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Author Topic: Canva removes me as a contributor...watch your Ps & Qs if you want to stay  (Read 49465 times)

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« on: October 22, 2015, 16:06 »
+42
I thought it was a bit odd that the last 6 or so of today's sales were all 404 error when I clicked on them in the sales list...then I checked my active portfolio.

They deleted another 70 files in the last day or two. It had been so long that the portfolio had been holding steady since the last massacre that I uploaded a file the other day - just one to see what would happen (it's still in review).

Once again, the files are ones that have been selling on Canva  (as well as on the other sites they're available). There were a whole bunch from Aruba; a halloween pumpkin outside on a dark night - I don't really have the stomach to look through it.

It's been a great sales month so far, but that obviously won't continue - I'm assuming the next casualty will be the Christmas images that have been selling a lot this month.

And they never provided that promised newsletter to contributors explaining their new criteria for desired files and acceptance policies.

Every time I get a little hopeful that Canva might turn into something good for contributors - I still think their idea is one of the few pieces of original thought we've seen in the market in a long time - they remind me that we are below the bottom of their list of priorities.

What a rude and careless way to treat contributors. At least explain what the f*ck is going on and what you want or don't. Is that really too much to ask? (I did write to support - it took me forever to find a link on their web site - asking for them to please explain what's going on and what their current criteria are).
« Last Edit: October 23, 2015, 23:49 by Jo Ann Snover »


« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2015, 17:51 »
+6
If it makes you feel better, I didn't get accepted there. So, I guess some files is better than none.  ;)

« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2015, 18:24 »
+3
I wonder if they are gradually replacing best sellers with wholly owned content.

« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2015, 10:41 »
+28
So I got a reply from Lee this morning to my support ticket regarding the deletions. I won't post it here, but I found it breathtakingly rude and in summary, the points were:

1. There isn't going to be a newsletter because they don't need to provide any more guidelines - most of their contributors don't need or want them

2. My portfolio has moved back into the bottom 1% (by what I'm not sure, but certainly it's now tiny) so it's getting extra attention from the cleanup team

3. They'll continue to work with me if I want but I came in before their current "very high entry standards" were in place and I'm "far from our typical contributor profile"

4. Most of the deletions are because there are superior images on the site and current sales have nothing to do with that (that reason doesn't match up as some of yesterday's culls were for subjects, e.g. Aruba, where they have virtually no other images; there are a total of 12, one of which is mine that they apparently forgot to delete)

I'm going to leave what images remain on the site (they culled another 8 overnight) but I'll not bother to continue uploading.

marthamarks

« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2015, 11:26 »
+22
So I got a reply from Lee this morning to my support ticket regarding the deletions. I won't post it here, but I found it breathtakingly rude and in summary, the points were:

1. There isn't going to be a newsletter because they don't need to provide any more guidelines - most of their contributors don't need or want them

2. My portfolio has moved back into the bottom 1% (by what I'm not sure, but certainly it's now tiny) so it's getting extra attention from the cleanup team

3. They'll continue to work with me if I want but I came in before their current "very high entry standards" were in place and I'm "far from our typical contributor profile"

4. Most of the deletions are because there are superior images on the site and current sales have nothing to do with that (that reason doesn't match up as some of yesterday's culls were for subjects, e.g. Aruba, where they have virtually no other images; there are a total of 12, one of which is mine that they apparently forgot to delete)

I'm going to leave what images remain on the site (they culled another 8 overnight) but I'll not bother to continue uploading.

Sounds like a good time to say "Adis" or "FU" or something even more colorful.

« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2015, 11:45 »
+3
2. My portfolio has moved back into the bottom 1%

What does this supposed to mean?

« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2015, 13:32 »
+40
I just received a note from Lee that someone had pointed him to this post and they're closing my Canva account - "You are no longer welcome as a Canva contributor"

So anyone who wants to stay with Canva would do well to take this warning shot and remember to keep your mouth closed in public places about them or their actions.

I seem somehow to have this affect on agencies :)

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2015, 13:42 »
+26
Grief, it is a cartel.  :(
What b*stards.

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2015, 13:45 »
+50
I take it as a warning shot never to upload to canva.

« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2015, 13:47 »
+10
I just received a note from Lee that someone had pointed him to this post and they're closing my Canva account - "You are no longer welcome as a Canva contributor"

So anyone who wants to stay with Canva would do well to take this warning shot and remember to keep your mouth closed in public places about them or their actions.

