As a moderator, I feel I can shed some light here.
Users are welcome to discuss their personal experience and share information. Of course! That's what the DIS is all about. but some companies have actively engaged in spamming the boards in the past and have been banned as a result. This means direct links and frequently the 'name' of the company has been entered in the DIS filters.
Personally, if you want to recommend particular agencies or people, I don't see the issue on the Canadian board. This person asked about a Canadian Disney specialist. Answering that question is fair game in my book...
Drag - I can't comment directly on the situations you raise, because I wasn't present for either of them. But on the face of it, speaking broadly, we do allow links directly to pretty much ANYWHERE on the official Disney site and I'm not aware of any prohibition on linking to WestJet vacation offerings. Both should be allowed unless there was a situation specific to the original thread(s) where they were posted that I'm not aware of in particular.
I don't think I'm speaking out of turn when I say that ALL the moderators on the DIS are human and sometimes we make genuine mistakes.. usually born out of a misunderstanding of the rules or guidelines. I know when I was a new moderator, I made a few 'woopsies'. It happens.
I personally apologize to you, on behalf of the DIS, if that has happened to you in the past.; whether it was me or someone else; I'm sorry.
For some more explanation, there are frequently links on the transportation board to airline and car rental discounts that users have found and are sharing with others. That's 100% ok. If "ALAMO" signed up for the DIS and started posting their weekly specials, that'd be something else entirely.
What is not allowed .. would be, if I were a
travel agent.. for me to respond..
"Hi, My name is Knox and I'm an agent at Pixie-Dust Magical Dream Getaways. We're Disney specialists located in Woodstock, New Brunswick. We've been business since Mickey was a baby mouse and you can reach me at
knox@pixiedustmagicaldreams.com"
And pretending to be a customer and self-promoting is also not allowed.
There are no blanket rules prohibiting the discussion of other companies other than the owners or sponsors. THAT does not happen. The simple fact that there are many threads and mentions of companies in direct competition to
Dreams Unlimited should prove this point.
This post quoted below from Webmaster Pete (owner of the DIS) covers a lot of the issues being discussed here and he says it WAY better than I can. Pete was discussing a situation on the transportation board here.. but it applies to the discussion here as well.
... it's not our policy to discuss why we ban certain individuals on the site. While I have the greatest respect for my visitors, I don't necessarily owe them an explanation when I ban someone for spamming my boards. I have VERY strict rules about advertising on the site - the vast majority of those rules apply to my corporate sponsors, and even to me. For example, coprporate sponsors are not permitted to start threads that promote their business - regardless of how much they are paying to be here. They can, however, respond to questions and provide information where appropriate, and they may include links to their business in their signature. This is clearly outlined for ALL corporate sponsors before they come on board. In fact, I recently had to advise one sponsor that if they continuted to post 'spam' on the boards, that I would remove them from the site. I put my money where my mouth is.
Another case in point - I own
Dreams Unlimited Travel. How often are you barraged with ads for that? How often do you see us posting on the boards that you should use Dreams? You don't. I'd fire anyone that works for me if I caught them doing it, and every one of them knows that.
These rules are in place for a very specific reason. I want the boards to be a place where real people can share real information - not a place for companies posing as visitors to come here and drum up business. That's not what these forums are for. Believe me, if I could afford it, I would remove EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF ADVERTISING FROM THIS SITE. But, since I can't - advertising is a necessary evil. I think our site has been leaps and bounds better than many others in terms of keeping the commercial end of things to a minimum wherever possible.
That's my .02
Pete
And since it was brought up - I can't speak for the other moderators, because I genuinely don't know who is and who isn't... but as the moderator of this board - I am not a Dreams Agent or a travel agent of any kind. I do the mod stuff on a 100% volunteer basis. My 'real job' is in radio station marketing and promotions.
Knox
