mikedeason
EF5
There's much better photographers and videographers here on ST to waste my envy on.
As for the tours, I don't think anyone here has bashed any of the reputable and responsible ones. Not sure where that came from.
Regards,
Mike
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There's much better photographers and videographers here on ST to waste my envy on.
As for the tours, I don't think anyone here has bashed any of the reputable and responsible ones. Not sure where that came from.
Regards,
MikeMike Johnson
I went and took a look at the page:
http://www.stormchaser.com/chaseadventure.html
It notes: "fees help out charitable projects." I guess
it's not a bad idea in theory. If people want to
pay such a ridiculous price to chase, then it sets a market
price on private tours.
I do have to say that calling him a "pimp" (moderators?)
was out of line. There are many tour companies charging
thousands to chase. So what?
This just feeds the "hate tone" popping up lately in
related posts. It's chase time people -- can we just get along!
Severe weather for eastern NM tomorrow! Target Roswell.
Mike
Kurt Hulst
EF5
I think negative tone is congeiled by SDS Some have been alleiviated but many still have not.
Doren Berge
EF1
I don't get it. Why the fuss?
It takes big stones to carve out a marketing niche. And it IS the American way. As a capitalist myself I applaud Faidley's Marketing Savvy. He is smart enough to recognize there is a high end market of wealthy, thrill seeking executives. The same guys who blow cash on racing schools, or Rock and Roll Camp. If he lands a handful of high end clients it allows him to spend the rest of his time doing what he loves to do. What we all love to do. What's more, marketing to this segment allows him to build relationships with people higher up the food chain than you or I. Potentially leading to other lucrative opportunities.
Tim V is another entrepreneur that I admire greatly. He's cultivated a market in the chase community. He's followed his passion and fueled the passion of others like myself. But his market is different than Faidley's. Tim market's to people like me. Faidley doesn't compete with him. He market's outside of the chase community. And he chooses not to compete with the tourist vans either. He creates his own market. And is presumably successful for it. Good for him!
God bless America.
All the jealous bellyaching on this forum is unbecoming.
David Drummond
Member
VERY WELL SAID! Unfortunately, it's not just on this forum, it flows throughout the chase community.
Gabe Garfield
EF5
I'm sorry, but if I were Tim V., I might be mildly offended being compared to Warren Faidley (at least, in this respect). Tim offers an honest product, whereas, Faidley does not. Charging someone to follow you is plain ridiculous; that's all there is to it (sure, some people may go for it, but it is still ridiculous). This is something you might find in Reader's Digest "That's Outrageous!" section.
Silver Lining Tours, Tempest Tours, and many other tours actually treat their tours like a tour by taking people with them. Though W.F. is indeed taking advantage of the capitalist system, it doesn't make it any less outrageous (IMO).
Gabe
David Drummond
Member
I don't think he was comparing Tim V. to Warren F.
Either way though, that is what makes living in this country great. You are free to come up with whatever niche business you think you can make money at and set your own prices (as long as it's legal) and anyone out there is free to choose to spend their money on what they are offering, or not spend their money if they don't see the value in it.
Some people DO have a buttload of money and don't think twice about dropping 3 times the price on something that most of us would. I am betting if someone offered to pay Tim V. $300 for something he sells normally for $100 and told him it was worth it to them, he would take them up on it. Everyone has to make a living.
What I personally hate about this forum, and this is just my opinion, is that selective bashing seems to be allowed. While some of the posts in this thread seem to skirt the grey areas of the rules :
Now, I would challenge that you take a thread like this and replace Faidley's website and name with someone that is more "liked" in the chasing world that has a chasing related business, such as Roger Edwards or Tim Vasquez (sorry, not picking on you guys, just the first two names that came to mind) and there would be an uproar about it and the thread would probably be shut down.
