Tom DeLonge AMA

originally posted by: Vector99

originally posted by: SkepticOverlord

originally posted by: TechniXcality
in a thread that was purported to be the "AMA of all time"

No one from ATS made any such promise.

The biggest issue with scheduling an AMA with very busy high-profile people is, no matter how hard we try to organize and block out a segment of time, there's no ability to predict the unexpected demands on their schedule.

We're seeing if he can come back to address some of the remaining questions.

You guys screwed the pooch on this one tbh. Tom is not a very busy high-profile person. He hasn't been for a decade or so. He came here to sell a book, that is all.

It’s hard to digest for many. How could a young man who’s so widely known for singing about bodily functions run a small empire?

Sure, DeLonge is an artist, but what those outside his immediate circle may not know is that the Blink-182 co-founder is a serial entrepreneur with a dizzying number of companies with full staff, office space, warehouses and more—all operating simultaneously.
DeLonge found himself so overwhelmed by his business ventures and family duties that something had to give.

radio.com...

a reply to: Discotech

Maybe it's me but I don't really care if you're in the media spotlight or not I'll treat you the same way I treat everybody else and hold you to the same standards of scrutiny and scepticism as everybody else

I had the impression that this kind of thread was to be simple question/answer for any who DO want to ask a question of the OP starter whomever they may be.

If a person did not have a simple question for a quick answer session then why say anything?

If you want to scrutinize and so forth why not start a thread doing that and leave the ?/answer session to be able to be read without all of the nagging.

originally posted by: StratosFear
a reply to: DuckforcoveR

I was also disappointed to see no one asked about a breakaway group from this planet,but in the end there are those still here on ATS that know a great deal more than some of the AMA guest here in the past.

Actually there were references to it.

a reply to: Char-Lee

I see he already made a film also, wrote and directed it.
The story of the short is intended to be the first in an overarching multimedia project that spans books, a graphic novel, and an eventual feature-length film.
Poet Anderson, a lucid dreamer,[1] is led into an alternate universe where he meets his guardian angel, the Dream Walker, as well as his greatest fear, the Night Terror. Poet must confront his demons as his real life and dream world collide.[2]

Poet Anderson won Best Animated Film at the Toronto International Short Film Festival.

en.wikipedia.org...:_The_Dream_Walker

Looks like he could be looking for imput here for creation maybe instead of answering people, a possibility anyway.

originally posted by: Caver78
This is like Lucy & Charlie Brown with the football.

Unrealistic expectations.
Questions were asked and answered. Unfortunately WE expected full-er answers.
WHOOPS!

No one anywhere at any time ever has answered any question with MORE information than they were willing too.
Simple as that.

Just because someone intimates that they "know more" doesn't ever mean they are going to spill the beans. Information is and always has been currency. We got what we paid for. AMA was free. Ponder that.

All this caterwauling and drama over format and cherry-picking guests is the result of unrealistic expectations. Changing the format will not result in a guest not cherry-picking their questions to respond to. We are going to get canned responses from whoever shows up due to again, INFORMATION IS CURRENCY.

We aren't the outlet, the maximized opportunity, the biggest bang for their buck in trading this info/currency.
Get over it!

Not slamming your rant Jacy, just saying this in general to the situation.

We got tossed some crumbs, if anyone expected more that's on them. Someone cleverly posted "the afterparty was special" or words to that effect, and it WAS! Several pages of removed posts! Ah.....the good old days of forums/messageboards!!!
ROFL!!

I'm not defending the guests, just saying this is the perfect example of when lowered expectations should have been accepted as normal and because they weren't now we have the classic "tempest in a teapot".

I tend to disagree. AMAs only work if people are interested in them. People are only interested in them if they feel like they are going to have a discussion and/OR learn something from it. Simple yes or no answers, or related vague answers don't really do an AMA justice.

You are correct, information is currency, but so is attention. It is an EXCHANGE, NOT a give away. There are 3 parties involved in this exchange, and all parties are hoping to get something in return. The AMA guest wants our attention, usually to market a product such as a book, website, or multimedia. The crowd wants INFORMATION, and/or discussion. The platform (ATS) wants to create buzz and generate content for their site. Again , it is a 3 party exchange.

A successful AMA leaves everyone feeling satisfied. Content is generated, questions are answered, discussion is had, and awareness is brought to a person.


If anyone was hoping to learn more about Tom Delonge's new project, Sekret Machine, they probably left feeling very unsatisfied. Nothing was really answered at all, everything was really vague. While I respect the guests choice to leave some topics out of reach, you would think they would be enthusiastic about sharing what they can about whatever it is they came to talk about. That is all anyone really wants.


Having said that, I don't think whining or complaining in the AMA thread is appropriate at all. A thread like THIS is the place to discuss our opinions, feelings, etc, etc on the AMA. I also think the AMA would be better if any posts that aren't questions are deleted for the sake of a non-bloated, not-off-topic thread.

a reply to: Athetos

I agree that we had many people flooding the guest with questions. Many of those questions and comments were not "serious" and were meant to derail, sure. Tom only gave one liner answers. Some of those made little sense to me. Personally, I was expecting more detailed answers.

