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Author Topic: Snapvillage to be folded into Veer  (Read 24325 times)

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« on: February 05, 2009, 10:09 »
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Quote
Dear SnapVillage Contributor,

As a contributor you know how fast microstock is growing. So do we! Corbis anticipates that within the next few years, microstock photography will represent more than 25% of the overall stock photography market. We are committed to taking a significant share of this market and providing photographers a leading brand and website to reach customers looking for affordable, quality photography and a great web experience.

We have learned a lot from SnapVillage, and we recognize that as the market has rapidly evolved over the past two years, we need a bigger, better offering to achieve success in microstock.

So today were excited to be sharing our plans to roll SnapVillage into a new microstock offering on Veer, which Corbis acquired in 2007. Veer is a highly successful stock agency specializing in creative rights managed (RM) and royalty free (RF). It has a large, established, global customer base, strong brand loyalty and an industry-leading website supported by winning marketing campaigns. These elements provide an ideal platform to rapidly build our microstock business and to help you sell more. We plan to build on SnapVillages assets to launch a new microstock-specific section at Veer called Veer Marketplace.

What does this mean for SnapVillage? 

In the months ahead, well be inviting SnapVillage contributors and customers to Veer Marketplace. Once Veer Marketplace is launched and fully operational, it will become Corbis only microstock brand and SnapVillage will be phased out by the end of the year.

What does this mean for you? 

Good news! In the months ahead, well be inviting SnapVillage contributors and customers to Veer Marketplace. Marketplace will offer contributors efficient uploading capabilities, a great user experience and your work will be showcased and marketed within the amazing award-winning design and community for which Veer is recognized. (There will also be other good stuff too but we cant reveal all our secrets before launch!).

When does Veer Marketplace launch? 
 
Veer Marketplace will launch in two phases with a small sampling of affordable images that can be purchased a la carte in late February, followed by a full launch mid year with contributor upload capabilities and credit-based pricing and subscriptions. You can read more details about this in the attached FAQ.

It will take time to complete this process so please bear with us. By mid-year youll have the chance to sell your work to a whole new crowd of people and become part of the Veer community.

Questions? 
 
Want to learn more about Veer? Wondering if there is anything you need to do? Please read the Contributor FAQ to learn more about Veer Marketplace.

We also invite you to join the conversation about Veer Marketplace. Wed love to hear from you so register and create a profile to make sure as Veer Marketplace grows, we continue to meet your needs.

Please dont hesitate to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

We want to thank you for your support of SnapVillage. Were looking forward to your potential participation at Veer Marketplace!


« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2009, 10:13 »
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Does this mean we have to upload (again) our stuff to Veer, or do they move all the snapvillage stuff automatically to Veer?

News Feed

« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2009, 10:15 »
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Expanding the Opportunity for SnapVillage Contributors
      


Hi SnapVillagers -
As you know firsthand - microstock is big. And getting bigger!  Corbis anticipates that within the next few years, microstock photography will represent more than 25% of the overall stock photography market. We are committed to taking a significant share of this market and providing photographers a leading brand and website to reach [...]
         

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/SnapVillage/~3/532547492/
      

michealo

« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2009, 10:15 »
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Dear SnapVillage Contributor,

As a contributor you know how fast microstock is growing. So do we! Corbis anticipates that within the next few years, microstock photography will represent more than 25% of the overall stock photography market. We are committed to taking a significant share of this market and providing photographers a leading brand and website to reach customers looking for affordable, quality photography and a great web experience.

We have learned a lot from SnapVillage, and we recognize that as the market has rapidly evolved over the past two years, we need a bigger, better offering to achieve success in microstock.

So today were excited to be sharing our plans to roll SnapVillage into a new microstock offering on Veer, which Corbis acquired in 2007. Veer is a highly successful stock agency specializing in creative rights managed (RM) and royalty free (RF). It has a large, established, global customer base, strong brand loyalty and an industry-leading website supported by winning marketing campaigns. These elements provide an ideal platform to rapidly build our microstock business and to help you sell more. We plan to build on SnapVillages assets to launch a new microstock-specific section at Veer called Veer Marketplace.


