I think you may find that some of the "pro's" were here all along just now with the houzz merger there sign in was switched to that name.

Some of those Pros are regular GW users. Bill Vincent just posted to let us know he is Creative Ceramics & Marble. Hollysprings and Funcolors are here, as well :)

What is Hollysprings profession?

I thought Hollysprings was a kitchen designer, but I am not sure.

I do know many of those names from gw, I wanted to name a few but did not want offend those I left out. I (we? ) really do appreciate your wisdom and the time you spend here trying to help us. Hopefully this will continue as a wonderful resource for its users and not turn into just a marketing tool.

I asked whether the GW policy on no solicitation still is in effect over here (THIS THREAD)

Do any of the Houzz "PRO"s know the answer? Maybe I will contact Houzz Support.

I am very grateful for all of the participation by pros on GW, but I would like to know if there will be marketing involved.

I have both a personal and professional profile. I use the personal profile for GW but the Pro one for Houzz\-\-as split as that sounds. I do use my Pro profile to market my business by answering questions similarly as my activity in GW. I believe in adding value to the Houzz profile by appearing helpful and friendly and leave the begging and spamming for those less sure of their value.

I've got no problem with more pros joining the GW forum family. I can use all the help I can get. As long as they don't actively solicit. I'm sure many GW pros got business from other GW-ers, because they appreciated their advice, trusted them, and contacted them offline. I see no problem with that. LWO is right on with her approach.

I have been marking "spammers" as spam. I don't want these forums to deteriorate to, 'well, I'd probably buy funeral insurance and here is my link'. (just marked that one as it resurrected a post from 2006)... A lot of the Houzz commenters are pros just trying to get their name on something, and it doesn't seem that valuable, most of the time. The GW forums have really legitimately useful and helpful advice by great people. I just don't want that quality to deteriorate.

I agree wtih weedyacres. Good advice is good advice, regardless of the source. Open and non-value-added solicitation is easy enough to filter out and I really don't think it'll be a problem.

I am grateful for the advice I receive on the Advice (gw) forum - whether from pros or enthusiasts and don't expect advice and opinions to be sugar coated. I would rather someone tell me openly that something I was planning was rubbish if it saved my trouble months later.

Treb, I am among the many many many people who have benefited from your honest opinions advice. We knew you were a pro but fair play, at no time was there ever any iota of solicitation indicated. Ditto for Hollysprings.

I agree with almost everything that has been said here. I value the advice I get from everyone here, especially the pros, many of whom I consider my GW "friends". But the posts I saw over on kitchens were less than helpful with links to commercial sites that sometimes weren't even related to the OP. I hope that was just a fluke, and not an indication of things to come. But in the end, I will, if necessary, weed through through those posts to find the ones by from people (pros included) who aren't just trying to sell me something. I appreciate all of the comments, advice, and suggestions I get here, especially those that suggest I am headed down the wrong road I'm not here simply for validation - this site saved me from some disasters in my kitchen remodel and I am so grateful! Thanks to EVERYONE who takes the time to share their expertise, experience and honest opinions.