Gear and Equipment forum rules discussion

[Sherdog]

1. There is no outside advertising from anyone allowed on the forum except for sprawl (SPRAWL is our sponsor, and thus has special privledges)

2. No outside advertising at all for any of the things we sell at sherdog.com store. (i.e. posts regarding go get this item from (insert site name) -- if sherdog has it)

3. People can still talk about products, but only if it is a poster, and not the store. i.e. "These nogi shorts are badass, I recommend them to everyone" is fine coming from a poster, but not for example if Chris Brennan or Nogi Industries (the sellers) post it.

4. Reviews are OKAY. Post's from Company representatives / owners which state "my products are better than (insert sponsor name) because they are cheaper / last longer / are better" are NOT allowed. If coming from a reviewer that's fine. But companies bad mouthing other companies, sarcastic or not, will not be permitted.

5. Basically it's a crackdown on free advertising. Sponsorship on the forums is available, and has been offered to some parties, who have no stepped up. For years the G&E had no policy, and companies got a huge place to advertise their gear for free, now we have a policy and people are breaking it or flaming the fires. There is no problem with discussion, but the policy was laid down, and everyone should just accept it. This is my forum and I makes the rules.


I hope we can all co-exist still. I don't want to be the badguy.

Contact Fozzy, Superbeast or Drunken Meat Fist with any questions.

 

[Foppa21]

Harsh but understood.

I'm not a retailer so I guess it doesn't really affect all that much.

 

[PhenøM]

Understood, my only beef is I have heard some of the other companies where waiting to pay you for sponsorship deals, similar to Sprawl's. But that's just he said she said stuff so Oh well.

 

[SSF]

I was in talks but I couldn't afford it so I don't really count. I hope to be able to sponsor this forum or one of the other ones next year. Sherdog is still my home.

www.SSFgear.com

 

[PhenøM]

Well hopefully Jeff would see that there might be even more money in a joint deal. Not all companies want out-right exlcusive forums access. I think people like Ron and Chris could probably fork the bill together and share in peace love and happiness.

 

[scorcho]

Alright. I think that I can handle this. At least Ron and Paul and the other guys will still be around to answer questions. Besides, they do not need to advertise, considering how well they have treated a lot of the G&E members.

 

[MMAWarehouse]

My only problem with this policy is that all of our requests to be a sponsor on the Sherdog website, dating back to early 2004 have all been denied... something I don't really understand since while we do sell some of the same product, a lot of what we sell is unique to our site. We are mainly a gear and clothing site that also happens to carry popular DVDs (the only major crossover I see).

So now you have decided to completely shut us out in every way possible which is your right, but I think a bad business decision. You guys are are one of the best MMA news and forums out there - I'll give you that - but people will find out us one way or another and I don't think "censoring" us from your site is increasing your sales enough to make up for over a year in a half of lost advertising revenues from us. But hey, your call.

 

[Sinister]

lol @ being able to post on the site about your Company being censored and it not being deleted. Oh yeah, and at your sig being censored. Not to mention that you're so shut out you can publically say so. lol

 

[MMAWarehouse]

Yes, I was able to post in a thread about how the rules of changed (whoopdeedo!), but I can't actually post a thread about anything pertaining to our store now or anything that we sell because of these new rules - yet at the same time we aren't allowed to follow the rules and go through the proper channels either. See the problem?

 

[The Real Chris Brennan]

So if I buy a banner on here I can talk about anything I want?

 

[Sinister]

Yes, I was able to post in a thread about how the rules of changed (whoopdeedo!), but I can't actually post a thread about anything pertaining to our store now or anything that we sell because of these new rules - yet at the same time we aren't allowed to follow the rules and go through the proper channels either. See the problem?

Yes, the problem is you're wrong. And unfortunately the wrongness in-general of this whole situation is why the rules need to keep being more and more refined. If people would just relax and see how things play out they might actually find that they're not as tight as they seem. Like I said, your signature there COULD be considered a direct advertisement because, well, it has your site and what you sell, but no one is saying anything about that.

You can post in the G&E section and discuss G&E, but why is it too much to ask for a Company not to badmouth another Company's Product, not have their only purpose to push their gear, and not specifically push their merchandise. Are you incapable of going somewhere and speaking publically about DVD'S, gear, clothing, without attempting to sales-pitch? If you are capable of that, then that's what is being asked of you.

And if you don't like being able to post here (based on you whoopdeedo comment), then why even register? Unless of course you registered specifically to sell more stuff, and for free.

What I see in your post is that (perhaps) you signed up for Sherdog to push your merchandise. Yes you attempted to get Sponsorship and like you said...were rejected for whatever reason (which is between you and Jeff and really has no place here), and now that you can't push merchandise (specifically only that which is available through Sherdog as stated in the initial post) you're upset. Which is more of a problem where actual poster feedback is concerned.

