Author Topic: What you can really do in the istock situation - Speak up and be heard! (Read 3600 times)

ARTPUPPY · « **on:** December 10, 2012, 16:06 »

I have read almost all of the posts by creatives in both forums regarding the changes at istock and I have to say, if your going to do that much effort to get your voices heard, you need to take it to the top level, beyond istock, and even beyond Getty Images - to the new owners, The Carlyle Group. I suspect they have no idea what is going on here, and any information they are getting is from Getty Images, since istock has basically been gutted. It's sad to see contributors post such accurate well written posts in an istock forum which I think is just a closed room. If you're an exclusive and have posted your thoughts, make a little extra effort and write at least one letter to someone at the Carlyle Group. (addresses listed below) At least we can raise an awareness about what is going on and that changes need to take place and soon. Perhaps we can make our own "Make a difference" campaign.

Person in charge of the Getty Images account:
Eliot P. S. Merrill
Managing Director
Carlyle Group 520 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
United States

Board of directors (others are listed on the Carlyle website):
William E. Conway, Jr.
Co-Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder
Carlyle Group 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004-2505
United States

Daniel A. D'Aniello
Chairman, Co-founder
Carlyle Group 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004-2505
United States

James H. Hance, Jr.
Operating Executive
Carlyle Group 520 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
United States

David M. Rubenstein
Co-Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder
Carlyle Group 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004-2505
United States

Sometimes speaking out can make a difference. Who knows? We have to at least try.

Pixart · « **Reply #1 on:** December 10, 2012, 16:34 »

A good ol organized protest always works as well. One that is happening right now was organized against General Mills, esp Cheerios. They donated 1.2M against Prop 37 so that they (and other manufacturers/producers of genetically modified/toxic foods) would not have to label their foods as containing GMOs.

On Monday they released an app on Facebook asking ‘fans’ to gratefully show what Cheerios means to them. They were bombed with thousands of angry posts from parents and consumers who have been fooled into purchasing their "wholesome" product that contains GMO's. https://www.facebook.com/#!/Cheerios?fref=ts&filter=2 and they are still coming pretty fast and furious. They removed all of the clever artwork but surprisingly left the posts and pulled the ap.

When consumers did this to Kashi, they (Kashi) made a promise to phase out GMO ingredients - even though their boxes still say 100% organic. They had it so bad that consumers were sharing labels to print and tape up next to the Kashi on the grocery store shelves that warned that Kashi contains GMO ingredients that are toxic.

The Managing Director of Getty doesn't give a sh*t what you and I think, he cares about buyers. Maybe buyers need to be better informed.

cidepix · « **Reply #2 on:** December 10, 2012, 16:53 »

No need to do anything..

It is so obvious they are going down, thus the sudden "love" for contributors..

All I will do is, laugh while they continue their decline to hell, and in the meantime try to refer all potential customers to other stock sites so they can get to hell quicker..

as a non-exclusive it's a win-win situation for me.. no, it's actually more of a win-more situation as all other agencies those customers can turn to will pay me better..

the quicker they go bankrupt, the better..

cthoman · « **Reply #3 on:** December 10, 2012, 17:23 »

Yeah, it doesn't really matter to me either. I made my decision to leave a while ago. If they fail, that is probably good for my business. If they don't, it won't affect me that much. Either way, it doesn't really matter, but I don't really see them making any drastic changes to improve the situation.

That said, I'd say if you really want to speak out, then do it with your images and take your business somewhere else. Call me cynical, but I think any heartfelt speeches will just fall on deaf ears.

Poncke · « **Reply #4 on:** December 10, 2012, 17:37 »

There might be just too many contributors and big players that wont leave and they will still attract new contributors so they might just plod on for a good few years.

stockastic · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2012, 17:50 »

Moved on.

A guy at this level doesn't even read his own mail. Unless he already knows you, he'll never see it.

Will · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2012, 18:10 »

For an independent like me it's probably best if IS just plods on as is. At least this keeps the IS exclusives out of the agencies I submit to. :-)

lisafx · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2012, 18:16 »

I think posting these addresses is a very constructive effort at finding a solution.

I don't know if it will work, but it beats just standing around tearing our hair out in the forums

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #8 on:** December 10, 2012, 21:45 »

I think the problem with talking to private equity folks is that they're only in it for the short haul and only to take money out of the business. Most of the things people want done (and that do need to be done) are for the long term.

Asking private equity guys to spend money isn't going to be of interest to them unless they can see a return on that expense in 3 years. Even if they have to cut their losses, I think they'd rather do that than sink in more cash. It sucks but they have no interest in the business other than as a cash generator.

grafix04 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 10, 2012, 21:51 »

If you want the the bigwigs' attention, there's no need to even contact them. The information is all here. All you have to do is start adding (The Carly Group) after iStock on every post you make about IS. They'll find you in Google in no time.

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Author Topic: What you can really do in the istock situation - Speak up and be heard! (Read 3600 times)

ARTPUPPY

Pixart

cidepix

cthoman

Poncke

stockastic

Will

lisafx

Jo Ann Snover

grafix04

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