Author Topic: Big Change at IS (Read 62350 times)

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #50 on:** August 04, 2011, 21:50 »

... and yes, between the lines, it seems to say Stinkstock.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #51 on:** August 04, 2011, 22:22 »

Quote from: SNP on August 04, 2011, 20:07

in regards to Kelly - I'm fortunate to have met him in person before this shift happened. Kelly is ...

I was at the HQ 'lypse and so I did sort-of meet Kelly. There was a Q&A and I found his attitude and response to my question about ongoing site problems (which he dismissively said were fixed as if I were a moron, but which weren't fixed as someone else at the table told him) pretty unfriendly. At the end of 'lypse party he just swept right past me. Perhaps he's just painfully shy and not a communicator, but I was truly underwhelmed back then. I didn't see a leader or someone you'd want to rally behind.

I found everyone else incredibly welcoming and fun to be around, so I came away with very good feelings about the folks in Calgary, with that one exception. I'm just offering this to go along with the more upbeat assessments - some liked him, some not so much.

And as far as how iStock grew after Bruce left, you'll never be able to tease apart what things happened in spite of Kelly's leadership and what happened because of it. There's often quite a lot of lead and lag time on the effects of corporate decisions and it's in my mind much more likely that the massive leadership position that iStock had carried them a long way before the effects of a number of decisions were felt.

However, for the moment, iStock is still my number one earner, so it's in my interests that the new Getty suit doesn't totally eff it up, so I am keeping my fingers crossed although I don't have much optimism.

jsmithzz · « **Reply #52 on:** August 04, 2011, 22:23 »

Quote from: ShadySue on August 04, 2011, 16:00

Oh, you beat me by six minutes!
For us, however, the interesting,exciting/or scary bit is probably the as-ever ambiguous:
"Jonathan Klein wisely told us some time ago that as we hit the 5 million images mark, there would be many great images that simply would not be seen--and it's especially true as we near 10 million. We're looking at ways to resurface those images to get them selling again--even if it means moving them between sites. I'll be looking for your support as we roll out these exciting new options."

If it means that our things get moved to other sites involuntarily he will absolutely NOT have my support nor will he have the support of many other contributors I know.

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #53 on:** August 04, 2011, 22:39 »

Quote from: jsmithzz on August 04, 2011, 22:23

Quote from: ShadySue on August 04, 2011, 16:00
Oh, you beat me by six minutes!
For us, however, the interesting,exciting/or scary bit is probably the as-ever ambiguous:
"Jonathan Klein wisely told us some time ago that as we hit the 5 million images mark, there would be many great images that simply would not be seen--and it's especially true as we near 10 million. We're looking at ways to resurface those images to get them selling again--even if it means moving them between sites. I'll be looking for your support as we roll out these exciting new options."
If it means that our things get moved to other sites involuntarily he will absolutely NOT have my support nor will he have the support of many other contributors I know.

If you're producing stuff they want, you probably have nothing to worry about. If you have stuff they don't feel is a fit they may move it and not care about your support.

RacePhoto · « **Reply #54 on:** August 04, 2011, 22:53 »

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on August 04, 2011, 18:34

If they feel there are too many files at Istock, that suggests content is going to get separated pushed to different sites.

That's old news I guess because Getty is already being purged. This will just be a further shuffling of Getty macro, Istock midstock, and TS micro subscription.

The unknown is whose files will end up where and what the end result will be.

28581 people or 77% of the contributors have 200 or less files on IS.

5% of the contributors have over 1000 files.

Just to place the people here who are serious and worked hard to get 1000 files up for sale. Top 5% of MicroStock

Who will get moved where will be interesting, but 10 million files, it's obvious that being lost in the search is nothing personal.

leaf · « **Reply #55 on:** August 04, 2011, 23:28 »

I predict a new dark horse riding into town and taking over the microstock market

nruboc · « **Reply #56 on:** August 04, 2011, 23:35 »

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on August 04, 2011, 22:39

Quote from: jsmithzz on August 04, 2011, 22:23
Quote from: ShadySue on August 04, 2011, 16:00
Oh, you beat me by six minutes!
For us, however, the interesting,exciting/or scary bit is probably the as-ever ambiguous:
"Jonathan Klein wisely told us some time ago that as we hit the 5 million images mark, there would be many great images that simply would not be seen--and it's especially true as we near 10 million. We're looking at ways to resurface those images to get them selling again--even if it means moving them between sites. I'll be looking for your support as we roll out these exciting new options."
If it means that our things get moved to other sites involuntarily he will absolutely NOT have my support nor will he have the support of many other contributors I know.

