I usually don't post in this category except when there's something to report, but the lack of marketing seems to hurt my standing as a witness. I've just been dropped out repeatedly, and somehow I feel that some people are not up to date with what I do for the platform.
Most of you know and appreciate my efforts to create useful tools while at the same time trying to spread distribution as wide as it's possible with my stake. My voting is done without regard to the possible curation rewards, the main goal is to give small amounts to as many original authors as possible.
Besides that I run several services ( steeminvite, steemdice ), finance the progress of PEvO, run a full rpc node, sponsor meetups and steemfests, act as an advisor to several projects, recruit new members and generally am available for questions from the community as well as outsiders.
All these projects cost a lot of time and money, and while I'm definitely able to run them at a loss for a while (which is happening right now), I have to consider how the community shows their appreciation. If they value a witness who sells their votes and generally only runs for-profit projects higher than those who focus on the broader picture it'd be silly to continue these efforts. @ned said it's a free market. Maybe I'm stupid and should just try to make the most for me, as that's what benefits everyone the most according to a theory which is pretty popular here?
I'm always open for criticism and discussions, but all the way down nobody explained the removal of their vote to me. I don't follow who votes or not, as I am fully convinced that's everyone's own decision. But if you missed voting for me by accident, please do that now to get me back up into the top 20 and secure the long term availability of my work. You can be assured there's more in the pipe, although I don't do announcements I'm working on several new projects right now.
Sorry for the begging post, but this is kind of necessary, and imo still better than regularly draining the reward pool by posting announcements for stuff that's not yet or never available (or worse) to keep getting votes. If you're unsure about anything, chat me up, or post a comment here. I'm glad to hear where I could do better to gain (back) your support!
If it turns out that I won't get back up I'll definitely keep everything up for a few more months, but cut back on further developments.
Looking forward to your feedback!