Commenting/links policy

This is my site, so to that end I am employing the following commenting policies.

• Any comment or link that I deem to be spam will be deleted and the email address associated with it banned
• Any post or comment that I deem to be disrespectful (trolling, pornography, racism, etc.) or inappropriate shall be deleted or edited, with either a warning to the person commenting or the email address associated with it banned
• Whilst I respect the right to freedom of speech, please remember that a blog is private property, and therefore my rules go!

I see lots of info about companies that are in Australia. Why don’t you list stuff about other countries?

Although I do add links about puppeteers overseas, I focus on Australian puppetry. Mainly because I live in Australia and know more about the industry here; but also because there are plenty of sites and support for puppetry in America, as well as Europe, and not so much for Australia. If you need info about puppetry local to you, I recommend visiting UNIMA International’s website - they are the international organisation that represents puppetry, and have branches in most countries.

I have a link/video/website I’d like you to add to your site. If I send it to you, will you post it?

Most likely not. I mainly write about Australian puppetry when it comes to link love; so if you’re American or in any other country, then it’s likely I won’t ever link to your site (unless it’s really really really amazing). Generally when I do link to people, it’s individuals (ie. builders) or large events (ie. festivals) of some interest. Additionally, I only post puppet sellers that are located in Australia. I will not link to large puppet sellers who are based in the US.

If you have a blog, I’m not going to list it if you update it once or twice a year; I, and my regular readers, are interested in good content, not linkage for the sake of linkage. As for videos, well, the same principle applies. I tend not to post videos because people can find those really easily via Google and Youtube; if it’s really interesting, or has Australian content/made by Aussies, then I’ll consider it more. But really, if you’re just looking for a site to spam so you can boost your Google rank, you picked the wrong person: I built my Google rank by constantly creating good content over several years, not by spamming other people for link love. I do check every site on puppetry, and know good content when I see it; so if you have interesting stuff, then I’m more likely to add your link/video.

If you are Aussie, or I genuinely would post a link to your site, feel free to email me; please note that I do have a large database of URLs related to puppetry, and so if you’re in my list already, please be patient with me whilst I go through all of the links. (Please check my site to see if yours is listed first) I will only publish one comment and one link per company; please don’t try and flood my comments with adverts for your company. I won’t publish all of them; just one.

Do also keep in mind that I specifically write with two things in mind: Australian puppetry over other locales; and that I am writing for a secular and professional audience. There is some overlap with teaching kids and getting beginners involved, but predominantly I’m interested in the professional industry.

I’m sorry to those out there who feel they might lose out because of this policy; but the simple fact is that it would be extremely easy for me to allow the focus of this site to become blurry. I work very hard at making this site informative for those who want to perform or make puppets on a professional level, and I’m going to keep this in mind when moderating comments and adding links.

I left a comment on your site, but it hasn’t appeared and you haven’t replied.

I get lots and lots of emails, comments and random stuff sent to me because of this site. Please bear with me as I respond to them.

Additionally, sometimes I delete or hide comments for a number of reasons: I don’t tolerate spam, and I don’t tolerate obvious attempts at linkbacks no matter how well disguised they are as a well-meaning comment. Depending on the comment, I also don’t tolerate commenting for the sake of commenting (ie. anything that is just one word - "sucks" or whatever - or an attempt to simply add a comment with smilies). If you do any of the above, and I deem it to be a useless comment, that doesn’t contribute to discussion, is spam or linkbacks, I will delete the comment, add your URL to the spam list, and BLOCK your email address from being used in the commenting system. You don’t like it: too bad.