This has been a theme with the chasing community for a long time. If the person/business in question isn't universally like/accepted among storm chasers, then the bashing of said person/business is widely allowed and accepted. However if the said person/business IS universally liked/accepted then such bashing would never be tolerated by any forum leaders or members. Same old story from wxchase, just moved over here.
I am sure for having such a strong opinion on it I am going to get a good flaming now, but I have been growing it over several years now and strongly believe that if anything ever does the chasing community in, it will be the overall "two-facedness" of the community as a whole. Oh sure we all have standards of what we all think other chasers should do or not do, and we all preach them a lot. But when someone deviates from those, it solely depends on who the individual is as to whether they suffer the wrath of the chasing community, or will quietly be excused for it. Sorry, but in my mind that is just wrong and I think it stems from jealousy completely. I think if most of us were brutely honest, we would absolutely LOVE to have someone pay us $5000 to take them out chasing for a few days! But most people would never admit it. I'll admit it, if someone wants to pay me that much, you're damn right I am taking them chasing! IMO you would be stupid to pass up an offer like that. Is it worth it for a few days? Guess that would be up to the person paying the money wouldn't it?
Let my bar-b-q begin now.... :wink:
For the record, I am not defending Warren or anyone else, certainly he has his quirks, but he's found what works for him, and if that costs him chase friends that is his own business.Gayla Drummond
What has Faidley actually done to harm anyone here?
I'm not talking about outraging people over trademarking 'stormchaser' or whatever that was all about.
I'm asking for specific examples of Faidley causing someone to run off the road, causing someone a loss of income, or the like.
Anyone?
I'm betting not.
Leave the man alone, already. It does really come across as pure jealousy to have so many people bash on him all the time. He's a successful storm chasing photojournalist, earning a living doing his own thing. Where does that cause any of you harm?
I've met Warren a single time. He was quiet, polite, and I believe EXTREMELY embarrassed to have a crowd of about 25 chase vehicles surrounding him.
Does it ever occur to anyone here how doing that interferes with HIS enjoyment of chasing? That people mobbing him when he pulls over to take a look at what's going on in the sky might be causing him a loss of income?
Think about that...it's very hard to get good photos when you've got 30-50 people gathered around you. If that's what you do to earn a living, those 30-50 people are interfering with your doing so.
It's amazing how many people...practically everyone in the chase community...bashes on Faidley....yet, 'wow, look, there's Faidley, let's follow him' or 'That's Warren Faidley pulled over there, let's stop' seems to be the drill whenever he's spotted out on the road.
And just where do those people come from? I'm betting some are members of this very forum, and have jumped on the 'Bash WF' bandwagon every year.
I fully agree, this is the kind of crap that makes the chase community look bad, using the well-known weather forums and mailing lists to bash on Faidley or anyone else that chooses to not become involved in the chase community or to remove themselves from it, for reasons of their own.
As is often pointed out, there are media people, scientists, etc that are members of those forums and mailing lists...and this kind of crap makes us all look like a bunch of kids picking on each other because someone's different, or not wearing the right kind of high-priced sneakers.
It's ridiculous, and it comes across as 100% pure jealousy.
John Olexa
EF5
I would never go for it. But hey, if it works for him, what the heck.He's making a lot of money, more power to him. Shoot he only needs 3 people to make a boat load of cash :wink:
Gabe Garfield
EF5
Speaking for myself alone, I'm not jealous of Warren Faidley. I don't like/dislike the the guy; I have never met him. I don't want to bash him...that is not in my nature to do so.
For my part, I still think that what he is trying to sell is ridiculous. It has no bearing on what I do, but it is noteworthy. I mean, the roads are free to travel for lack of goodness' sake! If you happen to find Mr. Faidley on the road, he can't legally charge you for following him (though he might be more than a little annoyed). That is why it is ridiculous to do so (I understand that he has hordes of chasers following him--but if he values his privacy, he could try to make himself less conspicuous).
