Over a period of time I have received some e-mail with less than favorable comments about advertising on the Interchange. For the record, we don't allow it, at least not without asking first. That's what it says in the guidelines anyway. (Only one person has requested prior permission to post an advertisement on the Interchange.) There are some other rules in the guidelines that haven't been strictly observed either, like not using screen names, and leaving an e-mail address with your post.<p>We laid out fairly stringent guidelines to start the Interchange off based on troubles other discussion boards had in the past. We have been pretty fortunate in having good citizens on the Interchange, and I have had to pull very few posts, and my requests for restraint and/or moderation have all been amicably heeded.<p>My feeling about the rules is that I'll only enforce them when things start to get out of hand. So far, this really hasn't happened. And, as long as things go smoothly and we have good content I plan to continue being a pretty much hands off moderator.<p>Getting back to the advertising. I asked the persons who e-mailed if they objected to all the advertisements, or only specific one they wrote about. I asked this because I felt to be fair if I pulled the plug on one advertisement I'd have to pull them all. Nobody I have corresponded with wanted the latter to happen. The consensus seems to be most of the advertising is OK, relevant, and of interest, but on rare occasions it gets borderline crass. <p>I feel the "Your Hand on the Throttle" is a legitimate fundraising event. I have no problem with this sort of posting. I will concede, it could have been done more tastefully, but I don't think it was anywhere near being over the line.<p>I am open to comments and suggestions on this and any other issue on the Interchange and its content.



Railway Preservation News
hkading@rypn.org

JDCs announcement was of potential interest to many people, as are the book reprint offerings and information about who might have spare parts to trade. None of this is offensive. I follow this list, John Craft's, Hugh Odom's, and the RailSwap list and all have information worth reading if you work in this business or have a high level of interest. <p>I trust you, Hume, to recognise true blatant commercialism when you see it and act accordingly. <p>Dave<br>



lathro19@idt.net