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Author Topic: NEWS - Message from Adam Brotman  (Read 8361 times)

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« on: June 03, 2008, 11:15 »
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Message from Adam Brotman
      


SnapVillage Members –
 
On Friday evening, we started a significant upgrade to the SnapVillage website including a redesigned website and navigation, as well as moving the website to a new data center and new servers. We are investing in SnapVillage so that we have a world-class website and technology platform for the long term, and I cant wait to share the new website with you.

Were doing this as quickly as possible, but it is taking a lot of time to transfer the files to our new data center and servers. There are literally millions of files, and its simply taking longer then we anticipated because automated systems havent been as effective as we expected.

We are being really diligent, and I want to assure you that your member profiles and images are completely safe, and the new user experience will be better.

We are disappointed that this has taken so long. We know that this type of outage isnt acceptable, and I can promise you that this is a one-time event only. We are working urgently literally night and day to get this done quickly and well.

We will be getting in touch with our recent and current customers to explain that this is a one-time event and are committed to great customer service always and around the clock.

We are hopeful to have the website up today and will be updating this blog every 3-4 hours with the latest progress. I can tell you that all the files have been restored on the new servers and were in the making final adjustments and testing.

I apologize for the inconvenience this is causing you.

Please email us at [email protected] or me at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Adam Brotman

SVP of Corbis.com & SnapVillage.com
         

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SnapVillage/~3/303835456/
      
« Last Edit: June 03, 2008, 11:16 by leaf »


jsnover

« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2008, 11:19 »
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I find it mind boggling that they couldn't have anticipated a site upgrade's issues better and have left it down for so long. This isn't some college student's weekend project, and their owner has a few folks he could call on for advice, you'd think :)

As for saying this is a one-time event, given their judgment about this upgrade was so flawed, one wonders why anyone would trust it about future site changes or upgrades.

« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2008, 11:37 »
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This brings back memories of the fotolia v2 implementation.  I don't mind if they take a few days as long as they get it right.  Not going to miss the sales too much :)

Microbius

« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2008, 11:43 »
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I say cut 'em some slack.
The site is in Beta so they're allowed a few days outage, if it was supposed to be up and running at 100% I think I'd feel differently.

« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2008, 12:10 »
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We are disappointed that this has taken so long. We know that this type of outage isnt acceptable, and I can promise you that this is a one-time event only. We are working urgently literally night and day to get this done quickly and well.

I apologize for the inconvenience this is causing you.

      

Dont worry Mr. Brotman take all the time you need but dont forget to include FTP

« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2008, 12:37 »
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Hopefully it will be worth the wait. Anything is an improvement though.

PaulieWalnuts

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« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2008, 12:45 »
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I'm confused by this. I'm in the technology field and, while not the exact same situation, for our clients that need an upgrade of some sort, we normally set up a test environment. We then do the upgrades, work out issues, and then deploy it to the production environment. The downtime is usually minimal.

Wonder why this couldn't be used in this situation?

« Reply #7 on: June 03, 2008, 12:48 »
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Not going to miss the sales too much :)

That's for sure!!

« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2008, 12:49 »
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I'm confused by this. I'm in the technology field and, while not the exact same situation, for our clients that need an upgrade of some sort, we normally set up a test environment. We then do the upgrades, work out issues, and then deploy it to the production environment. The downtime is usually minimal.

Wonder why this couldn't be used in this situation?

Perhaps SV is going to follow LO and GS?  ;D

PaulieWalnuts

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« Reply #9 on: June 03, 2008, 12:56 »
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So is this the microstock version of the "closed for remodeling" sign that you always see on restaurants that never reopen again?

« Reply #10 on: June 03, 2008, 13:10 »
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It seems like they could have copied all the images to the new hardware over time, rather than trying to do them all at once in a short period of time (Which is now becoming a long period of time).

michealo

« Reply #11 on: June 03, 2008, 14:03 »
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It's up, looking very Luckyoliver and the editor is called Brian ....

« Reply #12 on: June 03, 2008, 14:05 »
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Cannot they just buy some smaller agency with good website?

grp_photo

« Reply #13 on: June 03, 2008, 14:17 »
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The design is o.k. (always a matter of personal taste) but it is still extremely slow (at least for me) and also as far as i see no FTP and still no exact file-size.

digiology

« Reply #14 on: June 03, 2008, 14:23 »
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Still not much of an improvement if you ask me. Slow to load, login form still not on the home page, no ftp...

What was the point?

« Reply #15 on: June 03, 2008, 17:38 »
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All this waiting and STILL no FTP???

What I got there is staying for now, but I'm not bothering to upload there anymore.  Such a disappointment.

