As somewhat of an old-ish bird at this point, I am going to try to refrain from any semblance of “remember when” here. Or try my best not to make this a sour flavored rant or indulgence, or a knock on this site itself. Not my intention here at all. But being that someone who has been around the block and been around this forum for over a decade now, and has watched it evolve, and contributed to the evolution of it, and even a sponsor myself who is about to promote a sale of his own, I just feel …oh I don’t know a little “off”, that there is this constant barrage of Super sales. And not “special” sales really, but the same kind of sales over and over again. Same vendors doing the same thing. I mean every month or every week even now. Same thing over and over. Nothing really “special” at all about these sales as they become totally routine. Copy and paste. Ultimately, contributing very little otherwise to the community or forum. I know that's ultimately what the sponsors forum is for but, it's kind of weird right?
And, I swear I am not trying to pick on any single vendor here I promise. I tried to time this when there wasn't any one vendor having a special sale. Because here’s the thing, as one of these voracious vendors, I intended to have my 3rd annual Superb Owl sale in February during Super Bowl weekend. But I was really busy with all the grow out contest stuff so I chose not to. I thought I would put it off a month maybe and do it in March or April. And here we are. And I’m thinking about clever ways to promote the sale, and I too even have this routine of doing this kind of look at me I'm quirky “antisale” gimmick, albeit not nearly as often. But I still seem to resort to the same tricks pretty much every time. This post actually illustrates that point pretty well.
But it’s still weird to me as a long time contributor of content and articles and stuff, other than sales over the years, to see what this platform has evolved into. It’s just kind of an interesting thing to have witnessed and experienced from my perspective. I’ve seen people and sponsors come and have seen some go. I’ve watched a number of my own customers cross over and become sponsors here themselves.
Don’t get me wrong though. I’m sure every sponsor on here will agree that this place is a pretty necessary lifeline. And very regular sales have indeed become part of that lifeline. Especially as competition grows more and more immense. But part of me is grateful and a little relieved even that I don’t have to rely as heavily on the traffic from Reef2reef to put food on the table as I used to. And as my own participation has regrettably ebbed a lot since the mid to late aughties era, that I spent way more time writing and opining on various reef subjects and engaging, than simply prompting sales, I am genuinely saddened that I don’t have as much time to devote to the forum as I used too. Believe me, doing those write ups and creating and having fun has always been a blast for me. But as my write ups and contributions became fewer and farther between and I know it, I too leaned and still lean on this site mostly to promote and not to contribute. Looking back I can say I either had more fire in my belly or just more free time my hands.
Anyway, if you’re still with me, Thank you! This is more of a stream of consciousness than a well polished write up for sure. But here’s where I’m at. I honestly can't stand all the sales. It's pretty ridicules if I'm being frank, but I also hate having zero income just as much. So, you could say I’m kind of struggling with the conflict of complaining about sales and telling everyone how much I dislike them and all, while fully intending to promote one myself. And will absolutely be having plenty more in the future and will probably use the same old tactics. (see end of paragraph 2)
I am however really curious. Are you guys in any way getting tired of, or feeling, "whatever-ish" or overwhelmed even about all the sales? Are you buying into the hype? Further, if you are some of the few, true blue, actual hobbyists left out there that isn’t also a vendor, how do you really navigate this page with all us vendors screaming and barking and flashing at you to buy their stuff? I honestly really would like to know. My perspective is way different than an average hobbyist and I'd like to hear from you. What is it like shopping for vendors and corals and info even in this kind of aggressively hyper-monotonous environment?
And, I swear I am not trying to pick on any single vendor here I promise. I tried to time this when there wasn't any one vendor having a special sale. Because here’s the thing, as one of these voracious vendors, I intended to have my 3rd annual Superb Owl sale in February during Super Bowl weekend. But I was really busy with all the grow out contest stuff so I chose not to. I thought I would put it off a month maybe and do it in March or April. And here we are. And I’m thinking about clever ways to promote the sale, and I too even have this routine of doing this kind of look at me I'm quirky “antisale” gimmick, albeit not nearly as often. But I still seem to resort to the same tricks pretty much every time. This post actually illustrates that point pretty well.
But it’s still weird to me as a long time contributor of content and articles and stuff, other than sales over the years, to see what this platform has evolved into. It’s just kind of an interesting thing to have witnessed and experienced from my perspective. I’ve seen people and sponsors come and have seen some go. I’ve watched a number of my own customers cross over and become sponsors here themselves.
Don’t get me wrong though. I’m sure every sponsor on here will agree that this place is a pretty necessary lifeline. And very regular sales have indeed become part of that lifeline. Especially as competition grows more and more immense. But part of me is grateful and a little relieved even that I don’t have to rely as heavily on the traffic from Reef2reef to put food on the table as I used to. And as my own participation has regrettably ebbed a lot since the mid to late aughties era, that I spent way more time writing and opining on various reef subjects and engaging, than simply prompting sales, I am genuinely saddened that I don’t have as much time to devote to the forum as I used too. Believe me, doing those write ups and creating and having fun has always been a blast for me. But as my write ups and contributions became fewer and farther between and I know it, I too leaned and still lean on this site mostly to promote and not to contribute. Looking back I can say I either had more fire in my belly or just more free time my hands.
Anyway, if you’re still with me, Thank you! This is more of a stream of consciousness than a well polished write up for sure. But here’s where I’m at. I honestly can't stand all the sales. It's pretty ridicules if I'm being frank, but I also hate having zero income just as much. So, you could say I’m kind of struggling with the conflict of complaining about sales and telling everyone how much I dislike them and all, while fully intending to promote one myself. And will absolutely be having plenty more in the future and will probably use the same old tactics. (see end of paragraph 2)
I am however really curious. Are you guys in any way getting tired of, or feeling, "whatever-ish" or overwhelmed even about all the sales? Are you buying into the hype? Further, if you are some of the few, true blue, actual hobbyists left out there that isn’t also a vendor, how do you really navigate this page with all us vendors screaming and barking and flashing at you to buy their stuff? I honestly really would like to know. My perspective is way different than an average hobbyist and I'd like to hear from you. What is it like shopping for vendors and corals and info even in this kind of aggressively hyper-monotonous environment?
