Re: The line between advertising, promoting and spamming

[funharp@xxxxxx]

Hi,

there were some good posts about the subject, Barry's for instance.

I'd like to add just a few thoughts of mine.

As a subscriber to harp-l for threee years now I have learned much more
about harmonica than in all my life before. It is such a great source of
information about everything that has to do with
harmonicas/playing/maintenance/equipment(gear)/records... and all the
other things. And there is no restriction - no matter what kind of
harmonica or what kind of music.

I love to be pointed to players and/or technicians who offer a special
service for other harmonica enthusiasts. I don't see this as an
advertisement or a self promotion only for financial reasons. I think
that those people also are offering a service for the harmonica
community and I am not envious of people who give us something that we
need. If I think back 15 years, I only can say that it would have been a
big thing if all this what we have now, was available back then. And
above all: I do not consider this as spamming ( if someone wants to sell
me Viagra, that's spam).

I don't think that this list is a great market for people who want to
become rich; it's a place where we can exchange informations and where
we can help each other, and one thing is IMO that this is a place where
we can point to our music/services.

I don't know what's wrong if I would ask you to go to my website to
listen to my last cd, maybe I could sell 5 to 10 of it, but that would
not be my main interest. Much more would be of interest for me what you
think of it.  And I am convinced that most of the players who give us
links to their websites are thinking that same way.

Information and exchange, that's why I am here. And I can find it
nowhere else, at least not in such a good mixture.

If Douglas is telling us what's the schedule for the next SPAH
convention that is information for me, not advertising, informations for
other players...

I know that there is always a thin line...but please let's try to be not
too critical on this list.

Otto