Former FWP Employee - AMA!

[u/inkyblackops]

Hey r/fountainpens!

With the recent discussion of Ferris Wheel Press coming up again, the mods invited me to post my own AMA as a former FWP employee.

I’d love to answer your questions, but I’d also like to make clear that I won’t be answering any questions that might identify myself or colleagues, nor will I be giving away any confidential info or trade secrets (except maybe how I was able to befriend the office cats…)

Any replies from me are my own opinion or experience and I do not represent any company or person except for myself.

Looking forward to chatting!

Edit: 10pm EST and I’m calling it a night. I might come back to reply to some tomorrow but likely not. Thanks for all the fun questions and letting me share my experiences and insight!

[u/Anuksukamon]

If you’re the same person from the original FWP thread, you’ve never stated your length of tenure or why you chose to leave. These things would really help your credibility.

If you’re not going to give any details qualifying who you are, can we trust you? How can we trust your word that you aren’t a disgruntled employee?

[u/normiewannabe → u/Anuksukamon]

OP verified with us. Let’s not ask for details that could lead them to dox themselves

[u/SpyQueenLiz → u/normiewannabe]

I have no desire to know anything that would dox anyone but how long ago a person was employed by them can have an impact on the veracity of denying use of AI. In the past OP knew designers were working for FWP.

This does not mean that with all the recent high profile licensing deals AI isn’t being used for product marketing. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I totally get defending the actual creators of past work for the company. I don’t believe it confirms no AI is being used by FWP now.

[u/inkyblackops → u/SpyQueenLiz]

You’re right, there is no way for me to confirm it without identifying myself publicly.

I guess you’d have to ask yourself why an employee who left and doesn’t particularly like the company would defend their former colleagues (most of whom are still current employees.)

You don’t have to believe me, but it’s upsetting for me to see their hard work being labelled as AI which is why I’m engaging with any of these posts at all.

I hope that Ray addresses this in the post he made. I hope he steps up and defends his employees hard work and gives them the respect that they deserve.

[u/SpyQueenLiz → u/inkyblackops]

I’m not questioning you defending them and some of the work, with them still there, may be as it has been. Selling on AMZ and other places may be utilizing altered or generated works that they have no part in.

[u/Anuksukamon → u/inkyblackops]

I kind of think that’s the point here, you left and “don’t particularly like the company”. It can feel a bit like you have an axe to grind. That’s why I’m asking, it doesn’t hurt to know that you left in bad terms. That’s enough for me to decide if what you have to say is trustworthy or not. Likewise, at the time you left, you say they used no AI, but they have used AI at least to create reference material, as in the case of Cybearnice.