individuals!) - but we are looking for the general feeling about this. I think we plan to give this a try if supported and see how it affects the site. I think it will be a huge benefit and I think we can act as a small conduit to B&O on the web. The views expressed on this site are only a very small percentage of the global B&O community but we are always growing and we do offer feedback, both positive and negative , which is always useful to any company.

I think this move by B&O shows exactly how much the site has been rejuvenated by Lee and Keith and full credit must go to them for all their work.

Good point Phil - DEFINITELY no General MIDI music!😂

instead of paying for the advertising on this website, they ould use the money to somehow invent a technology that could read all the words here and somehow analyse them to their advantage(in product development).

Come on be serious read the forums improve your products and we will buy them

I can`t see any problem. This is the place for B&O friends, so why shouldn`t Beo advertise here on the site? BTW I see it as a kind of compliment to Beoworld. So, Lee, go ahead....and congratulations!

Or another idea: we could have a meeting in Struer and discuss it there........🙂

Stefan

Inevitable really and my opinion is that it is fantastic news, hats off to Lee, Peter and all the mods for the work done to date to turn the site from another forum into a forum which has set standards and continued to raise the bar.

Lets not mince words, this is a strategic move by B&O to forge a relationship which it needs *trust* and can only help both B&O and Beoworld.

I mentioned in another post that Beolounge was something that could be a lot better, why replicate or try to create something when it is on your doorstep? I do not think that at this particular moment in time, B&O needs to either control or manage a site which says yes to all its products and to moderate criticism.  Imagine being part of the process of new products? being asked about the direction of future products? Or even tweaking Beolounge and creating a link between the two could be a fantastic solution for all the problems it has unintentionally created.

B&O has got some things very, very wrong, but clearly looks like to be moving in a new direction with a new approach to its future and I for one am excited by this.

With regards to advertising, why not? It is very naive to think that a site like this can survive solely on the back of revenue generated by membership or through the sales of site related merchandise, anyone remember what it was like when the server would be down for days on end?

I am dubious about this. I think it will start off quite well but over a period of time B&O will have its foot wedged well in the door and impartiality will be a thing of the past. Its ultimately about them wanting to manage and control BeoWorld more than they can at the moment. After all, this is a big customer base to have onboard. Once a financial contribution is made (as with shareholders) they will always have a card to play.

It is tricky. Obviously this whole site revolves around B&O and our passion for their products so to not include them at some level may also be a mistake, but at what level are they included? That is the key question. Does the site actually need extra finances? I know some members make personal donations by choice. Other members support the site and prizes through their paid membership. What would this extra revenue go towards to improve the site, whether using existing membership funds if B&O now substitute the prizes, or direct advertising contributions from them?

My suggestion would be for B&O to offer signifcant discounts to BeoWorld members who make future purchases from dealers. That would be an ideal way for them to financially contribute.

My views may change but this is my initial first reaction having just read the thread.

Simon. 

Sorry Moxxey - got to disagree with you here. I think paid up members of the site actually have more of a say in this than those that do not contribute, after all the simple fact is that the site probably would not be here were it not for the contributions received in membership fees. Feeling that I was 'legitimately' supporting the site was one of the motivating factors making me take a Silver membership after a brief hiatus as a Bronze member. Exactly how B&O's money comes in and under what terms should be something that paid members have a say in - very much akin to shareholders in a company having a say/vote each year at an AGM or extraordinary AGM. Sorry if that sounds divisive, but I think the analogy is clear, and I would personally be upset if it came to a vote and non-paying members' votes were weighted the same as those with Silver or Gold memberships.