   What does this mean for SnapVillage?   



In the months ahead, well be inviting SnapVillage contributors and customers to Veer Marketplace. Once Veer Marketplace is launched and fully operational, it will become Corbis only microstock brand and SnapVillage will be phased out by the end of the year.


   What does this mean for you?   



Good news! In the months ahead, well be inviting SnapVillage contributors and customers to Veer Marketplace. Marketplace will offer contributors efficient uploading capabilities, a great user experience and your work will be showcased and marketed within the amazing award-winning design and community for which Veer is recognized. (There will also be other good stuff too but we cant reveal all our secrets before launch!).


   When does Veer Marketplace launch?   



Veer Marketplace will launch in two phases with a small sampling of affordable images that can be purchased a la carte in late February, followed by a full launch mid year with contributor upload capabilities and credit-based pricing and subscriptions. You can read more details about this in the attached FAQ.

It will take time to complete this process so please bear with us. By mid-year youll have the chance to sell your work to a whole new crowd of people and become part of the Veer community.


   Questions?   



Want to learn more about Veer? Wondering if there is anything you need to do? Please read the Contributor FAQ to learn more about Veer Marketplace.

We also invite you to join the conversation about Veer Marketplace. Wed love to hear from you so register and create a profile to make sure as Veer Marketplace grows, we continue to meet your needs.


Please dont hesitate to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.


We want to thank you for your support of SnapVillage. Were looking forward to your potential participation at Veer Marketplace!


« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2009, 10:23 »
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By mid-year youll have the chance to sell your work to a whole new crowd of people and become part of the Veer community.

Rest In Peace. I always admired the talent of marketing guys to make an obituary sound like a celebration  ;D
Sounds like Bill finally pulled the plug.

Veer (verb) : "To turn aside from a course, direction, or purpose".  :o :P
« Last Edit: February 05, 2009, 10:28 by FlemishDreams »

tan510jomast

« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2009, 10:24 »
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I'm not even sure if anyone wants to continue with this, after SV's still birth.
Would you take the trouble ?
I prefer to concentrate on the Big 5 or the Big 5 +3 UAC .

tan510jomast

« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2009, 10:26 »
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Rest In Peace. I always admired the talent of marketing guys to make an obituary sound like a celebration  ;D
Sounds like Bill finally pulled the plug.

end of fiscal year = tax write off.  In accountancy, something like that IS  a celebration, FD

RacePhoto

« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2009, 10:27 »
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That was fun. Here we go again: Corbis bought Veer in 2007

In the months ahead, well be inviting SnapVillage contributors and customers to Veer Marketplace. Once Veer Marketplace is launched and fully operational, it will become Corbis only microstock brand and SnapVillage will be phased out by the end of the year

Veer Marketplace will launch in two phases with a small sampling of affordable images that can be purchased a la carte in late February, followed by a full launch mid year with contributor upload capabilities and credit-based pricing and subscriptions.


http://snapvillage.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/veermarketplace_snapvillage_faq_feb4.pdf

we've started by ensuring that Veer Marketplace will have efficient and robust upload tools designed to make submitting content to
the collection a pleasant experience.

« Last Edit: February 05, 2009, 10:33 by RacePhoto »

helix7

« Reply #8 on: February 05, 2009, 10:27 »
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Wow. And I was giving them another year before the obit was written.

In all honesty, I'm a bit optimistic about the Veer offering. I've been Veer customer, always liked their company and services. I think a Veer microstock brand could be pretty cool.



« Reply #9 on: February 05, 2009, 10:37 »
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yes, i'd have to admit that this sounds like a better solution that snapvillage.

and they will even have FTP and actual image stats :)

« Reply #10 on: February 05, 2009, 10:42 »
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wow, talk about hot news :)

There were 4 threads started about this topic, they have all been merged into one, so there will probably be some overlap of information.

