http://letstalkbitcoin.com/bitcoin-and-the-three-laws-of-robotics/One of the most important communications which introduced people to what Bitshares is. It was that article that got many excited about Protoshares.
No one else could have communicated it the way Stan does. If in the future there are more complex concepts which need to be broken down Stan is the person traditionally given the task.
His contributions have been critical. He's as important to Bitshares as Dan Larimer. How could anyone question that?
If not for Stan most people wouldn't have understood what Bitshares was in the very beginning.
I think a lot of people questioning Stan's contributions were not involved with the community in 2013 when things first started. Stan brought the community together with his communications.
The issue is not what he has done, but what he is doing right now. Recently he is coming across as quite tetchy and condescending, not to mention retaining a suspiciously strong interest in PTS.
I think its a reasonable request, all he has to say what he is doing and it will be fine. Even if we are told that he is there only to carry Dan's bags or feed him on time, I will happily accept it as Dan's time is of biggest importance, and I feel if he (Dan) had managed some time put in marketing we would've been much better off (I was initially sold on this vision by Dan's simple videos, considerably better than the long, boring ones being made now).
.... and I have been here for 14 months.
Think about it like this, would you want to see Stan doing communications and newsletters for Ethereum? Not saying Stan would go so far as to do this but it does make sense that he would be made into one of the largest stakeholders because he's the main guy on the Bitshares team with communication skills.
What is the worst scenario likely to happen? Stan could simply sit back and not do anything else. But if that happens who is going to handle communications going into the future? Also who is going to rally the community in the future the way Stan did?
I do see your point that maybe he's being paid quite a bit but many of you thought it was fair to give developers full market salaries. If developers are going to get full market salaries then the communications director should as well.
I don't know how much $300 a day you say he's getting? $108,000 a year. Do you think the communications director should be paid less?
By the way with all due respect to Dan I don't think marketing is his specialty. I think Dan should focus on technical matters and on doing the sort of deep thinking that only he can do. I think marketing should be handled by people who are good at marketing. I think communications should be handled by people who are good at communications. Everyone should be in their role and play their position on the team.
I can only speak for myself but Stan popularized the concept of the DAC to people who would never have understood what it is on a technical level. Also you have Stan who explained Protoshares as well. I think Stan has earned his salary at least for right now.
If in the future we find someone better at communications or if Stan is no longer effective then we can have this talk. I don't think micromanagement this early on is helpful. Let them build the dang 1.0 and get reputation management built in before we go onto this.