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Industry Insider program coming soon

post #1 of 50
10/13/09 at 5:12pm
Thread Starter 
We'd like to get your input on Industry Insiders, a new program launching end of this week on HTF.  We will be asking home theater brands to sign up and join the community as active participants in the forums and representatives of their brand.  This program is intended to leverage our strength in numbers by bringing together enthusiasts with the sponsors and industry reps who are here to increase sales for the benefit of both sides.
 
All Industry Insider reps will have a custom signature file with a logo image, up to 4 links, and a description of their product or service.  This avoids posts for purely promotional purposes - as they would simply be redundant – and encourages brand reps to become actively involved in community discussions.  
 
We’re also creating Showcase pages for the brands with a list of featured products and an activity feed of all content related to the brand – people will be able to subscribe to a brand and to the reps themselves similar to the way subscriptions work on the site today.
 
In short, it’s a great way for the community to receive updates and engage industry reps in conversation – and will reduce spam posts by businesses simply looking to promote themselves.  
 
What brands would you like to see as Industry Insiders?  Do you have any contacts or know any reps that would be interested in participating?  

We’re also looking for insights into how you will respond to this – what companies will you be most interested in engaging with,  and how we should inform the community about the program?
 
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post #2 of 50
10/13/09 at 5:41pm
Soooo....  Are forum regulars going to get their signature pictures back before these insiders do or are insiders only going to have them.  Do I really need to say what kind of #@#$storm it will cause if they get them and members don't?

Don't you think the forum nav stuff should be fixed before inviting insiders in to see the disarray that remains?

Industry reps I'd like to see:  Warner, Uni, Sony, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Paradigm, DTS, Dolby, SVS, Denon, Sony Consumer Electronics, Microsoft, Nintendo, Canon, Nikon, Klipsh, Apple.  Good luck on that.
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post #3 of 50
10/13/09 at 5:44pm
Sam gets a ditto from me, on all accounts.

Oh, and it still smarts that the avatars are smaller than a stamp.  :)

Just sayin.
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post #4 of 50
10/14/09 at 7:42am
If they can and will engage in real discussion about their products' strengths and weaknesses, this should be a really big deal.

I think it's a critical step and greatly welcome it, especially for hardware. I've found that when it's time to shop for big new hardware, like a TV, with lots of technical issues, I have to spend time at AVS. That's where the experts are. Bringing insiders HTF should substantially help with that.

I would also look for experts that don't represent the companies but who have deep knowledge and inside connections.
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post #5 of 50
10/14/09 at 8:10am
Don't most companies discourage their people from participating in online forums such as the HTF?  I'm just thinking that the types of companies that would be most interesting to members probably aren't the types of companies who use posts here as spam to promote their products. 

And wouldn't there be a concern about interaction between potentially unruly members and industry reps?  Didn't situations like that lead to some unpleasantness in the past?

But I'm just thinking out loud and these are not questions that have been asked.

I think the participation by the fellas at SVS could serve as an excellent model for a program like this.  They are identified as reps of their company and have always been more than gracious and helpful when posting in the Speaker/Subwoofer forum--even when it was a thread which also might have discussed a competitor's product as well as one of their own.

But I would worry that the inclination of people to bitch and kvetch might lead to some unhappiness in the relationship.  As terrific as it might be to get some direct response from a Warner's rep about the Archive program, I could only imagine how quickly discussions might deteriorate as members start pummeling requests and complaints for product they would like to own. 

I would, therefore, also be concerned that failure of the program might lead to strained relations between the HTF and some of the companies it is currently on good terms with. 

If it works, it could be a GREAT program.  If it doesn't work, there might be some damage.  Life is full of risks.

Again.  Just thinking out loud. 
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post #6 of 50
10/14/09 at 10:18am
Thread Starter 

Quote:
Don't most companies discourage their people from participating in online forums such as the HTF?  I'm just thinking that the types of companies that would be most interesting to members probably aren't the types of companies who use posts here as spam to promote their products. 

Yes and no.  For a while they were scared of the internet, now they are starting to use Facebook, Twitter and other ways to reach out to consumers.  Will it be a challange?  Yes, but we are trying to structure the program in such a way that there are a lot of extra benefits that encourage them to participate. 