« Reply #11 on: February 05, 2009, 10:43 »
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"Contributors will be invited..."  

Does that mean a select few, isn't Veer a little more elite?

So what does this mean for those of us who did not upload?  Have we missed a party, or should we start uploading to Snap now?

« Reply #12 on: February 05, 2009, 10:47 »
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"Contributors will be invited..."  

Does that mean a select few, isn't Veer a little more elite?

So what does this mean for those of us who did not upload?  Have we missed a party, or should we start uploading to Snap now?

Quote
18) I have friends who will be interested in this opportunity. Where can I send them?
Tell your friends that Veer Marketplace will have ingestion capabilities for new content in
spring/summer 2009. But as of early February, you can direct everyone to the submissions page
on veer.com where they can submit their contact information and find further details about
Veer Marketplace so theyre ready to contribute later this year.

« Reply #13 on: February 05, 2009, 10:48 »
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Veer: (Alexa, for what it's worth)


« Reply #14 on: February 05, 2009, 10:50 »
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I sure hope they can move our snapvillage uploads over and we don't have to upload them all again.  SV was such a disaster and I am annoyed that there has been nothing done for such a long time.  They might regain my trust if they can move my portfolio from SV to Veer.

graficallyminded

« Reply #15 on: February 05, 2009, 10:52 »
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As another designer, I'd like to comment that Veer is very well known brand to us.  They advertise a lot in design publications, and have a lot of direct mail marketing.  This is awesome news.  I'm hoping everything we currently have at Snap will be pushed over to Veer, without any additional uploading. 

« Reply #16 on: February 05, 2009, 11:00 »
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As another designer, I'd like to comment that Veer is very well known brand to us.  They advertise a lot in design publications, and have a lot of direct mail marketing.  This is awesome news.  I'm hoping everything we currently have at Snap will be pushed over to Veer, without any additional uploading. 

But do you buy from them at those prices?

I've just tried a few searches and felt the resulting images were relatively few in number and poorer in compositional quality than equivalent searches on microstock. Apart from that why anyone would regularly buy at those prices is beyond me.

« Reply #17 on: February 05, 2009, 11:02 »
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I sure hope they can move our snapvillage uploads over and we don't have to upload them all again.

IT never was SV's forte. It took them months to come up with a decent watermark. They never managed to get FTP working. For their blog, they use a simple WordPress install. If you can read between the lines, Veer isn't ready too for a major port. It's not only about copying images but about merging two databases. I'm sceptic... (as always  :P ).

« Reply #18 on: February 05, 2009, 11:04 »
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I've just tried a few searches and felt the resulting images were relatively few in number and poorer in compositional quality than equivalent searches on microstock.

Totally correct. I had a look too.

graficallyminded

« Reply #19 on: February 05, 2009, 11:04 »
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Veer is huge, I'm just saying the brand is well known already.  Ask a designer if he's heard of SnapVillage.  He'll probably have a confused look on his face - but ask about Veer, and they will have at least heard about it.  

There are all sorts of design agencies and companies that buy stock, many of which can afford higher priced images.  If there weren't still buyers like this, how would RM sites stay afloat?  Many times buyers want images that aren't purchased as frequently as the images from microstock sites.  They don't want images that get played out as much - thats why they're willing to pay more for something less mainstream, even if the quality isn't much better.

« Reply #20 on: February 05, 2009, 11:28 »
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Does this mean we have to upload (again) our stuff to Veer, or do they move all the snapvillage stuff automatically to Veer?

Nope - should be no need in most cases. We'll transfer accounts and images to the new platform for you.

« Reply #21 on: February 05, 2009, 11:49 »
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Does this mean we have to upload (again) our stuff to Veer, or do they move all the snapvillage stuff automatically to Veer?

Nope - should be no need in most cases. We'll transfer accounts and images to the new platform for you.

That's good news.  I am pleased my time spent uploading to SV wasn't wasted.

