Author Topic: JD and Toy Fair  (Read 18532 times)

Offline Darth Slothus

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #15 on: February 14, 2006, 05:25 PM »
Ok usually I don't respond to any of the silly site drama/politics bull****, but I gotta say that anyone bitching and moaning because things didn't work out for JD to get someone to cover Toy Fair is ******* ridiculous.

Really, and who insulted you directly?

Having ran and currently running a Star Wars fan site, I know how difficult it can be to get something like coverage for Toy Fair done.


Know-it-all-expert opinion, so considering you know everything about it..have you considered that others do not. You get to judge these folks as stupid? What an ass.

For starters, has anyone thought that perhaps JD had one staff member slated to go to the show because only one staff member was able to make it? Being that this is a fan site, every person that works on this site has a life and responsibilities away from it. Work, school, family, health, finances, any one of these issues could prevent a person or persons from going to New York for Toy Fair. Perhaps the one member who could go, was able to work around their real-life issues so that they can go, but to expect a large number of people to do so isn't very smart.

No **** Sherlock! Duh..of course I thought of those reasons, my question was 'Is that(one) of the reasons'? Who's expecting a large number? Where did you get that? I don't think a pair is unreasonable -and if it isn't a simple explanation to explain it wouild have been fine.

So the Jedidefender coverage didn't work out, in the end big ******* deal. I'm sure the staff members and particularly the one person who was supposed to go are disappointed. And certainly many of us fans are disappointed that we didn't get to read about JD's take on the show, but it's not the end of the world. **** happens and it happens often, they made a concerted effort to try to get things to work out. Unfortunately, external factors came into play to prevent the coverage, coverage which by the way cost you nothing so don't even go complaining about not getting something that would have been free to you anyways.

I'm free to complain like anyone else here...just like you're free to come on here and insult folks with all your information you ASSume everyone else knows-which is why it's called a forum. No, this isn't communist country and no, you can't tell people what they can't do-nice try ::)(much as you'd like to)

So until you go out there and try to run a site that can compete with a big boy like RS, GH, or SSG, keep your complaints to yourself. Unless you've been involved in trying to get **** together on such a scale just to make fans of your site happy, you have no bearing to judge them for a minor, practically insignificat, faux pas.

This is funny, you say that we can't judge..what are you doing now? Yes, I've done stuff to make folks happy on this site. I noticed smaller sites than this covered it.

Oh and Jesse, don't ****** resign as a staff member due to the lack of Toy Fair coverage. If other ****'s going on that's making you resign just say so, but don't feed any naysayers the potential delight of your resignation due to this ****, it ain't worth it.

What is this assclown talking about? Anyone? I DON'T want you to leave Jesse but I think this shallow person's insulting post resembles many I've read at another site. "Ok usually I don't respond .." . Maybe you shouldn't have. Whatta blue vein throbber!

Remember it always the 2nd guy who throws gets busted-remember when you read his asinine post I replied to.

PS: Don't leave Jesse  
« Last Edit: February 14, 2006, 05:39 PM by Darth Slothus »

Offline JoshEEE

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #16 on: February 14, 2006, 05:53 PM »
A few things:


1.   JD didn't have toy fair coverage.  BFD.  Go over to Rebelscum if you want to see the news.  You can still come back here and chat about it. 

2.  To the handful of people bitching about a lack of coverage at this industry con....how about you make a paypal donation to JD so they can afford to send someone to Comic Con and cover it the way you want it covered this summer? If it's this important to you that you see 10 or 11 more pictures or reviews of that new GG mini-bust (and NO pictures of that Little Mermaid statue), then hey....I'll bet that paypal fund would collect 3 or 4 whole dollars towards the cost that the people from JD who are going will pay out of their own pockets come July. 


3.  Jesse, if you're really quitting over THIS, that's silly.  It's not your fault JD didn't have coverage.  If one of the many people Rebelscum had at Toy Fair was sick, I'm sure Phil would have flown someone else out.  I doubt Chris has the bankroll to do that on a whim....but if he does, hey Chris, I hearby volunteer to be flown to any convention you want coverage for.  I'll work for expenses + the cost of exclusives I'll "have" to buy to photograph.   There, problem solved.  ;D


Ok, seriously though, JD is a fan-run site.  RS is a business. There's a BIG difference and in cases like this, a business always has the advantage on the little guy.  RS is all about ads, clicks and dollar signs.  That's how they pay for their Toy Fair coverage and get the invites to go to places like Sansweet's house.   That's their thing.   They're not just Rebelscum, they're "Offical Pix" (tm)

 JD seems like it's about catering to their membership.  They do it well.  That's THEIR thing.  When I come here, I can chat with people whose names I remember, and who aren't going to ask me who I am.  We're free to joke and talk, and not have to worry we'll get banned if we accidentally say something around the wrong moderator.  It's a pretty good community.

Given the choice between cool people here, or yet another article covering a convention 4 or 5 sites have already covered.....I'll take the former.

I go to Rebelscum for my Star Wars news.
I come here to hang with the cooler members of the Star Wars collecting community.
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Offline Darth Slothus

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #17 on: February 14, 2006, 06:18 PM »
OK, first lemme say your post of a different viewpoint was much more tactful and didn't include personal attacks, thank you.