Quote:
And wouldn't there be a concern about interaction between potentially unruly members and industry reps?  Didn't situations like that lead to some unpleasantness in the past?

We are very worried about you some members .  That is a concern, but for the most part people here are very respectful.  We haven't had really any problems that I can remember in the existing insiders area.
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post #7 of 50
10/14/09 at 11:02am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Gregorich View Post


We are very worried about you some members .  That is a concern, but for the most part people here are very respectful. 

Listen, you $*&#^!  Who the &#$^#% do you think you are (*#$&@#$^ talking to?!? 

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post #8 of 50
10/14/09 at 12:19pm
LMAO Mike, I thought the same exact thing but didn't want to be a downer.  On the other hand, the success of twitter and blogging really does have some progressive companies eyes open about having what Robert Scoble termed Naked Conversations...  The thing is that on Twitter you are on neutral ground and blogging you are still on the home court.  Can that extend into the no mans land or hostile grounds of an independent web site?  I'm not so sure but I hope HTF can make a go of it.

Quote:
We are very worried about you some members

Of course, you do already have responses from 5 of the biggest troublemakers mouths on the forum so...  Well there you are.  What I wanna see is "Where are all the responses from the new traffic?"
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post #9 of 50
10/14/09 at 2:37pm
Thread Starter 
Most of the new traffic hasn't discovered the feedback area, which is why we decided to post it here first.
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post #10 of 50
10/14/09 at 5:31pm
I'd like to some of the smaller internet direct companies like Emotiva, for example. Generally we're all blinded by the big names. I'd like to know who else is out there that makes decent products. This kind of forum seems like a great place for that.
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post #11 of 50
10/17/09 at 4:43pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Posten View Post

LMAO Mike, I thought the same exact thing but didn't want to be a downer.  On the other hand, the success of twitter and blogging really does have some progressive companies eyes open about having what Robert Scoble termed Naked Conversations...  The thing is that on Twitter you are on neutral ground and blogging you are still on the home court.  Can that extend into the no mans land or hostile grounds of an independent web site?  I'm not so sure but I hope HTF can make a go of it.
 


Of course, you do already have responses from 5 of the biggest troublemakers mouths on the forum so...  Well there you are.  What I wanna see is "Where are all the responses from the new traffic?"
I thought I would chime in as well.

This is terrific and I wonder how it will be implemented.
Will these insiders be anonymous like on other forums and the previous insider who was here for a bit
penton-man?

also as long as nearly every post doesn't become "buy our stuff" then it could provide much information to the members.

As Sam mentioned and there hasn't been any recent updates, is there any progress on the known current needed fixes?
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post #12 of 50
10/17/09 at 10:19pm
Thread Starter 

Quote:
Will these insiders be anonymous like on other forums and the previous insider who was here for a bit
penton-man?

From the HW side they will use real names.  Figure it may be 50/50 when it comes to the studios, but the name will reflect the studio if its not a real name.
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post #13 of 50
10/18/09 at 9:39am
So you already have commitment from some to participate?  that's encouraging.

My biggest concern was that this would be announced like it was with big plans and not really go too far (cf: existing insiders area) and then be a considerable disappointment.  Genuinely excited to hear thats not the case.
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post #14 of 50
10/18/09 at 10:11am
Thread Starter 

Lets just say that before we put the time into it we went around to gauge interest.  Based on what we heard we proceeded to start development work. Having said that we want to roll it out slowly.

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post #15 of 50
10/18/09 at 4:41pm
Ohhh....  Bummer.  Will keep my expectations in check for the time being then.

I guess I'm not really sure what the purpose of the post was then, who would honestly say they didn't want more feedback from industry insiders?  Tho I guess some suggestions for potential inside sources of interest were listed...
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post #16 of 50
10/18/09 at 6:17pm
Just thinking...go all in. I think the past "insider" effort suggests you need critical mass for success. A little bit of insiders fizzles quickly.

Or, introducing a new insider in a scheduled manner could be neat. A new insider every month maintains excitement and interest.

But I'm just noodling out loud, with no practical experience in such things :)

Edited by DaveF - 10/18/09 at 6:39pm
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post #17 of 50
10/22/09 at 1:11pm
Hey, we could REALLY spice things up around here by having a Bose and Monster insider!

