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It wasn't my intent to create any response like it did and it wasn't personal.
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It may have not been your intent, but that is what you achieved..

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You suggested that VFP7 overall had that makes it worth it for someone to upgrade, but if a service pack added one property to the grid control, it would then be worth the upgrade. I strongly disagreed with that logic and still do.
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That is a bit of an over-simplification of what I said. My point was to make VFP 7 a more compelling upgrade. Clearly, there are customers who have not upgraded. I merely provided a suggestion. Whether you agree or disagree is not the issue. Saying that I undermine your efforts by making a suggestion, that OTOH, is an issue.

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If you make comments like that and suggest that new features be put in a service pack someday, there are some customers who may not upgrade to VFP 7 now and wait, only to find no new features in a service pack. That is what I meant by underminding the VFP marketing efforts.
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Suggestions for the product are made all of the time. And yet, my suggestions in this case seemed to be accorded more weight and influence. For the most part, I have kept silent about VFP 7. i.e., prior to the recent past of a few days, I had not made any comments regarding 7 or suggestions regarding the SP's and how to entice more people to upgrade. With this as a background, it is important to note that many people , for one reason or another, have not decided to upgrade. My comments have nothing to do that situation. Quite frankley, I don't think my comments have any weight with whether somebody will upgrade or not. i.e., I don't accord that much weight or influence with what I do. I am one developer on this forum and am entitled to my opinion, like everybody else. And yet, you hold me out as an example.

If you wanted me to place my opinions in check, hold back, whatever, you should have taken a page from your predecessor's notebook and sent me a private email. That was the proper way to handle this issue. Coming after me and engaging me in a debate on what SP's are/are not and accusing me of undermining the VFP marketing efforts was and is not the correct tact. For the record, I never said that 7 was a bad product. For the record, I never said people should not upgrade. I do believe that if somebody does not upgrade, there may be a rational basis for not upgrading. For the record, I merely made a suggestion on how to get more people to upgrade.

By engaging me and constantly defending your position, you ended up leaving all sorts of contradictory language out on the table. And yes, when you go the extra mile to say that I am undermining the product and the team's marketing efforts, I do take that personally in light of recent requests you have made of me to help with the product and past contributions I have made.

Ken, if the VFP marketing efforts are that suceptible to the comments of one developer in this community, I would suggest you craft a different strategy quickly. You are the VFP Product Manager. I think it is time you started acting like it. First, make your claim and take charge. If you have a policy statement you want to make, use the least amount of words as possible and don't stray off-topic. Second, don't get into the business of defending your position/policy. That is something your predecessor never did. Simply put, this is not a democracy. You and your team are in charge. If as a matter of policy going forward, SP's will only be for bug fixes, fine. Say that, only that, and move on. Don't come up here and state that SP's are only for bug fixes and leave it at that. Something like this would have been more appropropriate:

"John, while SP's in the past have introduced new features as well as bug fixes, as a team, we have decided that going forward, SP's will only address bug fixes. Of course, the line between what is a new feature and what is a bug fix at times can be a gray area. Therefore, we will give consideration to every suggestion made regarding how to improve the product."

That or something like it is all you had to say. I respect the job you have to do and your position. When you stray beyond that and get into territory where I am all of a sudden the bad guy for simply making a suggestion, that is when we run into problems. That is when you have crossed the line. Having a presense up here is good. The way you engage at times is another issue. For the record, I would never have made a public appeal for people to upgrade. That is what creates FUD. Saying that my efforts undermine the the team's marketing efforts, that creates FUD. Even if it were true, you don't say that in public. Rather, I would have reached out to the MVP's in a private arena to solicit help. I do see the MVP role as one who needs to both support and evangelize the product.


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I hope this clarifies my points and my intents. Keep in mind that sometimes your suggestions appear to read more like demands, while sometimes my replies seem more personal than they really are.
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And I hope this post clarifies my position. For the record, I am a customer and therefore, am entitled to make demands. As a marketing person, you need to respect that. In this case, I don't think I demanded anything. As for the personal comment, yes, while you may intend otherwise, your comments do at times have a personal tone to them...

It is time to put this issue to bed. As always, I stand ready to help you whenever and however I can. You have my support. Most importantly, you will get honest feedback from me. i.e., I am not one who is garnering/jocying for position by telling you what you want to hear and merely patting you on the back and giving you an atta boy. One thing you can count on is an unbiasd and objective opinion from me. I have no position to jocky for. I don't have standing with MS to lose by stating my opinion. You are doing good things. But in this case, you dropped the ball. You need to hear that from somebody on this side of the fence, a place you used to occupy. It is different on that side of the fense. I understand it will take you time to learn the ropes.

Let's move on...

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