To All:

"Eric L. Mings Ph.D." wrote:
...Dan has made it clear to me that as long as I am still going 
"the commercial route with letterboxing" I would not fit in here.

Well, this is a tad inaccurate.  It is the commercial stuff that
does not fit here.  Eric, the person is as welcome as anybody.
At least that's what I meant by whatever I told him.

I don't think it is difficult to see that this is a non-commercial,
non-profit site.  Using this talk list to plug ILC which itself
is a commercial site is the same as a commercial.  I doubt
that there is one person who wants that.  The core group of
people that make up this talk list were very negative to
commercialization last October when we separated from ILC.

It was a truly defining moment for us as a group!

I was hurt and disappointed when I saw Eric's post because I
realized that he is still intent on making money on this.  That's
not what its about IMO.  I think he's missing it.

You who are here are here for one basic reason:  Letterboxing.
The creative juices among you go to making letterboxing
better.  And you are a diverse group.  Some of you do
stamp art, some do graphics, some do web design, some
do maps (esp. me).  We all make contributions one way or
another.  And some of you listen and wait and that's OK too
since we're not in much of a hurry (except for the 50 by Y2K
crowd and that's OK too).

Eric, I'll say this again:  You are welcome, but to make contributions
and suggestions: in general to contribute to the hobby and to get on
track with the other people here, not to do commercials for ILC.
ILC is your business, but letterboxing for us is a fun time away from
our businesses.  Its no fun being required to talk about dues, clues
access, databases, promotions, etc...  These are meant to do one
thing: make money.

A database would be nice for other reasons, and eventually we will
have one.  But I can promise you something:  It will not be used
for demographics or mailing out bills or promotions for selling stuff.
This organization is strictly non-profit and it will not be used for
commercial reasons.

So, again, I just want to point out (mainly to list members) I did not
give Eric the boot from our talk list.  I did not even ask him to leave.
I merely asked him to not use the list to promote ILC or his talk
list as long as they continue to serve commercial purposes.

If Eric wants to join in the fun he will be welcomed by me and I hope
everyone else.

But this is something to bear in mind:  Its been my experience that the
commercial side of anything is no fun.  I don't think it was meant to be
fun.  ILC is a business (at least it is today as we speak), and its proprietor,
Eric Mings is a business man.  Its possiblt that may change.  But for now
that's the way it is.

So for that reason, and the fact that we are here to have fun and not
to argue the finer points of ILC's vision, (which is admittedly strictly
a commercial one), then I think we should let the recent discussion with
Dr. Mings confirm for us what we started with in October: a strictly
commercial-free, bunch of fun-seekers intent on creating letterboxing
fun for ourselves and anyone else who is interested.

Sincerely,
Daniel