On February 20, 2012 at 19:02, Jeff at Zektor said...
As a manufacturer and individual, I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of new friends and clients through a couple of the forums we participate in. I have always done my best to maintain a neutral stance.
Great way to go, i assume that continual canning of all imported competitors product is part of that Neutral stance. Nice work not identifying the brand being replaced as it allows you to lump all competition into the same basket.
In direct response by the Dr.'s post, given that 2nd Rick and White Van Lifestyle, both super members here on Remote Central, and neither of which currently do business with Zektor, have no issues with the post, I am a bit surprised that you do.
Jeff, although i choose not to reveal my alter ego, I can assure you that i have been around here for years longer than yourself, am well respected and have many times the number of posts that you do. I can't speak for 2nd rick or Whitevan but I'm guessing they would agree that it's an ad and that there are rules for ads even if they don't object to this particular one because it is yours and might let it slide.
Furthermore, we aren't advertising a $.99 cent sale. What this post clearly states is a real world example of how HDBaseT technology addressed and solved a problem in the field. More than one integrator here on the forum has spent hours of their own time dealing with one HDMI problem or another. CAT5 extenders are a VERY common product from many manufacturers and therefore a wide array of problems occur. The video depicted a product that solved a problem with newer technology. Yes, Michael did mention our name a number of times and it was shown on the video. He was beyond thrilled that finally his project was stable.
I think it's safe to say that we have all had our issues with HDMI particularly when sending over distance and all appreciate a product that works. But how would we feel if every time a manufacturer or distributor came up with a product that worked in a given situation, they came into the custom installers lounge and posted an infomercial about it. Think of all the brands out there and all the development that is constantly going on.
Additionally, this is an area of the forum where integrators and manufacturers alike will post examples of things that work, issues they are having in the field and what products might help address a problem. We were asked by our integrator and friend, Michael Hall at Whole House Digital, to provide a pair of extenders for his install that was having constant problems. If you chose to watch the video, you would see that our product did solve the problem.
I did watch the video and correct me if I'm wrong but that system had worked for some time with the previous devices before it failed. You have pretty much declared success and years of reliability the same day as you got the system going and before the equipment has had a chance to fail or adapt to changing conditions. After all we have all had occasions where we thought we had a problem beat but then had to go back out 2 weeks later due to the problem coming back.
If you consider that to be advertising for Zektor so be it.
Sorry, but i do.
More importantly IMHO, it shows an example of a newer technology that solved a problem which was our goal and yes, we get a little mileage out of it. Long before you became a member here, i also organized an HDBaseT webinar for the education of the members that wanted to understand the technology in better detail. I had the US representative for Valens Semiconductor, who owns the HDBaseT technology, present the technology of the product. Our logo was at the beginning and at the end. Not one person thought it was Zektor advertising although you might have. The feedback was great and everyone who attended learned what they needed.
I have no problem at all with you organizing a webinar to educate the masses on the technology, or in fact if you made people aware of it here as it was an alert to a new technologyand a chance for people to learn. It was not an outright sales tool to promote Zektor products in an inappropriate forum.
Again, this was for the purpose of helping introduce the TECHNOLOGY to the members here on RC and IP. Maybe the next time a problem arises in someone else's install involving standard HDMI extenders, they might consider using HDBaseT technology from us or their favorite vendor of choice.
Again i'm not objecting to introducing people to new technology and I'd have no problem with it if you weren't waving the Zektor flag and canning other products at the same time. If you don't think i'm being fair then perhaps you'd care to name the other US made equivalent (HDBaseT) products seeing as you canned all imported products purely for being imported.
As I have been a member here for over three years, I am well versed on how to manage our participation. If we were using this solely as an advertising medium without buying a banner, I'm sure we would have had our account deleted or flamed out by the members long ago. Especially, Founding Members, Super Members and Regular Members alike.
Very best regards,
Jeff Haynes
However you have dressed it up, this is clearly an ad for Zektor product and not just the technology.
I have absolutely no problem with you advertising your product in an appropriate way, but that way is not here in my opinion. Telling you this thread in this forum is ok, is the same as telling every manufacturer out there that this is the shortcut to making your product known if installers might use it.
