Potential New Feature: Industry News Source

I think that funneling breaking news through one party would be the best arrangement. With the number of rumors and incorrect information that sometimes gets spread, it would be nice to have someone monitor and verify breaking news…..

I agree with John here, it would be better for one person to verify the reliability of any info on “new” blends and such.
On a personal note, I find this website to be very informative and it looks like it is going in the right direction. Keep up the great work, I know it can be daunting to keep something like this up, but it is well worth it in the end. Kudos for you for undertaking such a thing that is sorely missing from the web.

I concur w/John. Funneling info through you as a single point of contact will cut down on the rumors, disputes, etc.

I also think your list of suggestions for content is right on:

“…focus…on new tobacco releases, pipe brands, blends that are going to stop production and the like…smoking-related legislation, store openings, sales at retailers, personnel changes, etc.”

I’d include all of the above.

I agree with all of the above:

Have the stuff go thru one or two people to keep track of the junk, and on the various topics listed by the folks above. Just how the topics are arranged could be discussed further.

– Doug Pearson

I’ll second nearly all of the previous comments except for one: Rather than include “pipe brand” information, my personal preference — though not one that’s set in stone — would be for the news to be exclusively pipe-tobacco related. So if something weren’t directly related to pipe tobacco specifically (for example, an upcoming trunk show, some pipemaker’s limited-edition Christmas pipe, pending smoking-related legislation), I’d suggest leaving it out.

I’d like to see regular announcements of pipe shows / pipe conventions, promotional events etc. (Paid ads???) I’m not sure how common these events are because I don’t have a source that lists them - if one even exists. Here’s a prime example. A while back, I noticed a certain pipe dealer in the US invited Erik Nording to a pipe show they had and he came in person to talk pipes and sign them if desired. Now that would be rare treat, but of course, I found the news release by sheer luck and several months too late:(

Thanks,

Ethan “Glorfindel” Dickey

As we are all probably aware with dealings in other forums if the breaking news setup is designed in such a way that anyone can post anything and anyone can comment then the forum tends to spiral into petty bickering and grandstanding and many of the posts come with a hidden agenda by authors with too much self interest in mind.

I think in order to keep this site credible and respected as the source for pipe and tobacco news that the information submitted should be screened for validity by someone or some people before it is posted.

Unfortunately this means a bit of extra work for someone and as the site grows and more information is submitted that work load will grow larger and larger. And legitimate breaking news must be posted as quick as possible in order to maintain the sites reputation as the premier source for pipe and tobacco information.

I vote for a Digg style submission system. That would require no immediate oversight from any one person. It’s easy to say “sit around and filter these submissions all day long” but that’s not practical. The submitted pieces could be easily tagged into relevant categories with comments from members. Statistics could be added later as well based on group activity.

Ditto to all of the above. I firmly beleive that it would provide invaluable information. It could only make a really great blog even better.
This is already a class act. Keep up the great work.

Ditto on the Digg style submission. The door of access swings both ways. The social democracy in this Web 2.0 environment will quickly police itself. I’m not excited about ’screening for validity’. How valid is a personal review of tobacco?

There are more than a few reviewers that have popped in here writing a review after the first few puffs of a pipe full and bombing not only the blend but the audacity of the company that makes it. They eventually simmer down.

Others wait until they’ve smoked the tin. Someone else smokes highly flavored blends and bombs a natural VA, and vice versa. They eventually figure it out and if they stick around realize that this isn’t Huffington Post … it’s predominately very good natured folks very happy for this little corner to meet and compare notes on pipe tobacco. Quite a civilized friendly place. I’m always grateful for this resource. It could only get better with more information - and if it isn’t? - <<>> - our most unselfish Webmaster is the final authority.