Again, my purpose in entering this thread was not to bash Warren Faidley. For all I know, he's a really nice guy. But, if a really good friend of mine had a similar idea, I would tell him it was pretty hair-brained. I simply want to point out that what he is doing is in no way reasonable (to say nothing of the man himself).
Gabe
David Drummond
Member
I can see that. But what if your friend did it anyway and turned out to make a pretty good income with it. How would you feel about it then.
Been lots of people in the past with some really hairbrained ideas. Lot of people thought Bill Gates was a nut to think he could build an affordable computer that everyone could have in their home, especially working from his garage. But if he hadn't done it anyway, we might not be talking here today. Not saying Warren or anyone else is the next Bill Gates.
The jealousy I was talking about was a general tone about the community. I am sure there are those that aren't jealous of other chasers, but I am quite sure there are a larger majority of them that are. Absolutely no one would ever admit jealousy in any form though, it's not in human nature to, so I wasn't expecting anyone to jump up and say they were.Joe Nield
EF5
Faidley's reputation, is, unfortunately, well-earned. Chuck Doswell said it best when he said, in his review of Faidley's book:
He's made a fine living doing what he does, and I'm sure I speak for many when I congratulate him for it. His PR/personal skills have left something to be desired along the way, though.
Gabe Garfield
EF5
I can't help but think that Faidley's idea is like someone selling you the shirt you have on your back. I suppose that Faidley makes it easier to be a tag-along, but it seems quite hard to imagine that it could be very marketable. In any event, I suppose the only thing you would be actually getting (in terms of a product) would be W.F. not trying to lose you on the back roads. So, in that sense, I could see how it would be marketable. Still, it's pretty out there.
GabeMike Johnson
RE: Doswell....
If I remember right from old archived emails, regarding this same subject, C. Doswell was trying to market his own weather images through a big time photo agency called the Images Bank in NYC at the same time WF was doing it. There was a firestorm back then and Doswell was leading the pack. Doswell has always had a dislike for Faidley because of his success. If you read Doswell's book review of WF's book Storm Chaser it's filled with venom. There is nothing in WF's book putting down anyone. What about Doswell's "private tours" he has conducted? He did it before Faidley. What about the time he crashed the Canadian border. This is the same old penis envy that's been going on for years. I have yet to find anything of substance of what WF has ever done that was truly aimed at chasers and not business rivals who were after him for their own good. Even the old TM issue was stupid and overdone since it never affected any of us. No one ever talks about the good WF has done. When is the last time Doswell or any other chaser did any serious charity work? I can only imagine the torture the guy is going through with all the latest crap like the new book came out with. I think WF is finished regardless. When are we going to be happy? When we finally drive Faidley to kill himself? This is the most disgusting thread ever in ST. Mike
Doren Berge
EF1
I've gotten to know WF in the last few years out in the field. And he IS a nice guy. Smart , generous, and a great sense of humor. He makes a living capturing images and selling them. But the field has become so competitive over the years that he's branched into other revenue streams as well. He is a smart guy. Independent, and self reliant. He's carved out his own path in a way that very few others are capable of. And he's got the guts to stick with it year after year. He's got the stones to stand up for himself and to protect his livelihood. A model American citizen in my book.
I agree with Dave. The double standard in regards to "bashing" on ST is obvious. And sad. And the occasional "band wagoning" on ST that I've followed over the years reminds me of schoolyard "Lord of the Flies" Bull Sh!t.
I've met so many bright, intelligent and pleasant people on ST and out in the field. I've even had the pleasure of meeting many of y'all including Dozwell, WF and even Mr. Drummond (Dave you might recall my cousin Joel and I ran into you in your own back yard a couple of years back.) I'm amazed that in a community of great people, such petty behavior can flourish. After all, non of us make the weather. We're all just here enjoying it.
Warren is a good person. As I'm sure all of you are too. So why don't y'all just give the bashing a rest. It brings us all down.
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