A good thought too G&M , so can we take it from the know but can't say comments that the publication, or the original concept no longer exists?
I thought the bit about the soul was funny Matt, but the kit is good and the money made is on a par, so it is a little bitter of us to be too critical.
Two fella's on here had a go and even with lots of support from fellow posters were unable to put together even a mock issue, and managed to put off some potential advertisers before they had even started. So it is a very difficult thing to do.
As for advertisers who did we put off? If you are talking about Peter Fogwill then what actually happened was he said he wouldn't submit his products for review unless I would guarantee that the review only contained the positive points about the product and that no mention of negative aspects of a product were mentioned. Thats his choice - maybe he lacks confidence in his products I don't know but to be honest I would never want to review a product with these restrictions in place anyway as I feel that would be doing a dis-service to our readers. We don't want to do hatchet jobs on anyone but if there was a genuine shortcoming then we would like the option to mention it. Look at Alex Gardiner when he hears a bit of negative feedback does he throw his toys out of the pram? No, what he does is he looks at a problem/shortcoming and then tries to come up with improvements/solutions. This is how is should be IMO and thats the kind of people we want to work with, not people who are going to censor us. Anyway back to the magazine. An announcement will be made shortly regarding development news. This is a project that wont be rushed. Don't write us off yet, I will agree with you about one thing. It's not as easy as you think
WCE you said I said the following.
"he said he wouldn't submit his products for review unless I would guarantee that the review only contained the positive points about the product and that no mention of negative aspects of a product were mentioned."
Could you post a link to where I said that please? This will give you some practice because no doubt you will get a lot of this, with you being an editor of a magazine.
You hadn't put me off, but you certainly have now, typical of the press, taking something and twisting it for your own ends. What utter rubbish. You can't go about quoting things that are not true, what message are you sending out to your prospective customers? I know where my free copy will be going.
Peter
Right Peter, Lets get something clear What you have quoted me on, to be honest that was my take of it. You made it quite clear that you didn't want anyone writing reviews of your products unless you read them first and gave them the ok, then in my eyes you made it quite clear that if the reviewers opinion wasn't the same as yours then you wouldn't want the article published. Don't get me wrong no one in their right mind would want a review to be published that just said their product was total pants but you gave me the impression that if you had a review which was 99% positive and 1% negative ten you wouldn't want it published because of the 1% negative. This is an example of the type of review I mean - it's taken from pro mobile magazine (which is the mobile disco equivalent to what I am trying create (in case you are wondering what this has to do with anything I also run an entertainments agency) and one of their reviews about a new disco light : "...........The little plastic turn locks on the end of the brackets are also a little brittle and prone to cracking. I run 16 of these lights and 9 of them have cracked so I now have to use a spanner to lock the bars into position. This light is a budget product but when you take into consideration the stress and strain that these locking handles have on them this is something for the ADJ design team to reconsider when they release a refreshed model. Apart from this the product is excellent" And that was a product from a company that sponsors the magazine. The rest of the review was positive but in the reviewers eyes this part needed reworking. I ask my original question again would you let that review run? I took it that you didn't want a review of your product that was along those lines, maybe I misunderstood. That was my point in my reply to discount.
Way out of order.
For anyone reading the topic my quote was supposed to have came from, you will see I was only trying to help with a little constructive criticism.
Peter
No one quoted you though! I just replied to discount and gave him my take on how I saw things. We want to write reviews simple as that. You think we want to do a hatchet job or something and don't trust us. Therefore unless we let you approve the review it wouldn't get published - thats what you pretty much said wasn't it - The topic's here: read it back and tell me do you think that I was unfair in my conclusions?
www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=54077.200 I don't think I was HOWEVER!!!, on reflection after reading what I wrote, I can see that see that I should of worded what I said a bit better and that maybe you would read it and take it the wrong way. For that I apologize and assure you that wasn't the intention. So sorry for any offence caused in that respect. Furthermore, I wish to point out to you that your input into the magazine was (and still is) much appreciated. It may not of come across this way but the advice that you gave regarding reviews was taken on board and has helped guide the magazine along it's journey. I do hope that you accept my apology and continue to contribute to the development of this magazine. Just to clarify we dont want to stitch anyone up and we wont be doing hatchet jobs on companies who submit their products for review - something I hope you will be part of
Finally on a personal note - It's good to see you back on the forum and getting back on your feet after the flood. My parents went through the same in the July 07 Floods so I know what the disruption etc is like It takes a long time for things to return to normal and is difficult for anyone to go through. Glad to hear there is some light at the end of the tunnel
Peter the last thing I will say is that I do feel that maybe we have misunderstood each other and got off on the wrong foot and that is not what I want! I do hope we can move on from this with a new understanding of each other and that i never meant you any offence.
Best wishes
Pete
WCE