I would much rather not be the one to make decisions because it is easy to critique but difficult to decide. I also don't want to let the squeaky wheel rule the day just because they complain the loudest. So it is a real challenge to determine where the AGGREGATE PUBLIC OPINION falls.
This is true too. With any decision there will be negativity from a group. The initial reactions can be emotional, negative and personal, including from myself. Most businesses have a media and PR department who give input, feedback & help communicate a message. (cn-members already fulfils this kind of a role, as most of the Chinese hear the announcements via his and others translations of them.) I don't think you or other devs should have to deal with the negativity or are best equipped to respond to it. (It also probably results in devs feeling under-appreciated and frustrated too, fulfilling this dual role, when they are on the receiving end of most of the negativity yet they're the ones doing nearly all the hard world changing work.)
I don't think Stan is the ideal intermediary or messenger myself. I don't go to the mumble but that seems to be a good place for better communication though it is often reacting to a situation that has already happened. Perhaps some kind of PR team, including Method and CN members, people the community have already endorsed to fulfil those kind of roles could be useful. They can give the developers overall input and feedback & interpret the aggregate public opinion pretty well. They can also help be the conduits for things like this. NullStreet has perhaps also funnelled the Western marketing department. So going over there and saying 'This is what we're working on and looking at doing in the next few weeks, what's your input on how to approach these announcements.'
So they're not influencing your work just helping shape the message and putting up a red flag if something is going to cause a PR problem. Once you've included the marketing wing of your shareholders in the messaging process, they're more likely to be interpreted positively & the marketing team can bear some of the brunt and communication responsibility.