Pentax recognizes coiner of "LBA"

[snostorm]

Hi All,

Ned Bunnell, Pres. of Pentax Imaging, USA, posted this:

http://nedbunnell.blogspot.com/2008/...ian-award.html

Lance gets a new K20D and a DA*300/4 for coining the phrase "LBA". Pretty cool!

Scott

[Lyrics51]

Hey Scott, with the likes of a K20D on the line I bet we will see some very interesting acronyms popping up on the Pentax blogs and forums! A brand new K20! It ain't right, it just ain't right!

Glenn

[wadue]

Very !!! Shows how much of a stand-up company Pentax is!!!

[TC3]

wadue wrote:

Very !!! Shows how much of a stand-up company Pentax is!!!

Not really. They used the LBA term and a lot of noise was made by some members at dpreview as they believed Lance deserved recognition for introducing the term. So Ned obviously made sure the Pentax crowd were kept happy....like i said they had lil choice.

[ishino]

It is about time Pentax stood up andgave credit to Lance. I'd say rather Lance is more the stand up guy for allowing Pentax to use his term all this time without receiving at least credit for coining the phrase LBA. In the end it is just good publicity on Pentax's part.

[snostorm]

wadue wrote:

Very !!! Shows how much of a stand-up company Pentax is!!!

I agree -- They didn't have to go anywhere near this far to compensate him. I would guess that he would have been happy to have his name mentioned, and maybe get a free Pentax hat. :-)

In the first discussions about the origins of the term, Lance said that he "thought" he was the first to use it, then when nobody disagreed, he accepted credit. It was an inside joke that just really gained wide acceptance, and Ned saw the value of using it, smart marketing guy that he is. The real credit should go to the forum members who picked up on the humor and carried it to sometimes ridiculous extremes -- and almost universal acceptance, at least among internet Pentax Photo Forum members. . .

I really don't think that Lance ever expected anything like this, he seemed to just have been proud to have unwittingly contributed something back to Pentax. I think that it's indicative of Ned Bunnell's feelings for the importance of staying in touch with Pentax users that makes the difference here. In one instance, I recall him helping one DPR member resolve a serious problem with one of the first DA*50-135s to be delivered. I was impressed that he offered his assistance -- I don't know of too many top executives who would volunteer to intercede on behalf of an end user he never met.

My only dealings with him were when I emailed him out of the blue to request a couple of the LBA stickers I had seen in a post on DPR. I included one of my bird shots as a bribe. Although he was in Europe at the Photokina, he answered my silly e-mail right away, and actually had an assistant at his office put a few of the stickers in the mail the next day.

I'd say that "stand-up" is appropriate.

Scott

[ishino]

It was Lancewho suggested that he be compensated for Pentax using his LBA term in their advertising. Albeit it was done in a humerous attempt, it still was a request. Ned did right.


http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...809&page=1

[wadue]

Whoaaa!!! Didn't realize that making a simple compliment about Pentax would open such a can of worms. Not sure if I ever explained that THIS is the only forum that I'm on or not. I had no clue who Lance is & had never heard of LBA until here...as far as I knew, it was invented byRoy.

All I knew was the article that Scott linked to, showed that Pentax went over(in my opinion) what should have been expected by ANY company in their position & gave a customer a $1300 camera (plus a really nice lens - in the future) for coming up with a really cool catch phrase. Granted they should have gotten his permission (I'm not sure if they did or not) before using it for a campaign slogan. Regardless, I'm sure that there are MANY companies in this world that have used slogans in similiar circumstances & NOT researched its background & certainly would not have compensated its originator with over $1500 worth of merchandise. THAT is why I referred to Pentax as a "stand-up" company!

Furthermore, IMHO, Pentax could be doing what Canon & Nikon are doing by putting their Shake Reduction technology into lenses & NOT into the cameras. THEN how much PR would Pentax have to do in order to keep their longtime users happy??? Personally, I couldn't be happier to brag about Pentax to people, who are considering entering the D-slr realm, aboutusing my ist-dl & a lens (not great but still)that is as almost old as I am. How cool is that??? & how cool is it that Pentax still keeps their equipment affordable to the average joe like me???

Ok...I'm done with the soapbox...anyone elselike a turn??? I feel much better now!:G

[ishino]

sorry about that. i didn't mean to rant. i am just a "there is always another side to the story" kinda guy.

[wadue]

No problem, Ishino! Sometimes I like to feel taller by getting a soapbox!:GYou would think that I wouldn't have that problem since I'm 6'3". Seriously, I know what you mean with "the other side of the story" but I'm the type that if I like something/someone, I really like them but if I discover something drastically wrong, then THAT'S IT! Done.

I've made a lot of purchases in my 40 years...a lot of things have been junk...I just very thankful that when I bought my 1st camera from a pawn shop (almost 20 years ago) that it was a Spotmatic which I had good luck with. Then when I finally bought a new one, it was a zx7 then that has progressed to the dl & now I'm still saving up for that k10 BUTI'mreally beginning to lean to the k20 so hopefully sometime in the future I'll be up to date! Butfor now, I'm very satisfied that Pentax has offered equipment that doesn't shut folks like me out of enjoying photography. So I guessI'll stick with them for awhile longer!