I would really see value in having reps from the various studios available to discuss future releases, bonus features, problem audio/video encodes, etc.  I've closely followed some of the existing insider threads with great interest.  I've not seen any cases where the discussion ever got out of hand.  I think the users here recognize the time and effort that the insiders spend in answering questions.

Some other companies I'd love to see represented:
Carada, PSB, HSU, Elemental Designs
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post #18 of 50
11/18/09 at 10:35pm
so what's going on with this program.

As of now I only see one new insider and I'm trying to figure out what makes him an insider.
It just seems to be a member who points out some slightly decent deals in the bargains section.
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post #19 of 50
11/20/09 at 5:18am
Just now, I'd particularly enjoy an insider that could comment knowledgeably on how well the self-calibration features (e.g Audyssey 2EQ or MultEQ) of consumer AVRs work.

Or, another insider akin to Robert Harris who might comment on detailed technical / artistic aspects of movies.
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post #20 of 50
12/10/09 at 4:54pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD View Post

so what's going on with this program.

As of now I only see one new insider and I'm trying to figure out what makes him an insider.
It just seems to be a member who points out some slightly decent deals in the bargains section.
Any info on this yet?

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post #21 of 50
12/11/09 at 6:18am
Looking forward to an update on this too!  =)
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post #22 of 50
12/11/09 at 4:25pm
Well, I have been pitching this to brands/companies and have some good leads.

Actually Emotiva has already signed up - but because this is such a busy time they probably won't start posting 'til January.  For now, just running banner ads.

Same deal with Visual Apex.

And we're hoping to entice some major movie studios to participate as well...stay tuned for more on that!

If you know of brands that do this on other forums or that might be interested PLEASE PM me with leads.
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post #23 of 50
12/11/09 at 4:38pm
Is this going to be information and education or just more advertising material?
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post #24 of 50
12/11/09 at 5:38pm
One of my new friends is a social media expert & manager for Best Buy of all places, he might make an excellent insider here were he aware of the forum:

http://www.twitter.com/eatontownbb

Someone should shoot EbertChicago an invite too, it seems like that guy is on the web 24 hours a day researching film, political and fun stories out, his twitter stream is a knockout.  =)
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post #25 of 50
12/11/09 at 9:06pm
How about the good folks at SVS? It seemed like they got their start here and were active members until not long ago.
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post #26 of 50
12/21/09 at 12:15pm
VISA has signed on as an Insider to promote a new product, Rightcliq

User name is mediajunkie3

Brand page will be http://www.hometheaterforum.com/Righcliq (but give 'em a day or two to get it set up)

Look for more information about Rightcliq in the next HTF newsletter running this week...
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post #27 of 50
12/21/09 at 12:43pm
That's awesome but also a little bit irony inducing =)  Looking forward to hearing what they have to say.
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post #28 of 50
12/21/09 at 4:37pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD View Post





also as long as nearly every post doesn't become "buy our stuff" then it could provide much information to the members.
 




Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD View Post

Is this going to be information and education or just more advertising material?




Quote:
Originally Posted by adamfarren View Post

VISA has signed on as an Insider to promote a new product, Rightcliq

User name is mediajunkie3

Brand page will be http://www.hometheaterforum.com/Righcliq (but give 'em a day or two to get it set up)

Look for more information about Rightcliq in the next HTF newsletter running this week...

I thought I asked before but can't find it, what makes these insiders and not simply advertisers masquerading as an insider?

Insiders would be the people who HTF already has in this area of the forum?
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/list/117

I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to figure this out.
Maybe this should be call something other then insiders.


Edited by TonyD - 12/21/09 at 5:39pm
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post #29 of 50
12/21/09 at 5:09pm
 VISA, the credit card company? A HOME THEATER insider? I dont get it?
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post #30 of 50
12/21/09 at 9:19pm
Thread Starter 
Rick and Tony
Glad you are paying attention.   We have been using some companies that would normally just get banner ads to "soft launch" it for a few months to get us some feedback before we went after some of the companies that would be of interest to most members.  Ron and I along with Adam from Huddler spent a few days meeting with some of those companies in Hollywood last week that I'm sure you would recognize  to discuss ways to maximize their involvement.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised in mid to late January when some of them come aboard. 

The ultimate goal is to get companies contributing content similar in quality to what our existing insiders do while giving them a dedicated channel (their sig file and a dedicated page) to promote their products. 
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