Yes, usually two sides of a story always seems to meet in the middle.
Friend of mine that produces a marine product has similar stories. He
employs 3 or 4 people fulltime with benefits (costly in the USA) and
advertises on a relatively small scale to keep overheads down. Most of
their competitors are set up as tax writeoffs for larger companies
(often not even remotely nautical in theme) so these particular
competitors can definately pay out the necessary tens of thousands for
the inside or back covers when they advertise. Apparently his company
are continually solicited for freebies with promises of this or that
that rarely are followed through. This turns out to be disappointing
for the smaller businesses that would look at these situations as a
way of good advertising. They apparently now only donate or reduce
price if its an educational institution or for the lack of better
words, non-profit or environmental.
Gerald

"Leo Delaney" wrote in message .com...
I have watched the comments on Rob Dubin and would like to weigh in with
what I do know. First off, I should say that I have personal knowledge of
Mr. Dubin's video adventures as I was employed by one of the companies
featured in his video at the time he solicited equipment. I also, have
encountered s/v Boatsqueak in my voyages. While I do not know the latter
personally, I can assure you that he does exist and is (or at least was)
actively cruising with his wife.

Sadly, it is not all that uncommon for various marine writers to contact
manufacturers directly and ask for discounts on equipment. I don't think
this fact alone should surprise anyone. Generally, these are simply
requests made on a personal level and no reciprocation is offered, at least
not blatently. In my company, in such cases, the head of marketing may or
may not give a discount with the decision being made on how well he liked
the person making the request.

I think it fair to say that Mr. Dubin's request went well beyond anything
either customary or appropriate. To the best of my knowledge, our first
communication with Mr. Dubin regarding his video was by way of a letter he
sent. I do not have a copy of that letter but remember that it definately
emphasized the significant participation of Practical Sailor. What was
really over the top was that he came straight out and said that the bigger
the discount given, the longer and more favorable the air time our product
would receive on the video. The letter made cliched references to things
like "only the best manufacturers are being offered the opportunity to
participate". The letter got passed around a little as no one could quite
believe the chutzpa and then went into the trash.

That apparently wasn't the end of it though as, after a phone call or two
was placed by Dubin to our head of marketing, the decision was made to give
him the product at no charge. I was not in on the phone call(s) but was
later told that the product was being given not so much out of a desire to
be in the video as a fear of retribution from Practical Sailor and/or the
SSCA whose name was also bandied about.

A week or two after the product was sent, we received another letter from
Dubin saying something to the effect that there had been a misunderstanding
and that Practical Sailor actually had nothing to do with the project. A
phone call to Practical Sailor confirmed that they had received a request
from Dubin to distribute the video but had declined. They were outraged by
the use of their name and talking legal action. We never do hear from the
SSCA and figured it was best to simply let the thing die.

Dubin did produce a video of sorts but, to the best of my knowledge, was
never disrtibuted in numbers sufficient to effect sales either positively or
negatively. I think it is important for readers of this group to realized
that when a request for favor is made by someone closely associated with any
industry media (including the SSCA newsletter) manufacturers are put into a
very difficult position. I would guess that the participation of most of
the manufacturers was, as was ours, prompted not so much by a wish to be
part of the video as by a wish to not garner disfavor among the media.

While I would not use the same colorful termonology as Mike on Boatsqueak, I
have to agree with his position on Mr. Dubin's integrity. As a final note,
anyone out there who is associated with the SSCA might want to consider
affecting a policy to ensure that this kind of thing is not repeated in the
future.

Leo Delaney