Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Alastair Galpin

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The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. The "delete" !votes focus mainly on WP:BIO and WP:SELFPROMOTE. However, significant coverage in reliable secondary sources does exist and the article has been substantially cleaned up to remove the promotional tone. King of ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ 17:51, 24 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Alastair Galpin[edit]

Alastair Galpin (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log • AfD statistics)
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Vanity article created at the subject's request; no actual notability shown or asserted. Orange Mike | Talk 14:23, 17 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

  • Keep His crazy activities were noted by reliable media over the world, see New Zealand Herald, Auckland stuff, Scoop etc. The article needs neutral editing, not deletion. --Vejvančický (talk | contribs) 14:44, 17 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Delete the article lists his six biggest accomplishments, and 4 of them are shared with others and the two that aren't are sourced to his own site and thus apparently self-awarded. Not notable and a pretty obvious COI/self-promotion case. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 21:18, 17 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Delete fails WP:BIO. --Cameron Scott (talk) 11:17, 18 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]


What is the issue with listing amongst your greatest achievements, shared records, where they are organised? I have added a link to the Record Holders Republic page which shows that none of his records are self-awarded. It is more difficult to link to them on Guinness World Record website, as they only include some of the main and latest records on there.

As for the editing - why remove the links to Grahamstown, where his family have strong links and are noted in the article about the observatory museum there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rwap (talk • contribs) 11:30, 18 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Record Holders Republic does not seem to be a reliable source, you send in your forms with two witnesses who could be literally anyone and blam you are the record holder - oh and then they will flog you a certificate. --Cameron Scott (talk) 13:17, 18 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]


I have noted the comment about Record Holders Republic and referred that back to Alastair.

As for notariety, Alastair has passed the following information:

1. I am the 2nd biggest Guinness World Records™ breaker of the decade. Ashrita Furman is the biggest - he is on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashrita_Furman (what's the difference?) 2. I have a CD here from my radio interview with Ian Jones and Marc Montgomery of Radio Canada International in 2008; broadcasting to north America, central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific Islands and everywhere else via satellite. Something like 125 nations. 3. Exceptional People magazine (USA) featured me as an individual in society who stands out for my innovative approach to charity promotions (they don't feature just anybody): http://www.exceptionalmag.com/extraordinary_profiles/extraordinary_profiles4.html 4. Television New Zealand put this attempt online; one of my other attempts on this Good Morning show got higher than average viewer ratings in NZ, and I have the document to prove it (attached): http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/2299015?bandwidth=56k 5. Follow the family tree and any intelligent person will see the clear links between the Galpin and Rhodes family. 6. My kiwifruit eating appears here - for global media to pick up in news releases: www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2008/11/081113.aspx 7. The biggest radio station(?) in Australia has had this link there for 18 months: http://caama.com.au/category/radio/programs/drive-time/ 8. I appear on this link somewhere: http://books.google.com/books?id=rZ8nFo7Ep0AC&pg=PA299&lpg=PA299&dq=alastair+galpin&source=bl&ots=P5d3q1fvqP&sig=8wylP5WPJOy0oLMVkJ6WOcnJfXY&hl=en&ei=qaqUTJnONoOwvgO_wYmaDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CDIQ6AEwCDgU 9. More big coverage from: www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2007/11/071102.aspx 10. I was in Time magazine! (see : http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1859037,00.html 11. Here I am on the MTV website in an article about the popular US rock band, Fall Out Boy: www.mtv.com/news/articles/1598075/.../fall_out_boy.jhtml 12. Here I have spawned a huge hugging culture, that went to far as to get a charity hugging to assist Haiti after its large earthquake; in relation to this campaign, I was placed next to a box about Bush and Clinton also having an influence on the Hugs for Haiti campaign: http://www.hugsforhaitichallenge.com/take-the-challenge/ 13. News from California: http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_arcade05.38d7fb9.html 14. From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/14/2419444.htm 15. Here print media has associated me with the famous David Blaine by connection in article: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/05/02/as-david-blaine-breaks-the-record-for-holding-his-breath-we-find-more-superhuman-feats-115875-20402152/ 16. USmile radio on the US east coast: http://www.usmileradio.com/NSAEN.html 17. From India: http://gujarati-club.blogspot.com/2009/11/gurlzgroup-newguinness-world-records.html 18. Singapore: http://www.podcast.sg/938live/breakfast_club/index.xml 19. And some random foreign language articles: http://tintuc.xalo.vn/alistair_galpin http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/Rekorde-aus-dem-neuesten-Guinness-Buch_bid_18757.html http://www.spoki.lv/foto-izlases/Re-cords-Re-cik-mulkigi-/153579 http://marcianos.com.mx/escala-del-ruido-en-decibelios/ http://kaskusnews.us/2010/03/28/6-rekor-konyol-di-guinness-world-records/ Google "Alastair Galpin" and from pg 20 onwards you will see articles in so many languages, I don't know what they all are.

Maybe we can add some of this to the page.

