There are some things being written about me that are, to my mind, designed to be hurtful and misleading. It is being said that I haven't marketed the Platinum Hat or the company effectively, instead wasting paid company time on the BBS.

I want to set the record straight on this.

I am primarily a volunteer. As a volunteer I must inform you that I do FAR more than just patrol the BBS. Thanks to your cooperation, my time here has not been needed as it was nearly five years ago. The flame wars are nearly non-existent, personal attacks are basically a thing of the past, and the worst I may see is a few stray feet in the Political Swamp. These days, a gentle warning is usually sufficient.

For what I do for the company, you might be interested in this list. You'll see my presence on our page on Facebook (which I maintain), on the FC Forums, and on the Mongoose Forums. What you won't see see is the e-presence I maintain behind the scenes via email, chat, and old-fashioned phone calls. You may not realize how much I write these days for ADB nor how much I proofread. I'm also editing the Traveller: Prime Directive books.

It has been suggested that I spend more time on general gaming boards. If I start to maintain a presence on other boards, then I will need to have the time to maintain that presence. That is why I am only maintaining our page on Facebook and not branching out to Google+. If I start something and drop the ball on it, then in many ways it is worse than never starting it. I had already planned on broadening our presence once I retire and have more volunteer time to donate.

When evaluating my marketing effectiveness then please take the time to look at our page on Facebook. We have over 1,200 friends and well over 10% of the people talking about us -- something that larger companies haven't achieved. (Look for example, at the Miami Dolphins page where there are less than 2% of the people discussing it.) Between 2-5% is normal, by the way, for most pages. If you want to compare gaming companies, look at Steve Jackson Games or take a look at the group page "Eye on Mongoose." We have far more activity on our page than on either of those other companies.

Some have suggested that ADB has not tried to market the Platinum Hat. For those of you who might think that is true, then maybe you should actually know what ADB has managed to get done.

• It shows up on our page on FB and on the BBS.
• It was advertised in Hailing Frequencies and in an extra issue of that which was devoted to the Platinum Hat.
• It went out as a Star Fleet Alert.
• I worked with Peter and Paul to help arrange Peter's appearance on TalkShoe.