I was very surprised to open my latest "private message" and find a Broadcast Message from Steve Brooks -- which turned out to be a "50% Off" advertisement for Aaron Smith's Magic Depot Internet website.

I know the Café' needs advertising revenue to exist. But there are already plenty of click-on ads for those who want to view and patronize them, and they aren't all that intrusive. An ad sent by the Broadcast Message function is intrusive, in my view. The Broadcast Message function should be used to send out messages, not advertisements. When used for the latter purpose, it's nothing more than a SPAM generator, in my opinion.

Mr. Smith is a good businessman and runs a great website. Let him pay the going rate and advertise on the Café' like any other business. But leave the Broadcast Messages for real messages. SETH

Well, if your Café membership was a paid one, I think you would have more of a reason to take issue with this. Right now, it's Steve's site and he offers the use of it to us for free. If a PM with notice of a sale pops up in my inbox every now and then, I think that is a small price to pay for the use of this website.

Danny, you beat me. If I have to get 20 PM's everyday that are ads, I'll take them and keep the Café free! (Of course I think a small yearly fee wouldn't be too much to take either, but I know Steve is against it.)

Dave

Remember, too, members can delete broadcast messages with a single click ...

sethb said; "An ad sent by the Broadcast Message function is intrusive, in my view. The Broadcast Message function should be used to send out messages, not advertisements. When used for the latter purpose, it's nothing more than a SPAM generator, in my opinion"

Sethb, I'm sorry that the broadcast message I sent out a few hours ago was a an inconvenience for you. Most folks would simply use the delete function which we provide for those who wish to get rid of such messages.
However, it should be noted that our Café rules and etiquette clearly discuss the occurrence of such messages. In case you missed that paragraph, I'll post it here:

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SPECIAL NOTE: Occasionally members may receive announcements or special offers via private message from The Magic Café and its sponsors, or The Magic Bakery regarding magical products or events which we feel may be of interest to our magical members. This is a small price to pay for free access to such a great resource such as The Magic Café. Besides, if the message does not interest you, delete it.
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Since each member of our Café community agrees to follow our rules and policies upon joining our magical community, I am surprised that receiving such a private message would come as a surprise to any of our membership.

sethb said; "Mr. Smith is a good businessman and runs a great website. Let him pay the going rate and advertise on the Café' like any other business"

As a matter of fact, Aaron Smith IS one of our Café sponsors.

I appreciate you bringing this issue to my attention and I sincerely hope that you now have a better understanding of the situation.