Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
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Why not lighten the load and delete all "RETIRED" sets from the gallery and keep it only current sets? Is the speed of the server due to the number of users or the amount of space?
I'm cool with the amount charged for members. I have been a registered user for a long time, but as you can see I don't visit too often. Don't get me wrong, I love the site, but some of us are way too busy to spend so much time behind a computer. I personally visit and spend about 30 minutes lurking. If I'm lucky� I visit 2-3x a month. I'm sure all of us who don't have a paid membership will have PLENTY to drool over.
Great work SCS team!
As the ORIGINAL POST states, it has nothing to do with the amount of space taken up by gallery samples, & everything to do with the volume of traffic attempting to view the gallery samples.
Love, Love, Love this site and I am registered, just not a fan club member, YET...my question is...if this wasn't happening (having to pay to go through gallery, etc.) what do Fan Club members receive that regular members don't. Just curious...thanks for everything and keep up all the fabulous work. Without all the behind the scenes hard work, I don't know if I personally would still be as active in SU as I am, its a great outlet and resource!!
We have access to an amazinggallery called the Dirty Dozen gallery. Each month on the 15th some of SCS's most talented stampers (i.e. JulieHRR, JanTInk, Jbalcer, etc) respond to a challenge given them and post wonderful creations. It is soooo worth the price. I get up early on the morning of the 15th just so I can see it right away. Get it, you'll love it!
__________________ Heidi My gallery There's no 'I' in 'team'. But then there's no 'I' in 'useless smug colleague', either. And there's four in 'platitude-quoting idiot'. Go figure.
you know this isnt the first site that i have been on that needs support from its members. And on the other sites I am on you either pay or you dont...the paying members get access to more because they are able to support the site. If you dont you just dont get the added bonuses....Not a problem everyone understands...on this site they are simply telling you that the changes will be for a limited time. SCS is not telling you that you either have to pay or leave...but many of you seems to ASSUME that if you dont pay you have to leave. I have read so many RUDE and INCONSIDERATE post but I have noticed on thing in those post you are not reading the facts just posting! READ the OP people! Remeber "there is no such thing as a free lunch"
]
And may I add, DH belongs to a financial site and the fee for that one is substantially more than the fan club membership . . .
__________________ Kristina Wife, Mommy, Stamper, Nurse Laura 6yo Jack 5yo, James 4/20/08 Megan arrived 3/16/09
I think it's ridiculous. With all the money I'm sure this site brings in, there is no reason not to be able to afford a server that can handle the traffic. How about tweaking your advertising a bit to bring in more money?
If Daven had $ in his eyes I am sure he could make big money. He began a nice little site for Tracey and it grew & grew & grew & grew & grew & grew & grew until there were 56,000 members with a lot of traffic. He chose to not have a lot of advertising because he listned to the members, we didn't like all the ads. Daven has spent a lot of time on this site, should we ask him to pay for it? We need to support with our $s something tht gives us so much pleasure.
Brad I looked at your blog & your gallery, don't judge Daven by your standards.
I haven't been to this site very often, but have really liked what I've seen on my visits here. The work is wonderful and so many talented people share their projects that are a treat to see and learn from. What gets me here, really, is the access to the Stampin Up sets, so I can see ideas on what to do with sets that I have bought or are thinking of buying. Many new cards have been made with these ideas.
I understand not wanting to have a lot of ads and taking up some space with them. When I buy a magazine, I don't like the ads, unless they are in a scrapping/stamping magazine, since they do show some great ideas to make with their products.
I see ads above that are for mortgage quotes, dvds and phone calls, and below some google ads. Isn't it possible to get Stampin Up to be a paying sponsor or this site, since this site is contributing to their own sales so much? Has it been asked of them? Wouldn't it be worth it to have some more advertising such as this, in leu of members paying more money.....I am seeing a lot of people who aren't willing to pay this money, so this is why I am asking. Now, I haven't read every single post on here....as it is already up to 33 pages! Many members can afford the $24 I'm sure. Many members can't either. Wouldn't a large sponsor bring in enough to cover the amount needed to get a bigger server? Just wondering, as this is such a nice site, and so much hard work has been put into it by everyone from the site owners, to the very people who make the items and upload them for everyone to see. Without each of you, this site wouldn't be what it is...the best Stampin Up site I know about.
