RE: [ProgSoc] The Progsoc Brick

[Peter Anthony Brownlow <roentgen@nospam.progsoc.uts.edu.au>]

I vote with alister - it's only a good spend if it does something more
than amuse us for more than a couple of minutes.

It's the principle of the thing. Someone told me their sceptical opinion
on progsoc.org once, the gist being that just being that the main argument
for it was the fact that it was 'cute,' and this wasn't a good enough
reason to use progsoc resources. 

The point is that despite arguments against its cuteness as a reason 
progsoc.org actually still DOES something more than 5 minutes after its
inauguration, while tfb will only collect pigeons and graffiti. There is a
chance that the odd progsoccer will see it and smile, or that the odd
tourist will see it and understand, but these are not good enough reasons
to spend money on it.

We do not need a brick to make us smile. That's what flames are for. Plus,
we will not see it very often. Who would bother to look at it more than
once? Especially if brick.jpg is available at much less effort.

A brick among many others, all with inane phrases on them (underneath the
pigeons and graffiti) would have to be the most ineffectual and least cost
effective form of advertising I have ever heard of! If anyone puts forth
the argument that tfb will be seen by none progsoccers, and this has some
value for the society, then I respond that if it's froody advertising you
want, $50 could be spent in much more effective ways. And tourists (even
if they are programmers) are not going to care about our 24 characters
anyway.

That's 2 of the main arguments down, 1 to go. "It's fun," remains.
Well, it IS fun.......but why spend progsoc funds on fun? OK,
calm down! Obviously, I'm not stupid enough to say that fun would be a bad
idea. It's just the quality of the fun for $50 that I'm questioning. Is a
brick really that amusing? More amusing than other things you can buy for
$50? Really?

If the the progsoc brick goes ahead, then I think that it has to be
because it's fun for us - none of this rubbish about other people seeing
it and being amused or motivated to check us out. And it's not a lot of
fun for us for fifty bucks. That's stretching it a bit.

Peter



On Tue, 23 May 2000, alister air wrote:

> 
> Firstly - sorry for the crosspost, but I wanted to get everyone and wasn't
> sure which list/s people are on.
> 
> So, your entire argument seems to consist of, "I like it".  Well fucking
> done... now I know why I voted for you.  I don't remember seeing the brick
> policy on your platform... seves me right for not reading it.
> 
> It may only be $50 (of our money) but it's still a waste of $50.  You
> could buy two cases of beer and at least the members would get the dubious
> pleasure of pissing it up against the wall.  But a brick, which will
> probably not even be making a point of any sort, benefits no-one... not
> even us.  You'd get better value for money in buying a Windows manual,
> because there's a slight possibility that one out of the few hundred
> members might actually read it.
> 
> Personally, a brick with www.progsoc.org written on it doesn't seem
> "fun" to me, and I'd hate to see the criteria by which you'd call it
> "worthwhile".  Unless you're hoping that come people who go to the
> Olympic Village are such nerds that they'd not only write down or
> otherwise record a web address, but then actually go and visit it
> afterwards.  And what exactly does that accomplish?
> 
> Alister
> 
> On Mon, 22 May 2000, Christian Kent wrote:
> 
> > 
> > 
> > On Mon, 22 May 2000, alister air wrote:
> > 
> > > If you're suggesting ProgSoc spend $50 on advertising at the Olympic
> > > Village then I'd wonder how you could be serious.  Progsoc.org was bad
> > > enough, but at least there is some sort of a point to it.  But a brick?
> > 
> > I understand your point of view;  I don't agree with it;  however more
> > importantly I think I see most members not agreeing with it.  This will
> > probably go ahead unless a really good reason turns up or people start
> > complaining a lot more than today.  FWIW I think it's fun and worthwhile.
> > 
> > CK.
> 
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-- 



Did you know: Prince John boasted that he only changed his sewn-on 
underwear when it rotted off his body?

Now even the most disgusting person you know is better than a prince.

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