If you're producing stuff they want, you probably have nothing to worry about. If you have stuff they don't feel is a fit they may move it and not care about your support.

That's how I see it as well.

pancaketom · « **Reply #57 on:** August 05, 2011, 00:20 »

" Our goal, and part of my new mandate, will be to make sure we optimize your earnings from your content. "

I can tell them an easy way to do this, and it starts with upping our commission percent.

Unfortunately I think the accurate translation as posted earlier was "...optimise our earnings from your content."

sigh.

lagereek · « **Reply #58 on:** August 05, 2011, 01:15 »

Quote from: leaf on August 04, 2011, 23:28

I predict a new dark horse riding into town and taking over the microstock market

Yes!! and he found Excalibur, pulled it from the stone and they will ride to Manhattan for serious round-table discussions. The Holy Grail, is within reach.

sharpshot · « **Reply #59 on:** August 05, 2011, 01:30 »

Quote from: sjlocke on August 04, 2011, 21:45

"in regards to Kelly - I'm fortunate to have met him in person before this shift happened. Kelly is an accessible, kind, genuine and truly nice person. He's intelligent and accomplished, but incredibly humble and unfortunately I think that has worked against him in terms of communicating with the community. we're a very tough crowd. I don't know what his new position entails, so I have little to say about it. but I wish him the very best in Manhattan."

I'd agree with this. People may still be hurting and nursing bruises, but sometimes it's ok to talk to the person and not necessarily the position. I will say I'm in a much better place then I was when Bruce left, and while I'd like to attribute all that to my awesome ability ...

I don't think it was intelligent to tell us that our commissions were being cut because istock's profits were unsustainable and that we aren't really doing this for the money. There's really no going back after making that statement, it just showed how greedy and out of touch with its independent contributors istock has become. He might not of had a choice about the commission cuts but the way it was announced was appalling.

This is probably going to be another exclusive v independent thing. I doubt there's an independent around that thinks istock has be run well the past few years. Perhaps just looking after their best exclusives is a good business decision but looking at how shutterstock has prospered, I doubt it.

cobalt · « **Reply #60 on:** August 05, 2011, 02:41 »

I am glad to see that Rebecca comes from a classic business background. I think the company badly needs someone who understands the whole economics of the site.

istock was the top No1 site and when I look at the traffic rank, we are about to be overtaken by dreamstime. Not funny.

But with a new management I think I can look forward to good sales this autumn. They will want to raise the numbers, so there will be lots and lots of advertising on all fronts to drive traffic back to the site.

Like many here have said, I met Kelly very briefly and came away with a good impression. Very hardworking, very humble, totally dedicated to istock and the contributors.

But he was clearly in the wrong position, so it is good he found a place in NY where he focus more on what he loves best.

My biggest hope is that the new management recognizes that the successful artists are good because they are good business people.

The top 5% have all understood how to identify a market niche for them, they know how to shoot with the customers in mind. From this I hope they allow us to add to our webshop the images we want to add and only remove them from our portfolio if they don´t sell.

I don´t mind if they add my content to the partner sites as well. I would be happy if all my content went immediately to the partner sites, even without the 18month delay for exclusives.

But in return, I would like to see all the money that I bring in be counted towrds my RC target. Wether I bring in money via photo, film, the partner program or by bringing in well paying buyers - what does it matter??? A dollar earned is a dollar earned.

It would also be great if the management would use all the talents of the community and not just see us as "happy carefree fun loving artists".

The site was built by creating a b2b plattform that benefitted everyone, a very unique marketplace. I hope they recognize that and change gears to allow the plattform to flourish like before.

