The Big Three!

[Dan Clermont]

For the record, I am the one who administers the random drawing for the monthly winner and I'd be glad to take bribes   Congrats on the win, Charles!

Hey Shane I sent you a PM!!! I just need you address so I know where to ship Canadian Back Bacon and Beer Eh!!! ;D

Dan Clermont

 

[thewoodwhisperer]

Well, lol, thanks for the warm (and cold) welcomes.  Just to be completely up front, I saw all the talk recently concerning the FOG contests as well as my own contests.  I figured the timing would be good to announce the latest giveaway since it involves a newly released tool.  Given the fact that this is the Festool Owners Group, I assumed many of you would like to know about an opportunity for a free tool.  Also, I emailed Matt and asked for "permission" to post the notice, since I am not a frequent contributor.  I also told Mat that I regret the fact that I haven't participated much here.  But every time I read posts here I always walk away with a very positive feeling.  I suppose its the common bond of Festool ownership.  As you know, in other forums, bringing up Festool can rally up just as many negative comments as positive.  This forum, however, seems like the only place for free exchange of Festool stories, ideas, modifications, and "inside information".  For that alone, it is one of my favorite forums to lurk in, although I don't post or read nearly as often as I would like.  In fact, my total forum participation has decreased lately simply because of time constraints.  If there is one forum I would like to make more time for, it is this one.  But with the amount of content I produce on a weekly basis, its very difficult to do more than just lurk.

And of course there is a degree of "promotion" here.  The free giveaways are sponsored directly by Festool and are meant to promote the Festool brand as well as the Wood Whisperer brand.  I thought that was pretty obvious and I wasn't trying to fool anyone.  But given the fact that the contest is free and my content is free, I didn't expect it to ruffle feathers. 

Hopefully those of you who doubt my intentions will get to know me over time and realize what I am about.  I am pretty much an open book as far as my business is concerned so if anyone has questions, feel free to email me. 

 

[sw1211]

Your site is very informative and I enjoy using it.  The only reason I wish you hadn't posted here is because I'm sure my odds of winning your contest will now decrease.      You even had to go and post a direct link making it easier for everyone to enter.  ;D  Thanks for your efforts and keep up the good work.

 

[billybokay]

Marc, congratulations on learning (if you havent already) one of lifes most important lessons.  "No good deed goes unpunished".
My wife hates that expression because she does not want to believe it is true. But is most certainly is.
You grace us with your presence, add to our forum and offer a chance to win something for nothing and then you take crap for it.
Also Congratulations on a great web site. I am a fan.

 

[joraft]

You grace us with your presence, add to our forum and offer a chance to win something for nothing and then you take crap for it.

... I am a fan.

Billy, surely you realize that not everyone can possibly share your perspective on this. Until today I never heard of  Marc J. Spagnuolo, so I don't feel particularly feel graced by his presence (no offense intended to Mr. Spagnuolo). And since his very first post here appears to have added nothing to this forum than a shameless plug for his own website, I think some degree of skepticism (or what you call crap) from some of the members here is warranted and not unfair.

Now if he his true to his word and actually contributes to this forum on a regular basis, I'm sure he'll eventually earn all the respect and accolades he seems to be asking for in advance.

Maybe someday ALL of us can be fans. 

John

 

[billybokay]

I kindly ask you to go to his website, pick about 5 of his podcasts to watch, and then get back to me on your opinion.
Bet you won't just watch 5.

 

[Per Swenson]

Hello all,

I begrudge no one their attempts at success.

Marc's product is unique, informative, and welcome in the off times

mysterious and stodgy world of woodworking.

(Stodgy-I picked that up from the Brits)

Any way, I say this due to this present economy crushing our business.

We may need to get a new gig.

You can't beat funny and ugly with a dash of tourettes combined with power tools.

Competition, its a wonderful thing.

On the other hand, if you need something built in the NY metro area,

we are listening. ;D

PS

Anybody here sez "Don't quit your day Job" I have news...

Its feet up in the bird cage of life.

Thank you. We will be here all week. Try the Veal.

Per

 

[rjfarel]

Welcome Marc. 

If you want to post, then post.  If you don't want to post, then don't post.  Your past vids are great, and this latest one is no exception.  I'm glad to see you in FOG.

My feathers were ruffled only because I never win the tool! 

 

[joraft]

I kindly ask you to go to his website, pick about 5 of his podcasts to watch, and then get back to me on your opinion.

Billy, I'll do that. However, while it may even turn me into a fan of Mr. Spagnuolo, I don't see how it can change my opinion of his first post here.

We've all seen it dozens of times on the Net, people trolling the more popular sites trying to drive more traffic to their own. And I thought it was unfair of you to criticize the members here who gave such behavior a cool welcome. It's obvious that you are "star-struck" over Mr. Spagnuolo, but that doesn't mean everyone must feel the same way you do.

I don't contribute much here, because I don't know that much. But, I do come here almost daily to read the posts of the more experienced guys who come here regularly to share information and help others, and for absolutely no personal gain. In my opinion, those are the guys really who deserve to have fans. And I'm their biggest.

John

 

[HowardH]

Not that I need to defend Marc or anything but I have corresponded with him many times and he has a wealth of knowledge that we amateurs will find very helpful.  He's a good guy with a good sense of humor and I enjoy his podcasts.  So for those of you who either have way to much time on your hands or some other bee in your bonnet, let us live and let live.  Life is too short to be critical of someone who has useful knowledge to share and is willing to do so.  We should be thankful for anyone who shares our passion for woodworking who wants to post here and without criticism of how often they decide to partipate. 

