Rumors about changes at Dave's Garden

It is very rare to find a website that is not only a top-notch source of information, but is also a pleasant, global place to visit. There are none of the "snipers" here on Dave's Garden....none of the rude, unpleasant folks who seem hell-bent on making a site a place fraught with argument and discord.

Dave's rule...Play nice or go away. It is rare indeed to find a jewel like Dave's Garden. This site has integrity, information, and camaraderie...and like so many others have said...it is this gardener's home. DG is a series of small towns linked together by a common interest and held together by a group of dedicated, hardworking folks. To change any of that would be tantamount to cutting off one's nose.....and yes....if Dave was no longer the driving force behind the scenes, and a very visible presence on the site....I would also be following him to a new garden.

Dave, thanks for being a visionary and an inspiration. You have my respect and best regards.

Thank you,
Jean/Moon

I've been following this thread for some time. (As usual I lurk more than post) Glad to meet you Michael. It's a great website and it would be difficult to imagine it without Dave.

You're right, Victor, but in his defense I want to point out that I preferred it that way. I was perfectly fine to have the NM folks not be on the site and just let me continue to operate it with my team here. NM was responsive to us in the areas that counted (behind the scenes) and that was the important part.

How much of a presence IB will bring to Dave's Garden is an unknown right now. I, for one, would welcome their presence in the forums but if they decide to leave that aspect of things to solely to me, that'll be okay, too.

henry10: Ric, I laughed so hard at your post about Spike and Disneyland. It got me to thinking about how many members here arrived via Disneyland. It also made me curious about how long I've been a member so I looked it up- 5 years already.

Dave, I'm glad you'll be around but sincerely hope the rest of the team will be too.

Karen

Re: advertising: The ability to turn it off is another great feature of the site. It's one of the bigger attractions for this this site.

Karen

As others have said:

WE ARE FAMILY.

THESE FRIENDS ARE MY FAMILY AND I LOVE THEM ALL.

Hap

I will not rejoin if the ability to turn off ads when viewing content or the ability to turn off tracking is changed.
Both those options have been repeatedly guaranteed by Dave.

I can't even imagine being without Dave's Garden. Have made friends from around the world and learned to garden on the side. First place I go early morning and last place at night. As so many have said, Please, don't change one single thing.

Just wanted to add my name to the list of people who love this site. I hope that it stays as family-friendly and user-friendly as it is now.

Welcome, Michael.

This thread hit me in the face like a brick. I must have been asleep all day yesterday. I wasn't aware of the changes coming. I'm paid up until September so I'm stuck for a while. This site is so easy to maneuver around in especially for us dial-up members. I may pull my hair out if the new owners start sticking a lot of Flash files on the site. I hope they at least offer a non-Flash alternative.

We love you , Dave !!!
My life has also changed since I joined DG...it isn't just the first web site I go to in the morning and the last one I go to at night ......it is one that I talk , lurk and research on all day and some nights. It is indeed my life . I have made frends here that I will have for life , some of the best kindest folks I have ever known.
I pray fervently that you will still control day to day operations of this garden , as it has done so well tended by your tender and loving hand . I have never had the joy to meet you in person, but I know you are a man of integrity.

Welcome , Miguel!

I'm starting to think Dave did his annual April Fools Day gag a bit early this year. ^_^

Glad I was late to this party! I would have freaked reading about this yesterday & not having anything but speculation to go on. Thank you 9kittymom (Susan) & Mamjack (Barb) for pointing me to this thread.

Michael,
Very nice to meet you & so very glad you do understand what Dave & his team mean to all of us. This is a family here, not just a place to swap/talk plants:) I do hope you allow Dave & his Ubers to keep the roles they have, as many have said "IF IT'S NOT BROKE, DON'T FIX IT" I couldn't agree more!


(Echo) Dave's Garden would not be Dave's Garden without you & your team of Ubers Dave! I stand 110% behind you, If I even hear the door knob turning, I will be in that long line that has already formed to follow you right out the door, Yes, I understand they are keeping you, but they need to keep you & let you do what you do here, not just keep you around to make all of us happy, We will not be happy at all if this places is anything other than Dave's Garden with YOU tending to all your flowers & thorns personally. We need YOU, you ARE our glue..:)Anita that hopes to keep her smile

Good Morning, all
I concur - 1st thing in the morning, last thing at night - even before email LOL

I too, have made many many friends here. It's opened me up, and I have a much fuller life because of it. The gentle humour (and some twisted, among those who understand each other's passion for gardening, and other pursuits) and willingness to share so many aspects of our lives here on Daves, is so wonderful!

I realize that people who haven't been on here are dubious about our "cyber friends" however, we have become such a close-knit family that it would be difficult to imagine a day without our "fix" of DG.

