"...contest there will not be allowed and would have never been had we even known."

Well, perhaps you personally had no knowledge, but as you're speaking for others by using "we," this is a claim that begs disbelief, unless you're actually saying that you folks have been ignoring the shop to a stunningly irresponsible extent, which I also don't believe, especially given the fact that this disrespectful action took at least one moderator by surprise. Member-sponsored contests have been openly discussed and promoted in the Poser forum for a long time, increasingly so during the past year. If it can be accurately claimed that all of the PTB were clueless, then where the heck have the PTB been? As others have already indicated, this business of member-sponsored contests supposedly disrupting normal operations is bizarre, to put it politely. To put it rudely, bullshit. The contests are good for the community, good for commerce, good for morale. If there was a legitimate reason why they needed to end, this was not the way to end them. How hard would it have been to make an announcement, set a deadline, and say "sorry, that's it, folks" ? Some people still would have complained, but at least there would have been some better sense of fairness and time to re-adjust expectations and understanding.

For me, the most poignent aspect of this entire thread is the fact that one of the sweetest, most considerate and gentle persons I've ever met here, someone whom I've never seen complain and who never has a harsh word for anyone is livid. For a person like that to be so offended should say a lot to anyone with a heart, or for that matter, a halfway decent sense of how good business is done.

Message edited on: 09/17/2004 02:21