I seem somehow to have this affect on agencies :)

Hi Jo Ann, it would probably be a better idea to try to sort things out with an agency before posting about an issue on public forum - give them a chance to explain or fix issues. Agencies do care about their public image and most will work with you to resolve things. I actually had a very pleasant experience dealing with Canva - they are *the good guys* in my book:) Some agencies take forever to respond to inquiries and it takes a lot of patience to work on resolving them, but in the end it's worth it (for example, I just got a resolution of a problem with one of the sites and it took 3 months - however, the issue is resolved so there is no need to go public about it).

« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2015, 14:53 »
+40
Elena, I did work with Canva privately initially. I'm well aware that agencies don't like public discussion of problems.

One of the things that public discussion can help with is knowing if something is happening only to you or to lots of contributors or a group. Part of the way any organization manages things is to say "it's only you" and without some sort of forum to compare notes, there is no way to know if that's the case or not.

Lee claims that most Canva contributors don't want or need any additional guidelines about images they want and don't, or why they've been removing existing images the way they have - that it's just me.

It no longer matters to me one way or another, but I thought there were a couple of areas that merited public discussion.

One was the previous promise to explain the portfolio culls in a future newsletter. The other was that other contributors aren't interested in understanding rejection reasons or the culls.

I did editorialize about my perception of Lee's e-mail being rude - I think he could have told me "no newsletter" and "no explanations" without being so dismissive of me and my work. He was acting as a rep for Canva and I'm not sure that being rude to contributors is ever an appropriate way to deal with them.


« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2015, 16:17 »
+35
My Grandmother always said, "Never do anything you would be ashamed to see printed in a newspaper."  I would suggest that agencies shouldn't do things that they would be ashamed to see reported in this forum.

Also, since they are clearly monitoring here they have every opportunity to come here and explain the circumstances from their point of view.  If they disagree with Jo Ann and her post, let them come here and say so.

« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2015, 16:37 »
+30
I take it as a warning shot never to upload to canva.

This is the take away from all this put so succintly.

Just as an outsider, to me it has seemed that Canva has changed from when they were starting out, accepting images, being freindly, posting regularly here , etc, to keeping things hush, hush, distant and in short pissing on a lot of contributers that helped them out when they were just starting out.
Too bad.

« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2015, 16:53 »
+9
wow, sad news. just when we think canva is a straw for a drowning ss contributor
and when it all looks like a good alternative to what was a healthy business after the end of istock and the questionable sorry state ss is in these days.
now, it looks no difference from the great G and is and ss and all that exclusive bs
(no, i don't mean bigstock but the other thing ...)

i guess no one can be trusted in this business anymore. time to look for a day job or a new career...
even sanitory inspector (what we call WC cleaners here) would be a better alternative;
at least you know the sh*t you need to clean won't jump up and splash you in the face
after you think it all smells nice and pink candies  8)

« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2015, 17:43 »
+8
I am sorry to hear agencies retaliation goes on specially on open and helpful contributors. In any case i was taking a look at this Canva agency.......gosh do this guys have a weak portfolio......nevermind loosing them from sight...not really worth it.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2015, 01:55 by everest »

« Reply #15 on: October 23, 2015, 18:27 »
+12
That's sad Jo Ann.  Its nice to be able to vent a little bit here sometimes.  Most sites let us say almost whatever we want about them because they aren't that concerned about an individuals opinion.  If someone goes too far over a period of time, they are asking to have their account closed but this doesn't seem like that situation.

Funny how the pattern of sites having good communications and being nice to their contributors until they get established but then turning on them keeps repeating.  I'm going to concentrate even more on the few sites that have been good to work with all along.

w7lwi

  • Those that don't stand up to evil enable evil.
« Reply #16 on: October 23, 2015, 20:29 »
+13
Here's another example of why many of us use what are essentially anonymous names.  It's a shame we feel we need to do this, but agency retaliation does seem to be a fact of life.

As to why we don't see CANVA (Lee) on here any more, if you go back to that original, very long, CANVA thread, about half way through some individuals started getting quite nasty with their comments against both the company in general and Lee in particular.  Not that their complaints may not have been justified, but the way they chose to express themselves was out of line by any measure of polite discourse.  Had I been in Lee's shoes, I would have also abandoned any further attempts to explain what was going on.  This seems to be a problem all over the Internet where you don't have to speak to an individual face-to-face.  In their anonymity they seem to feel they have the freedom to express themselves in the most base way available, without giving any thought to the other party's feelings.  Small wonder many are leaving forums such as this.  All the worse when we drive away those agency reps that do try to help in whatever way they are allowed.