I've become so integrated with Daves that I can't even recall how I came here, but instantly became so much a part of my life it's as though I wasn't wakened up before DG (I know that sounds hokey, but it's true......sometimes the hokiest things are the most REAL).

Dave - unlike others, I haven't talked to you, nor met you, but I sense the gentleman you are, otherwise this site wouldn't be the welcoming "Home" it is.

Michael - again, I say "Welcome". I hope you garner the gardening skills we all are learning and take a look at the other types of chats. What's your passion? Quilting, swaps, sweets, decorating, books (gardening and otherwise) cars, astronomy, etc etc etc - it can be found here in a group of like-minded people. DG is quite the mind-expanding venue, and you can clean stuff out of your house & garden, while gaining more "stuff". Heck, you can re-decorate your house with shared items, and get advice and down-home truths ("no, dusty rose ISN'T in fashion anymore, but your home looks wonderful with the way you integrated it in") from some of the most open-minded people you'll find anywhere.

♪~§usan~♪

Finally, able to get back on line.

Welcome Michael. !! I hope that you realiz e what a treasure you have in Dave and the admids. I know my memebrship thign doesn't show it, but like other s I have been around since Dave first starte d this site and there wa s barely 8-12 around. Over the years I hae watche d this site grow into the friendly not onyl garden, but home, electronics and the host of other forums site that it is today.

Without Dave's and the admid succesfull managing of the hundreds of forums, the hundred s of thousand sof posts and people and bussinesses small and large on this site, this site would havejust been another everyday site or even totally died and disappeared.

I am sur e a s th ene w owner, you have all kind sof plans and ideas, but, I hope, and sure other s agree with me, that before you start making them you consider the heart of Dg and the heart that Dave and the admid s have put into this place. Dg isn't Dg without Dave, without Dave their are no gardeners. Without the gardeners their are no threads and pics and evrythign else that make s this site the success and most family orintated site there is.

Thanks to Dave and his teams management, we don't have to be afraid to let our children our grandchildren, future Dg'ers be on DG. We know that any decisions Dave has made all along, has been for the benfit of each person hear on Dg. We may not have agreed with evreythign at the moment all the time, but Dave is very wise and his heart is with every person that holds a membership here. Him to us and us to him is a personal relationship something very rarely found on most sites.

Dave has manage d our joys, our requests, our tempers, LOL , our needs, and most of all he has handled hudnreds of thousand s of personalities that blend this entire community into what is it today. I don't care how many othe r companie s you may have, none can compare to Dave. And yes if Dave and his team, go, I will be following too along with my friends, because no matter what, I do have respect for Dave and his team in their managing abilitie s and most of all their respect for each us not just as a paid subscriber , but as a person of this community .

Michael... You have the best gardener ever tending this site, which is Dave. I hope you realize the precious seeds you now have and will continue to let the gardener continue to nuture and develop the crop he has sown and the future seedlings and flowering blooms sure to come.

As Lala put on our envies:

Happiness held is the seed;
Happiness shared is the flower.

I am in total agreement with eloquently worded posts in this thread. I also happened across Dave’s when researching a particular plant. Upon visiting this site, I immediately joined and ever since, DG has been my homepage. Dave and his wonderful staff have made this the best site on the web. If it wasn’t for DG, I wouldn’t even bother having internet service at home. We are all Dave’s family and family means everything. I have met wonderful people here. Whenever any of us is looking for information, everyone jumps in immediately to find what we are looking for because we all care about each other. Dave and his staff made this possible.
Thank you Dave for making this wonderful community and where you go I go.

Thank you , Ella

Well said

Wow! What a nice, positive thread to read! There sure are some wonderfully warm and heartfelt thoughts and feelings written here. "Ain't it grand!?" (Sorry to be quoting young Shirley Temple, it just seems appropriate!)

Looks to me like all is well in DG Land. Thanks Dave for posting and letting us know exactly what is happening. The mix-up of not being "on the same page" with Michael/IB surely must've created a big empty feeling within you. I'm relieved that emptiness will be filled in again.

Thanks, Miguel/Michael for your input also. And Welcome to DG! I think you'll find DG to be a rare treat and an outstanding pleasure to be a part of.

Happy Gardening, Folks, in all the Gardens of Life!
Shoe

Boy, this thread sure woke me up this morning! I've never read so many replies so quickly! At least now the awful feeling in my stomach has subsided and I can keep my breakfast down.

I'm in my second year of membership, and I heartily second all of the wonderful remarks and observations made by my fellow gardeners about DG and Dave himself.

Please, please, please don't be in a hurry to change anything about DG without very careful thought. It's unique and priceless.

Dave's Garden is a part of my life, a community of caring people from all over that each of us would never have the opportunity to meet. One place to share interests, wisdom, and support. It is an important part of my day and I hope it contimues as such and Dave stays very involved in it, he is at the heart of the 'Garden'.