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #16 on: June 03, 2008, 17:53 »
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The visual design is a huge improvement but as others have said it's reeeeeeal sloooowww.

RacePhoto

« Reply #17 on: June 03, 2008, 20:26 »
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The visual design is a huge improvement but as others have said it's reeeeeeal sloooowww.

Maybe it was thinking? I just went and logged in and it was faster than before. I'm on free wireless at the hotel.

My one constant complaint. No bulk upload system of any kind, whether it's flash, ftp or special software. I bet they know that.  :)

Amazing how people will live with Albumo, "CrapStock", or the next born dead site, and promote every new site that slides into the forum, but an establish corporation that's moving along at a cautious pace and nothing but slams and picking.

PaulieWalnuts

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« Reply #18 on: June 03, 2008, 21:12 »
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Race, I think because it's associated with a big company with deeper pockets than the sites that are being operated out of an apartment that people expect faster and more impressive progress.

Corbis seems like they're trying to figure out how to position SnapVillage in the marketplace while not also negatively affecting the Corbis brand.  Maybe SV is just that - a test mule to help them figure out the best way to deal with microstock. While they experiment and measure results, if they screw up anything they can continue to say "that's okay, we're still in Beta".

If they're really serious about this and do it right, SV obviously has the potential to be a very major player. The initial launch isn't showing much evidence that they're confident about how to do it right. If I'm a buyer, I'm not spending a penney with a site that is down for days.

RacePhoto

« Reply #19 on: June 04, 2008, 00:07 »
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Paulie, what buyers are there to get upset?  ;)

The beta sign is gone, which means they are moving up the ladder.

I agree they are moving slowly, but the obvious points, without any conspiracy theories or hidden agendas is, they have good backing, and are making there way further into the market.

They aren't running out of Mom's garage and aren't likely to go belly up with doing little more than being a waste of time.

This was a move from one location to another and new servers. You can't have new data coming in to one site, while you are making a transfer to another site. I suppose they could have run parallel databases or something. But again, it's done, and this way is more stable. I don't know why some people are so impatient?

Sellers who just missed three days of sales, couldn't have missed much, the sales are nothing that anyone brags about either.

The fact that they actually advertise and have a large name behind them and have a market presence and potential makes them a bigger site than some that have been * along for years.

This isn't Bob's basement business, like many of the mini micros that have died off and the next ones failing, that will be shutting down soon. There is a big difference that needs to be respected.

What I'm getting at is SV hasn't done much, being down for three days, isn't a big deal. I have a feeling that with their staff, backing, connections and smarts, they will become a top five micro site before they are two years old in the active market. They have the potential to become #3 or #4 two years after going live.

DanP68

« Reply #20 on: June 04, 2008, 01:00 »
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Race,

I guess the way I see it is because of the Corbis factor and the amount of backing, we should be expecting a lot more.  Look at Yaymicro, which has FTP and a slick running website on Day 1.  Just about everyone seems to have it right (except the biggie, iStock, lol) while Snapvillage is stumbling along.

I've thought about opening an account with them several times in the last few months.  But each time, it takes only a brief glance at the message boards to see why I should not.  Too many problems with time outs, uploading snafus, lack of FTP, keywords not being imported, keywords being changed.  Etc, etc.  There has been so little movement over the last 9 months of Beta that one wonders what, if anything, is going on there?

Yes I respect their potential greatly.  Which is exactly the reason that I expect more from them.

« Reply #21 on: June 04, 2008, 09:44 »
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Finding the site really slow - it has always been for me.

Microbius

« Reply #22 on: June 04, 2008, 13:45 »
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I think they probably haven't wanted to implement FTP yet, so they can limit uploads to make sure the sites up to scratch before they get swamped.

EDITED TO ADD THIS BIT:

Just got on the site to have a look round. Still very, very slow. Repricing images still so annoying to do it's not worth the hassle at the moment.

Think they may need a couple more days outage to get some of the changes for contributors carried out!
« Last Edit: June 04, 2008, 13:51 by Microbius »

« Reply #23 on: June 04, 2008, 15:22 »
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I wont upload nothing until they have ftp or a decent bulk upload.

If I hear that they reach Istock sales level I ll eat my words what I dont think it will happen

« Reply #24 on: June 04, 2008, 19:36 »
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Well, I'm pleasantly surprised.  I gave it some thought and decided to put it to the test.  I'm used to manually uploading because I can't get StockXpert to take anything FTP.  So I did some uploading...and in the time it "used" to take one batch upload for me at Snap, I did three batches.  So, I'm rethinking this a bit.  I mean before, I could go start a load of laundry, and and do some folding lol.  Now, not so much.  Still a bit slow, but I'm willing to stick around.  I do hope they get FTP soon though..it would be a HUGE plus.


 

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