y
***y
I say this because I don’t like the vendors posting challenges that require their product.
I’d add "except when their
I’d add “except when their products are really cheap like Mr Basic…” $22 shipping included is a really good deal, and you don’t even have to actually participate…
And i’d say ***N, they don’t really bother me, i only read them when i’m interested, if not well… i just don’t care.
***Y
***Y
Give a little, get a little
My vote is ***N with the caveat that vendors have to give something back in return for essentially free adverstising to a market that wants the products. LMR is a good bet for these people, so get something back for the community. How about a google-type click through fee?
If we don’t want the front page swamped with posts about cable-ties, or whatever, then don’t let posts to the components section appear on the front page. Maybe a sidebar with an entry for each vendor showing the number of products added in the last 30 days and a link to either their section in the catalogue of their homepage.
Mike
Another thought
If vendors would GIVE their products out for FREE in their contests (except shipping) it would be a fair compramise. They of coarse use our work for their advertising and R & D. I am only thinking of components, not kits. Everybody likes the word free and time and effort is also free so a fair exchange. This site is for futher education, right? Am I the only one that can’t afford the latest and greatist version of the wheel?
"Vendors"There’s a discrepancy about the definition of “vendor.” I will be frank to say that just by looking at their track, Solarbotics and Pololu are quite different than DAGU (Claudia and OddBot), XMOS, FTR, and Gadget Gangster (nmcclana). Solarbotics and Pololu are not people, they do nothing for the community. Really if we wanted to see their catalouge we could click on a link and go to their site. I can’t say enough about what DAGU does for us, really it’s obvious. XMOS also has certainly done more then advertise, he’s introduced a very powerful parallel processor that has sparked the imagination of many LMR members. FingerTech Robotics has done something that some of us hate to see, however he has made and LMR-only offer which shows his community support. Gadget Gangster has introduced a competition with very sick prizes and is vouched for by one of our very own.
The problem isn’t “vendors” the problem is Solarbotics and Pololu, and we all know that. Why am I so uninhibited to throw them out there like that? Because they won’t even read this because they are not LMR members, they are LMR spammers.
**I would say *N, HOWEVER…
I would say ***N, HOWEVER… if vendors want to post new components on the LMR site they must offer a discount to LMR members, or be charged a fee for each new component put up (the money could go towards LMR maintenance and all the admins who help run the site, if not another cause). The way vendors display there components currently is in my opinion free advertising, they post "ads" on the LMR site without charge, usually charging full price (the price you would find on their site). As I would not like to see this site turn into something like the new youtube, I suggest that we either add a fee to post components, or require an additional member discount on the item. I feel this would satisfy many LMR members, including myself.
N vote - with reservations
N vote - with reservations
I like seeing new products, new ideas, new toys to work with. At the same time, it would be good to have a members section where certain devices are recommended because someone actually used them, rather than a vendor sales page. Pololu hasn’t directly posted helps on LMR, but does have a number of resources on their site that would be good to link to. Solarbotics has some too, as does Sparkfun and others (Kronos Robotics, Parallax) I think the resources are much better help than a list of current products. And I really agree that there should be some logical combining of some products into categories, like a general wire post instead of one for each variation.
I do like the challenge ideas, it’s great these vendors have put them up. Maybe I’ll get to compete in one someday.
N but PLEASE make all
N but PLEASE make all vendors sign up as such and maybe add a tag to their username that says VENDOR!!! Thsi way I know it is a vendor and I can ask them questions about their product and know that their posts are from a vendor.
***Y ! Vendors should have
***Y !
Vendors should have their own section on LMR and not crowd the front page with their products and challenges! It is nice to see what they offer and get special discounts and all that but this is a site for started of as a place to show your robot and get help if needed from other members, it was like a small community, we should not loose that aspect because of vendors.<o:p></o:p>
***N
I vote ***No to kicking off the vendors, but I would like to see some site features that help members filter and see what they want to see, when they want to see it. The flood of new components from some vendors is a nice feature… sometimes. I would like to be able to filter and see posts that are just compents, or “no components” when I’m looking for projects and forum posts. Just some filtering options.
More specific to this topic, I think it is fair to say that we should provide enough freedom for different vendors to contribute differently. They all have businesses to run, and we have to understand that means not all of them will be in a position to offer the same things. DAGU provides a very personal relationship with this site, and we all appreciate that. However, I don’t expect that of every vendor. Solarbotics and others provide a larger variety of components. Getting vendors involved in challenges is a great way for some to promote their products.
I say let’s keep them, but provide ways for LMR to have a mutually beneficial relationship. One that may be customized to strengths and “personalities” of each vendor.
***N
***N
As long as vendors "follow de rules" , with that I mean that they post where they are expected to post (componentes, forums (Advertising and shops) or challenges).
***N
Maybe it would be better when components would not appear at the front page. A better structure of the components section is also necessary. All Pololu and Solarbotics components can only be found in the ‘Others’ section.
I did not have anything against challenges from vendors. As long as they sponsors some cool prices.
or just…
have an admin change pololu to pololu-vendor, or so on. special, social cases like claudia, oddbot, mr xmos, ftr, and a few others can choose whether they want the tag or not, but the big time catalog dumpers have to have the tag…
Confused
A robot builder is a builder and a vendor is a vendor. Just use the right forum rooms. Why so complicatted. When I click on robots, I expect to see robots and relatted that people built, not pushing to sell. You guys do have alot of different rooms I don’t even know of or use yet. I am new. I expect to see robots that PEOPLE built, not engineering teams from some company. Still a 1/2 yes
***N
Like a lot of people here I see there are both pros and cons, and certainly for those suppliers who have contributed more than others there is room. I go along with Chris the Carpenter with suggesting maybe a pay to display commercial area, with maybe discounts / limited time free on select components to those companies contributing to our community.
Keeping the products out of the unread posts would be great as well.
***N
No, it wont be a problem as long as they behave proffesionally.
The components part of the site will be their domain, and that’s OK.
If they continiue to post parts and challenges, that’s fine. It’s even cool if they wanna post a few “we plan to make something like… what do you awesome guys at LMR think of it?”, because that makes me feel like the value our input.
But. If they try to post subliminal advertizing I’ll feel that as a go-ahead to change all their component pages in a non-flattering way.
Are you reading these?
I say ***N, but I’m with jklug80 and vince086: vendors must have a much, much lower profile.
I’m curious as to why you vote Y, Frits. Initally, I was tentative about the vendors moving in at all. What Mike says is true: I’m not sure that the LMR site is really getting the returns it might’ve got.
I do think that the vendor-provided challenges are a great idea. The problem is the incentives aren’t really good enough.
Why dont we put VENDOR in
Why dont we put VENDOR in big bold letters under their username in their posts. Or make their name UserName_VENDOR
I read the vote.I had my
I read the vote.
I had my opinion, but I respect others, I am out, and we plan deveopment of the site in respect of this 