An Honest Invitation

[chrisbraven]

Hey Folks.

 

My name is chrisbraven.  I am a huge Raven fan.  I have a slight dilemma that I can't really figure out and need your help.

 

See, I want to post on this board.  Of all the boards in the world, this is the one place that I should call home.  But I keep running into roadblocks.  See, I run a tiny little blogsite.  I try to post interesting columns that I write, with pics and video and football insight.  And then I publicize it.  The other day, I got RT by Asa Jackson.  Problem is, I cannot publicize it here the same way, which I respect, but I don't really know how to do it the right way.

 

I get NO money from this.  This is out of pure love for the Ravens.  Today, I have posted a video "Press Conference" that is a response to all the media chastisement towards the Ravens.  If you go to my board profile, there will be a link to it.  Yet, I am wary that this invite will be frowned upon, like all of my other posts seem to be.  My last topic was locked with no explanation.  

 

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?  Or how to be able to visit this board and invite people to share in my blog?  I know that we understand that this is not the only Ravens board on the 'Net.  But we all have the common denominator of loving the Ravens.  I am not a troll.  Check my site or my posts on the Sun forum and you'll find this to be true.  I love the Ravens and affect everyone around me for them.  This weekend, my church is having a Men's Ministry BBQ centered around the Panthers game (I live in  NC).  I have been asked to wear my Ravens cape and mask and to bring the noise, as a spark plug to keep things live.  They asked me to represent the Ravens like I always do.  This is who I am.  Not some self-serving quasi-hacker trolling to make a pittance.

 

Your feedback would be appreciated.

 

GO RAVENS!

Braven

[RobFuseRaven]

In the Board Rules, it states "6. No selling tickets, merchandise, memorabilia or anything else. And no spamming, advertising or campaigning either." You simply can't advertise. It doesn't matter if you are making money off of it or not.

[chrisbraven]

In the Board Rules, it states "6. No selling tickets, merchandise, memorabilia or anything else. And no spamming, advertising or campaigning either." You simply can't advertise. It doesn't matter if you are making money off of it or not.

Thank you Rob. But don't you think that inherent in this context of advertising is some sort of sale or even non-Raven focus?  Are we discouraging Raven fans from branching out and doing their own thing to show their love for the purple and black?  It just seems claustrophobic to say, "You can, but you cannot tell anyone on this board about your blog that talks Raven talk."  I mean, is that the spirit of this thing?  Would Kevin Byrne agree?

 

My tone is not cynical, it is wanting true dialogue.

 

Braven

[berad]

These forums aren't meant to be used as advertising space for blogs/sites/articles and we cannot determine what is for profit and what is not - as a blanket statement we do not allow advertising outside sites.

[RobFuseRaven]

Thank you Rob. But don't you think that inherent in this context of advertising is some sort of sale or even non-Raven focus?  Are we discouraging Raven fans from branching out and doing their own thing to show their love for the purple and black?  It just seems claustrophobic to say, "You can, but you cannot tell anyone on this board about your blog that talks Raven talk."  I mean, is that the spirit of this thing?  Would Kevin Byrne agree?

 

My tone is not cynical, it is wanting true dialogue.

 

Braven

 

I hear ya, but most forums pretty much are against advertising of any kind. I use to mod another forum that was the exact same way. I manage a couple people's Twitter accounts that they use for advertising their music, and I've found that Twitter can be a huge platform for free advertisement. Follow and talk to a lot of people that are interested in the Ravens and the NFL in general and a lot of people will follow you back. You can easily get noticed that way. Facebook and Tumblr are great for that too.

[Moderator 3]

You are more than welcome to participate in our discussions on this site. You are not welcome to use our site to direct traffic to your own. It's pretty simple.

[chrisbraven]

@RobFuseRaven: Ok, thanks for the advice.  I will try it.  I already have a twitter account and haven't really tried to actively engage a lot of people so I will.

 

I do tend to think that if Kevin Byrne was approached, he would say that these boards could be for Ravens fans to link to other Ravens fans places.  The more Ravens talk and community, the better.  Articles are mentioned all the time, are they not?  Like, "This morning, I read in the Sun that Pierce is back...."  

 

@Berad: Ok.  Hey, is a simple gauge of monetizing not advertisement links and banners?  My site has none.  But again, is the thought that a Ravens fan who draws attention to the Ravens with cool articles and good insight, should not make money off of his work?  Is that not what the news outlets do? But isn't it far more pure when a simple fan does it?

 

Not trying to be a jerk.  Thanks for the dialogue.

 

Braven

[chrisbraven]

You are more than welcome to participate in our discussions on this site. You are not welcome to use our site to direct traffic to your own. It's pretty simple.

OK, but I also cannot have links in my signature, right?  Even if I was participating in the conversations ad infinitum, and saying nothing about my site, you were the one who rather bluntly told me back in February that I can't have anything anywhere (link-wise) except for in my profile.

[Moderator 3]

If we allowed that, then every semi-literate blog writer would be here pushing their material. Our rules are clear and the answer is "no". Rest assured that if your blog is good, someone else will find it and post it here.

[chrisbraven]

If we allowed that, then every semi-literate blog writer would be here pushing their material. Our rules are clear and the answer is "no". Rest assured that if your blog is good, someone else will find it and post it here.

HOW if it is "ILLEGAL"?!?!  By the way, the semi-literate folks won't keep their blog up.  It's a lot of work.