I am happy to continue contributing to the fan club. Every time I think my brain is fried and I can't come up with an idea a short perusal through the gallery and I can't get all of the ideas out of my head fast enough!! Each person is an inspiration and the commaderie even greater! I will happily continue to contribute whether required or not. I love running into you guys at events and sharing excitement, ideas and experiences. Keep up the great work and keep letting each of us know when you need help.
I just became a Fan Club member a few minutes ago! (I wish I'd done it sooner!) As soon as I realized I was going to lose access to all the wonderful ideas on this site, I joined right away. I've read a few of the other posts that were not for it, and I can't believe anybody would think they would find a better site out there! It just doesn't seem possible that people can't afford less than $2.50 a month to help this site become faster and better. Scrapbooking and craft magazines run $5-15 EACH and sometimes you only get a handful of ideas out of them. Anyways, thank you all, who help make stamping less stressful by getting our creative juices flowing with all of the wonderful ideas.
I found the site right around the time I signed up to be a demo, and it's an invaluable resource. Since it's a business tool for me, I had no problems with joining the fan club, find the price reasonable for everything I take away with me for my business and personal crafting, and think that the option to make partial year payments should satisfy even those with tight budgets. And since my 'day job' is in the IT industry, I'm well aware of the costs of keeping this baby running. Anyone that doesn't understand the bandwidth problems will likely be enountering this kind of problem all over the place.
Lastly...it'll sure be nice to be able to access the gallery again..It's been a REAL Pain lately!
Keep up the good work, Daven, and sorry for all the trouble you've been having keeping all of us happy!
Kate Reeves
Phoenix
I support your decision to do whatever you want, but there are many people on here, myself included, that cannot afford 25.00. I joined this website and recently became a Stampin up demo, but have not made one dime yet : My family had to scrape and scrimp to buy the demo kit--I don't buy any stamping magazines, or any other personal periodicals, and I have never bought a 25.00 pizza in my life. Even papa murphy's 7.99 is too much for us some weeks...I would love to be able to pay something, but 25.00 is an outfit for one of my dd's, or gas in the car (albiet, not much gas right now...), etc. I think it is pretty insensitive to have people say that 25.00 is not alot of money. For a struggling family of 4, it is... I am seriously crying at the thought of losing the gallery permanently, but as I said, I understand if you have to do it...
Thanks for listening.
I have to agree with this 100%. Yes.. it may not be a lot of $$ to a lot of you, but to us, a family of 5, it's 1/4 of our grocery money for the week! I can't afford a membership and i'm sorry to see the site come to this. And i'm sorry to say this, but I don't believe it's only 'temporary' either. Good Luck with your decision... I can't seem to find any replies by the owners to any of the other suggestions/requests (stalled payments, smaller membership feel, limit on uploads/file sizes, etc..) .. am I missing them?
I have to agree with this 100%. Yes.. it may not be a lot of $$ to a lot of you, but to us, a family of 5, it's 1/4 of our grocery money for the week! I can't afford a membership and i'm sorry to see the site come to this. And i'm sorry to say this, but I don't believe it's only 'temporary' either. Good Luck with your decision... I can't seem to find any replies by the owners to any of the other suggestions/requests (stalled payments, smaller membership feel, limit on uploads/file sizes, etc..) .. am I missing them?
Trust me, I know that $24.95 is a lot of money! We are a struggling family of 6 (almost 7)!! My dh and I both attend school fulltime. We homeschool and I have not only 3 meals a day for each of them but the cost of their curriculum too!