In the end, they just have to follow the money. And cutting contributor royalties is a trick that only works once. Otherwise the competition will be happy to take care of us.

grp_photo · « **Reply #61 on:** August 05, 2011, 03:19 »

grp_photo · « **Reply #62 on:** August 05, 2011, 03:21 »

I can hear the bells of Thinkstock loud and clear (and it doesn't matter if you are an exclusive or an independent).

ShadySue · « **Reply #63 on:** August 05, 2011, 03:30 »

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on August 04, 2011, 20:25

Going from COO to VP kinda sounds that way. Maybe he didn't hit his growth targets and they found a role that's a better fit for him.
...

In other words, he didn't screw us as hard as he needed to to make these targets (?)

Quote

It'll be interesting to see if Rebecca tries to rebuild the destroyed contributor trust or do more of the same hacking away at contributors to boost profits. It's amazing how much has changed in a year.

If my above guess is right, she'll obviously need to screw us tighter or she'll be papped too.
Hard times for all. :-(

lthn · « **Reply #64 on:** August 05, 2011, 03:49 »

Quote from: helix7 on August 04, 2011, 17:54

From the istock forum:

Quote
Huge Thanx Kelly for all things what you've done for us...

Quote
...more than the money and downloads stats, his achievement is the many lives he changed. I am very thankful.

Quote
Rock on Kelly! I hope this means less travel time for you. And more delicious restaurants...

Quote
Kelly you truly are a rockstar...

Quote
Can't wait to see what happens next

This is way beyond sycophancy, these ppl are sick. Not joking, I mean it dead serious...

sharpshot · « **Reply #65 on:** August 05, 2011, 03:55 »

Quote from: ShadySue on August 05, 2011, 03:30

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on August 04, 2011, 20:25
Going from COO to VP kinda sounds that way. Maybe he didn't hit his growth targets and they found a role that's a better fit for him.
...
In other words, he didn't screw us as hard as he needed to to make these targets (?)

Quote
It'll be interesting to see if Rebecca tries to rebuild the destroyed contributor trust or do more of the same hacking away at contributors to boost profits. It's amazing how much has changed in a year.
If my above guess is right, she'll obviously need to screw us tighter or she'll be papped too.
Hard times for all. :-(

Cutting commission led to an exodus of non-exclusives and lots of us that stayed, because we need the money, haven't uploaded much in the last year. I really don't see how that boosts istock's profits. Governments that tax too much see their revenues fall, those that cut taxes give people an incentive to work harder and their revenues increase.

So if istock want to increase their profits, they should give us all a big commission raise. I wonder how long Rebecca would last if she suggested that idea

It seems crazy but all they have done is push contributors and buyers to their rival sites.

Clivia · « **Reply #66 on:** August 05, 2011, 03:58 »

Quote from: lthn on August 05, 2011, 03:49

Quote from: helix7 on August 04, 2011, 17:54
From the istock forum:

Quote
Huge Thanx Kelly for all things what you've done for us...

Quote
...more than the money and downloads stats, his achievement is the many lives he changed. I am very thankful.

Quote
Rock on Kelly! I hope this means less travel time for you. And more delicious restaurants...

Quote
Kelly you truly are a rockstar...

Quote
Can't wait to see what happens next

This is way beyond sycophancy, these ppl are sick. Not joking, I mean it dead serious...

This is why I stopped visiting the istock forums years ago. Really sick making.

Microstock Posts · « **Reply #67 on:** August 05, 2011, 04:20 »

I thought he got a promotion, but some of you have deduced that he basically was demoted, so this could just be a 'saving face' thing. Not a fact of course but a likely theory.

When he joined iStock in 2004, he certainly couldn’t have imagined how loathed iStock would be today. Or maybe he doesn't even know.

ShadySue · « **Reply #68 on:** August 05, 2011, 04:54 »

Quote from: Microstock Posts on August 05, 2011, 04:20

When he joined iStock in 2004, he certainly couldn’t have imagined how loathed iStock would be today. Or maybe he doesn't even know.

He thinks "everyone just calmed down".

grp_photo · « **Reply #69 on:** August 05, 2011, 05:30 »

Quote from: Microstock Posts on August 05, 2011, 04:20

I thought he got a promotion, but some of you have deduced that he basically was demoted, so this could just be a 'saving face' thing.