« Reply #17 on: October 23, 2015, 20:58 »
+28
Here's another example of why many of us use what are essentially anonymous names.  It's a shame we feel we need to do this, but agency retaliation does seem to be a fact of life.

As to why we don't see CANVA (Lee) on here any more, if you go back to that original, very long, CANVA thread, about half way through some individuals started getting quite nasty with their comments against both the company in general and Lee in particular.  Not that their complaints may not have been justified, but the way they chose to express themselves was out of line by any measure of polite discourse.  Had I been in Lee's shoes, I would have also abandoned any further attempts to explain what was going on.  This seems to be a problem all over the Internet where you don't have to speak to an individual face-to-face.  In their anonymity they seem to feel they have the freedom to express themselves in the most base way available, without giving any thought to the other party's feelings.  Small wonder many are leaving forums such as this.  All the worse when we drive away those agency reps that do try to help in whatever way they are allowed.

If your going to be a pr man for a internet based company, you better grow a pair
Getting criticism deserved or not is just a fact you have to deal with
And to ban someone for voicing their opinion, esp in not in derogatory fashion, well that is just poor
Canva is amateurish

« Reply #18 on: October 23, 2015, 21:03 »
+1
If it makes you feel better, I didn't get accepted there. So, I guess some files is better than none.  ;)

Do they take vectors yet? I talked to Lee about it years ago and sent over a chunk of my portfolio, but haven't heard anything since.

« Reply #19 on: October 24, 2015, 00:53 »
+13
Elenathewise you have been fairly critical of ss and dt lately surely you must have sympathy for jo ann instead and understand where she's coming from

« Reply #20 on: October 24, 2015, 06:09 »
+17
I just received a note from Lee that someone had pointed him to this post and they're closing my Canva account - "You are no longer welcome as a Canva contributor"

Sorry to hear that. Probably it's time to remove the link to Canva from your homepage.

My contributor application is still pending. Even if I get accepted, I'm not sure whether I really want to send any images to them after hearing all these stories. It seems like Canva is just another agency who forgot how contributors had supported them to grow up.

Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it

« Reply #21 on: October 24, 2015, 06:40 »
+20
Sorry to hear you got deleted from Canva. Actions like these are very scary and encourage artist to only post with an anonymous alias to protect themselves.

It never stops the discussion about an agency. They will just drive discussions underground.

The best agencies can do is be proactive and get in here and connect with people directly instead of pushing people away. "Only a silent artist is a good artist" is not a very encouraging reputation to have :(

If you do business online, then all kinds discussions, public customer ratings etc...are a normal part of your business.

Also the stock community is very small and you will be dealing with the same group of people for many years to come.

Im really surprised.

« Last Edit: October 24, 2015, 06:45 by cobalt »

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #22 on: October 24, 2015, 07:18 »
+38
3. They'll continue to work with me if I want but I came in before their current "very high entry standards" were in place and I'm "far from our typical contributor profile"

In other words, you were one of the first to give a new place a shot, and by uploading your work there you actually gave a new business something to sell. They repaid you for your support by deleting your images without notice, even though they were still selling.

I think these places forget that many of us are not only their suppliers, but their customers, too. And word gets around.

« Reply #23 on: October 24, 2015, 07:23 »
+15
I just received a note from Lee that someone had pointed him to this post and they're closing my Canva account - "You are no longer welcome as a Canva contributor"


arrogant.
The agencies do not like it when we are talking about there and there politics.
But i would like to say there's luckily a way to send anonymous regards and FCK CVA.

« Reply #24 on: October 24, 2015, 07:32 »
+24
In other words, you were one of the first to give a new place a shot, and by uploading your work there you actually gave a new business something to sell. They repaid you for your support by deleting your images without notice, even though they were still selling.

I think these places forget that many of us are not only their suppliers, but their customers, too. And word gets around.

Look at how many new agencies come out every year and didnt get the support canva did. Their success is strongly linked that people here trust Lee.

Uploading new files to an unknown place is a lot of work. To see them deleted even though they sell is bizzare.

Plus, we are all stock buyers. Why annoy us?


 

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