Why was our Coffee.SE community ad deleted from the community ad choices for 2015?

Question

I don't see why we shouldn't have Coffee.SE at least an option for people to vote up as an SE community we advertise for on P.SE

Can anybody (perhaps Robert Cartaino the diamond that deleted the post) tell me why it was removed? If not, I intend to just add it back, I think we definitely should be advertising Coffee.SE on P.SE..

10k link to see the original but deleted coffee.SE community ad

Answer 1

No problem, I restored the ad (actually, I see another copy has already been posted).

Typically I will remove ads and comments soliciting users for proposals unless they are directly related to the subject of the site. With thousands of proposals vying for attention, supporters can sometimes get a bit overzealous in blanketing sites with their "soft spam" campaign, so we don't allow that. But I think we can afford to be a more open to a bit of cross-promotion between established communities simply trying to reach out to their fellow core audiences. I just got those wire crossed.

Answer 2

If we cannot have a coffee ad, then we cannot use the current site icon either.

All or nothing.

Answer 3

Culturally, caffeine and pizza are part of being a programmer. While it doesn't make for good main site questions (10k link) coffee, tea and other caffeine delivery mechanisms are a documented part of what it is to be a programmer for a significant period of time.

As noted, this is such a culturally significant part of the desk of a programmer, that it is part of the site's design. Think geek has coffee mugs as a major section of the site.

As noted on the Community Promotion Ads - 2015 you will note the wording:

This is a method for the community to control what gets promoted to visitors on the site.

...

This is a method for the community to control what gets promoted to visitors on the site. For example, you might promote the following things

• ...
• anything else your community would genuinely be interested in

The goal is for future visitors to find out about the stuff your community deems important. This also serves as a way to promote information and resources that are relevant to your own community's interests, both for those already in the community and those yet to join.

If the community is honestly interested in the culture of caffeine intake, then promoting that stack exchange site is well and good. Its an advert on the side of the page - not a main site question.

If, however, the powers that be suggest that this shouldn't be the case, I would urge them to get the requisite 125 reputation, participate on the main site and the community here, and vote on the answer. I would similarly encourage them to do the audit of all of the other graduated sites and ask themselves why Health.SE is advertised on Gaming and Cooking and Space.SE on Skeptics and then ask if its really worth the trouble of going against the community when it has reached a consensus of what other things they want to advertise given the guidelines we are provided with.

Answer 4

I don't agree with the decision to delete the ad. Coffee is a fundamental portion of the lives of many programmers. We discuss it in The Whiteboard often.

@RobertCartarino states:

@fredley The community-driven advertisements/bulletins have to be at least roughly aligned with the topic of the community. This advertisement is not appropriate for Programmers SE.

I don't agree with this statement on both counts:

1. I don't agree that it isn't roughly aligned with with the topic of the community.
   • This community is about issues that directly concern Programmers as idea people and thinkers, and many of us would not have ideas nor be able to think without coffee.
2. I don't agree that it should have to be roughly aligned with the topic of the community.
   • Programmers are people in addition being bots that transform coffee and pizza into code. We have lives just like everyone else.
   • If we, as a community, have overwhelming support for an ad to another community, we should be made available to that community.

Recently, @abbyhairboat wrote:

Why limit the hunt to Seasoned Advice?

Sure, they get coffee questions, and that's why you've got a community promotion ad up there. But what if we try thinking beyond "where are the coffee questions and how do we get them here?", and instead, think: "where are the coffee people and how do we get them here?".

What kind of people are coffee Q&A people? Millions of people drink coffee, but what we're looking for here is coffee hobbyists, not just drinkers. People who like to experiment with brewing methods, spend money on gear, and optimize for various qualities. They aren't just coffee drinkers - they're coffee tinkerers. So people who might be drawn to this site are tinkerers in other fields who dabble in coffee (among many other likely hobbies).

This statement applies just as much here as it does to Seasoned Advice.

We should be able to have this Community Ad.