comapedrosa Posted July 13, 2006 Share #1 Posted July 13, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) I apologize if this has already been dealt with in the past, but I couldn't find the answer anywhere in this or the old forum. I did post the question earlier in a thread started by our dear moderator at the time of the transition, but it must have gotten lost during the migration. So here it is again: why did Leica kick us out? Thanks, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 13, 2006 Posted July 13, 2006 Hi comapedrosa, Take a look here Why the new forum?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
ptomsu Posted July 13, 2006 Share #2 Posted July 13, 2006 Unfortunately I must say there will be no answer, this is common behavior in the new forum :-(( Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
comapedrosa Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share #3 Posted July 13, 2006 ?????????? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_parker Posted July 13, 2006 Share #4 Posted July 13, 2006 I wrote to Leica on my own behalf, lamenting the loss of the old forum but received no reply from them whatsoever. Never mind, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
comapedrosa Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share #5 Posted July 13, 2006 Come on! Leica had the foresight and the luck of owning a very active forum populated by some of their most loyal customers. Even if we set aside the potentially good advice from forum members, the forum was a unique vehicle to get the temperature of the market, experiment and reinforce loyalty (as we all know, Leica lives off that loyalty from their ancient clients). It was also a very smart marketing trick: owning a Leica is forming part of a select club, an elite (bare with me, this is in terms of brand image and general perception). Accessing a dedicated forum with a very distinctive culture (courteous, informed, curious, what have you), very effectively and efficiently reinforces that image. Plus, any company would kill for a forum with such a high participation ratio and populated by 1) members that are way above the average income level 2) a fair amount of super users/experts and even professional. If all they had to do was to throw in a few servers and hire a webmaster… I just don’t get it. Or was it a legal matter? We've all gregariously migrated over. Couldn't anyone illuminate us now. Please? Leica? Godot? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 13, 2006 Share #6 Posted July 13, 2006 Leica could not see the benefit of having an open forum attached to their site. Only through the sterling work of Andreas, the moderator, over many months, did he persuade the powers that be that they should continue to fund the forum, but on a different basis to the way it was before. So, here we are... You will see a complete revamp of their entire corporate website some time soon, too. That's all history - onward to the future! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
george + Posted July 13, 2006 Share #7 Posted July 13, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) It seems that Schöne Aussichten is the appropriate German expression. Beautiful prospects. In my recollection it is not often used in a congratulatory manner. Ugh . . . . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted July 13, 2006 Share #8 Posted July 13, 2006 It seems that Schöne Aussichten is the appropriate German expression. Beautiful prospects. In my recollection it is not often used in a congratulatory manner. Ugh . . . . Where have you seen it used here, George? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
comapedrosa Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share #9 Posted July 13, 2006 Message received Andy. Thank you for enlightening me... still, from a business standpoint that decision was plain stupid. From now on it'll always be them and us. That's really too bad. And I guess we owe a big thank you to Andreas. Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
george + Posted July 13, 2006 Share #10 Posted July 13, 2006 Andy, where have I seen it used? In my post. And it was not complimentary either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted July 14, 2006 Share #11 Posted July 14, 2006 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
comapedrosa Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share #12 Posted July 14, 2006 what what? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hm1912 Posted July 14, 2006 Share #13 Posted July 14, 2006 Come on! Leica had the foresight and the luck of owning a very active forum populated by some of their most loyal customers. Even if we set aside the potentially good advice from forum members, the forum was a unique vehicle to get the temperature of the market, experiment and reinforce loyalty (as we all know, Leica lives off that loyalty from their ancient clients). It was also a very smart marketing trick: owning a Leica is forming part of a select club, an elite (bare with me, this is in terms of brand image and general perception). Accessing a dedicated forum with a very distinctive culture (courteous, informed, curious, what have you), very effectively and efficiently reinforces that image. Plus, any company would kill for a forum with such a high participation ratio and populated by 1) members that are way above the average income level 2) a fair amount of super users/experts and even professional. If all they had to do was to throw in a few servers and hire a webmaster… I just don’t get it. Or was it a legal matter? We've all gregariously migrated over. Couldn't anyone illuminate us now. Please? Leica? Godot? Wow, this is great! This is the closest I'll ever get to being a member of any high income bracket elite! