Vendors can either have two threads running in the Supplier Forum, or if they are very active and have been on the waiting list for around two years, they might be offered a forum to themselves.
In the past, vendors got a forum by reaching the top of the waiting list and being accepted as suitable to be Forum Suppliers. This is no longer the case and a vendor needs to show a genuine need for a forum or we don't consider they require it or will make best use of it. There are many reputable and long-term vendors who don't have their own forum because they do not operate in a way that requires dedicated forum interaction. It is a limited resource and restricted to those who are busiest in terms of community interaction.
For a comparison, some vendors make around 200 posts a month and others just a couple. In our view a vendor making 0 to 10 posts a month doesn't need their own forum - why would they? It has nothing to do with their reliability or reputation or product quality, just that they do not work in a way that needs a forum.
Someone making 100 or 200 posts a month looks as if they can use the facility properly and they are our choice as vendors who need that additional functionality.
Also, things change over time and some vendors become very popular while others slide. New products take over, older ones gradually die away. We do react to that as it is clearly what the community want.
On the other hand there are vendors with a very large following but who only produce a small amount of items a month, leading to long waiting lists and a general inability to
buy what they make. We don't consider these to need a forum no matter the size of their support, because it's more of a social group if you can't actually
buy the item/s.
A vendor forum is a place where you can discuss the products and service, ask the vendor in person your questions, get support from both users and vendor staff, read staff advice and opinion, get news, and ask pre-order questions before you buy. It's a place where there should be plenty going on of interest, and where you can get support or decide what to buy. There might be contests or polls. There could be product testing groups or new product news. A place where there is always something new and where you can click a link to buy what you need right now.
ECF has staff who look at this situation constantly and every month make decisions that are sometimes quite hard: does vendor X still need a forum? Is there a new up and coming vendor who is working really hard to work with the ECF community who might make better use of their own forum? Nothing stays the same in the ecig world and vendor forums are just one aspect of that. They have to deserve one, to get one or keep one. 'Deserve' includes making maximum use of it.