Easier to agree with Joshee after he puts things more tactfully(ala moderatorish)

I would like Jedidefender to become it's own identity-I don't wanna compare it to Rebelscum. At the same time I think of JD as one of the 'big four' sites.

What I wish for? RS to implode and our better staff to 'cleanse' new recruits from there to here to make this a huge great site that still has a 'small site feel' to it.

I only know from the negatives of RS what I learned in our RS (talk ****) thread. Jd is the first site SW site I signed onto. I like the site alot. Just have questions I would like answered in more detail about this recent event coverage, that is all.

I'm not thinking about leaving the site over this -no way
In the same sense I'm not taking matters personally and name-calling about it either(unless it's out of defense of course).

Offline Ian_C

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #18 on: February 14, 2006, 06:19 PM »
I'm free to complain like anyone else here...just like you're free to come on here and insult folks with all your information you ASSume everyone else knows-which is why it's called a forum.

I'm with CorranHorn on this one.

He didn't point any fingers at you specifically Slothus.  If anything, I'd assume he was referring to the nice friendly post from DeanPaul which was followed by the post announcing Jesse's resignation.

To send someone to an event like Toy Fare, you'll be looking at transportation, accomodation, food, and of course spending expenses.  That can quickly add up to alot of money.  

If it comes out of the person's own pocket, as it most likely will, it probably also means that they have to book vacation time with their job, or take a leave of absence at school, if they're students.

That's alot to expect of people who, aside from the owner of the site, are in all likelihood volunteers donating their time to make this a better place.

Many sponsors donate toys rather than money - where do you think the contests come from?  Like CH said, those that do supply cash are probably barely covering site expenses.  Certainly not enough to book even one staff member a holiday trip to Toy Fare or Comic Con.

Therefore, before people call the site 'bushleague', or find other ways to make their lack of appreciation for this free site known, maybe ask questions first.  Slothus, I know you did ask questions first - and that is why I do not believe CH was calling you in his post.

The accusation was made that 'know-it-alls' assume everyone knows the financial make-up of the site.  To hear some of the whining is equally assuming that the site can send people across the country at whim.

Ian
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Offline Famine

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #19 on: February 14, 2006, 06:31 PM »
I'm not dissapointed in the least that JediDefender couldn't get some one else down there. I'm only an hour and 45 minutes away, and I would not have risked putting some one on the road there, or a flight. I live in Upstate NY, and I'm quite familiar with bad weather, and what NYC had was bad weather. In fact, flights from Albany International to Boston, NYC, and Maine (IRRC) got canceled. So good luck there. And if some one gets the flu, hey, it happens.

I look forward to more great coverage from JediDefender, and I'm not going to let this bump get in the way of that.

Kevin
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Offline Darth Slothus

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #20 on: February 14, 2006, 06:34 PM »
Ian C

His post was really arrogant, had an air of superioirity..the words he used are there-I will not speak of it further

I don't refer to it as whining but rather..questioning. How do you quell that? With detailed answers, of course. Would like to know is all. Nice post, eloquently stated.

Offline Matt

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #21 on: February 14, 2006, 06:40 PM »
Therefore, before people call the site 'bushleague', or find other ways to make their lack of appreciation for this free site known, maybe ask questions first.

Is the site bushleague?  No.  The site's great.  Not having any Toy Fair coverage, when other, ****head sites like Sandtroopers and SirSteve's have coverage--that's what's bushleague.

I have tons of appreciation for the site.  This site is pretty much the only SW-themed site I post at, which is why it pained me to have to go to places like SirSteve's to see Toy Fair pictures.  I'd prefer to do all of my SW-related websurfing here.  I know that JD has better people working for it than pretty much any other site, so there's no reason why their coverage should be lacking in comparison.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #22 on: February 14, 2006, 06:49 PM »
First, knock off the fighting.

Second...  CorranHorn's defending us, so while I appreciate your thoughts Darth Slothus I'm going to back him on this.  He's got experience in this "business" and he knows the difficulties that come with it.  Fact is none of the rest of us were able to go, Dave was it, and Dave didn't...   Dave's raging sick, and the blizzard didn't help.  Irony of ironies is that one guy living close to the event (Dave's a bus ride away from NJ) turned out to shoot us in the foot rather than flying in one or two guys.  If that were the case we'd have been in on Friday and staying at a hotel if one or two of us could've made the trip, unfortunately that was neither the plan nor possible.

Jason's points are valid...  And now's not a good time to "come down" on this site though DeanPaul's got some good points going along with his post.  And believe me the site staff aren't all cheers and smiles at the situation, we're handling our business though and that's all there is to the situation.  Basically, what I'm saying is that we KNOW this is a problem, we're working on this now, and basically doing a pile-on from our membership's perspective isn't going to help matters.  Jason was defending us, and in my view he's right...  But we're working to better things because unlike other sites we work with a LOT less around these parts...  Yes, even some "small" sites have more base **** to work with than we do because of a number of reasons.