You are missing a smaller membership fee. There is one for $14.95 for 6 months. And really, it isn't necessary to pay a fee at all. The gallery will still be accessible to all people, just not by using the same routes. Kinda like road construction...you can still get to your destination, but you may have to go out of your way to get there. The member galleries will still be accessible and you can still use the search features. As far as limits on uploads and file sizes, that isn't the problem. The problem is traffic flow. There isn't enough space for all of us to use the galleries at once and then the system overloads and shuts down so noone can use it. I'm sad that you feel this is a permanent thing. Daven has always maintained that this is and will be a free site. He has proven (time and again) to be a man of his word. Please be patient! View the galleries through their new routes and try to see this thing from Daven's point of view. It costs a lot to run this site. Daven has been running this from the beginning and for the longest time ALL COSTS were coming out of HIS POCKET! It has only been in the last year that they started the fan club and then really recently the store. BELIEVE ME...noone is getting rich off of this site, least of all Daven!!!
__________________
~~Dawn~~
Mom of ShaSha, Bethy, JoJo, Wesser-man, Reesy, Mini-man and Sami "Don't say no and then stick to my butt like a carb." ~ Heather_M
I have to agree with this 100%. Yes.. it may not be a lot of $$ to a lot of you, but to us, a family of 5, it's 1/4 of our grocery money for the week! I can't afford a membership and i'm sorry to see the site come to this. And i'm sorry to say this, but I don't believe it's only 'temporary' either. Good Luck with your decision... I can't seem to find any replies by the owners to any of the other suggestions/requests (stalled payments, smaller membership feel, limit on uploads/file sizes, etc..) .. am I missing them?
Please read Daven's original post & what he edited to add the next day. It really does explain the situation and answer any questions you have.
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I have been very supportive of this website from the very first day I found out about it, because it brings sooooooooooo much inspiration to the craft.
I have donated from the get go and will continue to do so to keep it up and
running and improving, I don't have allot of extra income, but this to me is
a "Business Decision", I need this to keep myself and my business going,
when I run out of ideas, SCS is the first place I go, it brings so many different
artists into one forum, all with unique style, and we are able to share it with
one another, that to me is "PRICELESS". I know when it comes to money we
all cringe, but like one person said, we spend $25.00 a week on coffee or lunch, so sacrafice that weeks worth of coffee or lunch and join, in the long
run you will get allot more out of it. I SUPPORT YOU COMPLETELY SCS.
Julie
__________________ "LOVE WHAT YOU DO, DO WHAT YOU LOVE"
I see ads above that are for mortgage quotes, dvds and phone calls, and below some google ads. Isn't it possible to get Stampin Up to be a paying sponsor or this site, since this site is contributing to their own sales so much? Has it been asked of them? Wouldn't it be worth it to have some more advertising such as this, in leu of members paying more money.....I am seeing a lot of people who aren't willing to pay this money, so this is why I am asking. Now, I haven't read every single post on here....as it is already up to 33 pages!
This has already been suggested several times, and explanations given for why it's not a good idea. If Stampin' Up! became a financial sponsor of this site, then they would be able to dictate its content and Daven would have to comply. More than likely you would see a swift end to ANY discussion about finding demos for TAC or CTMH, cheaper monoadhesive from Viking.com, or using coupons to buy paper trimmers, embellishments and punches from local scrapbook stores or craft store chains. Also, the galleries would be completely devoid of samples using stamps from Hero Arts, TAC, and any other company. This would truly become a "Stampin' Up! ONLY" website.
__________________ Rachel Proud SU! demo and Sci-Fi Geek!
My Stampin' Up! blog "I'm a time traveler -- I point and laugh at archaeologists." 10th Doctor, "Silence in the Library"
He began a nice little site for Tracey and it grew & grew & grew & grew & grew & grew & grew until there were 56,000 members with a lot of traffic.
I was coming to add my 2 cents and say the same thing. I don't think many new people have the right perspective here. This was a little site for a local community and it EXPLODED because it's so wonderful! People who don't know SCS's history are bound to be all confused and say some pretty horrible things. Let's be happy that we've been ALLOWED to be a part of this, people!
Sheesh. :p
As for me, I'm terribly grateful!
__________________ Nicole "I am a girl of many moods...all of which require chocolate."
I think what you are doing probably needs to be done. It is not easy to run a website of this size without support. Subscribing to Stamping magazines cost just as much if not more for less information and ideas.
