dave

Yes, just like you're actually interested in swaying opinion. Perhaps you've never heard of "diplomacy". Regardless, that opener of yours sure was a miserable failure at it.

antibland would have had a much better reception if he would have said something like this:

<i>Hi. I'm new here, but I've seen some of the Photoshop creations around here and they're pretty decent.

I'm working on a new design site with the goal of bringing talented people together. I don't have much to offer, but I'm offering $50 in a sort of logo contest for the site. [ Insert criteria here. ]

I hope this isn't viewed as a spam - I don't mean it to be. I just thought some people around here might be interested. If not, that's okay too. Keep up the good Photoshop work!</i>

There would have still been a heckler or two, and he could have quelled their flames with something like this:

<i>Look, I really don't mean to be spamming. I'm just a single person and I don't have much money to offer, but I thought a $50 prize might be a nice bonus to someone that has talent but isn't professionally employed doing Graphic Design. Obviously $50 doesn't begin to cover the fee of a professional graphic designer, but that's not what I'm looking for - more like a college student that just likes doing that sort of thing.

I really didn't mean to offend, though, and if I did, I'm sorry. I thought it would be appropriate to post here, and I meant no ill will.</i>

I doubt anyone would have continued after that.

Regardless, it doesn't really matter - he got a decent logo and looked, to quite a few Cellar residents, like a spammer-type in the process. If he isn't, great! But he didn't really do anything to quell the accusations.

You, on the other hand... are you really interested in discussion? Or did you just want to go around slinging names?

If you want to convince someone, here's a tip: implying that someone is the "Cellar slut" probably will not enlist them to your side, nor make them sympathetic to your position. Just a thought.