« Reply #22 on: February 05, 2009, 11:55 »
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I'm glad that Brian found a new job. Seems most folks like him.
Yes, Bill unloaded that turkey.
Time will tell if all our images will be transferred seamlessly. For me I'll spend zero time to transfer. I'm treating Veer just as I would any other new micro site: 100% wait and see what results their marketing can yield. But doing any more than peeking at sales results of existing images that are now with SV? Nope. Too many promises, hype, undue enthusiasm, and bald lies have come before. Til then, good luck to all. But I'm not holding my breath.

« Reply #23 on: February 05, 2009, 12:00 »
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Does this mean we have to upload (again) our stuff to Veer, or do they move all the snapvillage stuff automatically to Veer?

Nope - should be no need in most cases. We'll transfer accounts and images to the new platform for you.

OK - that is perfect. And is there any point in uploading more at SV or would it be better for us to wait? In general I am sorry to see them go... I liked SV...

« Reply #24 on: February 05, 2009, 13:39 »
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Too many promises, hype, undue enthusiasm, and bald lies have come before.


I love the smell of new stocksites in the morning. You know, one time we had a site set up, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink sale. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole site. Smelled like... defeat. Someday this race's gonna end...

(Killgore in Apocalypse Now.
Youtube
)

« Reply #25 on: February 05, 2009, 13:57 »
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This is like watching bank mergers, canstock folded into fotosearch, Snap into veer, stockxpert bought out by Getty. Whats's next a SS and Is merger? I hope this works because SV was fading fast.

« Reply #26 on: February 05, 2009, 14:09 »
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Does this mean we have to upload (again) our stuff to Veer, or do they move all the snapvillage stuff automatically to Veer?

Nope - should be no need in most cases. We'll transfer accounts and images to the new platform for you.

OK - that is perfect. And is there any point in uploading more at SV or would it be better for us to wait? In general I am sorry to see them go... I liked SV...


Hi Peep -

Sure - please do!
The Marketplace team will be sourcing content from SnapVillage - it will essentially act as a ingest mechanism prior to the full launch. We'll be working over the coming months to transfer images and accounts.

Having said that - if you aren't in a huge rush - the Marketplace upload tools will be much better. If you feel especially frustrated by the Snap upload system I can understand wanting to wait until the full launch. 

But whether you keep uploading to SnapVillage in the short term or not   ---  definitely go and sign-up on Veer and join the Marketplace group.


- Brian

« Reply #27 on: February 05, 2009, 14:21 »
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If you sign up with Veer right now should you use the same username, email address, ... as you have it in SV? How do you merge both accounts later when starting the transfer to prevent double images?

« Reply #28 on: February 05, 2009, 14:24 »
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Does this mean we have to upload (again) our stuff to Veer, or do they move all the snapvillage stuff automatically to Veer?


Nope - should be no need in most cases. We'll transfer accounts and images to the new platform for you.


OK - that is perfect. And is there any point in uploading more at SV or would it be better for us to wait? In general I am sorry to see them go... I liked SV...



Hi Peep -

Sure - please do!
The Marketplace team will be sourcing content from SnapVillage - it will essentially act as a ingest mechanism prior to the full launch. We'll be working over the coming months to transfer images and accounts.

Having said that - if you aren't in a huge rush - the Marketplace upload tools will be much better. If you feel especially frustrated by the Snap upload system I can understand wanting to wait until the full launch. 

But whether you keep uploading to SnapVillage in the short term or not   ---  definitely go and sign-up on Veer and join the Marketplace group.


- Brian


kind of weird to quote myself...  ;)

meant to add the link to the Marketplace group on Veer:
http://ideas.veer.com/group/marketplace

Also:  I'm going to be heading up to a ski cabin near Mt. Baker in just a few hours, so I'll be entirely offline for the next few days. 
( worst. timing.  ever.  )   

Look forward to catching up on here late Sunday. If you've got burning questions in the meantime, check out the Veer Marketplace group linked above --- if you're still stuck - try emailing  the  marketplacesubmissions (at ) veer (dot) com  address and another Marketplace team member will get back to you.