The only gripe I have is that you are only giving everyone here approx 8 days notice of the switch, not nearly enough time to try and get a "payment" sent to you without losing part of the website. I feel you could have a least giving us a month notice on this one.
The only gripe I have is that you are only giving everyone here approx 8 days notice of the switch, not nearly enough time to try and get a "payment" sent to you without losing part of the website. I feel you could have a least giving us a month notice on this one.
The only part of the website that will be completely unavailable to non-Fan Club members is uploads, and that will be back as soon as the improvements are complete, hopefully November 1.
All other parts will be available, though they will need to be accessed via the search function, and not going straight to the A-Z gallery.
...As soon as I realized I was going to lose access to all the wonderful ideas on this site, I joined right away. ...
No one is losing access to all the wonderful ideas, tho! The Gallery side needs to undergo an under-construction time period of *at least* 1 month to tweak the software, etc. The only 2 major noticeable changes during construction season are:
restricted view of the Gallery - non-Fan Clubbers will have access to the Members Gallery and the Techniques Gallery.
only Fan Club members will be able to upload photos *during construction time*
After "construction season" = Back to normal *with* a better Gallery for the heavy traffic. (That's the plan. ;) )
I have 2 Q's for which I haven't been able to find the answers:
Question1: Will non-Fan Club members also lose viewing access to "Today's Uploads"? Question 2: Will all be able to use the search function *within the Members or Techniques Gallery* (to find a particular theme or SU! set)?
Are you making this change for financial reasons? No. We hate it for financial reasons! We hate the fact that anyone might consider leaving us because they don't wish to pay a fee to access the gallery.
We're making the change for two reasons. First, it's not fair to our paying members that they pay for an inferior experience. Second, our servers and software are unable to handle our current traffic load. The only way the gallery can remain functional is to reduce the load until we can get further improvements in place.
And it's NOT about the money!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by splitcoaststampers
Is this change permanent?
The gallery will be free and open to all again, once our software and servers are able to handle the traffic load. The Fan Club galleries will always remain part of the benefit for paying members.
My understanding is that the Fan Club was created as a Thank You to those SCS members who wished to donate $$$ towards maintaining this FREE site. It was not created to force people into paying $$$!!!!
For whatever reason you may have, if you & I don't join the Fan Club, that's 100% fine! You & I are more than welcome here today and tomorrow just as we were yesterday. We'll notice some "detours" during construction season in the Gallery, but that's it!
I like many, LOVE this site but do not like CHANGE. Every time there has been any kind of change I am afraid of what will happen.ha Let's give everyone a break here and try being kind to each other. I read the original post but still have questions myself. Some of us just need more clarification than others. Like SCS, my brain "harddrive/server/whatever" is getting a little full and a lot slower these days. I am a little afraid to ask anything here as I am afraid that someone might tear apart my post and reprint it and let me have it...Ugh
I used to be a fan club member but admit to not having very much time to visit this last year so I have not rejoined. Having little time to visit I felt the benefit of visiting the DD gallery wasn't enough to pay $25 for when there are a million other cards out there to view. No offense to the DD. I do feel that being able to post into the gallery has been quite a benefit for not having been a member for a short while. The gallery is my favorite thing about SCS. I love this site and I do want to support it. I need to rejoin again and I am sure I will be very shortly as just being able to visit the site and see all of the millions of ideas to use the same old stamps in some new ways, is really worth $25. I get a lot of inspiration from SCS. Actually the whole site is worth it, it is just hard giving up that stamp money.ha
I do have one question and maybe it is posted somewhere already so don't yell at me please. Is there any information on just how many "paying" fan club members there are out there already? Maybe that should be posted on the main page. I know I will regret asking this but is there any information available about where our money goes exactly? I always hear about this "server" and I don't even know exacty what all that entails. It seems to me that I read that part of the fan club money goes to pay people to work for SCS...Is this true? If so, who actually works for and gets paid by SCS? Is it the DD group? Hmm. I think many of us, me included, just have no idea of how much this "server" costs. Maybe someone should be telling us exactly in terms we can understand.
