Arbo,
Exactly right. Anybody can put a poll on the forum in any thread, but it is because they personally are interested in the answers. I just didn't want anybody to think that it was associated with what I am trying to do as far as accumulating information for my magazine.

I started this whole thread by saying that I am doing it in my capacity as editor/publisher of Catamaran Sailor magazine. I said that so it would be clear what my interests are in the answers and how I might be planning to use them. And when Rick or I do a poll that is sponsored by this website, Rick puts it either on our home page or "stickies" it at the top of the Open Forum. I just wanted people to understand the differences. And I did not want people to think that Wouter's poll was taking the place of giving responses to my original question. When people see a poll, they have a tendency to just vote and not give the verbal input that I am looking for.

Now that I think about it, since there isn't really an etiquette book on how to handle these things, it seems as though it would create less confusion if someone who wants to do a poll on a certain subject would start a new thread specifically for that purpose, because then the poll would stand alone, and it would be very clear who was taking the poll. Just a thought.