- Brian

« Reply #29 on: February 05, 2009, 15:11 »
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How come since this email was sent out I can't get Snapvillage website to load? and when I tried to sign up with Veer, My mail is returned.

Wow, I feel warm and fuzzy already?

« Reply #30 on: February 05, 2009, 15:26 »
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SV works fine for me and I have just signed up with Veer.  Now I hope the transfer runs smoothly, or they swap my portfolio up with Yuri's :)

« Reply #31 on: February 05, 2009, 16:14 »
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Brian, your words are scary:

"...Marketplace team..." 
[ Different from Veer staff? Inspectors? Advertising/Promotion department? Senior officers? You? ]

"...sourcing content from SnapVillage..." 
 [ Transferring all images from SV?  Inviting select contributors?  Requiring contributor work to adapt to Veer? Requiring contributor permission to transfer? ]

"...ingest mechanism..."
[ Wha???]

"...upload tools will be much better..."
[ Solid FTP?  Limit of 6 images at a time? 7?  Don't know, but hoping? Similar to what other site? ]

Brian, if you are some kind of spokesperson for Veer, please speak plainly.




« Reply #32 on: February 05, 2009, 16:47 »
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I do not understand it properly. Did Brian really say we had to sign-up on Veer even if we had an account on SV?

« Reply #33 on: February 05, 2009, 16:56 »
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Any chance there will be a tiered system, that certain images and or contributors will be able to submit to the veer macro collection as well?

« Reply #34 on: February 05, 2009, 18:41 »
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Veer HQ is in Calgary, Canada, only a short 6km walk from iStock HQ. Check it out:


« Reply #35 on: February 05, 2009, 18:54 »
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...
Brian, if you are some kind of spokesperson for Veer, please speak plainly.

I spoke with Brian earlier today, and he was very upfront about what was happening. Selected images are going to be automatically added to the Veer RF library, which will soon go live. I didn't note exactly when, but it'll be sooner rather than later - maybe even by the end of this month. I don't feel it's proper to say anything else, so please don't ask me or PM me about it.

He's away on a ski trip until Sunday evening, so don't expect any quick answers to your questions.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2009, 19:00 by sharply_done »

« Reply #36 on: February 05, 2009, 20:20 »
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Veer is pretty awesome actually. I've purchase some promo items from them, and they sure sock it to you with excellent marketing material. They have this little book for designers that they mail you and its fabulous. I take it on vacation with me and its very entertaining. Some of the fonts they sell are really amazing too. I can only aspire to be as good as their contributors and hope that a few of mine make it in.

dbvirago

« Reply #37 on: February 05, 2009, 21:01 »
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OMG, what will happen to my fifty cents?

« Reply #38 on: February 05, 2009, 21:44 »
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OMG, what will happen to my fifty cents?

LOL!!

i put a question on veer faq about transfer (because I hated the sv resizing thing)

What are Veer Marketplaces image prices? Every image will be available in sizes from XS to XXL, with a set price for each size. Credit-based subscriptions are also in the works.

implies that we wont have the resizing thing of SV where 6mp becomes a 2mp image etc etc? will images brought over from sv be at their native size or their sv size

Phil

and Brian said,

Hi Phil -
We'll be bringing over the full-size files you originally uploaded to Snap. Cutdowns for various sizes will be regenerated from those.
We'll leave all that sizing confusion behind. ;)
- Brian

Phil

« Reply #39 on: February 05, 2009, 23:28 »
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Selected images are going to be automatically added to the Veer RF library.

Hi, this is Aaron from the Veer Marketplace team.  I work with Brian O'Shea.  Great weekend for him to go skiing!  It's okay, he booked the trip long ago so we forgive him... I'm also available to answer any questions.  You can find me and Brian at [email protected].

Just want to make a little clarification here.  Veer Marketplace images (including former Snap images) will indeed be on Veer.com, however, they'll be in separate search results from Veer RF and RM images, not mixed into the RF library.  That said, we'll make it easy for buyers to switch between micro and macro content so they can buy either kind (or both!) when they checkout.  We'll also have micro type, illustration... it's all coming soon.