I wasn't expecting any huge revelations or anything but I did expect more than we got.

go to page 3 of that thread.

on page 3 ALONE, there were at least 10 first time posts. all users signed up on april 4th.

the WHOLE thread is full of people posting for the first time who signed up on april 4th.

seems fishy..


(unless, there was an announcement on april 4th)

originally posted by: TechniXcality
a reply to: Athetos

Well I think a mixture of things occurred including but not limited to, trolling, off topic remarks, bickering, however I think that he left unexpectedly, and also didn't say much (gave one liner responses) in a thread that was purported to be the "AMA of all time", and so all things combined we ended up with a very disappointing thread, yes we absolutely should respect our guests, but I imagine many feel it's a two way street, and some have expressed the feeling of a failed marketing ploy, I am reserving judgment (because he may come back) but all in all you are right the thread turned into a disaster, but the responsibility isn't solely on our members.

That dude had the nerve to come on here and treat us like we are dummies that have never heard anything. He had the nerve to tell one poster "be grateful and stop complaining" about the "wealth" of information he will give us the opportunity to buy from him.

I think blink 182 sucks, I had no idea who he was, still gave him the benefit of the doubt. Quietly read the first 17 pages with no comment, saw what little he actually contributed before suddenly leaving to apparently update Twitter with a selfie and then expressed my concern.

I believe we do have the ability to express our disappointment in charlatans here. I don't see any reason what so ever that Tom should get treated differently than any other poster. He may be super special rockstar to himself and everyone else but to me he is another poster on ATS.

Technixally this isn't all directed at you even though I quoted you. Not personal or anything don't want you to get the wrong idea. I saw your posts in that thread and I'm pretty sure you know where I'm coming from.

I know I have already said a lot on the subject, but honestly it was his attitude about the whole thing that bugged me. When he came back he told us "this isn't the time or place for these questions wait for the docu series". Well I disagree if you want me to actually give you money, which I almost did before I got to page 17, then it is the time and place to discuss those things. Literally the time and place, there isn't a better of either. I do t regret sharing my disappointment in the AMA but I also didn't want to see what happened after page 17 happen. I don't think you can blame anyone though, for quite a few pages there was no communication from anyone but posters and no moderation. You think the zoo is gonna police itself in that situation? No it won't.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Either this is all for Tom or this is all for ATS/SO/Springer or this is a little bit of both. Either way I feel like there was some misunderstanding or miscommunications.

I like to think that SO/Springer had a surprised look on their face during that debacle. I hope they did at least.

Just an idea for Skeptic.

Next time, collect the questions, send them to the guest and give them a few days to go over them and reply with a proper answer maybe include some links or pics perhaps. He can them come back and post them. People can read the answers, then maybe have a live chat with follow up questions. Current format can get hijacked or what just happened on a forum.

Then everyone wonders why so few celebrities do AMA's because most of the time they turn into circuses.You have trolls,and other people looking for their 15 mins that many feel is "owed" to them.

10 season of Ancient Aliens wasn't enough BS for you guys?

originally posted by: TechniXcality
a reply to: Athetos

Well I think a mixture of things occurred including but not limited to, trolling, off topic remarks, bickering, however I think that he left unexpectedly, and also didn't say much (gave one liner responses) in a thread that was purported to be the "AMA of all time", and so all things combined we ended up with a very disappointing thread, yes we absolutely should respect our guests, but I imagine many feel it's a two way street, and some have expressed the feeling of a failed marketing ploy, I am reserving judgment (because he may come back) but all in all you are right the thread turned into a disaster, but the responsibility isn't solely on our members.

I have to agree.

The one thing that really disappointed me, and turned me away from even asking anything, was the fact that he didn't quote the questions to what he was answering (kinda like what I have done here). Just one liners and you had to sift through pages before that to get the context of the answer. This isn't necessarily his fault, as ATS management should have given him a run down on maybe the best format to use. But I did find it frustrating and only got to about the 5th page until I gave up.

That said, CLEARLY this was a publicity ploy to sell a book. And I'm fine with that. The book interests me as I'm sure it does to many on here. It's just sad their advertising campaign was a bit of a flop....in my eyes at least.

originally posted by: 3danimator2014
Respect is earned.

For those who embrace manners as an important attribute of being someone who can function from day to day in normal society: respect is offered until rejected.

Your attitude consistently is that of someone unwilling to contribute in a collaborative environment when you disagree with an invited guest.

a reply to: Sparkymedic

To be fair, quoting is completely unnecessary and makes the thread cluttered and longer than needed.

It might not be a bad idea to teach ATS members about how to use the site though. Maybe some sort of canned paragraph posted at the beginning of the AMA to educate users.

He came and he revealed nothing of course people are going to be upset or question what they read. There was nothing he said that we could not find online.

Gods of the past are real, Corso notes are legitimate. So what anybody can say that stuff is legit but whats your proof?

If UFOs crashed why is he knows very little more where they crashed and when? I came away learning nothing new personally.