chia_pet and others, 

You're right, this is how things get when a sale or shutdown is in the works, and I also speak from experience.  It gets pretty weird, things just sort of go dark and nothing happens.  That's because no one can get a decision on anything from the higher-ups.  The company is divided into 2 groups - those above a certain level, who know what's happening, and those below that don't - and those groups stop talking to each other.  Managers sit in offices with closed doors, workers hang around in small groups and chat.

Employees realize there's no point in thinking about the future until they find out what it's going to be, so they stop doing anything beyond what's necessary to get through the day.

No idea what's really happening at IS but it sort of fits the pattern.

I would agree. It seems as though that is what is happening. But whether it is or isn't, I still can't fathom that they would let things get as bad as they have. Why not just postpone F5 instead of doing it half-a*sed and ruining goodwill with both buyers and contributors. I sure can't figure it out.

Stockastic... it's been a long time since I was in a company where this happened, and I'd forgotten quite how it felt.  Reading your post brought it all back.  It was exactly like that.  Spot on. 

Me too! Great post Stockastic.

Quote

I still can't fathom that they would let things get as bad as they have.

I've been with IS a number of years and each year has been marked by at least one major IT disaster. There was one Fall I particularly remember when the site crashed, constantly, for weeks. They have a record of  IT mismanagement going back years, this is nothing particularly new. It is very frustrating, particularly in the light of all the recent PR disasters such as the received credits change. You'd think they'd try and be on the ball a bit more, or maybe they just don't care. With all the money they make, they could pay the best to sort out the site once and for all.

In the 7 years I've been with iStock, this seems to be worse as it has lasted quite long and seems as they try to fix one thing they break three others in the process. 

Yes, I had been hesitant to mention it because of the usual "it's too early to tell" comments, but my sales there are in the toilet as well.   It can't be a coincidence that the site is so messed up and sales are down, can it?  Unlikely.         

Seriously, I wish IS would just land the friggin' plane!  Get the site fixed, get on with their rape and pillaging and let us see what the heck is left so I can determine if I even want to play anymore...

It will be interesting to see how this month goes at iStock and if the fixes happen without breaking anything new. 

and FWIW, SS has gone wild on me for downloads lately, too.  I'm smiling at that one and wondering if it's also just a fluke or if a chunk of fed-up iStock buyers are looking at other places to shop.

Yep __ excellent sales at Shutterstock and average at FT, DT and BigStock. Maybe all Istock's customers went on extended vaccation with the staff and haven't got back yet?

I was despairing of IS customers ever coming back to the site, then I had possibly my BDE today ... about 5 days of downloads at once.  Looks like the customers finally got over their hangovers.

Quote from: stockastic on January 05, 2011, 11:12

chia_pet and others,  

You're right, this is how things get when a sale or shutdown is in the works, and I also speak from experience.  It gets pretty weird, things just sort of go dark and nothing happens.  That's because no one can get a decision on anything from the higher-ups.  The company is divided into 2 groups - those above a certain level, who know what's happening, and those below that don't - and those groups stop talking to each other.  Managers sit in offices with closed doors, workers hang around in small groups and chat.

Employees realize there's no point in thinking about the future until they find out what it's going to be, so they stop doing anything beyond what's necessary to get through the day.

No idea what's really happening at IS but it sort of fits the pattern.

I would agree. It seems as though that is what is happening. But whether it is or isn't, I still can't fathom that they would let things get as bad as they have. Why not just postpone F5 instead of doing it half-a*sed and ruining goodwill with both buyers and contributors. I sure can't figure it out.

--------------------

Been wondering about why not postpone/stop the F5 myself and think one possibility is that bonuses for individual Istock employees might have been tied to say rolling out certain parts of the F5 before the end of 2010.  Seems stupid to me that this could be the truth, but I've seen it done elsewhere.

I think the company being sold is actually the most plausible explanation and scenario I can imagine if you apply that thinking to as to how such a huge and valuable company could be left to start to fall apart by it's admins at such a very critical time when large online changes are supposed to be kicking in. 

If the company has been in a state of for-sale limbo for some time now, and that a lot of people physically left at the end of the year, then issues and problems could be left to dangle unresolved until the new owners and admins are in place in a couple of months from now.

It would explain all the silence from HQ and very little proactive action on all the recent site problems an errors as well.

The XMAS image theft CC fraud debacle could also have been internally masterminded and driven by other disgruntled employees who were laid off at the end of the year. I would say the chances are very high of any or all of this being true and it is the only plausible explanation as to why the site is just being left to fall apart as it has. 

It would also explain why they pushed out new packages like F5 before the end of the year which weren't bug tested first. And who would launch a new search engine during a holiday season, which is bad timing anyway since nobody would be around or could be bothered to stick around to fix it, unless people were under deadlines to finish certain things before leaving? People probably had put in resignations back in September when the new royalty structure was announced, but promised to at least complete certain projects before they leave at the end of the year, whether the new systems are actually ready for prime time or not. Welcome to iFlop 2011

http://thehairpin.com/2011/01/women-laughing-alone-with-salad/

 

Thanks for that... I nearly fell off my chair laughing at just how incredibly joyful those salads apparently are! 

^
It may be nothing new, but these are the most snafus, so close together that I have seen since 2005 when I joined. It really does have the feel of a sinking ship.

Why does Lobo have to lock every single thread with a snarky comment? Why not a "We are very concerned with protecting our contributors IP rights. Thanks for noticing, we are looking into it."?

Oh, wait, that's because they don't give a crap about you and your IP rights (and it shines through time and again).

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=289322&page=2#post5545062