« Reply #40 on: February 05, 2009, 23:35 »
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I do not understand it properly. Did Brian really say we had to sign-up on Veer even if we had an account on SV?


SV contributor accounts will be automatically transferred to Veer Marketplace along with SV images so you don't have to sign-up again.  But until then if you want to participate in the Veer Community forum and groups, then you'll need to create a profile.  Takes just a few seconds to set up.

Come say hi!

http://ideas.veer.com/group/marketplace

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #41 on: February 05, 2009, 23:42 »
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Well, it depends on how things go, but in general getting in to Veer should be a huge step up from SV. Veer is a household name with designers and ad agencies so I can't imagine this being a bad move unless there are some restrictions or other weird things that limit income.

This explains why SV has been a ghost ship for so long. As I said before SV was an experiment. They learned what they needed and now are headed down a different path with it.

« Reply #42 on: February 05, 2009, 23:50 »
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They learned what they needed and now are headed down a different path with it.

Exactly -- couldn't have said it better myself!

No weird restrictions to worry about.  Just porting over the images to Veer and away we go.  But it'll take time everyone, so please bear with us.

bittersweet

« Reply #43 on: February 06, 2009, 09:47 »
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Veer is pretty awesome actually. I've purchase some promo items from them, and they sure sock it to you with excellent marketing material. They have this little book for designers that they mail you and its fabulous. I take it on vacation with me and its very entertaining. Some of the fonts they sell are really amazing too. I can only aspire to be as good as their contributors and hope that a few of mine make it in.

I also love Veer! They have unique images outside of the mainstream vanilla stock. I particularly am in love with their Fancy collection. Their illustration collection is leagues beyond what Getty is offering, and I've been able to feed my font addiction on a fairly regular basis. I am curious to see if we will be able to use our Veer corporate account with the Marketplace.

I see a lot of non-designers who are underwhelmed, but speaking primarily as a designer, and secondarily as an istock exclusive, this is the most exciting news I've heard in a while. I will be watching very closely how this all unfolds, so I hope you all will be bringing lots of reports.  ;)
« Last Edit: February 06, 2009, 09:49 by whatalife »

« Reply #44 on: February 06, 2009, 10:13 »
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I see a lot of non-designers who are underwhelmed, but speaking primarily as a designer, and secondarily as an istock exclusive, this is the most exciting news I've heard in a while. I will be watching very closely how this all unfolds, so I hope you all will be bringing lots of reports.  ;)

Thanks for your invaluable input as a buyer about Veer. Funny it wasn't mentioned here before as an outlet for contributors. I've always been a Snap-sceptic based on their slow progress on the IT side, like watermarks and FTP.

Looking through what Veer has to offer, one gets the impression the content is far off from "traditional" microstock, like the isolated girl with headset. Do you think Veer is open for such content? Contributors that never uploaded to Snap might be encouraged to do so to Veer.

« Reply #45 on: February 06, 2009, 12:47 »
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Wow, I feel warm and fuzzy already?

Did you go to that ski cabin near Mt. Baker too?  :P

bittersweet

« Reply #46 on: February 06, 2009, 12:55 »
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Thanks for your invaluable input as a buyer about Veer. Funny it wasn't mentioned here before as an outlet for contributors. I've always been a Snap-sceptic based on their slow progress on the IT side, like watermarks and FTP.

Looking through what Veer has to offer, one gets the impression the content is far off from "traditional" microstock, like the isolated girl with headset. Do you think Veer is open for such content? Contributors that never uploaded to Snap might be encouraged to do so to Veer.

Since Veer is a macro agency, and not one of the "big 3", I guess that is why they haven't been discussed here much. ??