 

[The Real Chris Brennan]

OK, well this is my last post about this and if you want to ban be Jeff fire away. It is amazingto me that you are saying the advertisment thing was my fault when we discussed this on the phone and you openly admitted it wasthe girl who was calling me to sponsor the forum. She called and asked and WITHOUT hesitation I said "WE WILL TAKE IT". THe very next day I was told she made a mistake and Sprawl had already gotten it. So in reality I DID STEP UP but wasn'tgiven what she promised. Water under the bridge I don't care...UNTIL the next time we posted something and then all ofthe sudden we weren't allowed to talk about our shorts.

Why is Sprawl the only company I have taken shots at? Well Sprawl is the only company that has the deal where we can't compare. YEs I knwoti has been the rules all along and thatsfine and dandy but funny how MMA.TV and Sherdog decided to inforce these rules basicly at the same time Sprawl because their lead sponsor.

DO I think they are the leading company in MMA? Well I definalty think they are the leading marketers and have put their money in the right places, like on top fighters and on the top of main websites but I don't feel their products are the best and thougth it would be ok to say so but I guess not.

Anyway I will just respond to posts that are already made on here and I will keep my nose clean. I am not acting childish JEFF I wasjust speaking my opinion on this whole thing and that should still be legal somewhere.

 

[KillaKix]

^^^ i've heard both companies are good and have good product/service, but between sprawl and nogi, sprawl is the only one that gave me a free pair of shorts to try out their stuff

 

[perfy]

So it appears as if there are opportunities for multiple sponsors, which makes sense. Nothing wrong with having several companies being able ot advertise their product, but I digress.

I don't see ssf or mmawarehouse being sponsors though as they aren't manufacturers but rather retailers. As such they are in direct competition with the Sherdog store.

 

[Fozzy1]

Yes, I was able to post in a thread about how the rules of changed (whoopdeedo!), but I can't actually post a thread about anything pertaining to our store now or anything that we sell because of these new rules - yet at the same time we aren't allowed to follow the rules and go through the proper channels either. See the problem?

No offense, but anyone who looks at your posts, notices that, you took a 6 month break where you didn't post, didnt contribute, didn't come here or anything. A 6 month break where you didn't even contribute here? Back when we didnt have policies? and you're complaining, WHY?

~Foz

 

[The Real Chris Brennan]

oh good morning

 

[Fozzy1]

morning. 0.o;

~Foz

 

[JeremiahBailey]

This arguing is not educating me on the best MMA products out there....

 

[warrior-one.com]

"Fear is a great destroyer of human relationship"

In my opinion, it seems as though alliances are being formed and this is turning into some bad episode of "Survivor".

The thing I liked about this website when I first came (which wasn't that long ago) is that there are many people coming together and sharing. I really liked that the MMA companys and consumers could have a lot of interaction, sharing their experiences, what they have to sell, how they could impove, what the consumer wants, etc.

I also really appreciated that as a small business I could try and get things off the ground by coming to the original sources for our mixed martial arts COMMUNITY and promoting some things that I felt would contribute to the training and development of the COMMUNITY.

I realize this is in essence "free advertising", but it's a little hard to get people talking about your gear when they've never even heard about your company. I'm sure back in the day even Sherdog had to get their start somewhere. And I'm sure that you (Jeff) promoted your forum in many ways that were "free" and now look at this place, it's an awesome beast with these great problems to have

I feel like the bottom line is this. I didn't hear people who were frequenting the "gear and equipment" section complaining about all of the special offers that were being given to them as part of the Sherdog community. I am also guessing that your (Jeff) sales weren't being impacted as it seems that having more visitors to your site because of some special offers is likely to raise your sales, especially because you offer a great number of products, at fair prices

There really is enough for everybody, so hopefully we can avoid the fear mentality of "mine" and share so that everybody doesn't go off starting their own forums

Happy Holidays to everyone,



Keven

www.warrior-one.com

 

[Fozzy1]

I realize this is in essence "free advertising", but it's a little hard to get people talking about your gear when they've never even heard about your company. I'm sure back in the day even Sherdog had to get their start somewhere. And I'm sure that you (Jeff) promoted your forum in many ways that were "free" and now look at this place, it's an awesome beast with these great problems to have

I feel like the bottom line is this. I didn't hear people who were frequenting the "gear and equipment" section complaining about all of the special offers that were being given to them as part of the Sherdog community. I am also guessing that your (Jeff) sales weren't being impacted as it seems that having more visitors to your site because of some special offers is likely to raise your sales, especially because you offer a great number of products, at fair prices

www.warrior-one.com

Heh. It is free advertising. It comes down to the fact that some companies don't realise that we are only taking away their ability to post threads detailing sales and new products (and the other things obviously covered in the rules section). And, I think you are wrong, it's not taking anything away from you and it's not making it harder for them to hear about your company.

Main example I can give is, that if a poster asks about gear, you can surely post and say, yes we have that in stock, or you can contribute by directing them to someone who does sell it. Also, you guys don't realise, but in your signatures, or even added at the end of each and every post (I'm looking at you warrior-one and SSF) you guys add your website details. It's not like people don't see these and can't click them / type them into their web browser.

~Foz