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptomsu Posted July 14, 2006 Share #14 Posted July 14, 2006 I wrote to Leica on my own behalf, lamenting the loss of the old forum but received no reply from them whatsoever. Never mind,[/quote I did similar, their answer was they have currently no time for this. This is something I do not undersatnd: if they cannot make up time for this important tool, they should not build something new but better wait till they have time for it. Doing it this way finally damages the company more than leaving it as it was. I am sorry to say that there are obviously still some folks in Leica not aware how important marketing is. And such a forum can be one of the best marketing tools if handled accordingly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptomsu Posted July 14, 2006 Share #15 Posted July 14, 2006 Come on! Leica had the foresight and the luck of owning a very active forum populated by some of their most loyal customers. Even if we set aside the potentially good advice from forum members, the forum was a unique vehicle to get the temperature of the market, experiment and reinforce loyalty (as we all know, Leica lives off that loyalty from their ancient clients). It was also a very smart marketing trick: owning a Leica is forming part of a select club, an elite (bare with me, this is in terms of brand image and general perception). Accessing a dedicated forum with a very distinctive culture (courteous, informed, curious, what have you), very effectively and efficiently reinforces that image. Plus, any company would kill for a forum with such a high participation ratio and populated by 1) members that are way above the average income level 2) a fair amount of super users/experts and even professional. If all they had to do was to throw in a few servers and hire a webmaster… I just don’t get it. Or was it a legal matter? We've all gregariously migrated over. Couldn't anyone illuminate us now. Please? Leica? Godot? Just wait and it will come - usual story :-(( Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptomsu Posted July 14, 2006 Share #16 Posted July 14, 2006 While reading through this thread and some other similar ones I actually had the idea why not make members pay for their forum membership. This could be don in several ways: 1) Have just 1 membership and flat rate per year 2) Have several memberships like silvr, gold platinum where you can ask more and have more services. For example to post images it could need platinum membership. This would avoid lot of useless postings and make people more think about what they are doing. Other fora are alo asking for money, for example "The Nikonians" Just an idea Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hm1912 Posted July 14, 2006 Share #17 Posted July 14, 2006 While reading through this thread and some other similar ones I actually had the idea why not make members pay for their forum membership. This could be don in several ways: 1) Have just 1 membership and flat rate per year 2) Have several memberships like silvr, gold platinum where you can ask more and have more services. For example to post images it could need platinum membership. This would avoid lot of useless postings and make people more think about what they are doing. Other fora are alo asking for money, for example "The Nikonians" Just an idea Not an idea I would support, at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokysun Posted July 14, 2006 Share #18 Posted July 14, 2006 dear andreas, this new format a lot classier, easier to read, with more information. i too resisted at first. (didn't buy a computer for years.) but now i'm one of the converted. thanks for your hard work. wayne Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
comapedrosa Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share #19 Posted July 14, 2006 Hummm, I’m afraid that requiring payment would kill it once and for all. Photo.net accepts donations… why not. Wayne, I don’t care so much about the look&feel as I do about the stupidity of kicking the forum out of Leica's official umbrella and making it just another orphan chat. While before the forum was unequivocally the "Leica forum" and gave the tacit feeling to bring together the company and the aficionados, it now only is a group of people chatting about Leica or any other topic on their mind: it's us and them from now on. I got Andy's message to move on, and know that Andreas did all to fight the decision, but isn't there anything that can still be done to revert the decision? Why do I care so much... I'm not sure I know anymore. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted July 14, 2006 Share #20 Posted July 14, 2006 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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