As far as the vanilla content, to tell you the truth... for (macro) vanilla stock, I generally go to Getty and Jupiter first because they give 20% volume discounts on most of what we purchase. Veer is for the out of the ordinary stuff that I need, so I don't generally search for vanilla stuff there at all. I find a lot of the illustrations I use there or at ImageZoo. They have a few photo collections that I really like as well, such as Fancy (as mentioned) and Blend (of which our own Avava is a co-founder). I try to justify purchasing a Fancy CD whenever possible.

Anyway, I am eager to see how it all plays out. If things go well, it could mean big changes in my future.

« Reply #47 on: February 06, 2009, 13:29 »
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Anyway, I am eager to see how it all plays out. If things go well, it could mean big changes in my future.


As designer or as contributor? As far as I can distill it from this thread, Veer used to be an RM agent and will now venture in RF microstock with a separate collection. Search engine etc... will be different. They have no real experience with RF microstock and they are relying on the debris of SV to provide them with the know-how. Don't know if that's an asset since on the IT side, SV wasn't that knowledgeable. When Getty bought iStock, they got a mature product.

I can also deduct from the thread (ready after summer) that all the IT machinery for RF microstock on Veer as well as the workflow has to be developed/rolled out yet. Many contributors that withheld massive upload by the rather unpleasant upload experience at SV will flock at Veer en masse, like it happens with every new microstock agency, so they will need loads of inspectors.

Finally their traditional RM contributors might not be so happy about the invasion of cheap microstockers, since some of what I saw technically would never make it to the "traditional" RF microstock. The current "Indie Dream" on the Veer photography frontpage would most probably be rejected for bad cropping, bad composition, shallow DOF (the hands) and hard on-cam flash.

Just wait and see I guess.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2009, 13:31 by FlemishDreams »

« Reply #48 on: February 06, 2009, 15:25 »
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Wow, I feel warm and fuzzy already?

Did you go to that ski cabin near Mt. Baker too?  :P

It was -32 celcius yesterday morning... As a Northern Canadian I'll take all the warm and fuzzy I can get.

« Reply #49 on: February 06, 2009, 15:56 »
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The more I think about this deal the less impressed I am with it. Here's a company with no micro experience buying a train wreck of a company with weak technology and impotent marketing experience.

My best guess is that they bought it for next to nothing except agreeing to keep Brian for some specified length of time as a somewhat familiar persona to the micro world. Sort of like when a company keeps the acquired company's sales manager until they pick his brains.

The sale to Veer also masks the loss of face Corbis would have in simply folding SV.

So again we are offered a bunch of promises in hopes we will keep our images with SV until whenever.

I place the success of this venture about equal to Yay's.

It's not "wait and see" time. It's "show me the money" time.

bittersweet

« Reply #50 on: February 06, 2009, 16:14 »
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Anyway, I am eager to see how it all plays out. If things go well, it could mean big changes in my future.


As designer or as contributor? As far as I can distill it from this thread, Veer used to be an RM agent and will now venture in RF microstock with a separate collection. Search engine etc... will be different. They have no real experience with RF microstock and they are relying on the debris of SV to provide them with the know-how. Don't know if that's an asset since on the IT side, SV wasn't that knowledgeable. When Getty bought iStock, they got a mature product.

I can also deduct from the thread (ready after summer) that all the IT machinery for RF microstock on Veer as well as the workflow has to be developed/rolled out yet. Many contributors that withheld massive upload by the rather unpleasant upload experience at SV will flock at Veer en masse, like it happens with every new microstock agency, so they will need loads of inspectors.

Finally their traditional RM contributors might not be so happy about the invasion of cheap microstockers, since some of what I saw technically would never make it to the "traditional" RF microstock. The current "Indie Dream" on the Veer photography frontpage would most probably be rejected for bad cropping, bad composition, shallow DOF (the hands) and hard on-cam flash.

Just wait and see I guess.


Veer has been (macro) RF and RM for the years I've used them, though I don't know their complete history and it's entirely possible that they at one time were RM only. They have absolutely no micro experience, though (as far as I know).