 

[Ned]

I don't feel very strongly about Marc's post one way or the other.

Is he pointing us to his own website, where there is Festool content, not just an order form?  Yes.

How does this differ from, say, Brice's site?  Marc's got ads, but I know they're ads.  Otherwise, it seems to me the two cases are the same.  I'm better off knowing about both sites. 

If Timmy had the Tale of the Table only on his site, and posted on FOG that it was there, where's the harm?

I'd much rather have Marc openly promoting his own site than have him secretly promoting it because FOG's touchy about that sort of thing.

Thanks, Marc, for the link.  And welcome to FOG.

Ned

 

[Roland Chung]

I've visited Marc's website on numerous occasions.  I think that his videos help promote woodworking in general.  They help reduce the intimidation factor for various projects and techniques.  I've also noticed that there is a direct link on his website directing his visitors to FOG.  Maybe he picks up a few sales from members checking out this particular thread-maybe he loses a few sales by linking to a forum where there are many other Festool Dealers.

All in all, I think that you could enjoy visiting his site even if you were not contemplating a Festool purchase :-*

 

[joraft]

...  So for those of you who either have way to much time on your hands or some other bee in your bonnet, let us live and let live. 

Few of us have too much time, but I will cop to the "bee in the bonnet thing" (or at least a bug up somewhere else   ).

Too many years in forums have made me somewhat sensitive to this kind of post. One guy does it and no one seems to mind, so a bunch others drop in to do the same thing. Pretty soon we're wading through a sea of promo posts to get to the good stuff. And once it starts it's hard to stop.

But the majority here don't seem to be worried, so I'll just remain silent about it ... and hope for the best.

John

 

[Ned]

Too many years in forums have made me somewhat sensitive to this kind of post.

John--

I can see how that experience would make your detector more sensitive.

We just haven't had a problem here with that sort of thing.  If you don't count Marc's post--I don't--we've had:

1.  A UK dealer who was moved to the right forum as soon as asked.

2.  A woman trying to market her husband's invention.  Seemed like an innocent mistake and not annoying, IMO.

3.  I think someone announced that he was a dealer in some Central European country.  If he was in the wrong place--I don't recall-- he was moved quickly to the right place..

4.  TCH, vendor of hardware and supplies for shipping cases and such.  Again, off they went to the Sales Zone when asked.  Several of us here had already mentioned them and are interested in their hard-to-find products.

I can't remember any others.

I think we've been lucky because of the narrowness of the forum's topic.  Or maybe we've just been lucky.

Ned

 

[joraft]

I think we've been lucky because of the narrowness of the forum's topic.  Or maybe we've just been lucky.

Maybe it's not luck at all, Ned.

It could be due to the higher caliber of person attracted to (or is that entrapped by?) the world of Festool.

In any event, let's hope it continues.

John

 

[Frank Pellow]

You grace us with your presence, add to our forum and offer a chance to win something for nothing and then you take crap for it.

... I am a fan.

Billy, surely you realize that not everyone can possibly share your perspective on this. Until today I never heard of  Marc J. Spagnuolo, so I don't feel particularly feel graced by his presence (no offense intended to Mr. Spagnuolo). And since his very first post here appears to have added nothing to this forum than a shameless plug for his own website, I think some degree of skepticism (or what you call crap) from some of the members here is warranted and not unfair.

Now if he his true to his word and actually contributes to this forum on a regular basis, I'm sure he'll eventually earn all the respect and accolades he seems to be asking for in advance.

Maybe someday ALL of us can be fans. 

John

John, have you visited Marc's web site and looked at some of his demos?  If you have done so, I have no idea how you can possibly say that Marc has not made a contribution. 

Marc, in my opinion, you have made a considerable contribution to FOG by pointing out the wealth of Festool information available at your web site.

 

[joraft]

John, have you visited Marc's web site and looked at some of his demos?  If you have done so, I have no idea how you can possibly say that Marc has not made a contribution. 

Yes I have, Frank, for the first time today. And yes, I did like what I saw.

You may see Marc's occasional dropping in here to post a link to his site as adding value to this forum, but I see it mostly meant as an attempt to add value to HIS site. If we should actually start seeing him here on a regular basis, my opinion on that will certainly change. Until then, I guess we'll just have to disagree on this.

I promised not to complain about this anymore, and that's not my intent in this post. I just wanted to make sure you understand my point of view (for what IT'S worth).

John

 

[ewils91]

Thanks Marc,
This is the first time I've seen one of you videos. Very well done I enjoyed it very much, thank you again for putting this together.
Eddy Wilson

 

[Dan Clermont]

I think Marc can add allot to this forum. He has plenty of experience, good humour, knows how to relay information and a pretty cool all round guy (never met him but he seems pretty laid back)

If his posts are gong to be self promoting then maybe he should be in the dealer section or something like that or his name appears in a specific colour so we people know.

Really though, this forum would benefit from pro's like him and people who play with the tools everyday

Cheers
Dan Clermont

 

[John Stevens]

Really though, this forum would benefit from pro's like him and people who play with the tools everyday

No doubt, but this brings us back to the point of my earlier post--I've seen the extent of Marc's participation on SMC, so don't hold your breath waiting for him to contribute to the discussions on this site (other than promoting his site, which is one type of contribution).  This isn't a criticism of Marc--I'm just saying "let's be realistic" about what & when we can expect to hear from him in the future.  As he said, he'd like to make time to do more than lurk here, but he's got a business to run.

Regards,

John