Same Person, new name

[Prōdigium]

For the past decade+ everyone has known me as "Calibrated"...and I liked the name, however it is associated to a business that I no longer operate and the time has come to relinquish it to a bygone era where I was a distributor and competitor to many distributors in the industry. I am sad to see it go, but one needs to let go of the past to make room for the future....and what a future it will be.

I am pleased now to introduce myself (again) under a new name, one that again reflects my business, which is soon to launch called Prōdigium.

Prōdigium n ‎(genitive prōdigiī); Latin, late 15c., Meaning "sign, portent, something extraordinary from which omens are drawn,"prophetic sign, omen.

Since the exact details of my new business are not ready for prime time, I will leave it on that note. Suffice it to say, NO I will not be a distributor however I will soon be playing a big roll in the distribution business assuming the products and services I offer are well received...and I do expect they will be.

[Colin]

Lance:

The pop up add under this announcement was for Alibaba....  The world is now a smaller place

[Prōdigium]

Lance:

The pop up add under this announcement was for Alibaba....  The world is now a smaller place

If you had not posted that, I would have never known. I use AdBlock Plus in Firefox so I don't see the ads on virtually every website.

But its interesting that a Chinese company would have an ad next to my posting...although technically my new company is Hong Kong based, legally that's not Chinese...and to be honest its not one company as I have listed holdings or licenses in the US, Canada and England.

But yes, the world is quickly becoming a smaller place...although for most business' its hard to reach beyond a small region.

[Frog]

Of course, Ad Block makes it a little tougher for members to support the sponsors who make this place possible.

[Prōdigium]

Of course, Ad Block makes it a little tougher for members to support the sponsors who make this place possible.

I guess that depends on how you charge for your ad space. If you sell space on a flat fee per month, or a per click charge it would not make any difference because whether I can see the ad or not changes nothing about your "rental fee" and I never click on ad links anyway.

For me, its about improving my internet speeds. I have to use a VPN most of the time I am on the internet because of Chinese censorship systems and bandwidth becomes an issue, and wasting it on serving ads that I do not want to see makes my VPN slower. Sorry, but that's the reality of the internet were I am. Its also a safety issue as Flash ads have major security issues and even big companies like Yahoo have been victims to these attacks....especially on a mobile device.

There are of course ways to monetize your website that make it impossible for ad blockers to remove, and could potentially generate much more income than just some banner ads....but it would require that you have a administrator/developer who knows how to edit your base code...I am not so sure you have such a person on staff?

[1964GN]

I guess that depends on how you charge for your ad space. If you sell space on a flat fee per month, or a per click charge it would not make any difference because whether I can see the ad or not changes nothing about your "rental fee" and I never click on ad links anyway.

I respectfully disagree. Just because you don't click on the ad doesn't mean others won't. Advertisers not only want there ad to be visible to as many eyeballs as possible, they also want clicks. Ask me how I know

[Prōdigium]

I respectfully disagree. Just because you don't click on the ad doesn't mean others won't. Advertisers not only want there ad to be visible to as many eyeballs as possible, they also want clicks. Ask me how I know

My comments were not about what advertisers want...it was about what I DON'T want. I am sure several members here have ads and that is great, no need to ask why. In fact there may come a time when I will consider ad space here? As mentioned, I use a VPN service and in order to enjoy the internet at what I consider acceptable speeds I must use such tools, techniques. I don't have the luxury of the 250Mbps connection I had when I lived in the US. Here I am lucky to get 50Mbps on a good day.

If it was Andy's & Dan's intention to monetize the site and generate meaningful ad revenues than there are much vastly superior ways than the Ad-Pro module, which only tracks CTR's (clicks). But in order to see what everyone else see's I turned it off and browsed around for awhile.

You need to understand there are two user groups here, for the smaller group like myself there is nothing I would ever buy from these ads, like Adobe Cloud Photography or Hane's shirts. I am the type of business that BUYS the ad space for the other 95% to see what I am offering.

[Gilligan]

I get it on both ends.

What he's saying is for HIM, he won't be clicking the ads anyway.  That's the same way I am... The ads are just noise because I'll never click them.  They aren't designed for me, I'm not the kind of guy that sees an ad and says, "oh, I think I might need that!"  I understand some ppl are and that's great, but that's not me and I guess he's saying that isn't him either.

The closest those ads get to catching me is, I'm interested in Fresners seperations class, but I want to do it in Arizona not Kentuky.  He is not sure if he will do one in AZ again though.  So when I saw his ad, I glanced to see the location.  The thing is, if it had said AZ I wouldn't have clicked on it, I'm not in a position to make that decision right now.  I'd have gone directly to his site later and looked at the info.

But it's a product I already want, I'm just looking for the right variables to make it happen.

[Frog]

I think that much more discussion on ads on The Shirt Board belongs in the Forum Issues section, and I take blame for my part in the direction that Lance's re-introduction thread took.
However, I will mention my thought that I don't believe that as far as forums and their ads in general go that too many find The Shirt Board's banners very obtrusive. We have always been mindful of the potential clutter and overwhelming aspect of utilizing all of the real estate available. That said, we not only have bills to pay, but we (like Lance and the rest of you) are even trying to make a little money.

[Gilligan]

Yeah, the ads here don't bother me at all.

[Prōdigium]

I think that much more discussion on ads on The Shirt Board belongs in the Forum Issues section, and I take blame for my part in the direction that Lance's re-introduction thread took.
However, I will mention my thought that I don't believe that as far as forums and their ads in general go that too many find The Shirt Board's banners very obtrusive. We have always been mindful of the potential clutter and overwhelming aspect of utilizing all of the real estate available. That said, we not only have bills to pay, but we (like Lance and the rest of you) are even trying to make a little money.

Well, to be honest when I turned off my ad blocker to take a look at the ads, I did see one that caught my interest...but not because I wanted its services but because I knew that clicking it would make you some money....so every time I come to the forums I will click on it when I am logging off.

And your right Andy, they are not in your face obtrusive. But its hard to believe they can generate much money...but who knows except you.

[Frog]

And your right Andy, they are not in your face obtrusive. But its hard to believe they can generate much money...but who knows except you.

Our Banner Ad prices are very reasonable and a great fit for the right sponsors. (Who also get to financially help this resource,which of course, is the definition of "sponsor")
And, of course, even a few hundred dollars come in handy when it's time to pay for hosting or needed upgrades (or when baby needs a new pair of shoes)

[jvanick]

Our Banner Ad prices are very reasonable and a great fit for the right sponsors. (Who also get to financially help this resource,which of course, is the definition of "sponsor")

except when it wasn't .. I enabled adblock on theshirtboard when some of the banner ads started playing sounds.

I believe that locally sourced ads now play, but anything out on the 'google/doubleclick.com' ad network still gets blocked.