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Messages - cobalt
4751
« on: January 20, 2012, 19:47 »
...I have never met Jon Oringer, so I really dont get why some members here adore him so much. Looks just as overhyped to me as our reactions to JJRDs departure probably look to you.
Not at all. Actually it's strange to me that you don't understand why people like Jon, yet you understand why they like JJRD. Jon is a nice guy, helpful, very dedicated to the company and contributors. I don't understand why the fact that you personally don't know him prevents you from being open to the idea that he is, in fact, very liked in the SS community.
Maybe I should rephrase what I said - I cannot connect in any way emotionally to the adoration of Jon Oringer. This doesnt mean I dont respect other peoples feelings or admiration for him. I have never met him and some of the comments and postings Ive read appear overhyped. But maybe if I met him, I would feel the same way and write the same things.
4752
« on: January 20, 2012, 18:34 »
Its not about comparing agencies. Just respecting peoples heartfelt emotions.
JJRD has such a "following" because he worked his a** off for the contributors, literally. And over the years he has personally met and interacted with thousands of people, assisted us at shootings, responded personally to our sitemails etc...there is a reason why he will be missed. Just like Rob Sylvan or Bruce, strong character, strong personality.
I have never met Jon Oringer, so I really dont get why some members here adore him so much. Looks just as overhyped to me as our reactions to JJRDs departure probably look to you.
4753
« on: January 20, 2012, 18:22 »
If Jon Oringer decided to leave SS to sail the world or save the rainforest - how many people would be posting in his farewell thread?
4754
« on: January 20, 2012, 17:24 »
I am not a lawyer, but on the contributor page it says we are not supposed to discuss or mention anything that is being said or written on the forums. And who am I to get into legal trouble with getty.  So I only go there occasionaly to see if there is any site related news.
4755
« on: January 20, 2012, 15:27 »
It is just an istock logo right at the top. You see it when you log into the contributor area. gettyimages "istockphoto" exclusive community.
There is no special istock contributor forum.
4756
« on: January 20, 2012, 13:59 »
I think it is sad that they feel the need to hide behind the istockHQ moniker.
The competition all have CEOs that put their names out on the internet. So does every other successful internet based company. Can you imagine Mark Zuckerberg hiding behind a faceless alias?
Who is in charge of istock? Who is the captain on the bridge? Who feels responsible for success or failure?
We will see what is coming, but this text is extremly disappointing.
4757
« on: January 20, 2012, 13:26 »
The biggest drawback of the gettyforum is the "legal warning" at the front door. Whatever gets discussed there cannot be mentioned anywhere else on the internet. For me that just doesnt work. I even try not to read it too often, because I do not want to accidently repost something I that I read on Getty. I follow so many different forums and blogs it is not always easy to remember where exactly I read what.
So as a result I have all my business discussions here or on facebook. The more artists I can reach with my questions and concerns the better.
All companies have to deal with the transparency that the internet brings, any company decision gets discussed on twitter, facebook, blogs, articles. And many companies know how to make this their biggest advantage.
Its a useful forum for specific technical questions related to Getty, but not for business discussions IMO.
Basically what I am trying to say is - I wouldnt worry about the istock exclusive logo. Even if the istock forums or the exclusive forums should be moved/closed, we will just have our discussions here. The stock contributor community is extremly well connected, word and news travel fast.
4758
« on: January 20, 2012, 08:31 »
It would not make any financial sense to be exclusive at 20%.
Microstock is sold at much lower prices than the content on Getty. the artists need a sensible working marging to pay for studios, models etc...At 20% I really dont see how anyone could produce stock especially if getty wants more localized content from Paris, Tokyo or New York.
4759
« on: January 18, 2012, 07:36 »
Want to sign back up with istock  ?
4760
« on: January 16, 2012, 17:42 »
Its not all roses over here. I am looking into closing my studio and going back to working from home Living rooms are overrated, my friends can sit in the kitchen... But Ill try to produce and upload as much as I can for istock/getty/video this year and then we will see.
4761
« on: January 16, 2012, 16:15 »
Why dont you just write to contributor relations? I am sure your portfolio can be deactivated whenever you like.
4762
« on: January 16, 2012, 15:24 »
I like the new prices. E+ is doing very well for me, so there seem to be enough customers who are not that price sensitive.
4763
« on: January 15, 2012, 08:32 »
Uh, oh - changing a contract in Photoshop? I would be very careful with that. I am not a lawyer but I would never even remove an inkspot from a signed original conract.
No, never heard of any layoffs, all we ever is that istock is strong and healthy. Sadly it does not seem to visible in the monthly threads.
But there are some artists still doing extremly well. However, the ones I know do stock full time and upload a very large amount of files.
Perhaps the future on istock belongs to the full time artists preferably with assistants who can upload 200 files a month.
