Anderton
filtersweep
Thanks so much for the huge contribution you have made to this forum. As a much younger man I wrote a blistering email to Steve Case when AOL eliminated the content that you provided on that site.
Ha! Here's the story behind that. My microsite was too successful. When AOL charged by the hour, I was the golden boy - got invited to a big corporate shindig, and received an award for community building. But when they went to a flat rate, the people in Sound, Studio, and Stage were spending too much time there and downloading too much stuff, thus costing AOL money. I was given the choice of either selling music gear online, or leaving...so I left.
As far as Gibson goes, I suspect you are too honest, as evidenced with your often very favorable opinions of competing products on this site, to be a true company man and being free of corporate bosses is probably best for a true educator such as you.
I have to set the record straight there. There was never any attempt by anyone at Gibson, most definitely including Henry, to muzzle me. I sometimes sent him emails and people would say "oh man, you're going to get fired for that" but Henry would reply with a thank-you note instead. He needed someone who didn't need the job and would speak his mind...I was that person.
As to HC, Henry felt that if it didn't have complete neutrality, it would lose why people went to it. He gave HC 100% editorial control, and that policy remains to this day. I believe that is the main reason HC was able to come back from the dead and thrive again. Ultimately, though, Gibson isn't a charity and has to make money to stay in business. If Harmony Central hadn't been successful, the outcome would probably have been different.
Thanks for the insight there. I always did kinda wonder what happened with AOL. And Steve Case never did write me back....hmmm
Its cool that Gibson gave you free reign and they should be respected for that. I didn't really think that they did not (let's face it, you might have started this thread a long time ago otherwise!) I only meant that you have worked for decades to achieve emeritus status in this niche industry and being identified with a specific entity might actually be better for them than it is for you. Again, best of luck and I hope you continue to chime in here!