Wow what can I add. I was so disappointed when I first got the inkling changes might be made. Then happy to hear that maybe it would be allright. Like a lot of others I will be out of here in a flash when my subscription expires if things don't go on as they have been. I have almost a year to stay and evaluate so that should be sufficient time.
Now I'll just close by saying "Welcome Michael" and to Dave "So glad it seems to be working out in OUR favor". I also want to stress that the staff here are terrific. Whenever I have a concern or any kind of question they respond almost immediately. I find that fantastic.
Veronica

I just re-subscribed this month and hope all will work out the way we wish. I wouldn't want another debacle like the garden-oriented site that used to be my favorite. Hmm, wonder if Spike is still alive. That site survived, but was so unbelievably broken and problematic that I decided to subscribe here and hang around on a better site. Rules I learned:
If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. That's rule #1, #2 and #3.
Keep the forum users happy and keep the lines of communication open.
Have people running the site that already know what they're doing. I strongly suggest keeping Dave and his whole team permanently. (Otherwise, we leave and it won't be Dave's Garden anymore. He could always create a new site elsewhere).
No popup or floating ads...my hatred of those knows no bounds. Subscribers should be able to turn off ads.

BTW, I hate Leno and Conan both. So although NBC's big recent mistake could be somehow compared to the possible scenario of Dave having to leave Dave's garden, I believe hiring Leno for the Tonight Show was NBC's first and biggest mistake. Second mistake was Conan. Third mistake was that prime-time Leno show...ugh!

Some of you remember about 7 or 8 years ago...I was going to TN to visit my son...I told my daughter "by the way, while in TN I'm going on to Maine"...DD asked me how I was going to get there...I replied "with 2 girls I met on Dave's Garden (I hadn't MET them yet...just through DG)...DD lost no time in joining DG to see what kind of kooks her old grey-haired Mom was hooking up with!! Calalily, Carol7 and myself had a ball...traveled through the New England states for 10 days and spent 3 nights in motels...the other nights we were hosted by DG'ers...mostly whom we had never met!! This is what DG is all about....FRIENDSHIP...and if we learn a lot about gardening...that is just a plus!

Jo

Granted, I don't like change.

If Dave is allowed to continue to maintain this site like he has in the past . . .my world will be right . .Thank-You!

If not. . . prolonging the misery of losing it would be a daily distress . . . I would have to walk away from all that I love. Best that you do what you have to do and keep it under wraps. I am not here for that stuff . . I am here for the garden.

Many were concerned with Name Media coming onboard and Dave proved it would work. . . . I stood by him.

I will again stand by Dave as I TRUST him to know what is best for me and the site. That being said . . . his personal happiness is more important to me than any website.

Thank you, Dave, for the first 10 and here's hoping for another 10.

With that said, I am going to go enjoy this website and my day.

And here I was Dave beginning to rejoice at the thought of beginning anew with a whole new site - you know following you to a new place where you would again
"boldly go where no man has gone before"!!!!
LOL, glad to hear you are staying put!
Candee

Just saw this thread today with a gasp! Though I check it almost every day and don't post that often, it is without a doubt the best website in cyberspace.

Thanks for the reassurance Michael but I implore you.....don't change ANYTHING. Not the name, not the administrators, nothing and don't even think of pushing Dave out the door slowly. Please. In this crazy and dangerous world and age, this site is a Godsend of sanity and beauty with pictures and dialogue from people with whom we have something very valuable in common.....the beauty and pleasure of gardening and Dave is an intregal and essential part of that oasis.

We need this site as it is which is pure pleasure in an uncertain world. As someone else said, if Dave goes, we go.
Thank you and good luck.

That is a nice idea, because Dave undoubtedly knows things he would have done differently and could incorporate them in a brand new site.

This is one of the best garden websites on the internet. What makes it great is Dave, his adminstrators and uber users. Change that dynamic and you will have the 'kill the golden goose' syndrome - no more golden eggs! My membership is up soon so I will decide to renew based on what changes Internet Brands makes to DG.

Ditto to all above!!! I am a gal of few words and don't really post a lot but I have made a lot of friends here over the years. It would be like a death in the family witout Dave at the helm. Glad to see so many oldies hanging in and offering support - we love you Dave like a brother.
PJ

~Felisa, what do you mean "one of"? It IS The Best!

Dave your hard work and effort here is so appreciated. Without you and your team, the place wouldn't be at all be the same. Your DG family supports you Dave & company, while you work through this change.

It is my hope that we can count on Internet Brands to acknowledge the gem that they have acquired and take the time to understand why it is the gem it is to so many of us across the globe. Welcome Michael! PLease don't let us down. We are counting on you to do the trusted, right thing and move Dave's Garden forward in a positive manner that will include Dave and his staff, all of which make this site flow rather effortlessly for the community here at Dave's Garden.