Everyone is talking web 2.0 these days, so it was inevitable:
“ThomasNet.com has rolled out the ThomasNet Forums, providing an integral component to building an active community amongst not only Industrial Market Trends readers or all ThomasNet.com users — but to anyone online.”
Read the release here: In Your Own Words
There are a number of posts there already, but no focus yet. Most seem to be general-interest engineering items under a number of different categories. There is one for marketers, but no discussion of Thomas (yet). We’ll have to watch these forums and see where they go.
Many of my clients advertise in Thomas and so I think that they can really use this to gain their Internet Karma, as I like to say.
I hope this is a success as I believe they would be the first industrial directory to have this? I don’t believe GlobalSpec or IQS have something like this. . .
Many of my clients advertise in Thomas and so I think that they can really use this to gain their Internet Karma, as I like to say. I hope this is a success as I believe they would be the first industrial directory to have this? I don’t believe GlobalSpec or IQS have something like this. . .
Dave,
Thank you for sharing the ThomasNet Forum launch announcement with your audience—we greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word about the new site. We’re excited to finally offer these message boards to the public, as it presents wide range of possibilities to visitors from all industries and professions.
Not only will they now have a place to ask product-specific questions, find advice on technical questions and discuss local and national business issues, but they will be able to find and network with experts and peers from around the world. And this applies to the full scope of the ThomasNet audience, as well, not just the engineers—the ThomasNet Forums include message boards dedicated to purchasing, marketing, how-to tips, industry and business, and engineering, plus a wide range of product-specific categories. To help the community, our in-house engineers and staff regularly check the forums to provide assistance whenever they can.
We hope that this is just the first new step in helping to bring the industrial community closer together—and if you keep your eye on the forums, you’ll be the first to know about what’s on the horizon.
Thanks again,
Jarad K. (ThomasNet Forum Administrator)
Dave,Thank you for sharing the ThomasNet Forum launch announcement with your audience—we greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word about the new site. We’re excited to finally offer these message boards to the public, as it presents wide range of possibilities to visitors from all industries and professions. Not only will they now have a place to ask product-specific questions, find advice on technical questions and discuss local and national business issues, but they will be able to find and network with experts and peers from around the world. And this applies to the full scope of the ThomasNet audience, as well, not just the engineers—the ThomasNet Forums include message boards dedicated to purchasing, marketing, how-to tips, industry and business, and engineering, plus a wide range of product-specific categories. To help the community, our in-house engineers and staff regularly check the forums to provide assistance whenever they can. We hope that this is just the first new step in helping to bring the industrial community closer together—and if you keep your eye on the forums, you’ll be the first to know about what’s on the horizon.Thanks again,Jarad K. (ThomasNet Forum Administrator)
I’ve read many forums relating to many different topics, and inevitably there will be some person or persons who have a gripe with the forum publisher, and post negative comments about the publisher. I wonder if the ThomasNet Forum Administrator will be told by his boss to censor any negative questions/comments about ThomasNet. Or, will it truly be a “Free Speech” open forum?
Dave, your evaluations of the industrial verticals have been honest and fair, but they have been frank (please don’t change). I wonder if this new forum would accept a negative frank comment/question from you, if it were based on your analyzed results and honest evaluations?
I’ve read many forums relating to many different topics, and inevitably there will be some person or persons who have a gripe with the forum publisher, and post negative comments about the publisher. I wonder if the ThomasNet Forum Administrator will be told by his boss to censor any negative questions/comments about ThomasNet. Or, will it truly be a “Free Speech” open forum?Dave, your evaluations of the industrial verticals have been honest and fair, but they have been frank (please don’t change). I wonder if this new forum would accept a negative frank comment/question from you, if it were based on your analyzed results and honest evaluations?
Dave,
I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks now and I really enjoy it. I happen to be a heavy GlobalSpec user although both Thomas and GlobalSpec are useful in their own way.
There was a question on the Thomas forum last week asking for an industry news portal and I posted a link to GlobalSpec’s engineering news “beta” site. This appeared to be exactly what the question was asking for. Unfortunately Thomasnet took my posting down.
Perhaps that is a topic for another posting. Here is the link to the news site – http://www.globalspec.com/engnews
Additionally, to answer seo ruby, GlobalSpec also has a forum and blog area for us. It’s called CR-4 and it’s been live for months.
http://cr4.globalspec.com
Dave,I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks now and I really enjoy it. I happen to be a heavy GlobalSpec user although both Thomas and GlobalSpec are useful in their own way. There was a question on the Thomas forum last week asking for an industry news portal and I posted a link to GlobalSpec’s engineering news “beta” site. This appeared to be exactly what the question was asking for. Unfortunately Thomasnet took my posting down.Perhaps that is a topic for another posting. Here is the link to the news site – http://www.globalspec.com/engnewsAdditionally, to answer seo ruby, GlobalSpec also has a forum and blog area for us. It’s called CR-4 and it’s been live for months.http://cr4.globalspec.com