Boy do I hate change. Thanks though to all of those that keep the site running whoever you are "paid or unpaid" (maybe that should be posted on the main page too) and for being brave enough to make the changes needed to keep SCS up and running.
I do think that there should be some "definite" benefit to distinguish what people join for besides the obvious chance of just visiting.ha That way, people like me who put off renewing or joining at all have more of an incentive to push me to go ahead and do it. I don't see how we can all have the same benefits and yet have some paying members and some non paying...
Well, this will definitely get interesting by the weekend I am sure... Just posting my thoughts...
__________________
If you meet someone without a SMILE, just give them one of yours!!
Which isn't difficult for me to get confused, but how do I know if I am a paid member so I continue to view the gallery. I know I have donated $ in the past, but want to make sure I am current. Thank you for the information
Hi Mary
Thank you for the information. I was so afraid I wouldn't have access to all the great ideas, that I went ahead and paid today. That way I'm sure and if it helps keep this site up and running I don't mind paying the $24.95. I love this site. So many successful Stamp Camps I've had because of the creativity I have found here.
Thank you again
I do have one question and maybe it is posted somewhere already so don't yell at me please. Is there any information on just how many "paying" fan club members there are out there already? Maybe that should be posted on the main page. I know I will regret asking this but is there any information available about where our money goes exactly? I always hear about this "server" and I don't even know exacty what all that entails. It seems to me that I read that part of the fan club money goes to pay people to work for SCS...Is this true? If so, who actually works for and gets paid by SCS? Is it the DD group? Hmm. I think many of us, me included, just have no idea of how much this "server" costs. Maybe someone should be telling us exactly in terms we can understand.
some great questions here, thanks. I've actually been working on a now-book-length article that will answer many of them. I'd originally planned to publish it earlier in the week, but it's grown and grown until now it's to the point that I'll probably publish it in multiple parts over the coming days. there are some of your questions I'll purposefully *not* answer, but I'll try and explain that as well. stay tuned for that, and thanks for your post.
I think it's a great idea to restrict, temporarily or permanently! I would also pay more if I had too!! This is the most valuable site available, in my opinion, and I would be lost without it!
Hello Daven. Thanks for the post back. I will curiously await to see which answers you purposefully answer and the one you will purposefully "not" answer.haha
__________________
If you meet someone without a SMILE, just give them one of yours!!
Stampaway~
Please see the bolded and red italics for my little input to your query.......and I'm with you, change is hard for many people, I'm one of them, but this change is just temporary, and for the better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stampaway
I like many, LOVE this site but do not like CHANGE. Every time there has been any kind of change I am afraid of what will happen.ha Let's give everyone a break here and try being kind to each other. I read the original post but still have questions myself. Some of us just need more clarification than others. Like SCS, my brain "harddrive/server/whatever" is getting a little full and a lot slower these days. I am a little afraid to ask anything here as I am afraid that someone might tear apart my post and reprint it and let me have it...Ugh
I used to be a fan club member but admit to not having very much time to visit this last year so I have not rejoined. Having little time to visit I felt the benefit of visiting the DD gallery wasn't enough to pay $25 for when there are a million other cards out there to view. No offense to the DD.None taken I do feel that being able to post into the gallery has been quite a benefit for not having been a member for a short while. The gallery is my favorite thing about SCS. I love this site and I do want to support it. I need to rejoin again and I am sure I will be very shortly as just being able to visit the site and see all of the millions of ideas to use the same old stamps in some new ways, is really worth $25. I get a lot of inspiration from SCS. Actually the whole site is worth it, it is just hard giving up that stamp money.ha
I do have one question and maybe it is posted somewhere already so don't yell at me please. Is there any information on just how many "paying" fan club members there are out there already? Maybe that should be posted on the main page. I know I will regret asking this but is there any information available about where our money goes exactly? I always hear about this "server" and I don't even know exacty what all that entails. It seems to me that I read that part of the fan club money goes to pay people to work for SCS...Is this true? If so, who actually works for and gets paid by SCS? Is it the DD group?Hmmm, NOPE, it's all volunteer. Hmm. I think many of us, me included, just have no idea of how much this "server" costs. Maybe someone should be telling us exactly in terms we can understand.