You should spend a little time on their site and check things out. They have some very innovative features for designers, such as the "Shuttleboard" lightbox mode which allows designers to fluidly move and resize images in their lightbox and try them out together in a layout style environment, and "Flont" which allows a designer to sample fonts by typing in whatever they want to say and seeing it displayed in the selected font.

In addition to these useful tools, they have a ton of very cool merch, and as already mentioned, they send out clever and useful direct mail pieces to their customers. They have a strong designer community with articles, designer portfolios and blogs, groups, wallpaper downloads and a bunch more.

In a nutshell, this is not your mamma's macro site. ;)

There is a lot of potential for success. I'm not saying that there aren't a lot of unknowns, just that I'm looking forward to seeing it play out.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2009, 16:23 by whatalife »

« Reply #51 on: February 06, 2009, 16:15 »
0
The more I think about this deal the less impressed I am with it. Here's a company with no micro experience buying a train wreck of a company with weak technology and impotent marketing experience.
...

Veer didn't buy SnapVillage.
Corbis owns Veer (purchased in Nov 07), and I think the situation here is that Corbis is merging SV into Veer.

tan510jomast

« Reply #52 on: February 06, 2009, 16:46 »
0
i wrote to ask some questions and i got an almost instant reply from a Veer representative,which i find is very nice, considering how some other sites take over a month to answer you.

« Reply #53 on: February 06, 2009, 17:09 »
0
The more I think about this deal the less impressed I am with it. Here's a company with no micro experience buying a train wreck of a company with weak technology and impotent marketing experience.

My best guess is that they bought it for next to nothing except agreeing to keep Brian for some specified length of time as a somewhat familiar persona to the micro world. Sort of like when a company keeps the acquired company's sales manager until they pick his brains.

Hi louoates,

Veer and SV are both owned by Corbis.  This is a merger, not an acquisition.  The only thing that will go away is the SV website.

The Veer Marketplace review team is based in Seattle (same folks from SV) under Brian's leadership.  They are working hard with the Calgary team to transition everyone's images to Veer, and after that they will be uploading fresh images to Veer Marketplace using the new platform built by the same dev team here in Calgary, that built the Veer website.

The merger of SV images with Veer - a company that connects with creative professionals with its brand and marketing - is precisely why this is a great opportunity for micro contributors.

Stay tuned for February 23rd when the first batch of SV images go live on Veer Marketplace.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2009, 17:11 by AaronBooth »


« Reply #55 on: February 06, 2009, 18:02 »
0
Aaron,
   Good info. My comments underline the necessity of better information to the contributors right off the bat. Nobody is looking for secret info here, just a clear and logical explanation of what's to become of our images. The first emails were woefully short in that department. You made up for much of that in your comments above. Nobody here (I hope) wishes your venture ill.  I really, really, hope for the best this time around. We've had so much hype and disappointment the last few years my trigger finger is real twitchy.

« Reply #56 on: February 08, 2009, 04:52 »
0
Stay tuned for February 23rd when the first batch of SV images go live on Veer Marketplace.

What I haven't understood so far is if everyone on SV will have their accounts transfered, or Veer/SV will be choosing the members to be transferred.

Is there any clear answer to this I've missed?

Regards,
« Last Edit: June 25, 2009, 17:25 by e=mg2 »

RacePhoto

« Reply #57 on: February 09, 2009, 16:20 »
0
Quote
Dear SnapVillage Contributor,

[clipped out]

We also invite you to join the conversation about Veer Marketplace. Wed love to hear from you so register and create a profile to make sure as Veer Marketplace grows, we continue to meet your needs.

Please dont hesitate to contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

We want to thank you for your support of SnapVillage. Were looking forward to your potential participation at Veer Marketplace!

Right and this is what I got:

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at yahoo.com.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

<[email protected]>:
   ???

Wrote and asked a question last week at the Veer website. No reply.

Someone tell me, what am I doing wrong?  ;D

Edit: I did get a reply from Brian, even though he is on vacation, after I posted this message. Always better to post the positive than just the negative. Thank you Brian.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2009, 12:15 by RacePhoto »



 

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