The fighting stops now though.  This isn't a good time to be duking it out in the forums.
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Offline JoshEEE

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #23 on: February 14, 2006, 06:57 PM »
Quote
I know that JD has better people working for it than pretty much any other site, so there's no reason why their coverage should be lacking in comparison.

I'll go out on a limb here and give you two potential reasons.

$$

It sounds like what you're suggesting is that because the people here are cool, they should also have unlimited funds?

Fansite  ==  No big pay roll.  No Google Ads.  No thousands of members racking up tens of thousands of "clicks" on ads, meaning no big residuals that can pay for things like plane tickets and hotel rooms.

Sure, maybe other "bushleague" sites had some coverage, but that's just because someone that is on the staff was probably already going anyway.  It sounds like Jesse was going and then couldn't.  I don't see how that should reflect poorly on him OR JD.

Why not lighten up on the whole situation a bit?   I'm sure JD will have multiple dudes at Comic Con (I hope to run into them down there again) and they'll make up for whatever was missed at this show.  ;D

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Offline JesseVader08

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #24 on: February 14, 2006, 07:02 PM »
I'd prefer to do all of my SW-related websurfing here.

And nothing would make me happier than to provide that coverage so that people could get all their SW info here.

Quote
there's no reason why their coverage should be lacking in comparison.

What would make you happy?  It comes down to money.  Dave lives in an area where he is relatively close to Toy Fair, so naturally he was the one who was ready to go because it would be the least expensive for him to do so.  But is he expected to sacrifice his health in order to provide coverage?  No, of course not.  And the rest of us don't have the funds to get there, especially for a last minute change of plans.

Did we let our members down?  Yes.  But there's no conspiracy theory.  Just good old fashioned $$.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #25 on: February 14, 2006, 07:46 PM »
It is $$, and we're talking about things.  Again apologies to our readers because we have delievered great coverage of Toy Fair in the past.  The best on the net I believe, and we're doing what we can with what we have...  It's a big complex thing.

CorranHorn is right though, there's more to this than you guys perhaps all realize.  there's a lot of talk in our admin areas that you guys don't see because it's all site business and it's a lot of work.  Jesse's been one of the best staffers here, he's not giving out BS answers...  There's issues at hand we're having to deal with and it's simply not easy guys.  And I ask that you respect that...  Hopefully we come back stronger because of this because we want to, that's for sure, but there are obstacles to overcome as with anything in life. 

Believe me guys, NOBODY at this site is more disappointed in the Toy Fair issue than the staff.  Myself included.  So don't be upset and just try to understand that we're trying to remedy things and make sure stuff like this doesn't happen but that we do this all out of our own time, work, $, and effort, and because we want to.  Things can be better and hopefully they will be better, and hopefully you can bare with us while we turn it around.
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Offline Matt

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #26 on: February 14, 2006, 07:48 PM »
And nothing would make me happier than to provide that coverage so that people could get all their SW info here.

I don't know why you're taking this whole thing personally, Jesse, unless it was somehow your responsibility to put the Toy Fair coverage together.  It seems a bit odd, given your relatively low position on the JD totem pole (no offense intended).

I don't know why the Toy Fair coverage didn't happen--all I know is, it didn't happen.  It was hyped on the front page, and discussed in the forums, but for whatever reasons, it just didn't work out.  Maybe it was because of a nasty illness, maybe it was because of another reason, but regardless, do you think that maybe there should have been some sort of backup plan?  I mean, it's not like this hasn't happened before.  And given that this same exact thing happened two years ago, the staff should have been even more prepared.

Maybe it's really not that big of a deal, in the long run.  Maybe Josh is right (well, he's always right, isn't he?)--maybe for all of our SW-related news, we should just rely on other front pages at places like Rebelscum, Galactic Hunter, SirSteve's, and Sandtroopers. 

If the front page and it's news and stories don't really matter, when we can go to other places, and the forum is what counts around here, then why even bother having a front page to begin with?
"The good news is that all that blood is actually ketchup. The bad news, however, is that all that ketchup is actually blood."

Offline Darth Slothus

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #27 on: February 14, 2006, 07:55 PM »
Jesse sending you a PM >:(

Offline Ian_C

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #28 on: February 14, 2006, 07:58 PM »
so there's no reason why their coverage should be lacking in comparison.

Very true - when the site can afford to send someone there.

If someone was able to go, then I agree wholeheartedly.  However, in my opinion I think it's wrong to take shots at the site because they were not able to compete financially in this instance at least.

The site I moderate on couldn't afford to send someone either.  Am I upset?  No.  Do I consider my site minor-league?  Compared to the big spenders like RS or GH, I have to say yes, but quality sometimes rules over quantity, and I like the friendly atmosphere of the smaller sites more.

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Offline Matt

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Re: Rebelscum
« Reply #29 on: February 14, 2006, 08:03 PM »
We don't know that the site wasn't financially able to send anyone else to Toy Fair, primarily due to the fact that the people who were most responsible for the coverage have been mum on the subject since it happened--rather, didn't happen.
"The good news is that all that blood is actually ketchup. The bad news, however, is that all that ketchup is actually blood."