Hey Carabelli!

I am glad you asked.

I've been to plenty of cocktail parties and social functions of that
sort. Sci.med.dentistry and vBulletin are kind of like that social
event. This is definitely NOT a  federal grant proposal, where one's
words are extremely limited. Its interesting  to note ...... what is
the difference between a stimulating evening and one that is not?

In one instance, you are standing around with a bunch of people and
someone politely, kindly, tries to ask questions or talk about stuff
that shows some commonality of interest. That's what this is too.
Nothing more. And yes, I already have a pretty good idea what the
answer might be.

This allows others the opportunity to speak, to share and possibly
explain that yes, Jim Boyd, Maris Lans, and some of us who are still
here have shared first, explained who we are, and what we are about.
Then the "commercial message" goes down nicely.

Other times, at a cocktail party, certain people retort with comments
that shut down conversation, and when observed by more sensitive
participants, well the message is clear.

Let's encourage people to share, to speak, and to use this forum to
enrich their dental experiences. As analogy, I am not concerned with a
single piece of junk mail that comes through my door slot. I am not
concened if the same mail is foisted upon me week after week. In each
case it gets trashed. I do not think about it. In fact, some company
that is interested in installing a panorex machine for me will do so at
zero cost. All's they want is $25 per film forever. Now the letter comes
once a month and it has arrived since 1993. Is this junk mail? You
decide. One letter, once per month is surely no problem. However, I do
get concerned if twenty or more identical pieces start coming through
the slot daily.

Now anyone who repeatedly interrupts conversation with blatant
commercial messages and does so twenty times a day, well that's where I
draw the line. Well, ten times a day .. still too much. How about once
every couple of weeks? No problem. Now I am wondering where others draw
that line. Even something as blatant as AmeriPlan, I have come to
realize, has a certain place in the scheme of things. Can you believe
that I have found myself actually explaining and recommending it to
certain patients?

Similarly, at smd and at other forums, I always look for what certain
posters have to say. I know its going to be an intelligent, humorous,
interesting reply. In fact, Carabelli is one of my favorite
participants. We need more of that kind of interaction ~ not less. Who
will be my next favorite poster? Its hard to say while reading only one
or two posts. Let's draw people in, not shut them out.

I am saddened when someone takes an isolated incidence and then creates
a circumstance where some dental practice's website goes dark because of
a complaint to an ISP. This was a single occurrence. The punishment does
not fit the crime.

On a personal level, I too have been shuttered, at least for a day or
so by the opinions of people who believe that I was "lying" about
whatever. I believe all will agree that we should be able to have
differences of opinion without fear of internet retribution.

But I digress.

How usenet and how internet works is this. There is no trial, there is
no King Solomon who sits in judgement of the facts. If someone tenders
a complaint, the punishment is meted out forthwith.

I just wanted to remind others of that.

Joel

They are both selling a product that boosts sales from publicity an
exposure. Using that logic it can be argued that the dental office i
Costa Rica cannot benefit because unless the patient visits Costa Rica
they can sell nothing.

It becomes informational.

Joe

--
Joel34