Hi all,
I don't have much to offer from a musician's point of view, I have no experience as a gigging musician, I have no playing dexterity, and I haven't played with many keyboards.
Probably any keyboard in the >$800 range will be absolutely stunning for me, so Tyros, Genesys, G-70, PA1X, Mediastation etc etc, are dream machines well above my musical limits.

So what do I have to say here?

I work in sales, have been working in sales for more than 10 years now. Retail, and corporate. Retail meaning you have to convince everyday folks that what you sell is better that what the others are offering, corporate meaning talking to managers doing the same thing. So I can't talk about music so much, but I can talk about sales.

Domenik, I totall respect your efforts, and your products. I wish you success, infinite riches, and the ability to look back when you are old, and say "I have achieved things". But I have to point out that IMHO you have to get a sales person to represent the company, at least in this forum.

Why?
You said that your background is technical, and that you have been in the field for many years. That is good, but there is a disadvantage to that. What you create as a tech is your brainchild, you love it, and you are naturally protecting your child from every bad person or bad opinion in the planet. The problem is that you act as a normal parent, can't see the (sometimes good, sometimes bad) meaning every opinion has, you seem too busy protecting that child. Techs do that a lot.

Why don't you try to do things a sales person would:

People ask for a video, then try to give them a video. If it is not satisfactory for them, don't bitch about, give them a better video. Do they need better .mp3's, give them better mp3's. Are they clipping? Then make some that don't clip. The finished Mediastation will not clip or distort, so why the demo should? You want to convince them, right?

I think it better to avoid telling everyone here how dreadful your competitors sound. That will not convince them. What will convince them is how YOU and YOUR product sound. Do they sound good? If yes, people here may soon be looking in their pockets for money to buy a MS. But thay won't pay you to hear your opinion on how boring Yamaha's sounds and features are. They have their own opinions, already, and they got them for free.

Observe what other sales persons or store owners do here. Someone asks George Kaye for advice, that will probably won't profit him this time and George answers. He may not get any money at one time, but being professional and truthful, will earn him more in the long end. Same for WDMcM, he is helpful to everyone asking. By the way, check this out: http://www.generalmusic.us/Media/GenEnsforweb.wmv It seems to me that a video like that, with enough sound clarity, would close some mouths around here. It takes effort yes, needs 2 cameras and some stiching, but if you want to impress...

Try to think of people here as potential girlfriends.... you want to befriend them, so they can invite you for a drink. You don't have to tell lies to get invited, and you can't just say "I am a stud like you have never seen baby, all the others are wussies" and expect them to believe you. You have to do things the way they are meant to be done. Both parties will be having a good time.

A better demo for the guys here, will be as flowers for a girl. Isn't it worth it? You'll end up on top in the end.

Again, please have in mind that I absolutely respect you, your products, your company and your efforts here. All the above is no personal grudge, just my observations and recommendations, you may like them you may not. Anyone can comment, agree or disagree.

P.S.
1) Ladies here, PLEASE don't bash me. I mean good.
2) Domenik, Mediterranean hot temperament is not an excuse, at least not for me. I am Greek, I know.
3) Better English, written or spoken, have never hurt anybody, especially if you are talking to Americans. Like it or not, it is THE universal language. If you can't exactly express what you mean in English, get someone else who can to do it for you.

[This message has been edited by trident (edited 07-15-2005).]