>>>>>We eagerly await your next ad for this grate event. Please let all of us guy's and gal's know.
>>>>
>>>>You don't like it?
>>>
>>>If you mean blatant marketing, which I thought was against the rules, no, I don't.
>>
>>I don't know if your "guy's and gal's" is intentional.
>>
>>I mean it should have been "guys", as you probably know. nonetheless that did'nt stop me from understanding what he meant. I just hope you feel good about your cheap shot. I'm not surprised by it but a little more disappointed by some guys over here.
>>
>>Based on that last action will you promote yourself as the official UT english language guardian? <bg>
>>
>>I can't wait to see you correct the Italians, Indians... that come over here and make errors from time to time.
>>
>>
>>As for your problem with marketing where would you see it. I mean it's the conferences & events section. If not here where else?
>
>You are correct, "guy's and gal's" was intentional. When Jean-Rene butchered a couple of phrases, that was enough to make me stop biting my tongue. The real issue was elsewhere.
>
>No, I do not like the blatant marketing and advertising here. Call me a dinosaur but back in the old days, on Compuserve, it was verboten. Really more of an unspoken rule that was respected by all. There were posts every day by the likes of Tom Rettig, Alan Griver, Alan Schwartz, Lisa Slater, Tamar Granor, Jim Booth, Whil Hentzen, Calvin Hsia (pre-Microsoft), Randy Brown (ditto), Drew Speedie, Steve Black, Andy Neil, Karen Higgins, Dan Freeman, on and on. Every one of them had a commercial interest in FoxPro in one way or another but there was no overt marketing.
>
>Were they not marketing in a sense? Of course they were. They demonstrated their expertise and fellow members bought their products or hired them as consultants. Still, there was a difference. 99% of their presence online was answering questions and hanging out with friends. Here on the UT it feels different. Craven commercialism is not discouraged (especially if you happen to be French-Canadian or a UT advertiser). There are some who actually have the Microsoft MVP distinction and don't answer a damn thing as far as I can see. They only show up here when they have a class or new release to sell. They are very capable developers, or so I hear. But just try to get a word out of them without the meter running.

Mike,

Ok, why are you offended by him marketing a FREE event?

When I want to know about conferences or events that are coming up this is where I come. I WANT to see thing like that here. You may not like it and if you don't feel free to scroll down the page, but please allow those of us who want to read posts like this read them. Unlike other sites that just announce the event will take place, here I get to see comments and discussion from people that have attended the same or similar event in the past.

I found out about DevTeach here and found that I can travel from Hawaii, attend a conference in Montreal, get FoxPro topics plus .Net and SQL topics for less than it costs to attended the DevCon in Las Vegas or Palm Springs. I found out about Southwest Fox here and am seriously trying to get there next year. I found out about the VFP -> .Net classes Kevin puts on and have attended that and have found extreme value in having someone orient .Net to me from a FoxPro perspective.

So, while most conferences do amount to money for the people that put them on it also amounts to a great learning opportunity and experience for those who attend. I don't look at it so much as them marketing their conference or event as I do them notifying me of a great learning opportunity. In this case especially since the event being "marketed" is absolutely FREE.

Finally, while I haven't sat down with him very long, I have been at the DevTeach conference for the past two years. From my experiences and brief interactions with him I believe Jean-Rene is an extremly nice person who works very hard to put on that event so that people like me can experience a great learning opportunity every year. If your comments were meant as sarcasm or to poke fun at him that was extremely uncalled for.

Aloha,

James