In the thread “HelicopterTraining Schools” you wrote on January 11th
“Independent recommendations from satisfied customers are permitted on PPRuNe. People plugging themselves or their schools is not”
In the thread “Heli Training Schools in Yorkshire” the following appeared on January 13th.
“Hi Scott, My names Roy Wood CFI rotary Multiflight, please feel free to give me a call anytime, I'll show you round our facilities make you a pot of tea and answer all your questions ..........Office: 0000000000...Mobile 0000000000 Cheers Roy
So which is it then Heliport – corruption in PPRuNe Towers or are you slowin’ down and losin’ the edge, buddy?
I've just had a Bollocking from Heliport for using my Companies name name deleted as my sign in! Had to change it.......But could have kept it on a banner ad ......
I've not even heard of your 'helicopter company' except for your plugs here but, speaking purely personally, I'd always be very cautious before dealing with any business which tried to obtain free publicity on PPRuNe whilst being either unwilling or unable to pay the very modest advertising charges. Perhaps I'm too cautious, but I've always thought caution is wise in aviation. You did not have a "Bollocking". You were asked politely if it was a business name - even though I was 99% sure it was a blatant attempt to obtain free publicity at PPRuNe's expense rather than an innocent mistake. You were given two options if it was: Either change it or place an advertisement. You were also given an explanation for the rule. The fact that you've deliberately repeated your company name yet again on this thread has removed the 1% doubt I had.
Hope I'm not losin' the edge", but I'm certainly slowin' down at the moment to recover from the past few days constantly monitoring the 'Yorkshire training schools' thread. Making sure nobody went too far in their views about your company or its owner, e-mailing people inviting them to rephrase their own posts, editing/deleting them myself if necessary etc. Bound to slow anyone down.
"Corruption in PPRuNe Towers?" A chance would be a fine thing! We could do with a few plain brown envelopes full of used £50's to help pay for the enormous bandwidth the site now uses. Sadly, the true explanation is far more boring:
Businesses who pay for advertising on PPRuNe may, within reason, mention their businesses in a post provided it is made absolutely clear the post is not from an independent source. Applying that to the example you give: Roy Wood works for a company which pays for advertising, he made it clear who he was, he didn't use the post to set out all the services etc his employers offer (as you did recently ** ) and, most important of all, he didn't pretend to be just an independent 'satisfied customer'. (** I made an exception and didn't remove it for a few days. I thought that was only fair given the flak your company was getting from people.)
Independent recommendations from satisfied customers are permitted on PPRuNe, provided they are relevant to the thread and in answer to a question asked. Genuine recommendations are helpful to PPRuNe users who ask for advice; "recommendations" by people with a financial interest (or their friends) are not independent and may mislead. It's not always possible to distinguish the genuine from the 'plugs'. Sometimes it's obvious the 'question' itself is part of the attempt to 'plug'. But Mods learn to spot the tell-tale signs. Some 'plugs' inevitably get through. When in doubt, we delete. Sometimes we might be wrong and offend people who've posted genuinely. But we can only do our best to protect PPRuNe users from being 'conned'.
Using business names as 'usernames' in order to obtain free advertising at PPRuNe's expense is not permitted. That's so obvious that, on this forum at least, only one company has ever tried.
[Edit] I've just remembered, that should be two. How can I have forgotten a certain magazine publisher who took up so much of my time? Perhaps I am losin' the edge after all.
Advertising on PPRuNe does not protect advertisers from being criticised on the forums. If anyone want examples of that, pick an airline which advertises with us, and hit the 'search' button!
I can understand why you chose your 'username' Stevie.
Heliport - good answer, mate. Precise yet expansive all in one posting!
As I hope you realise, I wasn't really bothered about Roy's posting. In fact, the daft thing about the whole Yorkshire Schools posting is that the guys from MultiFlight and Heli-Jet all get on very well together, it was every other man and his dog who were leaping in for a pop!
Both Companies are in the envious position of being owned by people who make / have made their money from other ventures, so it doesnt really matter if we make money or not. David Hood of M-Flight made his money in the high-tech sector with Pace Micro Technology.and Mike from Heli-Jet got most of his from a series of Post Office blags in the West Country. Allegedly.
Most days we pilots just turn up, drink cofee and shoot the breeze. If any customers turn up, and if we can be bothered we go off for a bit of flying. Otherwise we shut shop about 2ish and head off down the pub.
Thanks Steve Thought I'd try to save time by answering the follow-up questions from others before they were asked. I've got to sleep some time. And before anyone gets any ideas, the other Mod is across the Atlantic, wide awake when I'm asleep.
BTW, Capt. Notarious, is that you in the blue and white MD600?
No it isn't. I have a Nimbus 2005 as used by Harry Potter. It's a top transport; will out run anything that could be conceived by Mick Laptop an all the other designers. Rumour has it, that the new DNA version; is standard kit for the mountain and arctic warfare cadre.
as my sign in! Had to change it.......But could have kept it on a banner ad ......
