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Messages - jsmithzz
151
« on: March 22, 2011, 23:52 »
The only way to effectively reach all of the vector exclusives is to go through and privately site mail all of them about it. Daunting task, but i'm sure it would help considerably.
I would agree given that many don't even bother reading anything in the forums. I meet up with a few other iStock artists from time to time and two of them weren't even aware that editorial had rolled out until 2 weeks after the fact, and I sent them a link to the thread.
152
« on: March 22, 2011, 23:40 »
Thank you all very much for the encouragement and ideas! I was raised never to quit thus I am in it for the distance. My day time isn't bad thus I have some extra $$ to spend on equipment I will start my research on lights. The one thing that money cannot buy is composition- I am a very techie person but the only thing I ever did in the arts was watch Saturday morning cartoons. I truly lack the eye thus if anyone can tell me where I can purchase an artsy eye LOL!
Once again thanks...
Tom
Start looking at the best images online or top sellers to see what's selling well and what's not. Learn to look for patterns of those best sellers and then look at your own portfolio to see if your own work stacks up against those images. If you think it doesn't, learn what they're doing that you're not. At the end of the day, you will need to develop your eye and become your own worst critic. For example, for any given number of photos I take, only 5% or so will ever see the light of day on my personal website or on any of the agencies I contibute to. Sometimes it's as few as 2-3% if I've had an off day at my studio. I only put up my absolute best work and keep everything else under wraps. When I go through my images I quickly see what pictures are truly the gems and which ones are not worth uploading. And the ones that aren't worth uploading, I can usually quickly tell what I should've done different (should have stytled the model differently, should have used a different focal length, should have used a fill card, etc.). Without a good eye for your own work, it will be much more difficult to make it.
154
« on: March 18, 2011, 00:23 »
I usually get a few DL's per day. This is the first time in the last YEAR that I've gotten zero sales within a 24 hour period during the week.
155
« on: March 17, 2011, 18:14 »
Hi All,
The one area that surprises me is that with 12 years of sales at Getty this has never happened to me before and still does not seem to be a problem with their RM/RF macro collections. I don't understand why this is only a problem with their Istock collection. I am sure there is a good answer but why never before with the other areas of their business models.
Best,
Jonathan
There is a perfectly good answer - incompetence by management at iStock to foresee such an event and failure to put proper security measures in place prior to it happening. They always seem to be driving forward with blinders on only to see the mess they've made in their rear view mirrors.
156
« on: March 16, 2011, 21:07 »
I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?
I don't understand why people keep posting these threads in the forums like a lighting rod. Why not just keep quiet rather than draw attention and give them yet another excuse to investigate more deeply and take more money away.
157
« on: March 16, 2011, 18:59 »
I imagine someone looked at a copy of the email I was sent and couldn't find any way to disagree with my assessment of it.
Edit to add - for some reason I seem to be able to get away with stuff on the istock forums that other people can't (now that's tempting fate!) I've only ever had one post removed by lobo that I can remember- I've self censored a couple of times.
Curt Pickens seems to get away with a lot too. He's said way worse stuff than I ever did and he still has his posting privileges. And when he was threatening to leave exclusivity, Lobo even contacted him directly and talked him down. It is interesting to see how far some people can push it (and how some people get special treatment as well). BTW, Susan, I am glad you can still post. You crack me up.
That also speaks volumes to how the entire organization is run. Rules aren't applied evenly, and people who clearly aren't capable of running things are still there as a result. While this may work for a while, it usually leads to more trouble.
158
« on: March 16, 2011, 18:36 »
Sorry if this buried somewhere in the mountain of messages on the iStock forums, but when they deduct our accounts for the fraudulent DL's will our stats be updated too?
159
« on: March 16, 2011, 18:27 »
It is through payoneer, for US only I believe. I did a test run of $100 and it worked fine. I've been getting weekly direct deposits for the full amount requested ever since (couple years now). It is payoneer that puts the money in, not iStock. Have never had any issues, highly recommended.
Adam what is the turnaround time for that once Payoneer gets the funds from iStock?
160
« on: March 14, 2011, 04:46 »
Maybe, or maybe another site bug?
It almost seems that their entire IT team just got up and quit. There's so much stuff that's broken just within the last month or so it's as if no one's even bothering to mind the store anymore.
162
« on: March 13, 2011, 20:26 »
No disrespect meant but the people that keep pushing to nominate stacey_newman or even pink_cotton_candy need to get their heads checked... this will turn this pointless conference call into something even more counter productive.
I agree 110%.
163
« on: March 13, 2011, 18:22 »
My prediction on the favored five:
Stacey NewmanCamrocker
double_p
feverstockphoto
Willowpix
Pesky Monkey, jsnover, TerryJ and jtyler look like they have already declined. I just can't see Sean signing an NDA. So all that will be left are the 'syncopaths'. 
You gotta be kidding me, right?
Believe it or not, she has been nominated!
PinkCottonCandy was nominated too if you can believe that. While usually reasonable, her actions of late and her Moderator badge would put her at the bottom of the list in my book.
