Does SM listen to its customers?

Yes.

I filed a bug report on the issue of SSS, light emitters, and displacement maps causing artifacts in very larger renders in Poser Pro 2012.

There was considerable back and forth with a gentleman, as I explained and documented the issue in detail. I eventually sent him a copy of my PZ3. I understand that they succeeded in reproducing the problem. And in the next SR, the issue was not resolved completely but it was seriously diminished.

I certainly don't have any special contacts at SM. I'm just a customer, like most people who visit these forums.

IIRC there was, at one time, a strong call for a new male figure. We got Tyler. Was he a brand new mesh? No. But he is by light years the best Poser male to ever grace my runtimes. Nothing SM has ever created comes even close. Does he have limitations? Yes. And I regret to say that I was one of those who pointed them out when he was released. Mea culpa. Did he get support from the community? Well, a very few souls, bless them, tried very hard....

In retrospect, after taking a longish break from Poser, I am beginning to understand those who respond with dismay to criticisms (however valid they may be) of new figures. Such criticisms may not actually crush the soul of the figure's creators. But vendors have such a difficult time making money on what we think of as "guaranteed sellers." Any hint of a problem with a new figure may turn them off from supporting it....

I'm fairly sure I owe Vintorix (among others), with his unabashed enthusiasm for Dawn, an apology.

It's good to see SM getting solidly behind her. I wouldn't blame them, though, if they paid a little less attention to calls for them to create new standard-setting meshes themselves. For whatever reason, the community as a whole -- and I know I am guilty of this -- has not exactly greeted previous new arrivals with the gracious and thankful welcome they deserved.

TL;DR -- Dawn promoted by SM is good news, imo, and I'm glad to see it. Despite my initial reservations, the very fact that they did this has persuaded me to add her to my runtime family.

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PoserPro 2014, PS CS5.5 Ext, Nikon D300. Win 8, i7-4770 @ 3.4 GHz, AMD Radeon 8570, 12 GB RAM.