4764
« on: January 15, 2012, 06:07 »
Welcome Lucato. Looks like all the exclusives will soon be here. I am making one last push with uploading as much as I can (although I am only a part timer) this year and if that doesnt help, then I will have to consider making the jump I really, really dont want to. But with the total lack of communication from HQ on how they want to increase sales and grow the business, you begin to wonder if growing the business is still something they are interested in. And if nobody contacted the talent that just quit exclusivity to talk to them and see how to win them back, then the exclusives are apparently not a priority as they used to be. I am also amazed at the "attitude" some admins are allowed to show in public. The contributors are paying customers, obviously there is no boss in charge reminding them where their salaries come from. Maybe they feel they have enough exclusive Getty content, so they dont need our files to offer content other sites dont have. I really dont know. Every photographer that I know has switched to generic model releases without the istock logo and some are even contacting models from older shootings to make them sign a new generic release. Others are going over their portfolio, adding proper keywords and descriptions into the EXIF data, because so many of us have become used to deepmeta. I am still using the istock release, but for the next shooting Ill follow their example. istock is such a fantastic site with a great infrastructure for the digital entrepreneur, but it takes professional leadership and business vision to leverage its potential. And the team active behind the scenes is incredibly hard working. Totally dedicated people. It must be unbelievably frustrating to see the site lose its reputation like this. Very sad times
4765
« on: January 14, 2012, 17:00 »
Well, if you think how successful the Vetta collection is on istock, there seems to be a group of buyers that can pay for higher quality content and appreciate the preselection.
So I wouldnt be surprised if this special collection is doing well at fotolia.
Vetta is the one thing all exclusives I know are extremly satisfied with. And we are all trying to get more images in.
So please dont it deride as a failure if you have never experienced the power of those sales.
4766
« on: January 14, 2012, 10:31 »
I think it is this episode:
4767
« on: January 13, 2012, 18:08 »
Anyone who thinks the mood on msg is "negative" towards istock, please just head over to any business forum and look at how companies get discussed there. msg is a sweet, sensitive bed of roses compared to all other places I visit. In 2011 companies get discussed and observed with unprecedented public scrutiny in articles, blogs and comments. Any company that does business over the internet, especially a "community based business" like istock should be able to handle reality. In fact they should be fully in control of their public reputation and craft it according to their best interest by strong leadership and guidance. There is far too much censorship on istock these days, relevant contributor questions are ignored, it just makes istock look very unprofessional. I sincerly hope that 2012 is the year where they can turn things around. Being exclusive with one agency is so much easier.  If not..well..I think Ill go back to shooting now... It is sad to see so much talent leave, I still cant believe that nobody from istock contacted you to try and convince you to stay.
4768
« on: January 13, 2012, 09:07 »
Welcome to msg!
4769
« on: January 12, 2012, 17:20 »
4770
« on: January 12, 2012, 17:14 »
Absolutely not. Although the customers are usually not shareholders, they are the most important aspect of any business.
No customers, no business, no company.
There may be some companies that are being run as a "hobby" by the owners, or for tax purposes only, but I dont think there is any stock agency out there that can survive without customers.
For me a "marketplace service" is a product, just like a picture, a translation service or an apartment you rent. I guess my definition of product is extremly broad. Just terminology, like you say.
4771
« on: January 12, 2012, 17:02 »
I think ongoing discussions and threads about all the agencies are perfectly normal. And this certainly was a strange way by an admin to respond to an exclusive contributor with perfectly normal and understandable questions. Does it really matter which "citizen journalist" starts a thread here to report what is going on?
istock is built around social media networking and msg is the biggest business community for all things stock.
If istock wants more positive publicity - why not dazzle us with elegant communication and impressive business ideas? Or just stellar growth?
I remember when many threads here where started admiring istock and top level contributors where preparing to go exclusive.
It wasnt that long ago...
4772
« on: January 12, 2012, 16:54 »
I would appreciate a bug free site, excellent communication and a positive upbeat management with great progress and sales reports, thats for sure But all the agencies put a lot of work into their services, they are much more than just "middlemen"
4773
« on: January 12, 2012, 15:35 »
Companies like Istock don't produce anything. They are middle-men who exist to provide a service - enabling buyers to find a product, and transferring money received from buyers to the producers of that product. For which they take an obscene cut, BTW. Istock is failing miserably on both fronts.
They create a marketplace. That is a pretty big product. Including forums, articles, workshops...and of course all the advertising, legal stuff, accounting, customer service etc... You might as well say ebay, amazon, itunes "dont produce anything".
4774
« on: January 12, 2012, 07:22 »
Good luck!
Looks like more and more contributors are following your example or thinking about it. Another gold video contributor just announced that he cancelled exclusivity.
4775
« on: January 11, 2012, 17:37 »
Things are not only going bad for independent contributors, for example, today (I'm exclusive) sales are dead for me, I think today is the worst working day in the last 3 years regarding $$$ and dls. There is not a logic for this sudden plummet of sales (beginning of january 2012 has been slow, but not THIS SLOW)
Has anyone here also experienced a substantial drop in sales today? any possible explanation?
Unless it is related to some istock site outages - many are reporting 503 errors - unfortunately this could be a clear indicator that customers made a switch to other sites at the beginning of the new year. These dates are a tremendous opportunity to aquire new customers from competitors but in the last three months I haven't seen anything to indicate that istock was aggressively encouraging customers to switch to us. On the contrary, with all the site bugs and bad communication it seems like they made it very, very easy or the ompetition to steal our customers.
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