Yeah same here after getting some background from people with more business knowledge I think the same - so no bad words from me about him (but none good words either).

Artemis · « **Reply #70 on:** August 05, 2011, 05:43 »

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on August 04, 2011, 22:39

Quote from: jsmithzz on August 04, 2011, 22:23
Quote from: ShadySue on August 04, 2011, 16:00
Oh, you beat me by six minutes!
For us, however, the interesting,exciting/or scary bit is probably the as-ever ambiguous:
"Jonathan Klein wisely told us some time ago that as we hit the 5 million images mark, there would be many great images that simply would not be seen--and it's especially true as we near 10 million. We're looking at ways to resurface those images to get them selling again--even if it means moving them between sites. I'll be looking for your support as we roll out these exciting new options."
If it means that our things get moved to other sites involuntarily he will absolutely NOT have my support nor will he have the support of many other contributors I know.

If you're producing stuff they want, you probably have nothing to worry about. If you have stuff they don't feel is a fit they may move it and not care about your support.

I think that's true for exclusives... there's no way i see them going through the non-exclusive collection to manually sort out files for this or that site. It just screams mass migration to TS for us....
imho this 'moving content over to other sites' will probably take the nepotism thats already going on to a new level; i think i know which contributors will be taken very good care of.
It'll be a dark september

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #71 on:** August 05, 2011, 06:02 »

Quote from: grp_photo on August 05, 2011, 05:30

Quote from: Microstock Posts on August 05, 2011, 04:20
I thought he got a promotion, but some of you have deduced that he basically was demoted, so this could just be a 'saving face' thing.
Yeah same here after getting some background from people with more business knowledge I think the same - so no bad words from me about him (but none good words either).

He went from being the head of black sheep IS to one of the executives at mother ship Getty. Who knows if it was a promotion or demotion...

bunhill · « **Reply #72 on:** August 05, 2011, 06:41 »

Quote from: Microstock Posts on August 05, 2011, 04:20

When he joined iStock in 2004, he certainly couldn’t have imagined how loathed iStock would be today. Or maybe he doesn't even know.

A handful of people here and a few old-timers are the only people who loath iStockphoto.

Most active contributors are probably earning more from (and via) iStockphoto than they were in 2004. And every buyer I have ever talked too thinks that iStockphoto is a fantastic resource.

cobalt · « **Reply #73 on:** August 05, 2011, 06:51 »

Well said. But the success of istock is not just due to Kelly. We all worked on that.

I think it is entirely possible to be grateful how istock changed my life but to also point out that the dramatic loss in contributor trust and sales traffic isn´t good for istock.

Kelly moved into a position where he will probably do a lot more good for us than before and he doesn´t have to deal with a lot of day to day stuff.

RapidEye · « **Reply #74 on:** August 05, 2011, 07:07 »

Quote from: bunhill on August 05, 2011, 06:41

A handful of people here and a few old-timers are the only people who loath iStockphoto.

Most active contributors are probably earning more from (and via) iStockphoto than they were in 2004. And every buyer I have ever talked too thinks that iStockphoto is a fantastic resource.

No doubt most of its users do still think reasonably well of iStockphoto, but what has been squandered is the once-fanatical loyalty of both halves of its constituency. Designers are now rather more businesslike because images are no longer cheap as chips; and many contributors are at least wary of a company that could promise to grandfather people's canisters and then do an about-face a few months later, cutting royalties instead.

As I've said, I think the cumulative canister system had to have been doomed as soon as Getty's MBAs looked into the company, so I sort of understand, but a broken promise is hard to forget. Not that companies can be expected to behave morally, but consistency is generally good business.

As for the buyers, I wonder whether the policy of cranking up prices to maximise revenues is going to prove ill-judged in the long term. I'm among those making a lot more money than I was years ago, but iStock has achieved this by sacrificing growth in unit sales in favour of growth in revenue. That's all very well, but revenue isn't the only metric that matters when it comes to assessing your position in a market. I've been worrying for a while that iStock may have lost its market leadership without even realising it.

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Author Topic: Big Change at IS (Read 62350 times)

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