164
« on: March 13, 2011, 11:03 »
Instead of posting wooyay to KK's posting what about "Where the have you been for the last 3 months"
It surely hasn't been at a communications or people-skills workshop.  They seriously need someone else to be their spokesperson.
I couldn't agree more.
165
« on: March 13, 2011, 10:31 »
I think it's a good move and seeks to create a bridge of communication between HQ and contributors in a language that won't further alienate the community. I don't think the NDA will prevent truthful reactions to information, even if details can't be disclosed. in any case, it's a good step. very simple and smart. could backfire I suppose if everyone chosen then comes back with negative feedback.
I think it's a lousy move. Like I mentioned in the other thread, this should be open to everyone as it impacts the entire community. Lack of transparency only gets companies in trouble. iStock would make a great case study at any business school on how not to run a business.
166
« on: March 13, 2011, 10:28 »
It MAY be that iStock is going to explain to the group what the nature of the fraud was, what they did about the first wave, in December, why they apparently can't get insurance (RM says they can't, at any rate!), why the second wave happened, why it went on for so long, apparently undetected - or did they have to leave it for so long to gather enough evidence for the police or other relevant authorities. It MAY be that that information is sub judice or similar, so can't at the moment be made public. I think that's what Kelly has been saying. HOPEFULLY the NDA would only be that the group couldn't discuss the details of the fraud cases until it's all made public in the fullness of time. There would be no need to muzzle the chosen sample from frank, free and full exchange of opinions on other matters on the forums, here or elsewhere, and I wouldn't expect them to agree to anything else. Sean and JoAnn from here, I hope you're both up for it. [/quote] While I don't disagree with you, there's a lot more that needs to be discussed than just the fraud that took place. Broken functionality, reduced commissions, recurring bugs, etc. All of these additional issues are barely commented on by Admins and when they are, it's "We're looking into it" or some other b.s. with no timelines or reassurances of when things will be made right.
167
« on: March 13, 2011, 10:00 »
Thankfully there are some rational heads over there still:
I would urge anyone considering taking on this responsibility to consider it carefully. Depending on the NDA and how much you learn, it is possible that you might not be able to post much if anything analytical about Istock in the forums again, ever.
Those are my thoughts exactly.
Again, why the NDA at all? This should be a public discussion that's open to all. Period.
168
« on: March 13, 2011, 09:47 »
This shouldn't be a conference call with exclusive members. This needs to be a town hall meeting with lots of participants and a question queue. I know this is easy to facilitate because I used to work for a Fortune 500 company and we'd have global conference calls with our CEO quarterly.
169
« on: March 11, 2011, 23:43 »
1.asx.asp.null<value>
170
« on: March 11, 2011, 08:16 »
Anyone else notice that Kelly's title is still COO and not CEO? He was never promoted to CEO. It's poorly thought out answers like the crap he posted just a short while ago that speak volumes to his poor leadership ability. It's no wonder no one at Getty has promoted him. I wouldn't either. In fact, I think (as another istocker stated in the forums as well), they need a good cleaning at the top levels of iStock. Things are clearly not going right and that falls squarely on the shoulders of the person running the show there. He's not cut out for the job.
171
« on: March 10, 2011, 22:51 »
Yes another reason not to participate. For the peanuts they pay for PP DL's, I'm amazed any of you participate at all.
172
« on: March 10, 2011, 22:42 »
Jonathan Klein, Getty Images | MIDEM Interview
Interesting interview here. Piracy and cannibalization are mentioned.
No wonder he's so excited about where the industry is. He just cut our take, and Getty is raking in a fortune off of our sweat and blood.
173
« on: March 10, 2011, 18:13 »
Several others who up till recently were inspectors
Brentman
LLMillerMedia
Maybelle
Former admins
Cobalt
Brent (IT guy?)
And what makes you come to that conclusion?
For some reason it is in my head that Brent was "let go".
174
« on: March 10, 2011, 11:16 »
closing that thread was ridiculous. I felt like I got put in the hall out of kindergarten class. I gotta say that I loved seeing Sean's effort at getting it reopened this morning.
I think it's generally in poor taste to discuss specific people, even here. but I have to disagree with Kelvin's name getting thrown around too. of course you're all entitled to your opinions, but I think he's the same old Kelvin. funny, irreverent and succinct. he just has a new badge. I don't think it's accurate to include him in this context. I just wanted to throw that in the mix.
While I agree with you about feeling like being in kindergarten again, I think discussing specific people is entirely warranted. Dawn made a very poor judgement call by closing the thread. Between that and her new PTOTW form that you have to fill out, which was also not well received and for good reason, I think she's still learning the ropes and getting a feeling for what it means to appease the masses in the forums while still towing the company line. No easy job IMHO. With the way things have been going on iStock, niceties have gone out the window, and I think in some cases that's been necessary to get things done. This is an open forum, free from the ban hammer, and I think it's a much needed place for people to vent and take people to task in a safe environment where people don't have to always be looking over their shoulders. And if that means names get mentioned in this forum, then so much the better.
175
« on: March 10, 2011, 08:35 »
Anybody remember the last piece of GOOD news from IS? I can't.
If your Getty its never been better....
If you're Hellman & Friedman, owners of Getty, it's better still....
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