Talk:Rick Ridgeway

Suggestion
Nice job on the article. To avoid editors placing tags on it though, I would recommend adding more references to it. The information needs to be shown to be verifiable. And footnoting will only add to the credibility of what you're communicating. Also I would tweak the content and wording so that it seems more like an encyclopedic article on Wikipedia and not his resumé. Ironically, the more neutral one can be in conveying a biography to readers, the more that the readers will be engaged and not be put off by the subtleties of marketing, which people do detect, even if unconsciously. Evenrød (talk) 11:59, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. I am actually Rick's assistant we wrote this together. I don't know if there is a way to credit an autobiographical account? NellieC259 (talk) 23:19, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

Hi NellieC259 (talk), Please read WP: AUTOBIO; we can discuss where to go from there. Thanks. Evenrød (talk) 11:06, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

Conflict of Interest and promotion
Wikipedia's statement on conflict of interest: "Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a vanity press, or forum for advertising or self-promotion. As such it should contain only material that complies with its content policies, and Wikipedians must place the interests of the encyclopedia first. Any editor who gives priority to outside interests may be subject to a conflict of interest. Adding material that appears to advance the interests or promote the visibility of an article's author, the author's family, employer, clients, associates or business, places the author in a conflict of interest."

This has also been termed "covert advertising" or posting someone's curriculum vitae in the form of a Wikipedia article.

Writing a biography of someone is hard work to be sure, but simply listing all of their accomplishments in place of writing a biography and including footnotes to specific facts can come across as being promotional - and continuing to insert links promoting Patagonia clothing company or Ridgeway's books within the text of the article does not help in diminishing the appearance of promotion and conflict of interest. Evenrød (talk) 22:57, 12 February 2013 (UTC)