Boy do I hate change. Thanks though to all of those that keep the site running whoever you are "paid or unpaid" (maybe that should be posted on the main page too) and for being brave enough to make the changes needed to keep SCS up and running.
I do think that there should be some "definite" benefit to distinguish what people join for besides the obvious chance of just visiting.ha That way, people like me who put off renewing or joining at all have more of an incentive to push me to go ahead and do it. I don't see how we can all have the same benefits and yet have some paying members and some non paying...
Well, this will definitely get interesting by the weekend I am sure... Just posting my thoughts...
As soon as I started reading that scs was going to a pay per view, I signed up immediately. Hey, I've been getting the benefit free for a year or so. Totally worth it. I get it. It takes money. Great site. Great fun. Great Job!
__________________ Michele Wilson
"A finished person is a boring person."
Anna Quindlen
I have no problems with paying the 20-25 for the membership, I joined quite sometime ago and I have gotten such good ideas, good information, and just the whole site is wonderful!!! It is well worth the money! I also have bought three of the tee-shirts and I love them. I always get compliments on them and it just get people more revved up about Stampin' Up which in turn helps my hobby/business. I spend that much on magazines in a month or two and I always end up with more ideas from SCS than the magazines.
I greatly appreciate everyone that works to make the site great! Thanks for making SCS more accessible to fan club members. It is frustrating when you are needing ideas and you can't get the gallery to move. I am sure most people waste $25 a year on something they could give up to pay the fee for the year. Think about it, its great for a very small price!!!!
I think it would be a good idea to restrict the uploads. Maybe allow them to stay for 6 months or so and then they are automatically deleted. These stamping fads come and go and tastes change. There is no reason to waste so much space on things that are out of date.
I do not mind paying to visit site. You are great!.....thanks.....Sharen
I think it would be a good idea to restrict the uploads. Maybe allow them to stay for 6 months or so and then they are automatically deleted. These stamping fads come and go and tastes change. There is no reason to waste so much space on things that are out of date.
I do not mind paying to visit site. You are great!.....thanks.....Sharen
although many people have had this idea, and If you go back and read some of the previous posts or the original post by Daven, you will learn that storage is not the issue at all it is traffic.
As the ORIGINAL POST states, it has nothing to do with the amount of space taken up by gallery samples, & everything to do with the volume of traffic attempting to view the gallery samples.
With over 1300 posts to this thread I just had a thought...if everyone who's posted to this thread (and loves the gallery) would make 5-10 comments in the gallery every day just think how happy everyone would be!!
Of course we don't want everyone in there at once! There goes that pesky traffic problem. Let's take shifts! LOL!
Oh my gosh, I pay $5.95/magazine about a 1/2 dozen times a month and I might see one or two things in them I like. A magazine can't respond to any of my questions, wish me Happy Birthday, be a confidant or friend, or tell me to shut up! I have to have my Starbucks Toffee Nut Coffee Frappacino Grande with whipped cream and a big straw at least 4 times/week and they are almost $4 bucks a piece! All they do is add some padding to my backside and even more to my gut. AND! I spend thousands upon thousands of dollars each year on Stampin' Up and other crafting supplies. Yes, these are my splurges and yes, I can afford them *but* I think we all can admit to splurges and they are something that we can at least cut down on.
25 bucks for this! It's a STEAL! Great samples, building friendships, great business tips (someone said she gets better business tips somewhere else for free---uh, where?), not to mention the drama of it all. I just love scoping out the goofy Avitars sometimes. Who are we going to lose with this decision? People who want something for nothing? Okay by me---no, not really, but seriously, this was a huge undertaking by Daven and Tracy and they need our help. Lets help get us back to speed and see how it goes. I have complete faith in their ability to make everyone happy, even if it takes a month or so to do it. Please, please, cut them some slack.
Another Yea!
thanks to all who keep SCS up and running!
Oh boy...
I am all for the change!!!