Also - I am not too certain how this page differs from other world record holders pages, for example: Paddy Doyle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Doyle Suresh Jaochim - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suresh_Joachim Peter Dowdeswell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Dowdeswell —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rwap (talk • contribs) 15:31, 18 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

  • Delete As per the comment on Adabow's talk page the article was created on the subject's "behalf and at his request". Wiki is not self-promotional, even by proxy! DerbyCountyinNZ (Talk Contribs) 22:49, 18 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Comment This and the !vote above are not valid reasons for deletion, but reasons to clean up the article, as Cameron Scott and Vejvančický have done. Smartse (talk) 22:07, 23 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • If Wiki is not self-promotional, that is naive to think that every page is created by someone who has no interest in the subject matter in some manner.
  • Not all references are from Alastair's website - there are references to articles in Time Magazine and Hugs for Haiti. Plenty of other independent media references cited above, if people want these adding to the page. None of the world record holders link to their records on the Guinness World Records website as the pages are not fixed and you cannot always find the records listed except on their community pages (forums).

--Rwap (talk) 11:13, 19 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

  • You're right, unfortunately, that there are plenty of self-promotional articles which haven't been deleted yet, but the mere fact that they exist doesn't mean that we condone spam or advertising on Wikipedia, just like the fact that some murderers aren't convicted doesn't mean that murder is somehow legal. For more, see WP:OTHERCRAPEXISTS. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 16:24, 19 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • True - there are plenty of self-promotional articles, but if you are penning a biography of a living person on here, then the only sure way of having the correct information is direct from the horses mouth. I see no difference in the page on Alastair Galpin compared to the other pages on world record breakers, such as:

Paddy Doyle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_Doyle Suresh Jaochim - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suresh_Joachim Peter Dowdeswell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Dowdeswell

Therefore if you are to delete the page about Alastair Galpin, surely all of the other biographical pages on world record holders should also be deleted. --Rwap (talk) 00:43, 20 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

  • No, allowing self-promotion is not "the only sure way of having the correct information". That statement is ridiculous. Would we really want Charles Manson or David Duke to write their own articles? Wikipedia keeps its information neutral (see WP:NPOV) and verifiable (see WP:V, WP:RS) by using only information confirmed by verifiable reliable secondary sources. Regarding the other articles, again, see WP:OTHERCRAPEXISTS. Besides, all three of the ones you mention appear to be more notable than you are. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 02:13, 20 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • That there is a considerable amount of trivial rubbish and fanboy fluff in what is supposed to be a serious encyclopedia, is no excuse to add more. DerbyCountyinNZ (Talk Contribs) 07:11, 20 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Of course, COI, self-promotion and misunderstanding of basic editing policy in this case is pretty obvious. I quite understand your mistrust: an encyclopedic article for a man whose notability is in the field of placing rubber bands over his face, attaching rhinestones to his body, wearing the most T-shirts and having the most snails on his face? It is inadmissible! On the other hand, it's difficult to say what is trivial rubbish and fanboy fluff, as this is always subjective - what is rubbish for you may be useful for others. This guy's activities received coverage in multiple reliable media. See the extensive article in the New Zealand Herald (a large national newspaper), it could be a good start. The article contains among other things some critical comments (and first of all, it is not the only source available). The information could serve as a source i. e. for future sociological studies. In my opinion, we can include this topic to the "sum of all human knowledge". Yes, the article needs complete rewriting. I'll try to work on it. --Vejvančický (talk | contribs) 08:23, 20 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Note - I've indefinitely blocked Rwap as a promotional-only account, I've stated why on the editor's talk page. -- Atama頭 20:28, 21 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak Keep - seems to have been cleaned up to a satisfactory level and seems to pass the GNG, despite my personal doubts on worthiness of attention. dramatic (talk) 22:04, 22 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep The article was a total mess before, but this person clearly meets our notability guideline, having been the subject of significant coverage in multiple reliable sources. Smartse (talk) 22:07, 23 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Delete both this, and the other pagers on record holders who are not noted for any one thing in particular. Holding miscellaneous Guiness record is just about the definition of indiscriminate. DGG ( talk ) 01:17, 24 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • It isn't easy to define such a kind of human creativity, and I'm not sure whether this isn't slightly out of the scope of this discussion. What is more important to me: this project should describe - among other things - the "craziness" of the world, if the available sources allow such a description. Keeping this information is valuable and it has potential, no matter what I think about similar efforts. The article says something about the world we live in. --Vejvančický (talk | contribs) 09:08, 24 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Keep, actually. I am a big fan of Ashrita Furman and, while the subject doesn't seem to have the same shall we say gravitas, and GWR's standards are too-too modernized, the notability seems established assuming the statements are true and the Time and ABC coverage is significant and complemented. I'll take prior reviewers on faith for the poorness of the article history as I've seen enough poor articles lately, but the rescue and potential additional source pool seems sufficient. JJB 06:47, 24 September 2010 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
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