RT this thread is about the Istock forum.The basic idea is to read the title and if you have a comment about,you guessed it,the Istock forum in this instance you post a comment.Is it so hard to follow that  principle of an  on line forum?

There are also disaffected people like me - I'm not banned, but have chosen to stop any sort of community involvement in response to Getty's choices about how they treat contributors.

When you treat people like dirt, it's not surprising when they stop hanging out

Your not alone Jo Anne and it's good people like yourself 'not hanging out' that has made the forum a little stale this last year.IMO

"comments posted by the community of artists and staff."

You already have the answer. Also now that the RC system has made us all competitors the activity is moving behind closed doors on facebook or other forums. Educating the competition isn�t a good idea.

You just might of uncovered some of the truth Jasmin.The explosion of the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter,to a lesser extent,has had an adverse effect on internet forums like Istockphoto.It's not the whole reason but it has definately had an impact.
The other good thing that Istockphoto had and still maintains to this day is discipline.It make contributors responsable for what they post and will never tolerate abuse of any form against a fellow poster on the forum.

Quote from: shank_ali on July 18, 2011, 12:51

Quote from: gclk on July 18, 2011, 12:42

On the subject of E+, I've now got 34 E+ slots available.  Before the price filter I usually had them all used up, but now I'm waiting to get a better idea of how sales patterns change.

Shame it's so difficult to work out sales patterns from our own sales data that iStock bother to make available to us.

Each to there own but please tell me why you bother with sales patterns.How long does it take you ?What are you looking for ?
New files are struggling to get any sort of foothold at the moment, such is the amount of content getting added to the library.I never notice patterns, i just know my good sellers keep selling  at the moment.

Shank, haven't you just pointed out a sales pattern that you've noticed, then said that you never notice patterns?  You're a funny guy  

What am I looking for?  At the moment It'd be good to know how badly hit sales of my E+ and Vetta files have been by the introduction of the price filter.

Other times it could be useful to know loads of things from our sales data - how different types of files have performed, which files used to sell well but then suddenly stopped selling for whatever reason, ...

Your over thinking it.There are to many variables.Do we really no how buyers use the search engine or what search string they use.Just keep uploading what you consider to be useful and if they are they will be found and bought by the designers.I am funny.It's a gift .

Quote from: shank_ali on July 18, 2011, 10:18

So istock were correct in making this new collection available to buyers because contributors who added content into the collection are having sales.Everyones happy..Istock-Contributors-Buyers.Life is simple .

Yup, and for the really simple-minded, there's always The Pound Shop, i.e. Thinkstock.

Yes but the shop owner selling everything for  a pound still makes money because suppliers still sell in bulk to him at 60pence.Now other suppliers might think screw that i'm not selling my products for 60 pence..All markets, be it  the higher/brand shops or discount warehouses,  have buyers and suppliers.
BTW.I must shop at least once a month in a pound shop looking for cheap work tools/cleaning products/photo props.Saved a small fortune.

Perhaps the owners of iStock/Getty should read this and re-think their strategy:
http://blogs.forbes.com/stevedenning/2011/07/16/why-is-the-world-run-by-bean-counters/

This is a new world and calls for a new way of doing business.

I'm sure Mr Klein can do business quite well on his own.Buying Istockphoto was good for his business.Creating Thinkstock for the subscription market and using exclusive content from Istock and another 30 companies Getty had bought in recent years to supply it was good.
It's the same world and the demand is still the same it's just that the  supply is outstripping demand.
Not sure why they think Video is going to be the new market force in the next couple of years but Istockphoto will be in a good market position if the medium takes hold.....

Still no word as to why contributors did not see any PP payments this weekend.

Shank,

Please stop this game of playing with people here, you are a self confused hobbyist with a large portfolio with limited success. Respect this forum please.

I feel that you are milking the good will here. Ego?

You will be pleased to no that Leaf has sent Lobo a site mail on Istock..Please take the c### back 

Just wondering if there's some rich functionality I'm missing out on... apart from maybe the occasional mass site-mail, has anybody found a use for 'Friends' (ex Creative Network).

Before the site refresh, it was good to be able to have a look through new uploads from people I know, but now that functionality is gone, is there any useful functionality there at all?

Can't say I spend much time hanging around in the 'Contributor Lounge' either.

Just use it as it was intended.A network of friends, you chose, to communicate with when visiting the site.A  member answered a question i asked via site mail recently and signed off...don't be a stranger.That's was just her being her very pleasant self !

Quote from: shank_ali on July 17, 2011, 04:48

I do not have any files in exclusive + or ever will !

Never say never.
However, what you are saying loud and clear is that you think none of your photos are worth E+ prices, but you're happy for buyers - in big commerical companies - to be able to aquire large copies of your images for peanuts at Thinkstock.
You need to place more value on your time, equipment and skills.
Your call, of course, but remember there's room for a diversity of views.

Not if they differ from my own.Those are plainly wrong 

You're the one who said "the people who tell us things via the Istock forum are not business people and as such make remarks and comments that lack clarity or any assurance". Now you are saying the only people with clarity and assurance are those who run microstock agencies.

And you're telling us that iStock's owners aren't qualified to run the business because they also own hotels in Dubai? Well, given their track record I might be incluined to agree. However, the general theory in business is that being successful in running one gives you the insight into how to run another. If you were at a high enough level, you would know that.

Your mixing my comments up slightly.The RC's decision was made for the business as a whole.The way it was communicated to the artists via the forum was inept, to say the least, and caused alot of bad feelings.It could have been handled so much better and even if they had sought advice from a third party on how to communicate that difficult decision to the artists.
That bad feeling has yet to subside from what i read on the  MGC forum.

I'm a business person, shank. Are you one? How many companies have you run?

I'm good at minding other people business not so sure about my own.What point are you trying to make.Have you run a microstock business before or are you telling me a guy who owns a newsagent can run also  an hotel chain in Dubai.Respond quickly as i need to shower and have my breakfast.Busy day ahead....

Shank meet Stacey, Stacey meet Shank, a perfect couple, hope you have a nice life together.

FYI.I have met Stacey earlier this year.I enjoyed her company and watching her work.
Your remark was not offensive to me but i enjoy being exclusive on Istock and i no others share the same commitment.